Actually, if the selling garage DID know of accident damage and didn’t mention it, that would be Fraud I would think… rather serious stuff…
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To round this off, the buyers showed me two of the old wheel alignment sheets and both show there was difficulty getting within advised limits. Also their advice had been that a CT wouldn’t necessarily have spotted the fault. So in effect 3 garages and 2 CT inspections hadn’t spotted this. (Assuming original seller didn’t spot it…) In the end I showed the buyers the price of non VW parts (Much less!) And we came to an arrangement. They are a nice family and life is too short to employ lawyers…(Sister excepted!)
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Excellent solution. I was considering suggesting a compromise but 4K plus labour seemed a large gap to bridge.
Well done.
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Good for you! None of us need any extra stress.
I suspect if this had happened to us (involving folk we knew and liked) we would have reached an amicable agreement too (within our means).
This situation has reached an amicable agreement… but it does leave me wondering where we (private folk) stand when we sell our vehicle…
If CT’s et al can’t/don’t show any problems, don’t we all run the risk of being asked to pay xxxx or take the vehicle back and refund the money… within the 2 year timelimit ???
@anon90504988 any useful advice re this sort of thing ???
The whole situation seems very unfair - if you can wind up liable for repairs to damage done before you bought the vehicle, for up to two years after a private sale I’m surprised anyone takes the risk (except maybe an owner who has had a vehicle from new and knows the complete history).
Am I right in thinking that one option is to annul the sale, ie you take the vehicle back and refund the purchase price? although obviously the longer it is since the sale the less viable this is as a fair option.
that is an option… which is fine (or is it?) if you’ve still got the money and not already spent it… 
So, what if you sell a vehicle to a dealer in a part exchange or even no part exchange. Would the dealer be expected to know what they are buying.
It put’s you off selling a car in France.
I’m certainly going to try and avoid selling anything for a while…
Unless it’s a classic (voiture de collection)… I believe they don’t come under the vice caché whatzit. These old cars just need the recent CT and the Buyer takes the goods whether there any surprises later, or not…
Correct, I made sure my old triumph had its carte gris sorted out before sale!
I agree entirely.
Well I’ve done that and I wouldn’t entertain a dealer coming after me. They are the experts.
@Djburns
This has come up on another thread… you might like to check the details of the vehicle you sold in the link… it could throw up an interesting history.
Hmm, should be useful. Not sure I can check my old van as I’m not the owner now nor am I buying it. If I and when I buy something else I’ll use it!
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I thought you merely needed to have all the information, which you surely will have… and you can check as a prospective buyer
I’ve followed it through but I think you have to ask the vendor for permission. 
From what I read, it said you might need to ask the Vendor… but as this is the person you sold it to and you are on good terms with… it shouldn’t be a problem.
On the other hand, if you just want to let sleeping dogs lie… give it a miss.
cheers
I prefer the sleeping dog option…
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