She doesn't want to discuss it. Strangely, in the last line of her letter, she said "Please do not attempt to contact me regarding this matter" which also begs the question of how I would pay her if I wanted to. Having read all the posts here, and the advise offered by a solicitor, I think we will ride this one out and see if she proceeds with her threat of court action. I completely sympathise with her situation but still firmly believe I have done nothing wrong - and the fact she got abusive just hardened by beliefs. This is the first car I have ever sold, and probably the last - I will stick to trading in next time. Needless to say, should it go as far as court then I will update the forum with the outcome. Thanks to everyone for the posts.

I am of the opinion that the vehicle was in great condition, having been reliable for 7 years. It was a P reg vehicle with nearly 180,000 miles on it. It had 4 months tax and mot still on the vehicle, 2 brand new exhaust sections, and I sold it for £400 - too cheap in my opinion. The reason for sale was that my father had just 'bought' a newer smaller car for my wife and I - so it was surplus to requirements. Coincidentally we found out that our 'new' car needed nearly £500 spending on it straight away - things that weren't picked up at the time my father bought it. Wouldn't dream of going back to the private seller for some recompense. The buyers were fully aware of the condition of the car and were more than happy when driving it away - in fact I got the distinct impression that they thought they had 'bagged a bargain' too. The woman asking for the money never actually turned up to look at the car - it was her partner and step son. So in theory it wasn't sold to her anyway!

......plus petrol used to date no doubt!

No further contact as yet. I received the letter at the beginning of last week so the deadline will be midweek this week. My father has spoken with his solicitor to sound them out, and they have advised to let her go ahead with her claim - much like most the replies on here. One other thing I forgot to mention in the original post - I did email the woman while the car was in the garage and explained that I would never have sold it if I had known there was a problem. To this she replied saying "I know you would not have sold it if you had known". It was only when the bill shot up from an estimated £450 to over £500 that she started getting nasty and abusive via text.

The car was advertised on the notice board at work. Along with the details of the car (age, mileage etc) there was a line that said "Very Reliable". I put very reliable as that is how I found the car. It was a statement of opinion based on my experience with it. At no time did I say 'this car WILL be very reliable'.

Hi, Yes she filled in the Registration document and I have had a confirmation letter from DVLA of the change. She is making an issue of the fact I advertised the car as 'Very Reliable'. This was a statement of opinion and the car had always been very reliable all the time we were using it (and still were up until the sale, with no problems). When she first told me about the water pouring out of the car, I told her that the only problems with the cooling system that we have ever had was back in 2007 when there was a small leak. This was rectified with a bottle of Rad Weld and has been fine ever since. She seems to think that Rad Weld was only ever a temporary repair and I should have replaced the radiator. I have contacted the makers of Rad Weld and they consider their product to be a permanent solution.

Thank you for the advice. Feeling a bit better now

Hi, I sold it as a private individual. First car I have ever sold! On the Monday morning when she reported the problems to me, I said to her that I have a friend who is a mechanic and I could get him to take a look. At this point she said, 'that's no good' it is at the garage now. I was a bit suspicious because we have had no problems with the running of the car, and it was being used daily. Later that day I had a text from her suggesting I give her £100 back because of the cost of repairs. I explained that I sympathised with her situation but was unable to refund any of the money. The next day I had some abusive texts from her saying I had ripped her off and she didn't know how I slept at night. She also said the repairs were now £520 and she will be speaking to trading standards. I heard nothing for three weeks and then received a letter from her yesterday demanding £200 within 10 days.

Hi. I recently sold a car privately for £400. The following day apparently the buyer had all sorts of problems with the vehicle. Here is what happened: I described the vehicle as very reliable, based on how I had found the car until that point. I had no problems with water leaking, and there was certainly no signs of a leak at the time of sale. 1. They bought the car on a Sunday after having two test drives and examining the vehicle twice. 2. Sunday night the car had 'water pouring from it' 3. Monday morning the car broke down and needed towing. 4. The garage that looked at the car (AA towed to garage) replaced Radiator, hose, and starter motor. Woman now says I must pay her £200 within 10 days or she will take be to a small claims court for full value of the car plus repairs. Where do I stand? As I said - I have had no issues with the car at all. It was an oldish car, P Reg, 180000 miles but it was in use daily with no problems. No signs of a failing starter motor and certainly no signs of a water leak. We repaired the car as needed and had only just replaced two exhaust sections (£150). Receipt was given with sold as seen written on it.