Buying a car, what now? Legal advice for problems

Questioner

I have agreed by email to buy a car from a private individual. For this I will deliver my car to him, the seller will deliver his car and I will pay 3000 cash. However, the other party still has to view my car and approve it for 3000. Now I want to get out of this appointment because the other party is continuously avoiding my questions and requests about his car. Below is my last email correspondence with him. Can I cancel my commitment or is the selling party right and am I obliged to buy his car in exchange for mine? --------------------------- THIS IS HIS RESPONSE TO MY EMAIL. ------------------------------------------- I'm not going to read the whole nonsense story any further, you're talking nonsense and apparently you come from MARS. MAY I REMINDER YOU THAT YOU AND YOUR WIFE HAVE PROMISED TO COME AND PICK UP THE CAR ON SATURDAY! AN ORAL AND WRITTEN PROMISE IS LEGALLY VALID. You show up on Saturday at the agreed time, otherwise I will make it happen. I guess you think I have nothing else to do all week than sort out coupons ????? _________________________________________ L,S, I am NOT buying your car.. AND I am not selling mine or buying another car! Below you will find my reasons. IT GIVES ME SLEEPLESS NIGHTS. Every time I ask you for written proof of the changes to the car you tell me you HAVE TO FIND IT OUT. Unfortunately, I have not yet seen a single invoice to prove that what you say is true, despite seeing your car and taking it for a test drive. I am full of doubts whether buying your car through me is a good step. I'll explain why. The whole situation before the holiday bothered me, I felt at the time that I had to buy the car from you, because you thought I deserved to get it because I DID come and look and those 4500 internet viewers and 27 guards did not. By continuing to nag about 2000 euros in advance money, which is totally unusual when someone goes on holiday, you have made me suspicious. Now you tell me that you grant me and my wife the car while you tell me that more people are interested and that you even have a higher offer. 250 euros more is quite a lot of money. That's also strange, you shouldn't do business with me at all, but you should do business with that higher bidder. You also didn't want to do business with me anymore, you said before your vacation because I was so hesitant. You told me all sorts of things about your work when we were with you, but when I started talking about the car, for example about the strange spots on the hood and tailgate, you got angry and said that it was a 14-year-old car and if I didn't want that I should just buy another one. That bothers me. I will be shown a pile of issues at your home that cannot be linked to this Z3 in any way, BECAUSE YOU STILL HAVE TO FIND IT OUT! If we leave you because we cannot agree, despite the agreement that you will come to us the next day, then you say when we leave, go home and think it over carefully, and let me know what your decision is. I let us know that evening, I was withdrawing from the purchase, because: 1. I don't have 6000 euros available 2. I do not pay a deposit to someone who goes on holiday and only gives me a piece of the vehicle registration certificate in return. Your reaction to that is justified, you are angry and do not want to do business with me anymore and decide to grant the car to someone else. You told me to get more viewers the next day, just before we go on vacation in the evening. Then I receive another email from Marktplaats stating that the car has in principle been sold and an hour later I read on the internet in your advertisement on Marktplaats, DUE TO FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH APPOINTMENTS STILL FOR SALE UNTIL 6:00 PM. So there are more people who did not want to pay cash. That you contact me after your vacation to hear if I am still interested surprises me very much. I know I said you could contact me if the car wasn't sold, but you were right to say you didn't want to do business with me anymore.!! Recently I have indicated several times that I did not have the money, that I had to get rid of my car first and also said that I would not purchase it. Your question about how long the sale will last is of course nonsense, after all I cannot see into the future. I told you that I am definitely not buying your car. Because I think it is a fantastically beautiful car, I felt that was a shame. That's why I let myself be talked into buying your car again because at a certain point my wife was of the opinion that I should buy it anyway because I might regret it. Then I suggested that you trade mine in for yours plus 2000. After some tug-of-war, we now have an agreement for a trade-in with 3000 euros. And I still don't agree with that, even though I said I did. The bottom line is that I lose 2500 investment in 3 months and you think that is normal?!, because you also take a loss of 2500 euros. Too bad, but I can't afford that, because then I'd be spending money that isn't mine and that would give me a stomach ache. So I don't understand, why are you taking so much loss? For that money I have to work for 7 weeks and then it is money to live on, I cannot save that. Your car can easily be sold for what you spent and renewed if you provide clear evidence, right? And there too I have my doubts. 1. Why are you taking my car as a trade-in? While yours, as you say, can easily be sold for 7500 in the spring. That is not possible now because the season is over, so you will not be able to sell mine either, I think. You no longer want your car in front of your door, but you do want mine. All you have to do is suspend taxes and insurance, you say, but you don't want to do that because you want money for that other car. And mine, you will suspend it if it is not sold now, the season is over!! I have reread our emails to the extent that I still have them and have come to the conclusion that no matter what I ask you, you do not have a clear answer to anything. Example: when I asked you who you bought the car from in the spring, you told me an unclear story about a company and a large hall where cars were standing that they did things with. You didn't know where or who. That's really vague, only 8 months ago and not knowing who you bought that thing from. The invoices that you have to sort out, but you don't do that while I ask you about them every time, vague promises. And now you can't guarantee me that you have the papers, warranty/invoices regarding the exhaust/tuning as of Saturday. Because they are probably with your accountant. In short, you're stringing me along. I am definitely not buying your car!!!! And I don't want any further contact. Kind regards,

Lawyer

You have bought a car with a trade-in of your old car under the condition that you will inspect the car you bought for the presence of papers and technical condition. This is an obligation that the seller may hold you to. There is a legally valid purchase under conditions.

Lawyer

Either Mrs. Ferwerda is not reading the story properly, or I am not reading it properly. Both are possible, because it is a fairly long story. I believe you write that your counterparty must still see your car before the sale (exchange of car + 3000 euros additional payment on your part) becomes final. If he does not think your car is worth the agreed trade-in price, he can still stop the sale (read: he can terminate the agreement). I cannot gather from your story that there is a condition precedent for you. In principle, you are therefore obliged to honour the agreement. From your story I gather, among other things, that you took a test drive and were therefore given the opportunity to fulfil your duty of investigation. Apparently, at that time the car met your expectations and you entered into the agreement. Your counterparty can hold you to this. I do not gather from your story that you were given an incorrect representation of the facts or that you were forced to enter into the agreement. I therefore do not see termination on the grounds of a defect of intention as possible. Based on the information you provided, I believe that you have no grounds to terminate the agreement.