Legal Assistance for Car Purchase Problems

Questioner

Hello, I recently bought an old car with some rust in places. The seller (a private individual) indicated he'd had the car checked at a garage to determine its vehicle safety inspection (MOT). These were minor issues, so the cost wouldn't be too high. We assumed we were aware of all the defects. After buying the car, I took it to the garage. However, it turned out the van had several rotten spots that wouldn't pass its MOT. I hadn't noticed these spots when I bought it, even though they weren't in places you can't see with the naked eye. The cost of repairing this is quite high. The seller indicated they were unaware of this. When they inquired at the garage, they found that nothing was registered about the car. The seller suggested this might be because they had done it for free and no other maintenance had been performed. The seller has proof that he did go to the garage in WhatsApp messages. He also states that the vehicle inspection points were minor and easily manageable. There's no mention of any rotten spots. Based on this, I can conclude that he genuinely knew nothing about it. The garage itself cannot say exactly what was found then. Can I get my money back?

Questioner

You have a duty of care when buying a car. This can be quite extensive with older cars. It would have been incumbent upon you to do so before the purchase. You couldn't have seen the rotten spots and you assume the seller is telling the truth. In principle, you can't simply demand payment based on this. Only if there's evidence of error, fraud, or if a favorable MOT was agreed upon as a condition of the purchase can you hold the seller accountable.