i had an m3 for sale a while back,n reg 3.0.had no joy retailing it so i put it on ebay.
a chap from ipswich was interested in buying it and wanted to view the car on a sunday at 9am .could i leave the car cold overnight so he could hear it start up from cold.not a problem,i have nothing to hide.

i told him before coming that i had only the week before had a misfire due to a knackered coil pack unit and that instead of just replacing the one unti i had in fact changed all 6 for peace of mind.the car drove perfect,by the way.

anyway he arrives with his pal who already has an m3!fires it up from cold,no probs.go out for a run,i drive first then let him drive it back to the unit.perfectly happy.spends another half hour looking at this and that then decides he is happy and wants to buy it.i explain that its sold as a trade sale as it is trade money he is buying it for-not a problem.gave him receipt saying as such signed by both.

this was on 27th august.at beginning of september i get a registered letter from him stating he had got the car from me and found it to have been heavy on fuel and had poor throttle response-rather than contacting me he decided to take it to a local"specialist" for them to sort out and to set the steering wheel as it wasnt quite straight.

he got a bill from them dated 28/9/07 for £1543.85 for
changing the exh man gaskets
wheel alignment
new plugs
throttle position switch
adjusted 7 shims for valve clearances
repaired some wiring where they have found the insulation had melted slightly
then;
carried out road test and car still suffered slight hesitation
so
they check fault codes to find a lamda sensor faulty,so they replaced that and all is ok.

not once has he contacted me about this until the letter dropped through the door.
reading between the lines he has took it to his specialist who has tried allsorts to remedy it,then finally realises its a lamda sensor fault.
20 hrs labour-£1057!

he wants me to pay the full amount including the wheel alignment as he feels i should have sorted that out before i sold it.it was that minimal that i didnt even notice it!oh,and he wants me to pay for a new door moulding as the clips had broken on part of it and it popped off when he closed the door-about 8"of it,not completely

basically i have told hime he should have contacted me before doing anything if he was unhappy,not after getting the bill.thus not giving me any opportunity to remedy things through my channels.
he has also suggested that i hadnt fitted the coil packs and new plugs that i had told him.
i have told him that it seems the fault,if any was a lamda sensor so i have offered to pay for that plus fitting £100,which i feel is more than i need to do.
what people dont seem to realise is that us traders have rights too,and thigs have to be done through proper channels.not just send me a letter out of the blue and expect me to jump

daft thing is the car drove mint as i was using it before i sold it.