Want a warranty buy from a dealer.

Want to save a few quid then take on the responsibility yourself.

Want some sort of middle ground then get an AA RAC inspection on the car prior to purchasing and maybe even a private warranty.

How far did you go on the test drive, I have to say that if the test drive of the car was adequate i.e enough to warm up the engine and go high up in the revs a few times to check the synchros on gearchange then the likelihood of a prior fault being masked with thicker engine oil would have to be very low as even with thick oil it would still knock it's tits off at high RPM.

Reminds me of a similar story of a previous member who bought an S2000 and 10 miles down the road the engine decided to destroy itself and throw the bottom end bearing through the sump and crack the block.
Didnt seem any legal ground and he had to splash the cash for a new engine.

I'd say not a hope of this guy getting anywhere legally.

A good few years back I bought a car unseen from a private seller. I went on the guy's description, I knew it had some issues but was told it had an MOT but that it ran fine, just needed new big end shells. Ok, I wanted a project. Car turned up, it was an absolute heap, not represented fairly at all, didn't run, various other issues which the seller didn't say anything about. However, it turned out that it didn't actually have an MOT despite the fact that the seller said it did. The judge didn't give two shits about the car itself or the misrepresentation in the advert - I won the case purely on the fact that it had no MOT in the end when the seller said it did. Nothing else mattered.

As long as you've sold it from a fair advert (which by reading PH yesterday I think you've been perfectly fair) then it's just bad luck unfortunately. I'd go with overeager driving with no experience of the car. We're all guilty of giving a new car a blast as soon as you're out of sight of the seller.

Harsh as it sounds, it's one of the downfalls of buying privately. Every car I sell has 'sold as seen' paperwork or words to that effect. S2000 engines don't just start knocking, either it's got history or the buyer can't drive.

This one?

https://www.s2ki.com/s2000/topic/105...nocking+engine

Bit of an odd thread this but I can see why you have posted it that way.

Legally the seller has no recourse as far as I'm aware.

Morally it's a different story. If you are 100% sure you were unaware of any engine issue then no problems and it's just one of those unfortunate things / the new owner has somehow managed to damage it.

Exactly.

Morally it maybe wrong if you knew about it, legally he has no come back 'sold as seen private' - i think is it in a nutshell really.

the piston heads thread go on for aaages and says pretty much the same thing.

Shame Dan :(.