Liability for Car Damage: What to Do?

Questioner

In September 2014 I bought a used car (built in 2006) from a private seller. Before buying it I took it for a test drive. I noticed that the engine made a growling sound, but that the sound disappeared after I pressed the clutch. According to the private seller this was normal. Last week there was a huge puddle of oil under my car and I called the ANWB. The ANWB took my car to a BOVAG garage. Both the mechanic from the ANWB and the BOVAG garage made the same diagnosis: a nearly broken clutch, causing the gearbox to completely break. According to both, the private seller must have already known that there was something wrong with the clutch; that is also the sound I heard during the test drive. The car has now been repaired and that sound has also gone. The BOVAG mechanic also put it all on paper for someone else, because he thinks that the private seller deliberately sold me a car with a defect in the engine. The mechanic from the ANWB said: "This could have gone completely wrong. You could have had an accident; you really don't want to lose a gearbox on the highway." My question is, can I hold the private seller liable for the damage?

Lawyer

Difficult because you noticed a strange sound and were ultimately satisfied with the answer of a private individual who also has no special technical knowledge of cars. I see reason to have research carried out on this defect more specifically before the sale, but certainly also after the sale if the defect persisted. This argument is used against you by both the seller and a judge. I cannot say with certainty whether that undermines an appeal to fraud or error, even if it could be proven. You could of course try to hold the seller liable, there is always a chance that he will compensate (part of) the damage.