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I don't think you will like this advice, but here goes.....When you have legal problems like this you have to use the law to protect you.......I don't think you have

Just because the van was riddled with damp and you lost money on it that does not mean that you have any cause of action, or gripe, against the original seller. There has to be more...there has to be a legal actionable wrong on the part of the seller.

There is limited information in your post to ascertain whether the dealer did anything wrong in law. You say that he did not make any representation to you that the van was not damp, so in that respect he did nothing wrong.

You do not mention the make or age of the motorhome. I see that you paid £7500 which suggests that it was quite an old van (but I may be wrong). Old vans do have some problems. If the van was, say, 20 years old, I would expect it to have problems. If it was three years old it should be Ok. Somewhere between the two there is a dividing line. If it was so old, a purchaser should be on their guard. Being new to buying a motorhome is not sufficient an argument to circumvent your own obligations as purchasers. Sorry to have to say that, but that is reality.

This does not mean that the dealer may have no culpability. The dealer, from what you say, is selling vans in the course of a business, so his business is regulated by the Sale of Goods Act which means that the van has to be fit for purpose. It has to be free from defects bearing in mind its age. Was the extent of the damp such that the van was not actually fit for purpose? So there may have been a breach of the Sale of Goods Act and, as you have had the van for only two weeks, the law says that you are entitled to have the van taken back and be reimbursed the £7500 under the SOGA.

Your problem, in terms of the legal arguments, are

1. You sold the van because it was not big enough, not because it was riddled with damp.

2. The dealer cannot take the van back so you have denied him the ability to comply with the Act and the Regulations issued under it. As I say you have to use the law to protect yourself i.e. take the van back

3. From your post we do not know what actual representations the Dealer made about the van e.g he may have said it was "in need of attention".

4. The dealer cannot examine the van to check out your allegations.

5. Your loss of £4000 will include some loss because your purchaser made you an offer that included some profit for himself, thus your loss is not the full £4000.

6. The only evidence of being "riddled with damp" (in this post anyway) is the statement from the dealer who was buying your old van.

By all means try and get some of the £4000 back and I wish you luck, but I am afraid the odds are stacked against you.

Phil