Question

Joseph wants to sell his car. It is a white Toyota Prado, 2008 model. He has looked after it carefully and it has only done 80,000 kilometers. He thinks a fair price to sell it would be 1.2 million vatu.

On 4 March 2022, Joseph caught up with his sister, Leiwia. He tells her he is thinking of selling his car and buying a brand-new Prado. He's just got a promotion in his job, and he can afford a new car now. Leiwia doesn't have a car. She says to Joseph "well, you know as your sister I don't have a car and I'm sure you want to help me out. How about you give it to me for 200,000 vatu - you know as a favour to your sister!". Thinking that Leiwia is joking, Joseph laughs and goes along with it saying "Haha, yeah sure thing sis!". They say nothing more about it, move on to other conversation and finish their coffees. Joseph did not realise that Leiwia was being very serious, and she has assumed the car is hers.

The next day on 5 March 2022, Joseph puts a notice on the window of his car and on the local supermarket notice board advertising his car for sale. The advertisement states:

"Toyota Prado 2008 model for sale - very good condition, only 80,000 kilometers. Call 7543211 to make a reasonable offer".

On 6 March 2022, Mark sees the advertisement and rings Joseph. He offers to buy the car for 900,000 vatu. This is a lot less than Joseph thinks the car is worth. He replies "1,000,000 vatu is the lowest I can go". Mark says "950,000 then?" Joseph is insulted and doesn't say anything. Mark says, "OK I will pick it up at the end of the week". Joseph hangs up the phone in disgust.

On the same day Jennifer rings and says to Joseph "This is a great model car and I'm willing to pay good money for it. I'm happy to pay 1.1 million vatu". Joseph says, "Hmm I'll have to think about it." Jennifer says, "OK well please let me know in writing if you accept my offer." She gives Joseph her postal address and says she will wait to hear from him.

Later that afternoon, Alice rings and asks Joseph if the car is still available. He says it is. Alice asks Joseph what price he wants to sell the vehicle for. Joseph tells Alice he wants 1.2 million vatu. Alice says she will think about it. Joseph says "OK, but please let me know by 5pm on 8 April because other buyers are interested".

On 7 March 2022, there are no further calls and Joseph is starting to worry that he really needs to sell his car. He has already had a loan for a new car approved and he needs the money from the sale to help with his loan repayments. He decides he will just accept Jennifer's offer. He sends her a letter by post on the afternoon of 7 March 2022. He expects she will receive it the very next day.

On 8 March at 12pm, Alice rings Joseph and tells him that she wants to buy the car. Joseph tells her he is sorry, but he has already sold the car to another person - he says because she took so long to call him back, he had assumed she was no longer interested in the purchase and sold to another person. Alice is disappointed that he didn't wait until the agreed time.

On 10 March, Joseph has still not heard from Jennifer about his letter to her. He decides to give her a call. She is surprised to hear from him and tells him she hasn't received his letter. In the meantime, she has decided not to buy a car after all as she is getting by fine on public transport. She didn't think she needed to tell Joseph this as he was the one who was supposed to contact her.

2

Bitterly disappointed, Joseph hurriedly calls Alice and asks if she is still interested in purchasing the car. She says she is. Joseph is relieved and so they agree that Alice will come around on the morning of the 11th of March and purchase the car.

On the afternoon of 10 March - Mark arrives at Joseph's house with 950,000 vatu cash ready to purchase the car. Joseph tells him that he cannot have the car as Joseph never accepted his offer. Mark is furious and says that Joseph had given him the impression the deal was done.

In the morning of 11 March, Alice turns up to buy the car. As she is preparing to hand over the money to Joseph, Leiwia arrives at Joseph's house. She is shocked to see him selling the car. She starts crying telling Joseph she had relied on the agreement that she could have the car for 200,000. She even borrowed 100,000 vatu from a friend at an interest rate of 10% and now she is going to be in debt. She tells Joseph he will need to pay the interest on her loan because she relied on his promise.

Seeing how upset Leiwia is, Alice decides that Joseph is not a very nice person, and she doesn't want to buy his car after all. She tells him the deal is off.

Joseph does not know if he has a binding agreement with anyone. INSTRUCTIONS Advise Joseph as to the issues that arise out of the following transactions:

Leiwia (4 marks)

Mark (4 marks)

Jennifer (6 marks)

Alice (6 marks)