What would you do?

[AJ]

Actually a dealership would help out not only to save face and avoid a lawsuit, but becuase they are forced to. I believe the law is 30 days on a used vehicle.


Nope. Not on an "as is" sale. They are only liable for those used cars where they may offer some sort of 30 warrenty or something.

[Kracka]

Nope. Not on an "as is" sale. They are only liable for those used cars where they may offer some sort of 30 warrenty or something.

If I remember correctly, back when I was researching this type of thing, dealerships are obligated to provide some sort of help within the first 30 days. It is very possible there was a dollar-value cutoff for this. Maybe Steve will know more. There are a lot of consumer protection laws out there that most people don't know about (and that sellers/retailers won't tell you about).

[ABV]

If I remember correctly, back when I was researching this type of thing, dealerships are obligated to provide some sort of help within the first 30 days. It is very possible there was a dollar-value cutoff for this. Maybe Steve will know more. There are a lot of consumer protection laws out there that most people don't know about (and that sellers/retailers won't tell you about).
I don't know if there is a dollar cut off, but I know there is one for the age and/or mileage of the car. I bought my truck from a dealership. It's a '99 which had 107k miles at the time, and there was no standard warranty because of the mileage.

[Jana]

I'd be interested to know what you found Chris, because less than 30 days after buying my GSX from Brookdale Mitsu the check engine light came on and they wouldn't do squat to help.

Anytime you buy a used car "as is", there is no warranty.

[Kracka]

I could very well be wrong. Too bad we don't have a lawyer on the board :)

[john]

What I find strange is how the car dicided to piss all the oil on the ground and the tranny was acting up. As any responsible seller, I checked the oil before putting it for sale. I even retourqed the head studs. I was suprised in how the car was not low on oil. The only problem I could have forseen with the car is the owner not tunrning on the fan and overheating it. Nothing like what happened. How would the tranny act up? If the engine lost all oil and seised up, how would that affect the tranny?

As far as workin on cars, I hate it. I cannot even do it yet either (doctors orders). I considered parting my 92 when the block went as I did not want to put any time in the car. I have the engine out of my car and will not even have time to touch it until the spring when school is out. As far as diagnosing, I am pretty sure it is seised up. I have not seen the car but if it spilled out all oil and will not crank, that is my guess. Maybe excessive boosting on the car (has boost leak at the IC) caused the turbo to fry and dump the oil??? I have no idea how anything would affect the tranny though. I did my mom a favor in selling the car. I actually wanted to keep it as it ran perfect. Not like I didn't take care of the car at all.

I feel guilty as I have had bad experiences:
-Bought integra for $5000 timing belt and tranny went in the same month. Local dealer, I was screwed.
-92 talon $3900 clutch went at the end of the week. Owner of my works ex-wife was the seller. I paid the $1100 to get it fixed three months later when I had the money.

[Raptor]

I am pretty sure that legally he is under no obligation to help. That does not however mean that he can't be taken to small claims court where verbal comments could be taken into consideration as far as what John told him when he sold it etc. So it is possible that some civil action could be a problem but most people will not go through the hassle etc of filing a claim and the time frame involved.

Besides all the legal issue of liability and otherwise, if the car was truely sold without the thought of screwing the buyer, I do think it would at least be fair to help him troubleshoot the problem. Who did the work on the car? The timing belt, head gasket etc?

[x-pride]

I would just touch base with him on the subject. Since we are all members on here. I don't think it is your fault at all though. You did disclose everthing you knew about the car. He did look at the car and test drove the car before he took ownership of it.

[john]

Who did the work on the car? The timing belt, head gasket etc?

I did all the work myself minus Ryan coming over and throwing the timing belt on and tightening it. It was my 5th and final head swap of year 2004. Not like I am a newbie to it all anymore.

[Raptor]

The question of newbie or not is pretty much a point of perspective I wasn't after. What I am getting at is if one of the things you did as "the mechanic" failed on it prematurely, that should make you more likely to help him and it is possible that it makes you more liable in a civil case as the car was sold with those points mentioned as recent service to promote the sale. I could be wrong on the last part, just a thought to give you as much info as possible to figure out what to do. This is a sad situation for all involved. Even if nothing happens as far as the legal or moral side of things go, it should be one of those lessons everyone learns from as far as clearly defining "as is" and knowing the laws before selling or buying. If anyone finds the true details on what the law states as far as used as is vehicles etc, seller responsibility etc, they should post it up so we can all know for sure.