What would you do?

[john]

Here is the deal. I sold my laser on saterday. I had it posted in the for sale section with absolutely every thing I know wrong with the car. I sold it that way so I would have no guilt in selling the car. I was actually disapointed I was getting rid of it because it was a cheap perfect winter car. My mom pushed me to get rid of it as I had 5 cars. I get a call tonight and it sounds like he seised the engine up??? I swear I never had to add one ounce of oil to it as it did not loose any after all the work I put in the car. Here is what he Pmed me about:

this is 4thgenlude AKA charlie, under a new Screen name
Today i was going to drop off the title to my prelude, and as i was going out there, all of a sudden i couldnt shift into 1st gear or 2nd gear at all, so i make it too the highway and shift to 4th and then 5th with out a problem, and all of a sudden the engine dies, instantly, it just cut out, all the electrical stuff worked fine. then i pull over to the side of the road and try to cranck it up but nothing happens, so i pop the hood and notice that theres oil in the front spilled all over the place, but i couldnt find where it was coming from.
Do you know what this is about?
I have put 71.7 miles on this car since i bought it from you yesterday and now its not running,
and now i dont have a car to get to school or work, what can we do here?

What would you do? I have not looked at the car and have no idea how it happened. I do not have doctors clearance yet to even work on cars yet. I go to school full time (19 credits) and work full time. I have no time or money to fix it and I need the money. Please give your opinion.

[gogotsi]

Man, that is a tough call. It's completely up to you, when you sell a used vehicle it's sold as is, with no warranty expressed or implied. You are under no legal obligation to do anything, now ethically.... that's your call.

[john]

I even kept perfect records for the car. Here is a list I have of shit in fixed/replaced in the car. I had a spreadsheet going on my laptop.

11-4-04 118891 Wayzata Mitsubishi Timing belt $60.78
Timing belt adjuster $69.96
Timing Idler pulley $22.58
Timing Idler pulley $28.14
Balance shaft belt $23.22
Balance shaft tensioner $23.38
EGR gasket $1.96
Injector o-rings (4@ $2.18) $8.72
Injector insulators (4@ 1.26) $5.04
Thermostat housing gasket $2.16
Intake manifold gasket $7.78

11-4-04 118891 Already had Head gasket free

11-6-04 118891 Already had Cylinder head with good valves free

11-10-04 118891 Used of internet Two month old battery $40.00

11-10-04 118891 Napa oil filter and oil (Oil Change) $12.22

11-12-05 118891 Conaco Coolant $8.51

11-15-04 118891 Used off internet ECU $75.00

11-20-04 119120 salvage yard alternator $50.00

12-5-04 119240 Bumper-to-Bumper tranny fluid (tranny flush) $5.53

12-08-04 119259 Internet 2.5" Turbo-back exhaust $275.00
Internet TurboXS boost controller $60.00
Internet Intake pipe $45.00

12-8-04 119259 Checker K&N air filter $45.79

[Black97civic]

You sold it "As Is" correct??
You listed every problem you knew of, right??

Not much you can do, guy just ran into some bad luck. If the motor was broken and ready to seize when you sold it, it probably wouldnt make it 70 miles without something minor going wrong before it completely shit the bed.

[john]

My ad is in the for sale section. I was as honest as I could have been. I feel so fucking guilty though.

[gogotsi]

I hear ya man.... I know how you feel. Maybe you can just help him diagnosis/fix the problem. That should help him out, and makes you feel like you did what you could too.

[AJ]

This is the risk you take buying a car with known issues. Selling it used and as is means that once that title is signed over it's done with and you don't have the responsibility anymore.

I can imagine you feel guilty about it and what you do as far as helping him with it if you do any of it is your call. And between you and the new owner. I'd keep as much of it off the site as possible as sometimes others opinions can stir the pot more.

Sure he only put 71 miles on it, but those are 71 miles you have no clue on how it was driven or cared for. For all we know he dumped sand in the engine after he drove it away. Yeah, sure probably didn't happen but at that point it's not your car anymore.

[Jakey]

IMHO opinion, something went on from the time that car left your driveway. I've spent the last seven months working in a Technical Support group and have heard more sob stories about our products failing or not working properly when damn near 100% of the time, it was the customer's own error. I am not saying that something could have been wrong before the car left your driveway John, but the odds are strongly in your favor that something happened post-sale.

[A//// Guy]

I would figure out what happened first, or what went wrong. It seems to me right now from the facts that I would trust John more than the guy that bought it just because I know John and I do not think he would not tell someone about something major like that.

If i had just bought that car and was in that guys position right after I drove it home I would be doing a major check over (leaks, compression, making sure nothing is wrong off site, checking fluid levels etc.) I would not be beating on it right away or taking it on road trips here and there. BUT thats just me... or is it common sense when you just buy a car for 1800 bucks?

Oil doesnt magically disappear. It either burned all up, or a fitting must have came loose, maybe oil cooler connections got loose somehow, I dont know.

All I have to say is that its out of Johns hands as the deal is done.

[AJ]

It doesn't matter what happened. An "as is" sale is just that. Sign the title and drive off and the car is yours. All 4 tires could have came loose and fallen off and it's not John's fault unless it can be proven a direct action to scam the buyer. Chances of that happening with our loveable cars is not good. My advice is for the new guy to spend some cash on a honda.