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.

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.

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.

[Nash]

I had about the same thing happen to me a couple years ago. I bought a Talon that had a "rebuilt motor" in it. About 2 hours later the number one ring went. There was nothing I could do about it. I just had to deal with it.

[Iceman]

I'm sure he was beatin the living crap out of the car every chance he got. I would still help him out though. Or atleast do guide him in the right direction.

[santa]

It's not your fault and you shouldn't worry about it because, you told him "EVERYTHING" that was wrong and you kept records of all the services you performed. Don't let him guilt you into anything... I got f-ed the day I bought my car... I got it running paid for it and a block later it died... I had to towe it home from the middle of minneapolis. I tried to call the guy back once it died, and he never answered his phone. It was litteraly 5 minutes later that it died. I stuck with it though and found out it was a popped alternator fuse. That was my luck though so I feel for this guy because I know how it feels. Thats just the way it goes when you buy a used car. The only way to get a back up with a used car is A: have an agreement with the seller, or B: Buy it from a dealership. I'm going to stop rambling though.....

Kevin

[JDM]

71 miles? 1 Day?

I can ruin a car in at LEAST half that time...

Not your problem... Don't let some jackass try to con you out of your money.

If he was pissed, and it was an honest mistake, don't you think you'd at least get a call, or a visit?

What would YOU do had this happened to you? I would be PISSED...

Call their bluff...

[LightningGSX]

Its sucks for the guy who bought it, but thats the chance you take when you buy a ~13 year old vehicle.If you stated everything you knew about it, you're not responsible and I wouldn't feel guilty about it at all.

[Kracka]

This is a tough call, I'd want to inspect the car and try and figure out what caused the failure. If I concluded it was not his fault I'd probably offer to return half the money or help fix the problem. Honestly, these days you can get a running 4G63 for under $500, maybe offer to buy that for him and let him cover the installation/labor. This almost exact situation happened to me a few years ago, bought a car and 68 miles later the timing belt slipped and destroyed the valves. I purchased it from a well respected woman and she refused to help me. Not only did I loose every ounce of respect for this women, but I also caused to woman a great deal of embarassment, humiliation, and lets just say her career record isn't quite as spotless anymore. I don't like it when people fuck me so I got even with this woman and caused her a whole lot more damage than the purchase price of the car...don't let this happen to you. Offer to help the kid out unless its totally obvious he beat the piss out of it.

At the same time, the prick inside me wants to just say "fuck 'em." This is a very tough call to make and you're really going to have to go off what you feel inside. Not a bad idea to consult with your mother and see what her take on the situation is, like it or not, parents are very wise a lot of the time and really are crucial when tough situations like this arrise.

[Halon]

I don't wanna sound like a dick, but I'd prolly just tell him sorry and you told him all the problems you knew about. If you read his other thread, it sounds like the oil feed line popped off. Who woulda known. He said it died, then he restarted it and drove it some more. Maybe he shoulda payed a lil more attention to that oil pressure gauge before he drove it more after it died once. It's shitty luck, but it happens. He'll just have to deal with it. The first car I bought, got it for a grand. 89 Sable. After like 2 months, the thing didn't hardly want to turn left. Then it blew a headgasket. So I sold it to some mexicans for like 200 bux. I blew a headgasket in my GST in Utah, like 300 miles from Yuma. So I had no choice really except to pay a local mechanic to fix it. Cost me 700 bux, but what can you do, it happens. On the drive home about 3 hours away from the shop, my oil filter came loose, causing my timing belt to slip and busted 5 valves an hour away from Yuma. Shitty luck. But I just dealt with it. I dunno, I feel bad for him, but shit happens. He'll have to deal with it just like I did, and like I'm sure others on here have before too.

[slowHonduh]

Originally Posted by 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.

Werd

You shouldn't just give him the big "fuck you" he's only in high school(i think) so chances are that he was probably beating on it. But some guidance in this matter would really help him out. I mean don't get under the car and fix it or anything like that. Just maybe help him figure out what is wrong with it so he can go from there.

I really don't think the kid is going to try to sue you are anything like that. he probably just wants some help to figure out what is wrong with it so he has some transportation.

[Jana]

Guys, there is no need for name calling, he is a member on this site too.

John, it's up to you to help him or not. When buying a used car, if something goes wrong, it's kind of tough luck. A dealer wouldn't do anything to help, so why would an individual?

[Kracka]

Originally Posted by DSMBitch

. A dealer wouldn't do anything to help, so why would an individual?

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.