By Chris: Can you sue if car not sold as-is breaks down?
ok we’re having a baby and saw what we thought was a nice deal on a van. i ran a car-fax on it and it came out clean (even gave me one of those guarantee things). so i figured it was a good buy. I wanted to take it to a mechanic but we didn’t have enough to do both. i did check it out and let it run for a minute, then take it for a test drive. we’ve only used the van to go to the baby appoints and the last time we were out the transmission failed, and the driver-side seat-belt came undone. (actually came apart). when i could finally take it to a mechanic i was told that the van had over 4k in repairs needed. (gave me a printout) Also he said that the problems with the transmission wouldn’t of been noticeable right away because it only starts when it gets hot. so i wouldn’t of noticed it on a test drive.

i researched it some more and remembered that it wasn’t sold as-is, i do have a car-fax and also saw an article that says:

Warranty of Merchantability
The most common type of implied warranty is the warranty of merchantability: The seller promises that the product offered for sale will do what it’s supposed to. That a car will run is an example of a warranty of merchantability. This promise applies to the basic functions of a car. It does not cover everything that could go wrong.

i figured a “basic” function would be the transmission.

So i guess my question would be do i have a case?

(btw forgot to mention its from private seller, and did read something about a full disclosure law?)
@Daniel yes we did ask questions. several in fact. The car-fax we had gotten has questions that your supposed to ask, and we also asked some of our own.
@Lifetime Car Guy: i understand completely which brings us to our problem. We didn’t understand some of the answers he gave us until after the mechanic gave us that list of problems. THEN it made since. So we figured if we just talked to him then maybe we could come to a compromise. We’ve tried calling and his number was changed, wrote emails no answer, same thing with writing a letter. Now if you knew nothing about the problems, why are you trying to hide? and its not buyers remorse. i bought the car so my wife could go to her pregnancy appts and incase of emergency, and the car doesn’t work plain and simple.
@all: im sorry i realized im not being specific enough. i believe he DID know about the problems. my mechanic said that my transmission is in a degraded state, meaning that the problems it has (continual gear slipping) came from someone continuing to drive in it’s condition without getting it repaired. so it got worse and worse until it wouldn’t stay in gear. (to summarize). there’s a list of problems that i could post, and all of them you can’t fail to notice if you’ve had the car as long as he did. (which is what i was told).

my mechanic said he’d be willing to write a statement for court if i wanted to sue, which is why i came here to ask the question.
again after the mechanic told me about the preexisting problem is when i tried to contact the previous owner to no avail (phone, email, snail-mail)
i’ll do what i can but times are rough, specially with my child due any day now. (which is why i go the car) but you can’t win em all i guess.

thanks every1 for your help & feedback

Selected answer:

Answer by Daniel C
Private sellers are indeed required to tell the truth about a vehicle’s condition but only if specifically asked. That is, “has this vehicle ever been wrecked?” or “Are you aware of any major mechanical issues with the engine or driveline?”

Since a private seller is not a garage, nor a professional mechanic, he is not expected to be an expert so “as-is” is implied.

Had you bought from a dealer you’d be in _much_ better shape. As it is… good luck.

You can sue anybody for anything. The question is will you be successful? I’d call it 50/50. The seller will shrug and point to your mechanic’s own words then say “I just drove short trips. I never noticed a problem with the transmission.”

Answer by Dan
The owner may not have known anything about the faulty parts on the car. This is why you have a quality mechanic check out and used car you wanna buy. The thing is you bought the car from him the way that it was. He didnt imply there was any warranty and he doesnt have to give you any warranty. warranties are something dealers use to try and get you into their lots so they can make a sale.

Also, it can take years for certain things to show up on a carfax report. They are by no means a end all be all of the cars service history.

Sounds like you just didnt do enough homework and unfortunately got the short end of the stick this time around.

Answer by Lifetime Car Guy
Unless you can prove that the seller intentionally covered up major problems (and that is almost impossible to do), you will not be successful in your suit.

Whether you purchase a vehicle from a dealer, or private seller, “as-is”, is “as-is”.

If the courts allowed everyone with “buyer’s remorse” to successfully sue the seller, especially used car buyers, the courts would be back-logged for years.

When I was in the business, I saw folks try to return vehicles months after sale, for things such as wiper blade wear, paint blemishes, and tire wear.

Cars break. We all wish that the money spent at the time of the sale would be the last ever needed, but, unfortunately, that is not the case.

Shop around for a cheaper repair price. That is about your only option.

Good luck to you.

http://usedcarsale.com

Answer by n
You bought a car fax instead of having a mechanic look at it ?

LOL

Anyone can sue anyone for anything.

Your chances of winning are slim & none. Your chances of collecting if you were to win (which you wont) are even smaller.

So, it would be throwing good money after bad.

But, look at the bright side. You saved -125 by not having a mechanic look at it before you bought.

“Warranty of Merchantability” is garbage. You bought a car and you own it and its problems. The only question at this point is do you want to waste more money by suing ?

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Statements from your mechanic…after the fact are useless. It appears you are stuck in denial here.

If you would have had the inspection ahead of time, you would have avoided the problem.

You are grasping at straws here looking to blame YOUR mistakes on someone else.

In my state, if you want to sue for 0-00 it costs filing fee. For 00-3000, its 5.

Trust me, that will be a very unsatisfying experience for you.

Best case ? The other party does not show up and you win a default judgement. Chances are high that you will never collect a penny.

So, whats the point of suing ?

Answer by ElGrande
Please clarify on the “wasn’t sold as-is” part. Unless the seller gave you a guarantee in writing, the sale is deemed as-is. All private party sales are as-is unless noted in writing. The Warranty of Merchantability law is not an umbrella clause that covers anything going wrong after point-of-sale.

There is no silver bullet for the buyer. Of course you can take them to court, but you have a very slim chance of winning the case. Anything the seller said during the course of the sale is called “puffery” and holds no water in court.

Courts stick very closely to the “as-is” rule in private party purchases.

Always get it in writing.

Please leave your answer in the comments! Thanks.