Shit. Just shit. Need lawyer help ASAP.

[JackoliciousLegs]

The guy that just bought my car is claiming that I misrepresented the damage from an accident. He wants his money back.

Here's the deal. The car was in an accident. Showed up on Carfax. previous owner told me no frame damage. I assume no FD. The title is clean. Car is fine for me. All is well. I didn't inspect the records that much. I did notice that the total damage was in excess of 12k. He got hit and hit the car in front of him.

I sold the car under the same assumption. No FD. This guy turns up that the B and C pillars were replaced. Is that part of the frame on E36 M3s? Do I have to give him his money back? Should I fight this in court if it goes there?

Note: I have a recording of him saying that I never withheld anything, I offered records up, and he even decided to skip the PPI.

Shit.

[.RJ]

Ignore it and tell him to sod off, unless there's something in california law that says otherwise. If he turned down all opportunities to inspect the vehicle he cant complain later.

Did you sign a bill of sale? Always, always, always sign a bill of sale that clearly states the car is sold as is with no warranty.

[CaptainHenreh]

Caveat Emptor, carpe diem, sic semper tyrannis and all that.

[JackoliciousLegs]

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[Ole]

did you use any other type of BOS stating "as is"?

[JackoliciousLegs]

Nope. I'll have to look through what I have, but I don't think so.

[Ole]

Could get ugly. However, I have a friend that purchased a car in VA from a guy that lived in MD. The car had a salvage title and the seller never disclosed it. They went to court (my friend without legal rtepresentation) and he lost. He still owns the POS Miata. I know the seller as well, I will never buy or accept anything from him.

I'd tell him that he owns it and see how far it goes.

[Evan]

I got scammed by a guy in PA who rebuilt a salvage car, then moved the title around between states to "wash" the title and free it of the salvage tag.
I talked to a lawyer about it and basically she said I was SOL so I didnt waste time persuing it further to court etc. I ended up selling it at a loss of $300 (and fully disclosing the history of the vehicle) which I took as about the best possible outcome of that scenario and chalked it up to experience.

AFAIK, In most states private party sales are automatically 'as-is'
The buyers responsibility to determine condition,etc etc.

But CA is so funky and might have some kind of "buyers rights" bullshit relieving the buyer of their due-diligence responsibility. Which is probably why you are asking for lawyer help right now :p
(how does it feel to be on the other side of the hippie-liberal stuff? )

but yeah, Id tell him to pound sand

[WRXtranceformed]

Yeah for future reference, always make sure you have your buyer sign something that acknowledges they're buying the car "as is." With that said, because YOU didn't sign something that says the car is completely accident free and you were in full disclosure of all of the information you had access to, I don't see where he would have a leg to stand on in court.

[Sijray21]

usually used cars are sold 'as-is' and as stated before i'd try to find supporting documentation that used cars are sold without warranty and 'as-is'

i think if you have evidence that he denied inspection then you can have a strong argument in court if it even gets that far.

[JackoliciousLegs]

After talking to a lawyer, he's got no shot, but he could waste a lot of money. I talked to the buyer last night and he said that his mechanic said the car was tip top. He's waiting to hear back from a body shop today, but I don't think he's going to do anything. I don't want to waste time and money on this.

[.RJ]

I don't want to waste time and money on this.

Then dont.

Write down all the facts/timeline of the sale, and save it for later. Its not your problem.

[ViPER1313]

I don't get why people freak out if a car has been hit. If it was repaired correctly, why does it matter? Hell, on one trip to Ferrari of Washington the guys in the back were in the process of replacing the entire front clip and frame rails on their Maserati race car - they didn't seem to worried about the procedure when I asked about it either.

[ScottyB]

I don't get why people freak out if a car has been hit.

not so much that its been hit, but that it's been repaired correctly. i have a feeling maserati techs know how to deal with those kind of repairs. your average person may not know how to get access to that kind of quality.

if it's not fixed correctly you could get rust, cracking, you know all that good stuff.

[JackoliciousLegs]

He just called me back. He had it inspected by a body shop and a mechanic. Both said the car is in amazing shape. Repairs were done excellently. No fucking duh. Asshole. At least this shit is done with.

[WRXtranceformed]

Good stuff, at least you know the three big words to include on your Bill of Sale the next time you sell something:

SOLD AS IS

[JackoliciousLegs]

Yeeeup. No returns, refunds, trades, etc.

[Ole]

Glad it worked out for you!

That is what scares me the most about selling cars privately, although I have sold many and never had a problem. I had a friend try to sell his Jeep Grans Cherokee and he got car-jacked.....

[Maengelito]

I had a friend try to sell his Jeep Grans Cherokee and he got car-jacked.....

it didnt turn out to be this guy, did it?

[Mike]