All -

I recently posted a question about a faulty SAS system on a 1998 V70 I recently purchased from a private seller. The level of degradation of the system left me no doubt that he had a Check Engine light that he cleared prior to the sale. I live in an e-check county and actually have to replace this lousy system to register my car in a week.

Does anyone know of any recourse available to buyers who this happens to? I bought the car through AutoTrader. I know there is risk in buying a used car, but replacing a $500+ system is a lousy thing to stick someone with. He advertised the car like it was a faultless gem.

- Matt

 

pretty much a used car is a used car, and its up to the buyer to check things either by knowing what to look for or taking it to a mechanic or shop for inspection prior to purchase. did you get anything that said " sold as-is" on any paperwork ( bill of sale etc. ) if you did your out of luck... sorry

 

Lemon Laws are sometimes State to state and also the Federal Government have Lemon laws on NEW cars... Normally the manufacturer of that vehicle has 3 tries to fix one certain issue before a "Customre/ Consumer" can then take action under "Lemon Law"! If you bought it USED and the seller wrote on the contract "As Is with all flaw and faults" then he/she is not held accountable as it is a USED car. If the contract doesn't have that written it could be a loop hole, but any court in their right mind will side against the seller since it is Used and one never knows if something will break. If the Seller implied that there was no issue and willingly covered it up, then there is recourse, but that is so far from proving that unfortunately you might be stuck with the Vehicle.

 

You might try whatever version of small claims court you have in your locale.
If you're not in small claims, your overwhelming problem is going to be proving
your case with rules of evidence. The car is 11 years old, and any judge or jury is going to know, just know, that things break. How do you prove the code was cleared just before the sale? I rather doubt the seller is going to admit that to be the case.

For the reason stated by the poster above, this isn't a Lemon Law case since its not a new car & you haven't given the seller 3 chances to repair the problem, either. Lemon laws don't apply to used cars.

A try might be to use his ad against him & argue that you're willing to return the car to the seller if the seller gives you your money back as the transaction failed of what the law calls its "essential purpose". Back it up with a genuine licensed mechanic repair estimate.

Even if you win, however, you still have to collect. That's not always easy.

 

I'll admit I probably overstated the problem in calling the car a lemon, that isn't the case. The sting of a $500+ emissions system was pretty fresh and still very frustrating.

The reason I believe this was hidden is due to the level of degradation of the air pump (motor and impeller full of rusty water and seized) and the fact that I've reset the MIL 3 times (due to other reasons for disconnecting the battery) and this code comes back every time. It just seems incredibly unlikely that this happened the day after I bought the car.

I guess my lesson from this is to invest in a code reader and bring it along when I look at a car. It's pretty dishonest for someone to hide a problem like that. On confrontation he did admit "a couple of years or so ago I was out of town and had the light come on. I went to a dealer and they said that a part of the emissions system went out, that it would not affect the performance of the engine and not to worry about it. So I continued on my trip and never really followed up with it after that."

I can't really go four states away to take the guy to small claims on those grounds, so I guess I take this as lesson learned.

With the shocks replaced, leather conditioned and exterior waxed and with a full load of cargo for moving into my new house, I'm certainly happy with the car. Just not the extra $500 I need to make it legal.

- Matt

 

Ok, well sounds as if a lesson was learned PLUS you now drive a VOlVO..... That's an exellent Idea on bringing a code reader if looking at a car! Never thought of that one. It's pretty ****ty that someone is that shady... Good luck with the car