Private party car purchase: Said there were no accidents, so did Carfax, all false

[crewkip]

California
Did a search but couldn’t find the much information, maybe I am searching for the wrong thing. I thought this would be a common question.
Long story short, purchased a car about a month ago in Ca.
Carfax report had no accidents reported.
Owner said the car was perfect and had no accidents. I have a witness who heard him say this as she was there when we inspected the car.
Today I find out it was in an accident, was poorly repaired and unsafe to drive. Some damage was fixed, but internally things are not that great.
There was an owner previous to this guy but I do not have any information on him.
The owner I bought the car from has now moved to Australia, his cell number no longer works, but I do have his name, previous address, and registration and insurance cards which he left in the car.
I have a standard DMV bill of sale, it says nothing about AS IS condition but I assume that is implied.
I had the car quoted at an additional $2-3k in damage that needs to be fixed. The damaged that was fixed in a half assed way would have cost in excess of $2-3K. Value of the car is around $14K
Can I sue this guy? Or try to reclaim some of whatever it will take to repair the car to a safe condition? The car truly is a hazard to anyone driving it or around it, the car should not have been sold as perfect condition considering its current state.
I believe this guy knows the accident occurred because I have his receipt for a 4 tire change 20K miles ago, and there is no way those tires would have worn in 20K miles like they did without the accident that caused the miss-alignment of the car.
State is California FYI.
I did fill out Carfax’s buyback guarantee and do have the report that says the car has a clean history.

 

[GA LYNCH MOB]

California

The owner I bought the car from has now moved to Australia, his cell number no longer works, but I do have his name, previous address, and registration and insurance cards which he left in the car.

Can I sue this guy? Or try to reclaim some of whatever it will take to repair the car to a safe condition?

Sure, you can sue the guy. Have a safe trip to Australia. But, before you go to the land of Shrimps and Barbies, look up the phrase, "Caveat Emptor."

IAAL

 

[Trucking Mad]

California
Did a search but couldn’t find the much information, maybe I am searching for the wrong thing. I thought this would be a common question.
Long story short, purchased a car about a month ago in Ca.
Carfax report had no accidents reported.
Owner said the car was perfect and had no accidents. I have a witness who heard him say this as she was there when we inspected the car.
Today I find out it was in an accident, was poorly repaired and unsafe to drive. Some damage was fixed, but internally things are not that great.
There was an owner previous to this guy but I do not have any information on him.
The owner I bought the car from has now moved to Australia, his cell number no longer works, but I do have his name, previous address, and registration and insurance cards which he left in the car.
I have a standard DMV bill of sale, it says nothing about AS IS condition but I assume that is implied.
I had the car quoted at an additional $2-3k in damage that needs to be fixed. The damaged that was fixed in a half assed way would have cost in excess of $2-3K. Value of the car is around $14K
Can I sue this guy? Or try to reclaim some of whatever it will take to repair the car to a safe condition? The car truly is a hazard to anyone driving it or around it, the car should not have been sold as perfect condition considering its current state.
I believe this guy knows the accident occurred because I have his receipt for a 4 tire change 20K miles ago, and there is no way those tires would have worn in 20K miles like they did without the accident that caused the miss-alignment of the car.
State is California FYI.
I did fill out Carfax’s buyback guarantee and do have the report that says the car has a clean history.

Used car, As is, You're the 3rd owner, The 2nd has no knowledge(?) of any accidents to the vehicle. Carfax's has your best recourse, suggest you read the fine print on that guarantee!
You purchase an used auto, typically as-is unless you have something in writing from the seller stating otherwise in conjuction with the bill of sale.

 

[justalayman]

Never dealt with Carfax but they advertise a money back guarantee if they miss something. I would be digging into that as the easiest remedy.

 

[shell007]

A note from experience if interested:

We were involved in a serious accident! Furtunately, we were driving a very large SUV. Police came, made a report, Blah, blah, blah. Anyway...we drove away from the scene of the accident. Found out there was over $14,000.00 worth of property damage to our vehicle once the adjuster and the repair garage looked at it.

We pulled a CarFax about 6 months later (after having the vehicle repaired) to see what it would say. Well...it stated "minor rear-end" damage. Period!!

Come to find out after some investigating that CarFax receives their info. from the police report and nothing more. Therefore...because the car "looked" OK to the state troopers...that is what was reported.

 

[Trucking Mad]

Being Informed

Hind site is 20/20...While this may be a lesson learned for the op..Always when buying a used vehicle from anyone/anywhere/anyplace ask to take the vehicle to be checked by your own mechanic before purchase, it may cost $100. or more but as you can see here it will save you in the long run.

 

[Who's Liable?]

A note from experience if interested:

We were involved in a serious accident! Furtunately, we were driving a very large SUV. Police came, made a report, Blah, blah, blah. Anyway...we drove away from the scene of the accident. Found out there was over $14,000.00 worth of property damage to our vehicle once the adjuster and the repair garage looked at it.

We pulled a CarFax about 6 months later (after having the vehicle repaired) to see what it would say. Well...it stated "minor rear-end" damage. Period!!

Come to find out after some investigating that CarFax receives their info. from the police report and nothing more. Therefore...because the car "looked" OK to the state troopers...that is what was reported.

Carfax is NOT a guaranteed registery of a vehicles history...

ALL information contained in a carfax document is given VOLUNTARILY to carfax... Meaning, if All-state, DMV, private person, doesn't want to tell carfax the car was in an accident, they don't have to...