Purchased used 2001 Oldsmobile Intrigue

[Angelgirl3105]

What is the name of your state? Alabama

My husband and I purchased a 2001 Oldsmobile Intrigue GX for $5000.00 plus tax title,etc on 9/20/06, we took it to a certified mechanic to have it inspected before we bought it. The mechanic reved of the car for a few minutes I guess to check to see if the service ngine light would come on and go off and doing that he said "he didnt want to take our money to do an inspection as the engine and transmission sounded and looked good", but my husband strongly requested an inspection. He gave us what is called a "AAA inspection and gave us the thumbs up saying the car was in good condition except for the three things that he put on the report (needed new wiper blades, needed to replace bulb in tail light, passenger side front tire was low on air) He stated the engine and transmission were in great condition, that there were no leaks of any kind. The dealer (who insisted on coming with us) did tell us the a/c needed servicing, mind you we weren't naive we knew that we would have to do some work to a used car (like oil change, tires/alignment, etc)

After completing the loan with bank, my husband and I along with the dealer went back to his dealership to finish up the last of the paperwork which included an "AS-IS" document.
One day after purchasing the car the "Service Engine Soon". "Change Oil" and "Trac Off" lights all came on and stayed on. I called him back and he said maybe your husband doesnt know how to handle the car yet, basically deflecting the problems as being due to my husbands ineptness. We took the car to a Goodyear mechanic (on 9/23/06) to have the oil change since the dealer wouldn't tell me the mileage when he last had it changed, to have the A/C serviced and to find out why the warning lights were staying on,well as part of a service package deal the mechanic did another inspection of the car and noticed that the rear breaks were low (according pre-purchase inspection report the brakes passed inspection). Yet when he hooked it to a scanner it came back with a P0410 error message (Secondary Air Injection System Malfunction), which he couldn't fixed as he didn't know what type of Air Injection Malfunction. So here we are taking the car to different mechanics to find out if the Engine Light is/will be a major problem (paying more money than we expected in the first week of ownership).

To get to the questions I wanted to ask: Is this car considered a lemon under the lemon law? Are we subject to protection of the Lemon Law here in Alabama even though we signed an As-Is document? Is the problems we're having just due to the fact that its a used car or due to the certified mechanic (the one who did the AAA inspection before purchase) giving us wrong information as to the condition of the car? I also would like to know how can a used car go from passing an inspection one day to having the problems its now having the next?

Just a note this is our first car so we don't know a whole like about cars, except that you should always have an inspection done on a used car before purchase.


Sorry this post is so long.

Angelgirl3105

[moburkes]

It doesn't appear that your vehicle qualifies for lemon law protection since it is not a new vehicle:

Lemon law rights period.

The period ending one year after the date of the original delivery of a motor vehicle to a consumer or the first 12,000 miles of operation, whichever first occurs.

[BL]

Next time have it fully inspected at the Manufactures Certified Dealership , by a Certified Mechanic .

I'd suggest that's where you take it now . I wouldn't spend a whole lot on Labor and repairs though .

Need some tech. feedback ? [url]www.batauto.com[/url] Domestic forum .

[CraigFL]

In spite of your mechanic not doing a thourogh job, he was your agent-acting for you and you are stuck with his inspection. Next time, I would force the issue and pay the money to get the inspection done right or go to someone else. Sometimes you need to tell these mechanics you are willing to pay for this. I paid $300 for the last inspection I had done.

[Angelgirl3105]

Hi,

I have read the replies and the mechanic I used wasnt my mechanic persay, he was a certified mechanic and he was referred to me by others for being an upstanding, honest and fair mechanic. As Ive said before this is our very first car and we opted for a used one as my husband is a new driver. Only thing we can do now since we are stuck with this car is take good care of it and when we finish paying it off hopefully purchase a new car.


Angelgirl3105