What is the name of your state? Texas
I am a private party, and I sold my 11 year old car "as is, with no express or implied warranty" per the bill of sale signed by seller and buyer. For whatever reason, the buyer chose NOT to have the car inspected by a mechanic prior to purchasing it.
3 days after the sale, he calls me saying that he had taken it to his mechanic and that the mechanic told him the transmission would need to be "replaced pretty soon". He calls that night saying the transmission "went out", although it is apparently still drivable. The next day, while I was still thinking over what to do, he calls and says the transmission is being replaced at that very moment, and started hinting at taking legal action against me under the lemon law or any other applicable laws unless I pay for half of the transmission.
A couple questions:
1) Does he have a legal leg to stand on here? He had opportunity to take it to a mechanic (we had let other potential buyers do that, of course). He had heard the loud noises when he test drove it - and the loud noises turned out to be the transmission. He did not ask about the noise at all.
2) Am I opening myself up to future "claims" if I do give him some money back? I do feel badly, and want to help out, although not half the cost of the transmission. With his legal threats, however, I feel I'm being bullied into giving him half the cost of the transmission just to make this go away.
3) What sort of document should we sign if I do give him money? I don't want this to set a precedent that he can go on if something goes wrong with the car in a month.
4) Any other advice you can give me for this unpleasant situation? This is the first time I've sold a car and I feel I'm getting in above my head now that things haven't gone smoothly.
Thanks in advance for your help.
I am a private party, and I sold my 11 year old car "as is, with no express or implied warranty" per the bill of sale signed by seller and buyer. For whatever reason, the buyer chose NOT to have the car inspected by a mechanic prior to purchasing it.
3 days after the sale, he calls me saying that he had taken it to his mechanic and that the mechanic told him the transmission would need to be "replaced pretty soon". He calls that night saying the transmission "went out", although it is apparently still drivable. The next day, while I was still thinking over what to do, he calls and says the transmission is being replaced at that very moment, and started hinting at taking legal action against me under the lemon law or any other applicable laws unless I pay for half of the transmission.
A couple questions:
1) Does he have a legal leg to stand on here? He had opportunity to take it to a mechanic (we had let other potential buyers do that, of course). He had heard the loud noises when he test drove it - and the loud noises turned out to be the transmission. He did not ask about the noise at all.
2) Am I opening myself up to future "claims" if I do give him some money back? I do feel badly, and want to help out, although not half the cost of the transmission. With his legal threats, however, I feel I'm being bullied into giving him half the cost of the transmission just to make this go away.
3) What sort of document should we sign if I do give him money? I don't want this to set a precedent that he can go on if something goes wrong with the car in a month.
4) Any other advice you can give me for this unpleasant situation? This is the first time I've sold a car and I feel I'm getting in above my head now that things haven't gone smoothly.
Thanks in advance for your help.
