What is the name of your state? OHIO
A year ago last week I purchased a 1996 Cadillac Deville for $3,500 from a private seller. We know the seller, but are not close friends, he's an ex-employee of my husbands. It was in excellent condition as far as I knew with a minor hose leak from the radiator according to our mechanic friend who looked over it for us.
Within first month, we had the hose leak repaired.
A couple weeks ago we began smelling fuel very strong, by last week it became so strong that I couldn't roll my window down or use the heat/air while stopped or fumes would flood the inside. Our mechanic friend determined the source was the fuel injector and put the part on order last Saturday. Monday (2 days ago) while picking up my son from track at his school, he got into the car and as I started to accelerate my car was smoking horribly. My first thought was it was suddenly overheated and it had me momentarily perplexed, then I saw huge flames shooting out both sides of the hood! I hollered for him to get out, as I did too, and we called 911. The car is totalled, whole front half melted.
The fire chief stated in his report that the fire was definitely fuel related as fuel was flowing down the parking lot and something about foam necessary due to the amount of fuel at the source. Well, our mechanic friend was headed over to tow the car a few hours after all the horrifying escapade was over and told us he was just informed there was a recall in 2004 for possible fire caused due to fuel line issues on our model car. The person we purchased it from was the owner at the time of the recall.
So I started checking online when I got home and sure enough, he was correct. Right after I purchased the car I had performed research on the coolant smell for a 96 Cadillac Deville on Google; as well as registered at the Cadillac owners website as the new owner, but never saw or was notified of any recall. Upon calling the GM Cadillac HQ they informed me that no one ever brought my specific vehicle in for the necessary, would have been free, repair for the recalled defects.
I know NOW, hindsight is 20/20, I should do specific research for recalls. What is more aggravating is that I even purchased a Car Fax report prior to buying it and there was no information regarding a recall/defect in it either. I don't know if it would normally include it in the first place?
What, if anything, should/could I proceed with? Would GM Cadillac be responsible for informing new owners registered if the car VIN showed the repairs were not done and it was known to suddenly start fire? Would the previous owner be liable for not informing us of such a serious recall not taken care of? Or do we chalk it up to a huge lesson learned?
Please do not respond if you intend to be nasty or downcasting, I am not a sue-happy person, I just want to do what I can and should do. I've never been through anything like this before. Thank you all.
A year ago last week I purchased a 1996 Cadillac Deville for $3,500 from a private seller. We know the seller, but are not close friends, he's an ex-employee of my husbands. It was in excellent condition as far as I knew with a minor hose leak from the radiator according to our mechanic friend who looked over it for us.
Within first month, we had the hose leak repaired.
A couple weeks ago we began smelling fuel very strong, by last week it became so strong that I couldn't roll my window down or use the heat/air while stopped or fumes would flood the inside. Our mechanic friend determined the source was the fuel injector and put the part on order last Saturday. Monday (2 days ago) while picking up my son from track at his school, he got into the car and as I started to accelerate my car was smoking horribly. My first thought was it was suddenly overheated and it had me momentarily perplexed, then I saw huge flames shooting out both sides of the hood! I hollered for him to get out, as I did too, and we called 911. The car is totalled, whole front half melted.
The fire chief stated in his report that the fire was definitely fuel related as fuel was flowing down the parking lot and something about foam necessary due to the amount of fuel at the source. Well, our mechanic friend was headed over to tow the car a few hours after all the horrifying escapade was over and told us he was just informed there was a recall in 2004 for possible fire caused due to fuel line issues on our model car. The person we purchased it from was the owner at the time of the recall.
So I started checking online when I got home and sure enough, he was correct. Right after I purchased the car I had performed research on the coolant smell for a 96 Cadillac Deville on Google; as well as registered at the Cadillac owners website as the new owner, but never saw or was notified of any recall. Upon calling the GM Cadillac HQ they informed me that no one ever brought my specific vehicle in for the necessary, would have been free, repair for the recalled defects.
I know NOW, hindsight is 20/20, I should do specific research for recalls. What is more aggravating is that I even purchased a Car Fax report prior to buying it and there was no information regarding a recall/defect in it either. I don't know if it would normally include it in the first place?
What, if anything, should/could I proceed with? Would GM Cadillac be responsible for informing new owners registered if the car VIN showed the repairs were not done and it was known to suddenly start fire? Would the previous owner be liable for not informing us of such a serious recall not taken care of? Or do we chalk it up to a huge lesson learned?
Please do not respond if you intend to be nasty or downcasting, I am not a sue-happy person, I just want to do what I can and should do. I've never been through anything like this before. Thank you all.
