Car Sale

sandeep_singh said:

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? California
I sold my car few days back via craigslist and in the advertisement , I had mentioned that the car is in great condition as the major maintenance like timing belt etc had been done on it and it never gave me any problems . I have similar feedback from the previous owner in writing . but the private party to whom I sold the car found some problems after buying the car . He had bought the car AS-IS after inspection from the mechanic who also certified that the car is in great condition . he is threatening to sue to me because I advertised the car incorrectly because it was not in great condition and needed major repairs . Does he have any case against me ? I think not but I want to be sure .

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sandeep_singh said:

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? California
I sold my car few days back via craigslist and in the advertisement , I had mentioned that the car is in great condition as the major maintenance like timing belt etc had been done on it and it never gave me any problems . I have similar feedback from the previous owner in writing . but the private party to whom I sold the car found some problems after buying the car . He had bought the car AS-IS after inspection from the mechanic who also certified that the car is in great condition . he is threatening to sue to me because I advertised the car incorrectly because it was not in great condition and needed major repairs . Does he have any case against me ? I think not but I want to be sure .

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BL said:

Did you note AS-IS on the sales receipt ?

If not , the court could go either way .

What kind of major problems ?

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The bill of sale did mention AS-IS and he would be responsible for all repairs after buying the car

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BL said:

Well I had a Judge/arbitrator almost go my way , except for the slip of my tongue over a sale Advertised is Excellent condition w/ AS-Is on the sales receipt .

He asked me what I thought as-is meant .

I said I know what as-is usually means , but I bought it as-is it was advertised as .

I couldn't have been in great condition , valves on just one cyl . don't just get burnt out in 120 miles.

As I said , it could go either way .



Did the receipt state all of this ?

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sandeep_singh said:

Well for me AS-IS meant that the present state of the car after mechanic inspected the car . Yes , the Bill of Sale mentioned that the the buyer would be buying the car AS-IS and would be responsible for all liabilities of the car from today onwards . Obviously the Bill of Sale does not mention about the valve problem because I myself did not knew about the problem . For me the car ran fine without any problems so I advertised in great condition.
But my point would be what is the guarantee that the car could not develop any problem during the 120 mile drive . The mechanic did also mention also that the car is in great condition . if he had bought the car without mechanic's inspection I would have agreed to the problem but once its certified by the mechanic then its a different matter altogether . Afterall he did not belive on the advertisement and got the car inspected anyways.

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BL said:

I'm sure the mechanics inspection wasn't a thorough one that would determine a burnt valves on one cyl. .

Even mechanics can miss something on insp.

What proof has the buyer offered , and how is the issue effecting the buyer .

Emissions , smoke/smog , engine missing/skipping , what ?

Obviously , if it won't pass inspection , it wasn't a great car .

Also, there's a difference between mechanics , and auto safety inspectors/inspections .

You do not give any details .

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sandeep_singh said:

The mechanic took almost 2.5 hours to do the inspection and he was a AAA approved auto mechanic of his choice . If this is not thorough then I am not sure what thorough means . He drove the car , did numerous tests on the car and did a smog like test also , checked the wires , tires , fuses etc . The inspection costed more than 100$ . The only thing he found not good was the battery for which I paid the buyer .

But there is a possibility that he may have missed something . Nothing can be perfect in this world .
The buyer did tell me that the auto shop had reimbursed the money but I do not know if thats true .

Regarding additional details :
The buyer sent an estimate and then final bill of the repairs . He spend 1300 on the repairs . he got inspection done from another mechanic who did a compression test where the problem was found . He had to get the cylinder repaired and after that did a smog test too . He is demanding money from me now .
Regarding smog , the certificate was given to him . the car had successful smog inspection done and certificate was valid and did not expire . I was given the certificate when i bought the car and it will still valid as I sold the car within 90 days . According to the DMV the smog inspections are valid for 90 days and seller does not have to get it smogged . I sold the car within 90 days. I had givent he smog certificate to the seller .
I had done some repairs on the car , the receipts of which I had given to the buyer .
My mechanic had replace front half chevs ( of chefs , pardon my spelling ) , cleaned the valves because a lot of carbon had deposited on it , did oil change .

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BL said:

Great , this is pertinent info. you should have posted in the beginning .

You sold it as-is , with a passed good inspection , not knowing these defects existed , and his/her mechanic said the auto was OK .

Tell the buyer that's his/her problem not yours .

Half-shafts ..

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