What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Alabama
My husband traded in his 1985 Mercedes 380SL for a 2006 BMW at an Alabama car dealer. My husband had bought the car about 1 year earlier from a private individual(an elderly lady) who had owned it since 1987. Cosmetically it was perfect-it needed some mechanical work.He had taken the car to be serviced at a shop that specialized in Mercedes Benz (and specifically older models). They also agreed that the car was in excellent cosmetic condition and repaired all of the mechanical issues that my husband asked them to repair. During the time we owned the car, it was fully insured with USAA(this might be an important note once you read further).
My husband realized it probably did not make sense to have this kind of car when you have 2 children who both want to ride in the convertible-so he went to trade it in on a newer larger BMW he found at a dealer. The dealer took the Mercedes in on trade. About a month after he had traded in the Mercedes and purchased the BMW, the dealer that he had purchased the BMW contacted him and said they were trying to sell the Mercedes to someone and did he know that there was a "salvage title" showing up on the car's carfax from 1986. We had never had a carfax on the car as we had purchased from a private individual and based on physical inspection, the Mercedes mechanic inspection and the fact that our insurance company insured it, did not think we needed one. My husband told the dealer this and the dealer said that the car did look like it had never been in an accident, and they believed that it must have been a mistake.Plus, it was before both my husband and the person he bought it from owned it.That was the only time my husband heard from the dealer.
Today we received a letter from the dealer stating that based on the carfax report that they want us to reimburse them $2500 for the "diminished loss of value".The letter they sent states that in "situations such as this the responsibility for the diminished value of $2500 moves backward through the ownership chain."
The car has never been in an accident-it has had no body work done to it.Plus, why did they not do a carfax before they took it as a trade in?
What legal recourse do we have? I would really love to tell them where they could shove their carfax-but, can I legally?What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?
My husband traded in his 1985 Mercedes 380SL for a 2006 BMW at an Alabama car dealer. My husband had bought the car about 1 year earlier from a private individual(an elderly lady) who had owned it since 1987. Cosmetically it was perfect-it needed some mechanical work.He had taken the car to be serviced at a shop that specialized in Mercedes Benz (and specifically older models). They also agreed that the car was in excellent cosmetic condition and repaired all of the mechanical issues that my husband asked them to repair. During the time we owned the car, it was fully insured with USAA(this might be an important note once you read further).
My husband realized it probably did not make sense to have this kind of car when you have 2 children who both want to ride in the convertible-so he went to trade it in on a newer larger BMW he found at a dealer. The dealer took the Mercedes in on trade. About a month after he had traded in the Mercedes and purchased the BMW, the dealer that he had purchased the BMW contacted him and said they were trying to sell the Mercedes to someone and did he know that there was a "salvage title" showing up on the car's carfax from 1986. We had never had a carfax on the car as we had purchased from a private individual and based on physical inspection, the Mercedes mechanic inspection and the fact that our insurance company insured it, did not think we needed one. My husband told the dealer this and the dealer said that the car did look like it had never been in an accident, and they believed that it must have been a mistake.Plus, it was before both my husband and the person he bought it from owned it.That was the only time my husband heard from the dealer.
Today we received a letter from the dealer stating that based on the carfax report that they want us to reimburse them $2500 for the "diminished loss of value".The letter they sent states that in "situations such as this the responsibility for the diminished value of $2500 moves backward through the ownership chain."
The car has never been in an accident-it has had no body work done to it.Plus, why did they not do a carfax before they took it as a trade in?
What legal recourse do we have? I would really love to tell them where they could shove their carfax-but, can I legally?What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?
