onesocksid
Junior Member
I am in California
We were buying a vehicle from a private seller. On Wednesday night we met with the seller and viewed the vehicle. We agreed on a price and made an offer on the vehicle. To show good faith we left a deposit of $300. We made arrangements to exchange the vehicle for the funds at 6pm the next evening, Thursday night. Apparently immediately after we left the seller went and purchased another new vehicle for him.
The following day, Thursday, we withdrew the funds from our bank as we agreed...half in a cashier’s check and the other half in cash. At 6pm I called the seller to inform him that we were on our way to make the exchange. The seller informed me that the vehicle was not ready for delivery. The vehicle was at the tire shop being worked on. The seller was having the wheels and tires from his new vehicle swapped out with the wheels and tires on the vehicle we were supposed to purchase. We were aware that this was going to happen, it was in the vehicle listing that the vehicle being sold would have new wheels and tires of a different brand on the vehicle, but it was supposed to have been done already.
The seller informed us that the vehicle was not going to be ready that night and would not be available until the next day. Apparently the new Acura wheels did not fit properly on the Lexus and had to be modified to fit with spacers. This was not something we originally agreed upon nor was I very comfortable with the fact that the wheels needed to be modified to fit. The tire shop would not let the owner drive away with the vehicle in that state. Reluctantly we still agreed to buy the vehicle and asked if we could pick it up the following morning. The seller stated that it would still not be ready until the afternoon.
On Friday at 4:30 pm, nearly 24 hours after the seller originally agreed to deliver the vehicle, we called the seller to make the exchange. Once again the seller informed us that the vehicle was not ready for delivery and still needed more work to be done on it. After an hour of talking it over with my wife and researching wheel spacers and the possible effects that they could have on the integrity and safety of the vehicle I sent a text message to the seller stating that we were no longer interested in the vehicle. I tried to call several times and it went right to voicemail. Finally at 6:30pm the seller called me back to tell me that the vehicle was almost ready to be picked up...I explained our frustrations and concerns and told him we no longer wanted the vehicle.
The seller has since filed suit on the grounds of a detrimental reliance based on promissory estoppels. According to the seller he would not have purchased his new vehicle had we not promised to buy his old vehicle. We did everything that we promised to do...we had the money when we said we would and we gave him two days to prepare the vehicle for delivery and he was not able to uphold his own obligations of delivering the vehicle. Also the fact that the new wheels needed to be modified in order to fit was never discussed...if it had been we never would have made the offer.
Does he have a case? If so can we still be forced to buy the vehicle?
We were buying a vehicle from a private seller. On Wednesday night we met with the seller and viewed the vehicle. We agreed on a price and made an offer on the vehicle. To show good faith we left a deposit of $300. We made arrangements to exchange the vehicle for the funds at 6pm the next evening, Thursday night. Apparently immediately after we left the seller went and purchased another new vehicle for him.
The following day, Thursday, we withdrew the funds from our bank as we agreed...half in a cashier’s check and the other half in cash. At 6pm I called the seller to inform him that we were on our way to make the exchange. The seller informed me that the vehicle was not ready for delivery. The vehicle was at the tire shop being worked on. The seller was having the wheels and tires from his new vehicle swapped out with the wheels and tires on the vehicle we were supposed to purchase. We were aware that this was going to happen, it was in the vehicle listing that the vehicle being sold would have new wheels and tires of a different brand on the vehicle, but it was supposed to have been done already.
The seller informed us that the vehicle was not going to be ready that night and would not be available until the next day. Apparently the new Acura wheels did not fit properly on the Lexus and had to be modified to fit with spacers. This was not something we originally agreed upon nor was I very comfortable with the fact that the wheels needed to be modified to fit. The tire shop would not let the owner drive away with the vehicle in that state. Reluctantly we still agreed to buy the vehicle and asked if we could pick it up the following morning. The seller stated that it would still not be ready until the afternoon.
On Friday at 4:30 pm, nearly 24 hours after the seller originally agreed to deliver the vehicle, we called the seller to make the exchange. Once again the seller informed us that the vehicle was not ready for delivery and still needed more work to be done on it. After an hour of talking it over with my wife and researching wheel spacers and the possible effects that they could have on the integrity and safety of the vehicle I sent a text message to the seller stating that we were no longer interested in the vehicle. I tried to call several times and it went right to voicemail. Finally at 6:30pm the seller called me back to tell me that the vehicle was almost ready to be picked up...I explained our frustrations and concerns and told him we no longer wanted the vehicle.
The seller has since filed suit on the grounds of a detrimental reliance based on promissory estoppels. According to the seller he would not have purchased his new vehicle had we not promised to buy his old vehicle. We did everything that we promised to do...we had the money when we said we would and we gave him two days to prepare the vehicle for delivery and he was not able to uphold his own obligations of delivering the vehicle. Also the fact that the new wheels needed to be modified in order to fit was never discussed...if it had been we never would have made the offer.
Does he have a case? If so can we still be forced to buy the vehicle?