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Do I have a strong case, bought car on CL and seller admittedly lied?

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808subaru

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Hawaii

Hi everyone,

I just bought a car from a private party on craigslist on March 10; his ad stated that it was a 2006 Subaru legacy Limited wagon;
we test drove it, negotiated over the price and bought it upon reaching an agreement.

however (I know, it's my fault, but I didn't buy a car for quite some time now and I was a little nervous you can say as this was not a small purchase - $7,000) when I tried to purchase insurance on this car online, it showed up as a 2005 model after entering the VIN. I also then after doing some research found out that this was not the limited model that he had advertised, it was only the base model. I am so upset and felt cheated, as the price difference between these 2 is about $1,000 according to kbb;

So I texted and called him for several days with no answer. Until last night (2 days later) and he admitted over the phone that he lied about the year and model purposely to sell it quickly. I was just so mad and upset. I am threatening him to take him to small claims court.

so my question is, do I have a strong case against him if I have recorded our conversation about he admitted that he lied and false-advertised his car purposely? One little twist also is that, the title on the car is not his name, he claims to be his uncle who doesn't live here (Hawaii) anymore and now lives in California; he said I won't have a good case against his uncle since he doesn't live here. I'm not even sure if that's his uncle on the title but he seems a little concerned about that person being used (I was going to just sue whoever's name was on the title, I'm thinking that's my only option), as I figured that's the only reason he got back to me.

I do not have the craigslist ad anymore, as he already has deleted it. I asked craigslist about giving me a copy but they said they can do it only if the request was made by the poster (obviously won't happen), or 'subpoena, court order, search warrant, summons, or similar inquiry'.
does anyone know if small claims court would give a court order to request the ad easily?

anyway, hoping someone can help me and let me know if I have a good case against him (or his uncle)


thank you in advance!
(bummed in Hawaii)
 
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