Sold car-buyer says tranny is broke now

[kirlyq82383]

What is the name of your state? North Carolina

I sold a 1990 Cadillac Deville last month to a couple. They saw the ad on Cragislist, emailed me and asked to come and see it. I had posted on Craigslist that the car was going to need work and did have high mileage with 175,000 on it ( I put all the problems I knew about on there including broken A/C, crack in windshield, exhaust needs fixed, auto lock don't work in back. I said car is being sold AS-IS, and it was being represented to the best of my ability.) When they first emailed me they said they wanted it and they would be over to take it for a test drive. They came and saw it, took for a quick test drive. It was the first time the car had been started in more than a month, and he floored it out of my parking lot. When he came back he said it had a lot of power. The fiance offered me $1100, and i said I wasn't going to take anything less than $1200. I gave them a minute to thing about it, they looked and the engine and decided they were going to buy it.

A week later the man calls me and says they want me to call them asap because they have a question on the car. I called them back and they never returned my phone call. I called them again in another week and the guy answered and said that they can't drive the car because the tranny is slipping. Then he asked me if I was going to help him pay to fix it. I said no, and he said fine I will contact you later. This car has NEVER had a transmission problem. I drove it all the way down to North Carolina from Pennsylvania a month earlier. I drove that car everyday and never ever had a problem.
The guy left me a voicemail yesterday and said that they have an attorney and that their mechanic has found rust in the transmission and the car isn't drivable now. He said he wants me to call him back and that his attorney will contact me?

I'm trying to get the post recovered from Craigslist, because it was deleted once the car was sold. However, what chances do I have winning this case. I didn't misrepresent the car at all, and I think they abused it once they got it. I don't truly believe there is anything wrong with the car, and if there is-they did it. Any ideas???

 

[CraigFL]

It would be nice if you had a written bill of sale showing that the car was bought AS-IS. Most sales of used cars are as-is anyway and it sounds like you had the conversation about it. Unfortunately, buyers can lie/misunderstand and find attorneys that will support them. I would have no further contact with him and wait to see if you get summons to appear in court. If you just sold a used car, you should have nothing to fear...

 

[fairisfair]

unless you expressly offered them some type of a warranty or guarantee, tell them to pound sand.

 

[kirlyq82383]

Yea, the lady actually called me and said that the North Carolina Lemon Law states that the car must be drivable for 6 months after purchase. I can't find anything about that. I thought that Lemon Law only applies to new cars...not a car with 175,000. Obviously there was no expressed warrenty because the car had way tooo many miles on it. I just hope i can get tha document from Craigslist saying the car was sold "as-is"

 

[xylene]

Yea, the lady actually called me and said that the North Carolina Lemon Law states that the car must be drivable for 6 months after purchase. I can't find anything about that. I thought that Lemon Law only applies to new cars...not a car with 175,000. Obviously there was no expressed warrenty because the car had way tooo many miles on it. I just hope i can get tha document from Craigslist saying the car was sold "as-is"

The law applies only to new vehicles sold by a dealer.

Don't talk legal advice from your adversary.


You owe NOTHING.

Don't harp the mileage. or the condition or what you told them or what they found out later.

It was a private party used car sale.

You owe them nothing.

 

[demartian]

Tranny

Not related, sorry. Many years ago, I stupidly took my older car to a quick lube kinda place and they did their thing. Apparently, older cars do get rust in the tranny and if you do just a regular lube on them, that now missing rust causes slips.

What did they expect from a 16 year old car?

 

[fairisfair]

Yea, the lady actually called me and said that the North Carolina Lemon Law states that the car must be drivable for 6 months after purchase. I can't find anything about that. I thought that Lemon Law only applies to new cars...not a car with 175,000. Obviously there was no expressed warrenty because the car had way tooo many miles on it. I just hope i can get tha document from Craigslist saying the car was sold "as-is"

http://autopedia.com/html/LemonLaw/NC_lemonlaw2.html

tell her she is full of baloney.

 

[fairisfair]

Not related, sorry. Many years ago, I stupidly took my older car to a quick lube kinda place and they did their thing. Apparently, older cars do get rust in the tranny and if you do just a regular lube on them, that now missing rust causes slips.

What did they expect from a 16 year old car?

Funny!! I have found in my history of older vehicles, that even washing them will cause problems

 

[kirlyq82383]

So what should i do. She called me and said to contact her lawyer, she gave me her phone number and name. Should I call her or wait to hear from her? Do I need to get a lawyer for something like this? I mean to pay for a lawyer for a small claim like this is kinda ridiculous, but i don't want to mess up anything either...any advice appreciated!

 

[fairisfair]

So what should i do. She called me and said to contact her lawyer, she gave me her phone number and name. Should I call her or wait to hear from her? Do I need to get a lawyer for something like this? I mean to pay for a lawyer for a small claim like this is kinda ridiculous, but i don't want to mess up anything either...any advice appreciated!

She gave you her name, or the name and phone number of her lawyer??

Either way, I would wait to be contacted. I can't imagine any reputable attorney trying to take this case.

 

[demartian]

Costs

They only paid $1,200 for the car, what do they expect to get from you even if this DID go to court?

 

[kirlyq82383]

Well, it sounds like they want all their money returned. However, it's hard for me to believe that the tranny is broken. When they took it for a test drive if anything was wrong-especially something like that it, you think it would be obvious since the car has been sitting for a month. But they didn't contact me again until a week after they bought the car. And now it's been over a month and they want their money back.

I guess I'm nervous because I don't have any proof showing that the car was sold "as-is" unless I can get that posting from craigslist sent to me. OTherwise, it's my word against theirs.

The other thing that makes me mad, is that they practically bought the car without looking at it. The lady was going to just come and get it, and i think her fiancee came with her just to take a quick look at it. It's just frustrating! I would NOT sell a car to someone that had tranny problems. I'm not that kind of person.

 

[fairisfair]

Well, it sounds like they want all their money returned. However, it's hard for me to believe that the tranny is broken. When they took it for a test drive if anything was wrong-especially something like that it, you think it would be obvious since the car has been sitting for a month. But they didn't contact me again until a week after they bought the car. And now it's been over a month and they want their money back.

I guess I'm nervous because I don't have any proof showing that the car was sold "as-is" unless I can get that posting from craigslist sent to me. OTherwise, it's my word against theirs.

The other thing that makes me mad, is that they practically bought the car without looking at it. The lady was going to just come and get it, and i think her fiancee came with her just to take a quick look at it. It's just frustrating! I would NOT sell a car to someone that had tranny problems. I'm not that kind of person.

All used cars are sold "as is" unless an additional warranty or guarantee is offered. That is why the lemon laws (in most if not all states) don't cover them. They will be the ones to prove that there was some type of warranty expressed, you don't have to prove that there wasn't.

I think you are worrying way too much about something that is probably never going to be an issue.

Again, whose number did she give you, her own, or her attorneys??

 

[fairisfair]

http://www.newsobserver.com/104/story/487421.html

for your reading pleasure.

 

[kirlyq82383]

She gave me her "supposed" attorneys number . But i called the bar association which i guess all attorney's have to register with, and they didn't have her name. So, I think it's a friend who is going to pretend to be an attorney over the phone and scare me.

I am kinda freakin out...i know. I mean everyone keeps telling me now to worry, but I can't help it.

Hey thanks for the article though, that make me feel a lot better!