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Buy Here-PayHere-repairs included added to end of balance - Also New owners took over without notificating me.

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msjacks

Member
What is the name of your state? Missouri

I purchased a $4,200 car in 2019 from a small town local used car west of St Louis. The salesman's selling point, for me at least, was the fact that they repair anything on the vehicle and just add it on to the end of the loan balance.

This was/is all done without interest on the 'loan' and I had put $1,000 down on it.

It did need a 'few' repairs. The total for them was $2,000 which included 2 batteries and 2 alternators plus other nonsense.

I took it to be repaired as I had done previously and was told that there was a 'New Owner' and he will not fix my car anymore. I pressured a little and was told to pay myself and get a tune up, and then we will see what needs to be done from there.

So I spent $200 on coils and wires and left with an estimate for $800 to get the car back on the road. I was told no.

So the last issues was the headlights. They go on and off and also the wiring harness. It causes the car to not drive more than 5mph unless started multiple times, or I could have done what owner #1 said and taken the negative terminal off for a half an hour every time I had a problem.

The car has been sitting in my driveway for months now, it will not start, and I owe $200. He has called at least 3 times for it.

So I got my paperwork out and while looking over the contract, I noticed a small box on a page that said the contract will be void if not signed by an agent of the company. It was not signed.

Then is another optional signature line on the buyer's guide that was not signed either, as well as no back page to that which I read in the law was required.

I have contacted him and told him that I expect to be compensated for his buying the company without notifying me, his customer, properly as well as denying repairs to the car. I explained that he was obligated to keep it on the road and via my contract, and he told me no, the of this car was of no concern to him that he is sorry that I have mechanical issues with my car and that the previous owner would be responsible for that?!?

The New Owners did take a couple of payments from me in the old businesses name.

Any suggestions??
 


Just Blue

Senior Member
What is the name of your state? Missouri

I purchased a $4,200 car in 2019 from a small town local used car west of St Louis. The salesman's selling point, for me at least, was the fact that they repair anything on the vehicle and just add it on to the end of the loan balance.

This was/is all done without interest on the 'loan' and I had put $1,000 down on it.

It did need a 'few' repairs. The total for them was $2,000 which included 2 batteries and 2 alternators plus other nonsense.

I took it to be repaired as I had done previously and was told that there was a 'New Owner' and he will not fix my car anymore. I pressured a little and was told to pay myself and get a tune up, and then we will see what needs to be done from there.

So I spent $200 on coils and wires and left with an estimate for $800 to get the car back on the road. I was told no.

So the last issues was the headlights. They go on and off and also the wiring harness. It causes the car to not drive more than 5mph unless started multiple times, or I could have done what owner #1 said and taken the negative terminal off for a half an hour every time I had a problem.

The car has been sitting in my driveway for months now, it will not start, and I owe $200. He has called at least 3 times for it.

So I got my paperwork out and while looking over the contract, I noticed a small box on a page that said the contract will be void if not signed by an agent of the company. It was not signed.

Then is another optional signature line on the buyer's guide that was not signed either, as well as no back page to that which I read in the law was required.

I have contacted him and told him that I expect to be compensated for his buying the company without notifying me, his customer, properly as well as denying repairs to the car. I explained that he was obligated to keep it on the road and via my contract, and he told me no, the of this car was of no concern to him that he is sorry that I have mechanical issues with my car and that the previous owner would be responsible for that?!?

The New Owners did take a couple of payments from me in the old businesses name.

Any suggestions??
I suggest you take the contract to an attorney to find out what your options are. This is like to cost you a couple of hundred dollars.
 

PayrollHRGuy

Senior Member
The salesman's selling point, for me at least, was the fact that they repair anything on the vehicle and just add it on to the end of the loan balance.
Was that in the contract as something they may do or shall do?

The fact that you had any of that makes me assume you bought the car 'As-is' with no warranty.

So I got my paperwork out and while looking over the contract, I noticed a small box on a page that said the contract will be void if not signed by an agent of the company. It was not signed.
I'll bet they (the seller/lender) have a copy where that was signed.

I have contacted him and told him that I expect to be compensated for his buying the company without notifying me, ...
I'll bet there is nothing in your contract requiring them to notify you.

I explained that he was obligated to keep it on the road and via my contract...
This goes back to my first question.
 

LdiJ

Senior Member
What is the name of your state? Missouri

I purchased a $4,200 car in 2019 from a small town local used car west of St Louis. The salesman's selling point, for me at least, was the fact that they repair anything on the vehicle and just add it on to the end of the loan balance.

This was/is all done without interest on the 'loan' and I had put $1,000 down on it.

It did need a 'few' repairs. The total for them was $2,000 which included 2 batteries and 2 alternators plus other nonsense.

I took it to be repaired as I had done previously and was told that there was a 'New Owner' and he will not fix my car anymore. I pressured a little and was told to pay myself and get a tune up, and then we will see what needs to be done from there.

So I spent $200 on coils and wires and left with an estimate for $800 to get the car back on the road. I was told no.

So the last issues was the headlights. They go on and off and also the wiring harness. It causes the car to not drive more than 5mph unless started multiple times, or I could have done what owner #1 said and taken the negative terminal off for a half an hour every time I had a problem.

The car has been sitting in my driveway for months now, it will not start, and I owe $200. He has called at least 3 times for it.

So I got my paperwork out and while looking over the contract, I noticed a small box on a page that said the contract will be void if not signed by an agent of the company. It was not signed.

Then is another optional signature line on the buyer's guide that was not signed either, as well as no back page to that which I read in the law was required.

I have contacted him and told him that I expect to be compensated for his buying the company without notifying me, his customer, properly as well as denying repairs to the car. I explained that he was obligated to keep it on the road and via my contract, and he told me no, the of this car was of no concern to him that he is sorry that I have mechanical issues with my car and that the previous owner would be responsible for that?!?

The New Owners did take a couple of payments from me in the old businesses name.

Any suggestions??
There are two ways that someone can purchase a company. They can purchase the company as a whole, which means they take on both the assets and the liabilities of the company, or they can just do an asset purchase. When doing an asset purchase they generally pay more for the company, but it excludes them from the company's liabilities.

It appears that the new owner is acting as if he just did an asset purchase, but if he also purchased your contract (and he did collect some payments from you and is trying to collect more) I would think that he has to honor the contract in all parts.

You can have an attorney review the contract and see what they think, however, at this point you are going to end up paying for the repairs one way or another, in a relatively short amount of time, so you might be better off in the long run just paying to have the car fixed.
 

msjacks

Member
Was that in the contract as something they may do or shall do?

The fact that you had any of that makes me assume you bought the car 'As-is' with no warranty.



I'll bet they (the seller/lender) have a copy where that was signed.



I'll bet there is nothing in your contract requiring them to notify you.



This goes back to my first question.
Was that in the contract as something they may do or shall do?

The fact that you had any of that makes me assume you bought the car 'As-is' with no warranty.

First, they have/had a verbal warranty, per se. The dealership pays for the parts and the customer gets that plus labor added on to the end of loan. This place has been operating this way for many years.



I'll bet they (the seller/lender) have a copy where that was signed.

They would only if they did it after the fact. I signed, he copied and then put his in a folder.



I'll bet there is nothing in your contract requiring them to notify you.

Lastly, I thought businesses were supposed to notify current customers ?? I did not research so my fault.



This goes back to my first question.
 

LdiJ

Senior Member
You responded inside the quote, so your answer won't be read by many people.

However, the original owner was kind of clever in how he operated. Alot of those dealers never get paid in full because the cars break down long before they are paid off, many of the people who bought them don't have means to fix them, so the owner ends of repo'ing a dead vehicle. By fixing them and tacking it on to the back of the loan, it keeps the cars on the road and keeps the people paying for them. It is quite a clever business model.
It is too bad that the new owner isn't as clever.
 

Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
However, the original owner was kind of clever in how he operated. Alot of those dealers never get paid in full because the cars break down long before they are paid off, many of the people who bought them don't have means to fix them, so the owner ends of repo'ing a dead vehicle. By fixing them and tacking it on to the back of the loan, it keeps the cars on the road and keeps the people paying for them. It is quite a clever business model.
It is too bad that the new owner isn't as clever.
While this might come in to play, I suspect that it wouldn't be the main motivation. No, I suspect that the main motivation is that the dealer can mark up any repairs by any amount they choose, thus adding a greatly inflated amount for the repair to the end of the loan.
 

Just Blue

Senior Member
LdiJ Thank you so much for your input. I do not know what inside the quotes means, unfortunately.

My Example: This is what Ldij was referring to.
Inside the quote means quoting someone and posting your response inside the quote marks. See my bolded script example in the above (^^) quote.
 

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