What is the name of your state? Missouri
We bought this used Ford Focus CX2(?) last June 2006 from a buyer in our state. The seller said that it had been in a small fender bender and had some work done to get it in the state that it was when we bought it. It did not have air bags, had some seat belt problems, but otherwise seemed fine at the time. Since we were buying it for about $2500 under good blue value, we thought we were getting a good deal. We bought it for $2900.
We then took it to the shop and spent an additional $3000 on repairs to correct problems with the CV joints and a bunch of front end issues, likely from the fender bender, and to correct the seat belt problems. We figured at the time that we had bought a used car and that it was our responsibility to get it checked over by a mechanic but did not pursue it. We felt we had fixed the problems and that the car was running very well.
In October of 2006, we moved out into the country and after a 15" snow we decided the car was not suitable for where we lived. It took us 4 days to get out even after the drive way was cleared. So we recently sold the car on Ebay to an Iowa buyer. We disclosed that the car had previous damage, that to the best of our knowledge any structural damage had been fixed by a reputable mechanic (Custom Muffler and the a Ford Dealership), it had passed inspection, and much of what I have mentioned above.
My husband drove it up to the guy for free and noticed no problems on the trip there. Three days later the guy is claiming that the axil is bent, the tires are rubbing, there are electrical problems, and wants to be compensated for it. He bought the car from us for $2750. We knew we would take a pretty big loss on the car but accepted it. He has provided no receipts to verify his claims. His claims seem to change. And frankly, I can not help but feel that the guy is lying about parts of it. His recent claim is that my husband agreed to compensate him for the tires but I know for fact that he did not. Actually regarding this last...first he claimed that my husband agreed to pay for the tires, now it is that he agreed to pay for half of the tires. In another claim he said the car was not running and then that he was going to drive it down and drop it off with our sherriff. He has called about 20 times, left numerous phone messages and emails. And lastly, tonight he called and left about about a 2 minute message cussing my husband out because he told him that the guy should have his lawyer contact us the next time he wanted to communicate with us. Quite honestly, we are feeling a bit intimidated by this man and questioning his stability. The impression that I am getting is that the guy is trying to bully us into compensating his claims as proof that we knew that there was something wrong with the car when we sold it. However, why would we drive it 300 miles if we thought there was a problem or that the car was undrivable? Also, it seems odd that either of the mechanics that we took it to would not have caught the bent axil thing since they were charging us so much to get the car fixed to begin with and then we did not notice any problems when driving it.
We have kept any recorded correspondence and the emails in case this goes to court. The way that the lemon laws in both Iowa and Missouri read, is that used cars are not covered by it, only cars under warranty and new cars. I could be wrong about this though. I guess my questions include:
What legal problems might we anticipate arising from this sale?
Should we get a restraining order in case he turns violent? So far he is just persistent, but with the latest message, my husband has begun to wonder if it is safe to leave me at home. I am a recent breast cancer surviver and have been sick since last November with what I am told is not a recurrence..but it is keeping me out of work anyway. I don't have much energy to defend myself in the instance that this guy might become violent.
Sorry for the long saga.
Thanks for any advice!
Accamaar
We bought this used Ford Focus CX2(?) last June 2006 from a buyer in our state. The seller said that it had been in a small fender bender and had some work done to get it in the state that it was when we bought it. It did not have air bags, had some seat belt problems, but otherwise seemed fine at the time. Since we were buying it for about $2500 under good blue value, we thought we were getting a good deal. We bought it for $2900.
We then took it to the shop and spent an additional $3000 on repairs to correct problems with the CV joints and a bunch of front end issues, likely from the fender bender, and to correct the seat belt problems. We figured at the time that we had bought a used car and that it was our responsibility to get it checked over by a mechanic but did not pursue it. We felt we had fixed the problems and that the car was running very well.
In October of 2006, we moved out into the country and after a 15" snow we decided the car was not suitable for where we lived. It took us 4 days to get out even after the drive way was cleared. So we recently sold the car on Ebay to an Iowa buyer. We disclosed that the car had previous damage, that to the best of our knowledge any structural damage had been fixed by a reputable mechanic (Custom Muffler and the a Ford Dealership), it had passed inspection, and much of what I have mentioned above.
My husband drove it up to the guy for free and noticed no problems on the trip there. Three days later the guy is claiming that the axil is bent, the tires are rubbing, there are electrical problems, and wants to be compensated for it. He bought the car from us for $2750. We knew we would take a pretty big loss on the car but accepted it. He has provided no receipts to verify his claims. His claims seem to change. And frankly, I can not help but feel that the guy is lying about parts of it. His recent claim is that my husband agreed to compensate him for the tires but I know for fact that he did not. Actually regarding this last...first he claimed that my husband agreed to pay for the tires, now it is that he agreed to pay for half of the tires. In another claim he said the car was not running and then that he was going to drive it down and drop it off with our sherriff. He has called about 20 times, left numerous phone messages and emails. And lastly, tonight he called and left about about a 2 minute message cussing my husband out because he told him that the guy should have his lawyer contact us the next time he wanted to communicate with us. Quite honestly, we are feeling a bit intimidated by this man and questioning his stability. The impression that I am getting is that the guy is trying to bully us into compensating his claims as proof that we knew that there was something wrong with the car when we sold it. However, why would we drive it 300 miles if we thought there was a problem or that the car was undrivable? Also, it seems odd that either of the mechanics that we took it to would not have caught the bent axil thing since they were charging us so much to get the car fixed to begin with and then we did not notice any problems when driving it.
We have kept any recorded correspondence and the emails in case this goes to court. The way that the lemon laws in both Iowa and Missouri read, is that used cars are not covered by it, only cars under warranty and new cars. I could be wrong about this though. I guess my questions include:
What legal problems might we anticipate arising from this sale?
Should we get a restraining order in case he turns violent? So far he is just persistent, but with the latest message, my husband has begun to wonder if it is safe to leave me at home. I am a recent breast cancer surviver and have been sick since last November with what I am told is not a recurrence..but it is keeping me out of work anyway. I don't have much energy to defend myself in the instance that this guy might become violent.
Sorry for the long saga.
Thanks for any advice!
Accamaar
