volleyballgirl
Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Virginia
We just got contacted last week by an attorney threatening to sue for $8000. Here is what happened...
Approximately a year ago my father sold us a very nice, higher end 9.5 year old car. We drove it for approx. 2 months and then late last June it began overheating as soon as you would start car, smoke heavily and all warning lights came on. We took it to a very close dealership and had it tested- Blown head gaskets- cost to fix $3900. We decided after looking at costs that we would use B***D**** (head gasket sealer). My brother had used it in a high end car of his and he was still driving it 6 years later. The product worked- no smoke, no overheating at all, the coolant warning light went off and it ran great. The check engine light never went off and we did not bother taking it anywhere to get it reset. We decided it would be used for our son once he got a license this year. As the summer wore on we began to rethink the plan for our son due to the fact of the high cost for maintenance- just the cost of correct tires was ridiculous and normal stuff like sparkplugs was about $500 due to where they were located.
Late October, after much thought, we decided we were going to sell the car. We ended up listing it on craigslist in November for $5800 -bluebook was $6000... showed it to a few people but didn't sell it. Then in beginning of December the car began to hesitate a little when idling. We had no desire to put money into it so we figured we would get what we get. We lowered the price on craigslist to I think $4200 (can't pull what we listed because it only stays on site for 45 days). We were contacted by a potential buyer who had contacted my husband in November but never was able to get up till last week of December and my husband drove the car about 40 miles to his work so the mid age woman and her 90 year old dad could see car. My Husband said "take it for a test drive and get checked out if you want to". They returned about an hour+ later. They informed my husband when they got back that they had taken the car somewhere and had the codes pulled. She said the codes revealed that something was wrong with the second cylinder and because of that issue along with the check engine light being on and the car hesitating when idling they asked if we were willing to take less. My husband agreed and said to them that "he had no idea at this point what was wrong with it and he wasn't a mechanic so he agreed".
They left and got cash and we sold the vehicle...signed a piece of paper saying sold vehicle to them for $2400- no mention of "as is" but nothing else mentioned as far as the condition either. We also both signed and certified the title along with price.
This past week we received a letter from an attorney representing them saying they were planning on suing us for $8000 for "severe powertrain issues that existed prior to selling but were hidden at time of sale". Also included was a copy of the CARFAX which showed the car being seen at dealership (apparently the CARFAX was pulled or printed off in late January). They also included a faxed copy (sent sometime late January from the service repair supervisor to the buyer) of OUR actual dealership invoice that we were given way back last June which showed the headgaskets were blown and cost for repair ALONG WITH OUR PERSONAL INFORMATION. They are using this to say we hid the issues.
The fact is we fixed the issue and the car was driven almost 2000 more miles AFTER the June headgasket diagnosis until the day it sold to buyer- there is paper proof of this mileage fact. The car was undriveable back in June and was completely driveable when we sold it. The buyer bought the vehicle with the check engine light on and the engine idling more rough than usual. The attorney acknowledges the light on in his letter but says we claimed that light was not a problem and the car had no mechanical issues. I am guessing she will deny the rough idling and the fact that she took it somewhere to get the codes checked and the cylinder results during test drive.
Anyway, thanks for taking the time to weigh in on the matter...would like to know what you would do in our situation...we appreciate it!
We just got contacted last week by an attorney threatening to sue for $8000. Here is what happened...
Approximately a year ago my father sold us a very nice, higher end 9.5 year old car. We drove it for approx. 2 months and then late last June it began overheating as soon as you would start car, smoke heavily and all warning lights came on. We took it to a very close dealership and had it tested- Blown head gaskets- cost to fix $3900. We decided after looking at costs that we would use B***D**** (head gasket sealer). My brother had used it in a high end car of his and he was still driving it 6 years later. The product worked- no smoke, no overheating at all, the coolant warning light went off and it ran great. The check engine light never went off and we did not bother taking it anywhere to get it reset. We decided it would be used for our son once he got a license this year. As the summer wore on we began to rethink the plan for our son due to the fact of the high cost for maintenance- just the cost of correct tires was ridiculous and normal stuff like sparkplugs was about $500 due to where they were located.
Late October, after much thought, we decided we were going to sell the car. We ended up listing it on craigslist in November for $5800 -bluebook was $6000... showed it to a few people but didn't sell it. Then in beginning of December the car began to hesitate a little when idling. We had no desire to put money into it so we figured we would get what we get. We lowered the price on craigslist to I think $4200 (can't pull what we listed because it only stays on site for 45 days). We were contacted by a potential buyer who had contacted my husband in November but never was able to get up till last week of December and my husband drove the car about 40 miles to his work so the mid age woman and her 90 year old dad could see car. My Husband said "take it for a test drive and get checked out if you want to". They returned about an hour+ later. They informed my husband when they got back that they had taken the car somewhere and had the codes pulled. She said the codes revealed that something was wrong with the second cylinder and because of that issue along with the check engine light being on and the car hesitating when idling they asked if we were willing to take less. My husband agreed and said to them that "he had no idea at this point what was wrong with it and he wasn't a mechanic so he agreed".
They left and got cash and we sold the vehicle...signed a piece of paper saying sold vehicle to them for $2400- no mention of "as is" but nothing else mentioned as far as the condition either. We also both signed and certified the title along with price.
This past week we received a letter from an attorney representing them saying they were planning on suing us for $8000 for "severe powertrain issues that existed prior to selling but were hidden at time of sale". Also included was a copy of the CARFAX which showed the car being seen at dealership (apparently the CARFAX was pulled or printed off in late January). They also included a faxed copy (sent sometime late January from the service repair supervisor to the buyer) of OUR actual dealership invoice that we were given way back last June which showed the headgaskets were blown and cost for repair ALONG WITH OUR PERSONAL INFORMATION. They are using this to say we hid the issues.
The fact is we fixed the issue and the car was driven almost 2000 more miles AFTER the June headgasket diagnosis until the day it sold to buyer- there is paper proof of this mileage fact. The car was undriveable back in June and was completely driveable when we sold it. The buyer bought the vehicle with the check engine light on and the engine idling more rough than usual. The attorney acknowledges the light on in his letter but says we claimed that light was not a problem and the car had no mechanical issues. I am guessing she will deny the rough idling and the fact that she took it somewhere to get the codes checked and the cylinder results during test drive.
Anyway, thanks for taking the time to weigh in on the matter...would like to know what you would do in our situation...we appreciate it!