State: California
I sold my 1993 Ford e-150 Conversion van to a buyer here in California. I'm originally from washington, so the plates are still registered and up to date in Washington (no california platers). I sold the van for $7000, my original asking price was $8200. I haven't been using the van much anymore, so it's been sitting a lot, but the few times i've driven it around, it's run great, no smoke, starts up right away, etc (I don't know much about cars).
The buyer came by and loved it, she has a mechanic look at the vehicle, and ended up finding a few things wrong: oil leaking dripping on the exhaust and causing some smoke (not sure how I'd never noticed, but it was probably because I hadn't driven it any long distances in a while. There were some smaller things as well, but nothing else major. The mechanic said that all the repairs together would run about 3-4k. upon hearing this, I was surprised because I hadn't had any issues or noticed anything, but since I don't know much about cars, I decided that the mechanic probably knew best, so we haggled on bringing the price down because the buyer was still very interested in the van because the interior was so nice (It's a great little camper van and she wanted to save on rent and live in it like so many millennials do these days). I sold it to her for $7000, she came with her dad and they paid me with a personal check, which i was fine with because I trusted them both and I got a photo of his ID (her dad paid the up-front cost).
Fast forward to today, he emails me saying that the first gas station they went to, they noticed a gas leak (this was not noted by the mechanic). He also said that after they noticed the gas leak, they drove it home and it started to smoke (which was exactly what the mechanic said would happen due to the oil leaking onto the exhaust). He says now he wants to return it and offered me $250 to take it back. I'm in a bit of a pickle, because A. He had a mechanic come and look at it and the mechanic told them all the things that were wrong with it. and B. now if I take the van back, it apparently has a ton of issues that all of a sudden popped up once he drove it away from my house. and C. The personal check hasn't cleared, and I'm not sure if he will cancel the check now that he wants to return the van.
I know I have the law on my side, and that California protects me under the lemon law. He knew what was wrong with the van (even though somehow this gas leak wasn't noticed). Does he have any sort of right to ask for a refund? Can he take me to small claims? Would he even have a shot at winning? I obviously was as open and honest with the buyers as possible, but sometimes sh*t happens... I feel bad, but not bad enough to take back a van, that has more issues with it now than it did when it left my driveway. Is there a possibility of this being a scam? I trusted both the young girl and her father, but I've heard of more elaborate scams in my life. What do I do if he cancels the check and doesn't return the van? Who do I report it to? The cops? Craigslist? The bank? Any help is appreciated.
I sold my 1993 Ford e-150 Conversion van to a buyer here in California. I'm originally from washington, so the plates are still registered and up to date in Washington (no california platers). I sold the van for $7000, my original asking price was $8200. I haven't been using the van much anymore, so it's been sitting a lot, but the few times i've driven it around, it's run great, no smoke, starts up right away, etc (I don't know much about cars).
The buyer came by and loved it, she has a mechanic look at the vehicle, and ended up finding a few things wrong: oil leaking dripping on the exhaust and causing some smoke (not sure how I'd never noticed, but it was probably because I hadn't driven it any long distances in a while. There were some smaller things as well, but nothing else major. The mechanic said that all the repairs together would run about 3-4k. upon hearing this, I was surprised because I hadn't had any issues or noticed anything, but since I don't know much about cars, I decided that the mechanic probably knew best, so we haggled on bringing the price down because the buyer was still very interested in the van because the interior was so nice (It's a great little camper van and she wanted to save on rent and live in it like so many millennials do these days). I sold it to her for $7000, she came with her dad and they paid me with a personal check, which i was fine with because I trusted them both and I got a photo of his ID (her dad paid the up-front cost).
Fast forward to today, he emails me saying that the first gas station they went to, they noticed a gas leak (this was not noted by the mechanic). He also said that after they noticed the gas leak, they drove it home and it started to smoke (which was exactly what the mechanic said would happen due to the oil leaking onto the exhaust). He says now he wants to return it and offered me $250 to take it back. I'm in a bit of a pickle, because A. He had a mechanic come and look at it and the mechanic told them all the things that were wrong with it. and B. now if I take the van back, it apparently has a ton of issues that all of a sudden popped up once he drove it away from my house. and C. The personal check hasn't cleared, and I'm not sure if he will cancel the check now that he wants to return the van.
I know I have the law on my side, and that California protects me under the lemon law. He knew what was wrong with the van (even though somehow this gas leak wasn't noticed). Does he have any sort of right to ask for a refund? Can he take me to small claims? Would he even have a shot at winning? I obviously was as open and honest with the buyers as possible, but sometimes sh*t happens... I feel bad, but not bad enough to take back a van, that has more issues with it now than it did when it left my driveway. Is there a possibility of this being a scam? I trusted both the young girl and her father, but I've heard of more elaborate scams in my life. What do I do if he cancels the check and doesn't return the van? Who do I report it to? The cops? Craigslist? The bank? Any help is appreciated.