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Private party non as is sale break less than a day

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GeraldG26

Junior Member
South Carolina, I bought a car from a guy who told be it had transmission issues also continued to say it was the filter not even 2 hours after we bought the car it began tapping and ran hot the fan went out I fixed it, 1 hour after that the battery died, the tapping is still there the seller didn't post as is and I told him I wished he was more honest because I do like the car just wished it worked! I was told it was drivable and just needed tlc and tune up and the car would be fine ...not the case , the next day I texted him and told him that I'd like him to pay the tow bill and the new coolant resivoir he told me yo take him to court now I don't want the car and I want compensation for what I've put into it I live in south carolina. ....also the guy didn't inform me that he didn't have a title until he got to me at 8 pm at night when we couldn't see the engine well do i have something to go on or am I just screwed
 


Taxing Matters

Overtaxed Member
also the guy didn't inform me that he didn't have a title until he got to me at 8 pm at night when we couldn't see the engine well do i have something to go on or am I just screwed
If the sale had not been finalized yet when he told you that, what you should have done is simply tell the guy you weren’t going to buy without him having the title in his possession. No excuses. Don’t believe any story a seller spins about him forgetting it and getting it to you later, or whatever. You don’t hand over the money until he has the title in hand to give you when you give him the cash.

Obviously you went through with it anyway. So do you have the title now, or not? If you don’t, what did the guy promise to do to get you title and did you get the promise in writing?

As for the problems with the car, all private used car sales are assumed as is unless the seller expressly offers a warranty, which is very rare. This means that you take the car with whatever problems the car had in it. Never trust the general sales talk of sellers that the car is “fine” or “in good condition.” When buying a used car, even from a dealer, you should always have it inspected by a trusted independent mechanic to get a list of everything wrong with the car and what it will cost to fix unless you are getting it so cheap that you don't care what might be wrong with it. If you don't get the inspection you take the risk that the car will turn out to be a piece of junk.

The one thing the seller cannot do here is commit fraud. If the seller lies about a specific factual representation about the car (e.g. the engine was rebuilt two weeks ago) that is fraud and may allow you to void the contract. But vague general sales puffery like “this is a great car” is essentially opinion isn’t going to set up a good fraud claim.

You may well be out of luck on this. But the details will matter. How much did you spend on this car?
 

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