Bought a lemon Private Party

[pissycowgirl]

i live in California. I just bought a '87 4runner on 11/6/09 for 2500. since we bought it we have had to put new breaks, rotors, and a new gasket on the engine, for a total of about 200 in parts. we havent smogged it yet but the seller told us it was smogged a year ago and passed just fine. yesterday the engine blew up. is there any kind of law that protects us? all i want is my money back and to give them back this piece of crap they sold us. Please respond with any advice or opinions

 

[Antigone*]

I just bought a '87 4runner on 11/6/09 for 2500. since we bought it we have had to put new breaks, rotors, and a new gasket on the engine, for a total of about 200 in parts. we havent smogged it yet but the seller told us it was smogged a year ago and passed just fine. yesterday the engine blew up. is there any kind of law that protects us? all i want is my money back and to give them back this piece of crap they sold us. Please respond with any advice or opinions

US Law Only

But in any event, you should have had the car inspected prior to purchasing it. You also blew it by not smogging the car prior to the enging blowing...now you'll never know.

You didn't protect yourself, sorry but this is your loss.

 

[Mass_Shyster]

I just bought a '87 4runner on 11/6/09 for 2500. since we bought it we have had to put new breaks, rotors, and a new gasket on the engine, for a total of about 200 in parts. we havent smogged it yet but the seller told us it was smogged a year ago and passed just fine. yesterday the engine blew up. is there any kind of law that protects us? all i want is my money back and to give them back this piece of crap they sold us. Please respond with any advice or opinions

Sure, under Massachusetts law, the seller is required by law to insure it passes inspection. Because is it an 87 model year, it is not required to pass emissions. Simply send him a 93a demand letter. If he doesn't respond within 30 days, take him to small claims court. Under MGL Chapter 93a, you're entitled to multiple damages.

Note: Since you intentionally deleted the question asking for your state, I answered for Massachusetts. If you don't live in Massachusetts, you should move.

 

[LdiJ]

Sure, under Massachusetts law, the seller is required by law to insure it passes inspection. Because is it an 87 model year, it is not required to pass emissions. Simply send him a 93a demand letter. If he doesn't respond within 30 days, take him to small claims court. Under MGL Chapter 93a, you're entitled to multiple damages.

Note: Since you intentionally deleted the question asking for your state, I answered for Massachusetts. If you don't live in Massachusetts, you should move.

Since his first sentence stated that he lives in California, I don't think that your advice is very helpful.

 

[Zigner]

Our OP kinda screwed himself by not getting the car transferred to his name in the required time period. Now, seller will claim that the OP destroyed the engine. Furthermore, all the OP would be entitled to is the cost of a SMOG certificate (Currently, that's about $8.25)

 

[Zigner]

Since his first sentence stated that he lives in California, I don't think that your advice is very helpful.

OP didn't answer it until adding it in an edit later...

 

[Mass_Shyster]

Since his first sentence stated that he lives in California, I don't think that your advice is very helpful.

The first sentence was added 20 minutes after I replied.

 

[smorr]

Person who posted about the lemon law in Mass?? .... Here's what it says about Massachusetts Lemon Law. The key words here are "and can prove"....

The Used Vehicle Warranty Law requires private party sellers to inform buyers about any and all known defects which impair the safety or substantially impair the use of the vehicle. The law applies to all private party sales regardless of sales price or mileage. If the buyer discover a defect that impairs the vehicle’s safety or substantially impairs the use, and can prove that the seller knew about the defect but failed to disclose it, the buyer may cancel the sale within thirty days of purchase. The seller must refund the amount the buyer paid for the vehicle, less 15 cents per mile of use.

Obviously, this doesn't apply to California unless their laws are similar.

However, I can tell you that if the "gasket" you put on the engine was a head gasket, it should have been pretty obvious the first time you drove it if that's what the engine needed since it would have nearly overheated (if not actually overheated). How much mileage was on this? The repair shop should have (hopefully) given you some sort of warranty on their workmanship, regardless of what they did. If this was a head gasket and you can prove the workmanship was shoddy, you may have a shot at the repairman or the shop to sue there instead.

 

[Zigner]

Person who posted about the lemon law in Mass?? .... Here's what it says about Massachusetts Lemon Law. The key words here are "and can prove"....

The Used Vehicle Warranty Law requires private party sellers to inform buyers about any and all known defects which impair the safety or substantially impair the use of the vehicle. The law applies to all private party sales regardless of sales price or mileage. If the buyer discover a defect that impairs the vehicle’s safety or substantially impairs the use, and can prove that the seller knew about the defect but failed to disclose it, the buyer may cancel the sale within thirty days of purchase. The seller must refund the amount the buyer paid for the vehicle, less 15 cents per mile of use.

Obviously, this doesn't apply to California unless their laws are similar.

To be clear, this does NOT apply in California

 

[Country Living]

The car is 22 years old (1987 vehicle) X (on average) 12,000 miles a year = 264,000 miles. That's a lot of miles not to need some serious maintenance.