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I sold my car and now the buyer wants his money back

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crystalblue

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? Colorado

I recently sold my vehicle privately thru a craigslist ad. The buyer and his dad came and inspected it, took it for a test drive, asked me all kinds of questions including the mpg it got. I told him what I have always gotten while driving it. We negotiated the price. He paid part in cash and part in check. I assigned the title to him, he signed it plus the bill of sale. Now, a week later, he calls me back and says that he is not getting the mpg that I stated that I got, in fact he's getting about half of that and has the records to prove it. He wants to return the vehicle to me and get his money back. I told him that I do not want the vehicle back and if he is unhappy with it, his option is to sell it himself. He said he would be taking me to court because he feels that I lied to him about the mpg. I have no records to prove the mpg that I had been getting. Does he have a case? and, if so, what are his chances at being successful? This would be handled in small claims court.
 
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CraigFL

Member
This is an "as-is" sale and I'm sure you made no warranties as to the mpg of the car. You certainly can tell him what you got when you were driving it but his mpg would vary based on how he is driving it. Right now, none of this is important because he bought it as-is. Unfortunately, he can call you to court to try to prove his case but he will probably lose and have to pay for the court costs too. It is also unfortunate that he will waste your time doing this and you will be uncompensated.
 
Interesting how this buyer had to bring his father with him--must have just purchased his first car!

I'll bet you got better MPG simply because you weren't speeding all the time, like the car's new owner probably is! I say, he deserves to get low gas mileage if he's causing the problem.

I don't think he has a case at all. That doesn't matter though. He can still take you to court, but I doubt he could win anything, considering the pettiness of his claims and the fact he's likely producing the results he's getting.

He has signed all the paperwork making the car his, so it's his problem, not yours.
 

Ozark_Sophist

Senior Member
I drove to Cali with a friend. When she drove, we averaged 31 mpg. When I drove, we averaged 19 mpg. I drove 40 mph on average faster than her. Since it was highway miles, it was not quite half her mpg. In town, it might have been.
 

nessonma

Junior Member
Also, you allowed him to test drive the vehicle so any claims about his lack of knowledge about mpg are negated.
 

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