Used car, dealer never told me

[peaches109]

i bought a 97 used car in 2000. I had it for a yr. I went to trade it in and i was told that it had frame work done on it and it was in some kind of accident. i was never informed of this by the dealer i bought it from. now i know it is against the law for them not enforming me about it. how can i find out the actual law on that? and where should i go from here?

writing from New Jersey

 

[racer72]

Did you have the car inspected by a mechanic before you purchased it? And it was possible the dealer did not know of the damage too. Federal and state lemon laws do not apply on used cars such as yours. You may wish to talk to a local attorney but finding one willing to seek litigation may be difficult in your case.

 

[JETX]

You said, "i know it is against the law for them not enforming me about it".

I doubt that there is any law requiring that a seller of any used car disclose its prior history, unless a statement to the contrary is made. Would you please provide some support for you claim of this notice being required???

The online website for reviewing NJ statutes is currently not available (apparent server problems on their end) so I am not able to review the current statutes. The only related site that I was able to find indicates some specific rules for the NJ used car lemon law, but there appear to be a lot of exceptions and caveats. For example, was your car purchased 'as is'?? If so, that would limit some of your normal rights.
http://www.lemonlawclaims.com/usedcarcases.htm

Also, don't just settle for 'the lemon law' as your only recourse. This may very well be better regulated as a consumer fraud issue, if you can show that the dealer knew, or should have known, of the prior damage.