Picked up a beater to flip

[CKN]

Originally Posted By: Nick1994
The mechanic probably found typical problems of 16 year old $1200 250,000 mile cars, like a little play in steering system, a seeping oil pan gasket, brake pads only at 1/2 pad, tires getting old, struts that are tired, etc. and then she doesn't want to keep the car.

I know I didn't sell some big lemon, it ran and drove great. I never had a CEL with it but I didn't put many miles on it. Maybe 30 miles total.




We can disagree on what you sold. Hope you sleep well tonight.

 

[Nick1994]

I will sleep just fine. I know what I sold, it was a pretty solid car. I considered keeping it.

 

[Wolf359]

Originally Posted By: Nick1994
I told her when she showed up that the "Security" light just came on and that it hadn't been on before. She didn't care. Told her gas gauge was broken and she saw the "low tire pressure" warning coming on.

Arizona cars are sold as is.

I have a bill of sale that I use when selling every car, it specifically states that the vehicle is sold in "AS-IS" condition. Her signature is on it and so is mine.

She didn't tell me what the mechanic found, but I'm guessing the CEL must have been for the gas cap, it was a generic one and didn't really fit well.


Some states are better than others. There's always the implied warranty of merchantability, some states don't let you sell the car as is and it has to pass inspection, I think some try to get away with it by selling the car as parts, but when it goes in front of a judge, it doesn't fly. But you're probably safe in your state as it doesn't apply to private party sales and it's a cheap car.

 

[RooflessVW]

This is funny.

I could have sold the piece WITH a CEL on for $10k and then slept well at night. Sounds like you represented the car and it's problems well enough.

When I sell a car I don't tell them anything unless they ask. Once the title is signed over in my state I legally have no more responsibility. No warranties from me, expressed or implied... That's what "as-is" means.

Caveat emptor.

 

[KrisZ]

WTH is wrong with people? OP sold the car "as is" told the buyer it is "as is", disclosed the problems and potential problems, what else do you want from him? What's with the guilt trip and the holier than thou attitude?

 

[deanm11]

Originally Posted By: KrisZ
WTH is wrong with people? OP sold the car "as is" told the buyer it is "as is", disclosed the problems and potential problems, what else do you want from him? What's with the guilt trip and the holier than thou attitude?


Agreed. And I'm ok with the few posts above approach of 'I don't tell if they don't ask' too. If they ask explicitly about something and you don't give a truthful answer, that's a different story and wrong. No indication of anything like that by the OP whatsoever.

 

[aquariuscsm]

Tell to come back and you'll fix it for her:

 

[supton]

As-is is as-is. Not sure why it'd be anything else. Old car, well used.

 

[CKN]

Originally Posted By: supton
As-is is as-is. Not sure why it'd be anything else. Old car, well used.
-destined for the crusher where it belongs-because if you can't DIYS it's not economical to keep it on the road. It's the reason it was where it was to begin with-and should have been left there.

 

[Nick1994]

I've got a family friend who buys and sells his personal cars all the time at auctions, he doesn't want to deal with buying and selling from people. He's done this for 40 years.

Until you've seen the car I sold in person, you can't say it was destined for the crusher. It was a decent car.

 

[CKN]

Originally Posted By: Nick1994
I've got a family friend who buys and sells his personal cars all the time at auctions, he doesn't want to deal with buying and selling from people. He's done this for 40 years.

Until you've seen the car I sold in person, you can't say it was destined for the crusher. It was a decent car.

It was so decent-with a laundry list of things wrong (per her mechanic)-that the young lady who purchased it from you-wanted to return it. Yes-it takes a pretty picture-but was a money pit after YOU SOLD IT.

 

[RooflessVW]

Originally Posted By: CKN
It was so decent-with a laundry list of things wrong (per her mechanic)-that the young lady who purchased it from you-wanted to return it. Yes-it takes a pretty picture-but was a money pit after YOU SOLD IT.

He accurately represented the vehicle and SHE BOUGHT IT. Caveat Emptor.

I love your victimised spin, you ought to change your name to CNN!

 

[Nick1994]

CKN, do you have her phone number? Where did you see her laundry list of things that needed repair? I never heard a word from her about what it needed.

Here's what I know from her, the first text I didn't reply to because I immediately called her and told her to take it to an auto parts store for the CEL ago be scanned:

 

[04SE]

Block her number and enjoy your profit.

"A fool and their money are soon parted..."

 

[Lubener]

For $1200 bucks, was it a "certified" used car with the death do us part warranty?????

I know someone who came home to find somebody broke into his home and dumped cement down the toilet after a sour car deal. He couldn't prove anything to prosecute.

 

[SirTanon]

CKN, I think you're off base here. The car may not have been perfect, but for $1200, it sure seemed like a pretty nice car.

In all honesty, if I didn't already have a daily driver car, I probably would have bought this off Nick. It looks pretty nice, and he's been honest about it.

A CEL does not spell death for a car - Far from it in most cases. This one was probably the gas cap. [censored], my 2010 has been throwing a CEL the past few days - Misfire Cylinder 1 - and I know EXACTLY what it is. The coils on the car are the originals, and now have 226,000 miles on them, and 7 years. Interestingly enough, I already ordered new coils before it started throwing the CEL, because I had a feeling they were past their days.

And yet.. despite the fact that it's throwing a CEL, the car is still VERY reliable.


... Also, we don't know how reliable her mechanic is, or even if she truly understood what he told her the car needs.

For all we know, it was stuff like:

Brakes/brake pads
new struts/shocks
valve cover gasket


.. heck, MY car needs two of those. I'm not complaining.

 

[KrisZ]

Her expectation, most likely than not, was that she was buying something as if it were from Walmart, i.e. "I can always get my money back" thinking.

$1200 for a hopefully life lesson, is pretty darn cheap.

 

[FutureDoc]

Originally Posted By: CKN
It was so decent-with a laundry list of things wrong (per her mechanic)-that the young lady who purchased it from you-wanted to return it. Yes-it takes a pretty picture-but was a money pit after YOU SOLD IT.


OK, dude, seriously? There was nothing wrong with that transaction unless the seller was completely misleading the buyer and I do not think that is the case... If you are buying a $1,200, there is a reasonable expectation that this is not a problem-free vehicle. The KBB value of the car in base trim for fair condition is $1,100 to $1,400 for good condition (the two lowest non-scrap values. So even the purchase price was extremely reasonable. Even for the $1,400 "good" value, there might be some service or repair needed. The young lady should have had the vehicle inspected per-purchase if it was important to her to have a more pristine vehicle. Should have taken it for a longer test-drive as a long drive will definately show more issues. The onus is on the buyer in the preowned realm. I once sold a vehicle that the person buying did not even want to drive it before handing me a check. Yup, those people exist. If the buyer wanted some guarantee, then Buick sells the LaCrosse for a MSRP of $32,065... that would be a similar vehicle. Still, in most cases, even new purchases are not returnable. All cars are money pits, especially those over a decade with a quarter-million miles... that is why they are $1,200 rather than $32,000.

 

[exranger06]

This reminds me of this Craigslist ad (caution NSFW/NSFK language in ad):
Funny Craigslist ad

I wonder what CKN thinks of this "dishonest" seller.

"This will get you from A to B. Just don't try to make it to C."

 

[Andrew1972]

The unfortunate reality is typical person who buys a car under $2000 from a stranger cannot afford a vehicle. They are in their situation due to youth Or bad decision making.

The girl nicely asked if she could get her money back. It did not seem to have anything implied in that text otherwise.