Asking for your input - Used Car Purchase ... Please

[Folsom Al]

Hi Everybody,

I recently accepted a job offer I couldn't refuse - down in Livermore.
5-days a week - 6 hours a day .... eventually 3/4 days a week, 6 hrs a day

I'm buying a new car - comes in Nov. - but I didn't want to put a ton of mileage on my new car so I bought a 1999 Mitsubishi Eclipse w/125k on it for $4,499.00.

Car looked to be in excellent condition, well taken care of - AM/FM/CD stereo, sun roof, AC, 5-speed transmission, nice rims, good tires. I test drove it and it drove/handled really nice.

That was on Saturday - Oct 8th

I've been driving the car back-n-forth to Livermore this past week. Car did just fine.

Well, tonite ... I'm teaching my son how to drive a stick, and the brakes start making noises - the noises gradually got worse with each slow down/braking. It is now making metal-on-metal noises .... I NEED TO GET A BRAKE JOB DONE !!!

I've only had the car 4 days and now I've gotta bring it in and don't know how bad the brakes are. Hopefully just needs brake pads, maybe rotors. So, that means my costs will run anywhere from $90.00 up to over $300.00.

Am I wrong to go back to the seller and ask them to pay at least half of the costs ??? .... maybe ALL the costs ??? ...

SHOULD THEY EVEN HELP ME OUT ???

I'm asking, cause this is the FIRST used car I've ever bought and don't know what the right thing to do is ... my gut says ask ... it doesn't hurt to ask ... the worst they can say is no.

 

[funkykingston]

Sure, it never hurts to ask. At this point you might as well.

Though this does you no good now, I thought I'd mention a good approach to anyone looking to buy a used car. Before I bought my new car, I bought one used, and was worried about the same thing you are. So I asked the couple I bought it from if they would pay half the fee for a mechanic to look at the car before I bought it with the idea being that if it checked out I would buy it from them at their asking price.

They said OK, and I bought their Civic, with very few problems for the 4 years I drove it.

But back to your situation; from a legal/technical standpoint, I don't think they have any obligation to pay the costs. I guess maybe if they told you that the brakes were in perfect condition or had just been fixed then they'd be on the hook.

So maybe they'll be nice and help you out, but otherwise I don't think you have much recourse outside of wasting time and money going to small claims court, if they'd hear your case.

But then again, if I sold my car to someone and it had a problem right away I'd want to see what I could do to make it right.

 

[Bricklayer]

Yeah, if they made some represenatation to you that the car was in perfect shape, or that particularly the brakes were great, maybe. And you could prove somehow that they knew in fact that that was not true, even better. But of course those are basically legalisms and when you are talking about what is presumably a fairly minor repair, getting legal about it probably is not at all worht your time and effort. And in particular if it just needs new brake pads, I'm not even sure that would qualify as a defect so much as maintenance that you would be expected to perform on your new car anyway, whether it be 4 days after buying it, 4 months, or 4 years.

So really probably more of a moral thing and just a question of whether you can convince them to be nice about it. Might not want to mention that your kid was driving when it first showed up -- they might wonder what the hell he did to the car.

 

[6th]

When someone buys a car from an individual, they buy "as is". Basically, it is a "buyer beware" market in California. It is different if purchased from a dealer.

 

[hoopsfan]

6 year old car w/ 125k miles. Sorry, your responsibilty for repairs.

What 6th said is correct.

 

[HndsmCelt]

I have 3 letters for you Al... BAR (Bureau of Automotive Repair). While it is in general acceptalbe for dealers to sell cars "As Is" with no implied warrenty that does NOT extend to issues regarding SAFTY. Selling a car with bad breaks is a serious violation and BAR could get very nasty. I would go to the dealer and ask him/her to do the full brake job on his or her dime. If they give you nay crap then you back up your position with BAR and local Better Buisness Beureau. This is something the dealer not only should have caught and fixed.

EDIT: IN reading your post over agian I realized that it is NOT clear if the car was bought from a lot or a priviate seller. If it's a individual then obviously the car was sold as, so unless the DPO (dam previous owner) misrepresented the the car by claiming it had good brakes then you have no real legal standing but you still might apeal to their humanity and ask that they either fix the brakes or refund some of the money you paid for the car.

 

[loopymitch]

I've bought all used cars and like celt said it really depends on whether it was a lot and individual. Also each states have different laws so I probably can't help you, but if it was a lot you should have recourse.

 

[Folsom Al]

Thanks everybody ... really good input and points of views.


I bought the car from a private party.

I felt like some of you, buyer beware

Then there is a "wanna make things right" side of me .... if I sold somebody something that wasn't right, I would want to do the right thing and that is help out with the cost of the repairs.

The people are really nice, and the husband said, "If you need anything, have any questions - just call"

The wife, first and only owner of the car maintained the vehicle very well ... with the constant "watching over" from her father.

Was not aware of BAR ... thanks HndsmCelt. It's nice to know that there are associations out there for those that need it. My gut tells me "I wouldn't want to resolve this issue that way". Things could have a tendancy of getting ugly.
I haven't heard back from them yet ... just left a message on their phone last night.

Thanks again everybody ... I knew ya'll wouldn't let me down.

 

[loopymitch]

^ Good luck, I hope they do help although they may not even have known that the brakes were going bad, but if it was well maintained as you said, they should have had some clue.

 

[HndsmCelt]

Yeah, since you bought the car from a priviate party BAR can't help you on this one. I'd call the sellers and tell them what happend with the brakes. If I sold the car I would want to amke it right but I would also probably want the opertunity to do the brake job my self (Celt can wrench) and I would NOT want to pay the bill to some one elses mechanic espcially if I thought I might be getting screwed. But that me.

 

[RoyalDiva]

Echoing what others have already said on here about buying the car "as is". In fact, in the past when I've sold my used cars, I've always made the buyer sign a statement acknowledging that they are indeed buying the car "as is". It protected me from any liability, even though I don't think they could of claimed anything. Because although I was always upfront about any problems my cars had, the point is is that these were all older cars with a lot of mileage and wear and tear on them, so naturally it's a given that there are going to be some major repairs as a result of that, and it's common sense that the buyer should realize that. The seller can't always predict that the engine is going to completely blow out two months from selling the car (this happened to me with a used car I bought), so it's not on them should this happen.

 

[hoopsfan]

Good luck Folsom Al.

Hopefully the seller will get back to you.

I sold a vehicle a couple years ago. About a week after I did, the buyer left a message saying that the "check engine" light would come on sporatically. I left a message saying that I would pay for the diagnostic etc. They never called me back...

 

[Folsom Al]

Update on brakes ....

Both rear tires have good brake pads ... ok

Right front pad completely worn
Left front pad probably .. acceptable (suggest to replace - keep reading)

Both front rotors are undersized - need replacing

Here's the killer ...

Left front caliper ... acceptable (suggest to replace - keep reading)
Right front caliper ... completely shot ... needs replacing

If only the right front caliper is replaced, vehicle will pull to the right when braking ... thus replace the pad and caliper on the left-front.

Total Estimate/Cost ... $800.00

I've placed 2 calls to my seller - have not heard back

I've got to get the brakes replaced, I went ahead and authorized repair.

So, at this point it's either all mine ... or the seller will have a kind place in their hearts and at least meet me halfway (this is what I'm hoping)

 

[thesanityannex]

take the seller to Judge Judy.

 

[Folsom Al]

Complete brake job came to $700.00 ... Midas saved me some expense

I looked at my contract, and I'm hosed .... "as is" ... is stated in this contract that the seller and myself signed. ... oh well - live-n-learn.

I actually went in to http://www.kbb.com (Kelly Blue Book) and got a quote.

KBB came up with a price of $4,800.00 using my analysis and evaluation of the car.

I purchased the car for $4,499.00 ... That's $300.00 less then KBB

I guess I'm not feeling totally screwed ...

Now I've got a excellent running vehicle, 100% braking system w/guarantee

I also got a tune-up and replaced a couple of belts while the hood was up

I should be able to put a ton of mileage on this car.

Thanks everybody for your input ... I'm not feeling so bad anymore.

Hopefuly, somebody else will have learned something from this thread. I certainly did.