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Okay here's the situation. my daughter recently bought a used vehicle, and within 2 weeks it blew a rod. Now the shop wants $3500 to fix it or she can scrap it. Either way since the vehicle was bought "as is" the dealer still wants his almost $6000.

 

I'd like to beat the s*** out of the guy but i wanna know what my legal options are first.

 

Any thoughts?

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Was it financed or a cash deal?

 

Lemon law?

 

If a local attorney will look at this case, it might be worth a few hundred bucks to put some pressure on the dealer.

The dealer may decide to just fix it rather than fight a lawsuit.

 

http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/car-warranties-basics-29598-2.html

 

You could also try a BBB complaint.

Edited by Spartacus
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"as is" is "as is" according to all the court tv shows I have to watch at break.   Unfortunately shit happens and it's just bad timing/luck.    Did it throw a rod through the block, or did it just spin a bearing and has a knock now? What condtion was the oil in and what was the oil pressure at idle before?  Spun bearing engine can be machined and rebuilt for under 1k usually if you do it yourself.

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As-is = As-IS. But check your local laws first.

 

Lemmon law does NOT apply. Lemmon law is very specific. The 1st main thing is that the car has to be new. Not new to you but new...no previous owners. Because once ther is an owner ther is no telling what he or she did. Second, the dealer has 3 chances to fix the SAME problem. Meaning you need to blow that rod 4 times. They get 3 chances to fix and the forth makes it a lemon. If you get a different problem its not a lemon, yet.

 

I get that you are pissed but the problem happened after you bought the car. A dealer cant check everything and make it all new again. They can but it will cost like a new car.

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You're kinda screwed unless your state has some provision or standards that require a used car dealer to sell a car as is in a certain condition or warranty period. In Montana, you would just eat it.

 

A PPI pre puchase inspection cost 100-300 bucks and should be done by an independent, trusted mechanic that specializes in that make. It costs a little but will save your ass in the long run.

 

Also take into consideration how your daughter drove and maintained the car. Did she change the oil after purchase? Did she let her boyfriend hot rod it? I know you don't want to consider that because it's your baby girl but, it may have been her fault.

 

What kind of car was it? Does the dealer have a good reputation?

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This is just one reason why, ultimately, its cheaper over the long run to buy new. Or lease, if you have enough math to work out the numbers on how not to get screwed.

 

$3500 seems high for engine work on the cars I own, but I dunno what you have there. A turbo'ed import with rare parts? That might be a bargain.

 

Car dealers, by this point, pretty much have the contract system down. You dont have a legal leg to stand on here. Maybe see if the dealer will fix it for cheaper?

 

You might be able to get a better rate from the mechanic that you had look the car over BEFORE you bought it?

 

Cars are a horrible investment period....new or used

They are pretty much a straight loss, but a requirement for modern life. Like clothes or a phone. Very few make money on a car, and certainly not more than an equivalent amount invested in the market.

Edited by mostholycerebus
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Over the long run it may in fact be cheaper to buy excellent condition used....but as the end user the responsibility is up to the buyer to do his homework....which includes having the used car before purchase checked out from top to bottom and end to end by your own self or a very good trusted mechanic. I always do and so far so good. Cash talks.

 

The 2001 Suzuki Vitara I am driving now was checked out by my own mechanic. Took him 4 hours and cost me $300 bucks. Money well spent. He even analyzed the mill and tranny oil. But then he was a former Suzuki dealership mechanic...he knew where all the bodies were buried. However...it was an 8 year old car when I bought it 5 years ago.

 

HB of CJ (old coot) again,so far so good. No runs, no dents, no knocks, no errors.

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Buying good used cars is much cheaper in the long run. I've never had a car payment. And the last car I bought is a Mitsubishi and it had 26k. Not including oil, my cost has been a timing belt and water pump thats prevention and an axle I put in myself. Total costs has been 800 plus the 8k I paid. So for 8800 plus oil changes ive got 6 years and 126k show me a car lease that can match that. The key is buying a good car to start with. And I hate top Sat it but this is where the imports Beat out the us made cars. Especially when it comes to engines.

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This is just one reason why, ultimately, its cheaper over the long run to buy new. Or lease, if you have enough math to work out the numbers on how not to get screwed.

 

$3500 seems high for engine work on the cars I own, but I dunno what you have there. A turbo'ed import with rare parts? That might be a bargain.

 

Car dealers, by this point, pretty much have the contract system down. You dont have a legal leg to stand on here. Maybe see if the dealer will fix it for cheaper?

 

You might be able to get a better rate from the mechanic that you had look the car over BEFORE you bought it?

 

Cars are a horrible investment period....new or used

They are pretty much a straight loss, but a requirement for modern life. Like clothes or a phone. Very few make money on a car, and certainly not more than an equivalent amount invested in the market.

 

 

First off, dont go to a dealer to fix cars. They overcharge. If you dont overpay in parts you will in labor. Most dealers charge $100 an hour for the work, while most mechanic shops charge $60.

 

I love how everyone likes to bash dealers. Try woking as one for a while. Dealers dont owe you anything. Even new car dealers dont give free warranties. The warranty you get is from the manufacturer and even then its something like 3years 36k miles. Or 5 years 60k miles. Which ever comes first. Even if you drive 1 mile in 10 years your warranty is up. So if the manufacturer wont cover a car past 50k why should a used car dealer. Do you expect a private seller to give a warranty too? Why they dont offer warranties on used cars? Because aside from checking all the major stuff there is no way to tell what the previous owner did or hid. Some parts like the trans or the starter give warnings before they go bad while other parts are good till they are not. Its impossible to know. And even on the parts that do give warrning signs there is no way to tell wherre they are at in their life cycle. That transmission could be 3 days away from going bad. There is no way to tell. If a dealer did check and replace everything then you have a new car, with a new car price tag.

 

Its true, the car is older and used and there is a possiblity that something will happen sooner rather then later but the price also represents that. You are not paying new car price. When you buy a used car you are buying someone elses problems. You just hope that those problems are minor and far apart.

 

Most importent is to do research. Dont buy on feelings. If you really like a car but it gets poor reviews on reliability then dont buy it. SOmetimes a model is good but a certain year is not or with a certain engine. For instance a early to mid 2000s Honda Accord 4cy is practiclly bullet proof but the 6cyl have transmission problems that show up at about 100k miles. 6cy Accords are infamous for this.

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I paid 500 for a car, put 20k on it. Cost me 500 in repairs while I owned it, got 1800 in trade in.

 

Bought an 07 Prius put 46k miles on it in 1.5 years. Cost me 10k in payment and insurance, saved me $800 in fuel. A complete new engine with no core sounds about right at $3500. Even a 350 Chevy or a 22re, engines that they made millions of still cost over $1k plus a hefty core. If your core is trashed you don't get full core value, normally rebuilder cores are more as they have to find a new core to build and hope its usable. That leaves about $1k in install cost, gaskets, seals new fluids. Back pressure test, random crap the rebuilder wants. At this point could also be environmental fees. And a bit of what you are going to pay is insurance and legal fees as you are going to expect some form of warranty, even if you don't change your oil.

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No lecture response:

 

You're pretty well fucked... You MIGHT be able to get with your attorney general, hire a lawyer, and get something back... But.. after all that hassle, there's really no point in doing so. You'll be out money no matter what.

 

Go find a running engine at a junk yard (they'll want to give you a 30 day warranty, insist on 60 and pay a bit more if you have to) and swap it yourself or find a friend to do it. Shade tree shops, or you doing it yourself, will eat at least 30 days.

 

You're pretty much fucked in terms of money. :( Or, you can crush it for $600 and try again...

 

Sorry man.. That's a terrible situation.

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Dang I can swap most engines in a day.

That being said, was it a loan through the seller? Go remit the the collateral by choice?

 

As can I... But.. you know how it goes when you're giving advice on the 'net... Best to over estimate. GMs do require 50% more time for cursing and bullshit designs.

 

OH... Now that I looked the OP up, he ain't that far away... What motor do you need and when can you get it up here? I've got some junkyard homies that treat me right.

 

Again, you're fucked out of your money at the dealer. Sometimes you just have to pick up the scraps and move on. Sorry, guy.. sad.png Feel free to get your ski mask on and beat the fuck out the dealer if you can! smile.png j/k (well.... maybe I am?)

Edited by Maxwelhse
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Thanks all. They're already fixing it. $3000 instead of the $3500 with a couple weeks down time.

Downsides, she now owes $8000 on a $4-5000 04 Dodge Durango that seems to be known for blown rod issues. Hopefully it won't happen again but it seems that that is still a possibility according to some reveiws. Thinking she might wanna "trade down" rather than run the risk of another $3k repair bill.

 

I would have prefered if the dealer had gone halves with her on it but it's her lesson to be learned. I'll help her as I can, but I raised her to make her own choices and deal/live with the results.

 

Again thanks for the input. And Maxwelhse, thanks for the offer.

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in Nevada you have 30 days to return a car if there are problems or you arent satisfied for whatever the reason being.

3500 is outrageous, but idk what kind of car and im assuming its new and thats another problem.


get a pre 2000 vehicle(pre '97 is cheapest period/OBD1), do a jdm motor swap for a fraction of the cost of another POS american motor with improved japanese internals......

 

just a suggestion.

dodge dodge's?

i will.

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