Overhaulin'

Question about an AS-IS private party car sale?

I sold a car a few weeks ago. The car had previously had a check engine code, but I took it to the shop to get fixed. Problem solved, until a few days later, light comes back on. I take it back and they do no diagnosis on the car besides pulling the code and give me five possibilities that the problem could be, one being the spark plug, so I said I'd change that and left. There is no receipt for work, nor was I charged for this visit. I changed the plug and never had a hiccup out of the car for a few hundred miles. Problem solved. The car had been for sale for a few weeks prior to this work being done, but a few hundred miles after the repair, I found a potential buyer. He looked at the car in the pitch black dark with a flashlight and it was also raining. I told him the work that had been done on the car and gave him the receipt for that work. I didn't mention the second visit, because to the best of my knowledge the car was fixed. I also told him I do all the work on my cars myself, except the work I had the receipt for. I produced a three week old receipt from having the emissions done as well, and he signed as "AS-IS" contract. He sends me an email the next day saying the car is messed up. He seems like the type who would be lawsuit happy, so I just brushed it off and told him I disclosed everything (to my knowledge, I had, just not about the second visit to the shop bc I deemed it irrelevant). Well, he ends up getting a statement from my mechanic that says I brought the car back and was told five possibilities that the issue could be, but that "no formal diagnosis was done on that visit". Now he is suing me for the ad saying "never any mechanical problems" Yet, I disclosed the receipt for what was minor work the mechanic had done previously, so he knew it had been worked on. And the second count is of knowing the head gasket was blown before I sold it to him, which was never diagnosed or confirmed in any way when I owned it, the mechanic made an assumption about that as well as four other possibilities, none of which were confirmed. I still don't think he has anything on me because the car was running fine when he bought it, the check engine light was not on, and he drove it an hour away without any problems, the issue happened the next day. Thoughts? Oh yeah, he did not take it to a mechanic to get the car checked out either and my mechanic's statement said that I mentioned I would change the spark plug myself after I left his shop, therefore, trying to fix the problem.

Public Comments

1. You're okay. Buyer should have done his homework first. Get it inspected, get a compression check done, and if the head gasket is blown, you get the car back before the guy signs any papers. You didn't mention the second visit. So what? He didn't ask and you didn't make any guarantees in writing. In court, this comes up as "hearsay". No sweating this one.
2. if he signed the as is contract he cant do nothing at all the car is sold as is
3. Generally an "AS-IS" sale means that purchaser should know there is no implied warranty. Your problem is that you indicated that the vehicle had no mechanical problems at the time of sale. The buyer could conceivably accuse you of defrauding him. You would have to consult with an attorney to determine if that claim would be valid.
4. He signed an "As Is" contract with you? Tell him to shove it.
5. Private party "as-is" sales are pretty much 'buyer beware'. Its gonna be VERY hard for him to win any money at all back from you. Since your not "qualified" to fix or diagnose any issues with a car, its hard to prove that your negligable for anything. I would just play dumb and deny the problem ever happening again after the first repair and say it must have been something he did to the car.
6. with as is car deals with a contract signed by the buyer, means as is you assume all responsibility as a buyer and the seller is not held liable. So you are clear and the buyer assumes all responsibility. each state varies but as is MEANS AS IS. YOU BUY IT AND IT BREAKS IN HALF YOU OWN BOTH HALVES. hope this helps i wouldnt sweat unless your contract has loop holes........
7. Tell this clown to go pound sand! He can sue you, but has no chance of winning. He failed to do his due diligence in checking out the vehicle before he bought it. When you buy a used car, you are taking a chance, that's just how it goes. Private car sales are always "as is" unless you gave him a written warranty of some sort. Statements made in the process of selling a vehicle "clean one owner", "runs like new", etc. is called "puffing" in legal jargon. It is common knowledge that any statement made by a seller in order to sell a product (apart from obvious misrepresentation) isn't defensible in court. This guy is just a jerk, things didn't go his way and he wants a dog to kick. Don't let it get to you.