What if you buy a vehicle off Craigslist and its a dud? What are your options?

[One Awesome Inch]

A friend of mine recently bought a 98 toyota corolla off Craigslist. Everything about the car looked good. Low miles, decent, but not awesome body, good sounding engine and it drove well.

5 days later he noticed something wrong with the transmission. If stopped on a hill at a red light, then accelerating on green, the transmission would not shift smoothly and made a noticeable clunk. The car is automatic transmission.

So he brings the car to a mechanic and the mechanic says the transmission is toast and will cost over $1000 to replace including parts and labour. My friend only played $1600 for the car. So now what does he do? He is stuck with a car that is not driveable and has no money left at this time to buy something else.

The mechanic said that the transmission problem likely didnt happen over night and the previous seller very likely knew the transmission was gone.

So what can my friend do? Can he bring the seller to court or is it basically, "tough luck." He didnt check it out enough when he bought it (no mechanic inspection)... therefore just tough luck???

 

[flying kurbmaster]

cry at first, then get angry , accept,  :-/ let it go..... now what?

 

[cyndi]

Hopefully your state has a lemon law. If he bought the car as is, he is SOL.

This s exactly the reason why it's said over and over again, here. Take it to a mechanic before buying.

 

[GrayWhale]

Sounds like the tried and true trick of putting thick oil into the transmission, even gear oil, to keep it going for a while until it gets sold. You can sue anyone for anything, almost. Although it doesn't mean that you'll win.

$1600 is not that horrible of a loss. Most people wouldn't bring a Mechanic to every car transaction anyway. It usually cost about $50 to bring the car to a mechanic to check it over, but would you do this for each and every car that you look at? And most Sellers wouldn't even entertain this unless they're really desperate. That's at least 2 hours, that the seller has to go to a shop for the car to get check out. All for a mere $1600. I've sold cars that I flipped for $4000-5000 and made a profit of about $2000, and yes I would go to their mechanic. But not on a $1600 car. And if you bring a mechanic to each car you're looking at, that's at last $100/each car.

If that $1000 quote to fix it is a rebuild, then that's pretty cheap. Hope it's not Aamco though. Another way is to buy a transmission from the junkyard but make sure it has a warranty. Maybe $300 for the tranny and $300-500 for the install. But if the junkyard tranny is bad, you'll pay $300-500 to get it taken off, bring it back to the junkyard to get another and then have the shop put the 2nd one in. I'd opt for the $1000 fix. But try to talk to the guy she bought it first to see if she can get some money back.

Is it slipping? There are cheap ways to maybe keep it running for while, maybe even 6-12 months before paying $1000.

 

[One Awesome Inch]

A couple things...

We are based in BC, Canada so not sure how that translates to state law.

The car just doesnt do it on a hill at a red light, but thats where its really noticeable. Once the car has warmed up with 15 minutes + of driving, the tranny is noticeably problematic. I've been in the car with him while driving and it would "clunk" noticeably even when not on a hill.

I've had two cars in the past where the transmission went. Both times you could get away with it for awhile but within perhaps a month of routine driving the tranny wont shift at all.

My friend is not really mechanically skilled and definitely wouldn't know how to take a tranny out of a car at the junkyard. Not sure I could do it either... well, I could but it would require a huge amount of study and work.

 

[SoulRaven]

Get some more estimates, I got like 3 or 4 $1000-$3000 estimates, and the last guy said $60 while I wait. 10 minutes later it acted like a brand new transmission.

The trick might just be to find a honest repair guy, the one I found was at a hole in the wall one owner/tech shop.

80k miles later, still no problems.

 

[offroad]

Rule of thumb - all repairs will cost $1000 at a repair shop. Mechanics need to make money and market plus reputation demand this amount in many areas. Do some research and see if this model has a history of this problem. If so there might be a cheap fix.

 

[LeeRevell]

I too had a car develop a shifting problem once. It would bounce between second and third between certain speeds. The shop tech said it would cost several hundred bucks (in 1978) to rebuild the tranny. As I was leaving another tech wanted to check it. He test drove the car (a 1968 AMC AMX two-seater) an said it was the kickdown switch. He disconnected it and the car drove fine. It just wouldn't kick down a gear when I hit the gas hard. Not a problem as I habitually shifted it manually anyway. AMC used a version of the Chrysler 727, called "Shift Command". That new switch cost less than five bucks and I swapped it myself.
Now I always shop around if the first estimate seems out of line.

 

[MK7]

Look on forums for your specific car. Much more chances of people there knowing about your make/model as opposed to here.

 

[highdesertranger]

no lemon laws on used vehicles. if bought from a dealer either you got a warranty or was sold "as is" . sorry. highdesertranger

 

[66788]

CAVEAT EMPTOR.

 

[ccbreder]

Just my experience for information. An old girl friend sold her car with an advertisement " runs well". It didn't last new owner very long. He took her to court and because of the ad, and the fact she didn't get a signed "as is" statement, she had to refund the money plus court costs.

 

[One Awesome Inch]

Just my experience for information. An old girl friend sold her car with an advertisement " runs well". It didn't last new owner very long. He took her to court and because of the ad, and the fact she didn't get a signed "as is" statement, she had to refund the money plus court costs.

What state / country are you in?

 

[GotSmart]

Always get other opinions...

My van was repaired for not much more than $100. I was quoted thousands for a new motor.

CL is a buyers beware site.

 

[NWShortyFord]

I'm gonna sound like a %&#$, but all you can do is fix it. But from the sounds of things that shouldn't be too hard, even a tranny swap isn't that taxing if you have the time and space(i.e. weekend and a driveway.) Good Luck.

Edit: Beer and friends help a LOT in this type situation where I am from.

 

[LeeRevell]

Just make sure the beer comes AFTER the work!

 

[One Awesome Inch]

I talked to him yesterday. He is completely not driving it now and resigned to selling it for parts or what have you. I told him about getting a replacement tranny from a junk yard, but he has no interest in that whatsoever. As I said he has virtually no mechanical inclinations. He said he's just going to take the bus until he can afford another car.

He's still quite upset about being duped by the seller.

 

[NWShortyFord]

Too bad. I've had a few firends like that...sometimes all you can do is accept their nature and hope they find what they need next time. Hope he gets at least some of his money back.

 

[cyndi]

no lemon laws on used vehicles.  if bought from a dealer either you got a warranty or was sold "as is" .  sorry.  highdesertranger

Some states do have lemon laws for used  cars, even private sales. Massachusetts for instance; There are some caveats, but a buyer is protected in many instances.

http://www.mass.gov/ocabr/consumer-...tos/lemon-laws/used-vehicle-warranty-law.html

 

[offroad]

In this case I would call a lawyer before you go car shopping. Ask them how long it would take to process a lawsuit, if you bought a lemon. You can also be creative with people selling. Be bold and tell them honestly that their car seems a great deal, but if it is a lemon you will have no choice but to take them to court. An sure there are better ways to put this to be polite. You will get the lemon sales folks to back off, maybe

You might also look at small claims court limits. To see if lawsuit is worth your time. Mostly its not.