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I fucked up and need some advice.

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yourthemannowdog
Posts: 4541 - Karma: 313
So I recently bought a 99 Subaru Outback for $2,700. On Monday the car broke down, so I had it towed to my mechanic. The mechanic got to look at it today and he told me the engine is ruined and needs to be replaced. This alone will cost $3,500 (which I do not have).

The car was sold "as is" meaning I can not sue him for defects in the car, but there are two other issues with the sale. One it was advertised as:

"Car runs great and is very clean. No oil leaks.
Ready or another 100,000 miles without any problems."

The guy I bought it from worked on the engine himself and did:

"New Head Gaskets
New timing belt
New oil
New Coolant"

My mechanic made it clear to me that this engine was ruined before I bought it. Can I sue him (or threaten to sue) because he falsely advertised the car?

The second issue (which will be very problematic), is that this guy never held the title of the car. He claimed to buy the car from a man after the timing belt broke. He had the title with the man signature and name printed on the title, but he never registered the car. When I registered the car, the title skipped over this guy who I gave the money. I don't know what to think of this


Thanks for reading and any advice. It kind of looks like I'm just gonna junk the car and learn my lesson. I was being stupid, and this is a mistake I won't make again
Oct 31 2012 3:46PM
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Aidan-G
Posts: 9411 - Karma: 10,798
I don't know because of the title issue. My guess is that you could sue him
Oct 31 2012 3:48PM
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7springsprod
Posts: 2661 - Karma: 3,181
You weren't being stupid. You said you had your mechanic check it, he is the one at fault, not you.
Oct 31 2012 3:49PM
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LIL-WAT
Posts: 1510 - Karma: 146
That sucks man, shoulda had your mechanic look over it first
Oct 31 2012 3:51PM
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yelsel
Posts: 12967 - Karma: 3,451

His mechanic checked it after the fact.

Most times when you buy something "as is" - you cant sue because of any defects/malfunctions.

Oct 31 2012 3:51PM
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PhaedeD
Posts: 11498 - Karma: 327
I think the fact the car was never in his name might be the only thing that could cause you trouble as in he may do this all the time and knows this is some type of loophole. I dont know though, talk to a lawyer.
Oct 31 2012 3:53PM
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PhaedeD
Posts: 11498 - Karma: 327
Hell go to your local police station and explain your story, see if they can give you any info on what you can do.
Oct 31 2012 3:53PM
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arnie_grape
Posts: 3432 - Karma: 11,407
take your car to a chop shop, get the guy to swap some of your VIN stickers so that it will look like your car has stolen parts, tell the popo he sold you a car with stolen parts, he goes to jail for sho!
Oct 31 2012 3:54PM
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[hamnuts]
Posts: 2356 - Karma: 439
If I were you I'd talk to a lawyer, the guy you bought it off of seems super shady
Oct 31 2012 3:55PM
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THUNT836
Posts: 1392 - Karma: 1,030
people like you are literally retarded. talk to a lawyer, not the 12 year old masses of NS when you want legal advice

that being said, your situation really sucks and i totally feel your pain man. similar things have happened to me and i know how much it sucks. hope you get some money outta that dude and get your car back in order. good luck man
Oct 31 2012 4:00PM
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Barefootin_Fiend
Posts: 7618 - Karma: 4,727
Unless you can prove that he knowingly mislead you with the claim, then there's not much you can really do about it. I don't know what's wrong with the engine, but you're probably going to have hard time proving he mislead you with the sale. How long have you had the car? How many miles have you put on it? What's wrong with it? (Specifically - what broke?)
Oct 31 2012 4:01PM
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yuck
Posts: 8384 - Karma: 2,090
"people like you are literally retarded" shortly followed by "similar things have happened to me"

woops
Oct 31 2012 4:09PM
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yourthemannowdog
Posts: 4541 - Karma: 313
He was super shady. What he was doing is illegal and he knew it. We met up in a parking lot and when I found out the title was not in his name I asked him if we could go to your house to sign over title. I wanted to know some info about this guy. I got a picture of his drivers license and forked out the cash. I then tried to scare this guy by saying to him, "Do you really want to go on like this? What happens if you get caught and you have to do jail time? Do you want that for your kids?". He's a sketchy 25 year old latin guy with two kids living in a very poor area of Denver.

I just called him and he did not pick up.
Oct 31 2012 4:10PM
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Ye_ol_wild_Koala
Posts: 270 - Karma: 121
So he never paid taxes by not getting it registered. AKA Fraud.

As is = As is. He can tell you it shits unicorns and pisses rainbows, but as is on a receipt is as is. Plus its one word against another in small claims court. Even if you won in court, nothing forces him to pay. So its a shit show either way. You should of had someone look at it before you bought it. Life lesson, sorry to say it.

Good luck! Chances are you can get someone thats not at a shop to do it on the side, would probably be about $1500, plus then you will know the engine is good. Oh well, just my two cents. ENJOY!
Oct 31 2012 4:12PM
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yelsel
Posts: 12967 - Karma: 3,451
And yet you still bought it...?
Oct 31 2012 4:18PM
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Darth.Maul
Posts: 2472 - Karma: 652
Buy the parts yourself and a repair manual and get to work! Seriously, cars are NOT that difficult. Its just like a puzzle and its good to get your hands dirty every once and a while. You got shit on by the seller but he said as is so theres not much you can do there. I'd recommend asking your mechanic what needs to be done, and then buy the parts and fix it yourself. You could probably do it for under 1k and your time easily if you did it yourself.
Oct 31 2012 4:22PM
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Bogs
Posts: 4296 - Karma: 1,361
no, he isn't. you, though, are literally stupid for not knowing how to use the word "literally" correctly.
Oct 31 2012 4:23PM
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yourthemannowdog
Posts: 4541 - Karma: 313
As I said, I was being stupid. I put myself in a bad situation where I either bought a car or hitch hiked home (home is 350 miles away from Denver. I sold my car that morning to a kid in englewood and I was looking to buy an AWD car). The car drove beautifully and the engine looked immaculate. In my head I was trying to reason for buying the car. I was being impatient and impulsive, so I made the stupid decision to buy the car.
Oct 31 2012 4:25PM
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Bonzalo
Posts: 2593 - Karma: 1,812
Well the correct thing to do is before you buy the car, you go with a mechanic and check it up. After ypu bought it, welll it became your property, not much to do.
Oct 31 2012 4:27PM
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volvotom
Posts: 2045 - Karma: 712
There are 2 separate legal issues here:

1. Being the title
2. Being the "as-is" sale.

1. As long as the person who originally had the title signed it over to him, there is nothing shady with him not having it available to sign over to you yet. (I once sold a car before I had a chance to have the title moved over to my name. This is fine as long as the title has been signed over to the second ownder, as it was in this case. DMV can usually either move it directly over to the third owner, or have it moved over to the second and then the second signs it over to the new owner.)

2. Generally "as-is" means exactly that. You agree to the condition of the car at the time of sale with no warranty or guarantee expressed or otherwise. No small claims court judge is going to side with you on this.

Also, what exactly happened to the engine? Did it seize? Have you thought about getting a salvage engine?

As horrible as the situation is, I guess at least you learned to be more careful next time.


Oct 31 2012 4:29PM
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Wall_Nut
Posts: 629 - Karma: 113
could you please specify the problem with the engine? That has quite a bit to do with how you should proceed.
Oct 31 2012 4:35PM
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seward
Posts: 5233 - Karma: 2,174
you were aware the title was not in his name when you purchased the vehicle.

you bought a car that was sold in "As is" condition.

him saying the car will drive another 100,000 is NOT a warrenty.

youre fucked.
Oct 31 2012 4:45PM
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volvotom
Posts: 2045 - Karma: 712
I am still a little lost on the title issue here. He doesn't have the title to the vehicle? Title proves ownership. With no title, he doesn't own it and neither do you.

Did he have you fill out a "Bill of Sale"? This is usually just a piece of paper that says on X date Party #1 living at address whatever sold whatever vehicle VIN and plates to Party #2. Both sides sign and keep a copy. This removes the past owner from liability should the new owner do something stupid (hit and run) and claim it was the old owner as the old owner can prove the vehicle was sold.
Oct 31 2012 4:51PM
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SubieGirl
Posts: 19 - Karma: 23
Idk if getting a lawyer would be the best idea just because you only paid 2500 for the car. Obviously you got screwed which really sucks but I've heard that suing someone can be really expensive, not to mention the lawyers fees, that's what I learned in my business law class. I would def report the guy to the police though.
Oct 31 2012 5:06PM
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ryano
Posts: 4465 - Karma: 1,535
usually when buying any car (off craigslist i assume?) and the person is like, "oh the titles not in my name.." its a bad sign.

alot of times those guys are just flipping cars, and want to save the extra buck by not registering the car to them. (once you pass a certain number of registrations of cars in a year, you have to pay for a auto dealership license..)

and also, they especially dont want to spend the money registering it when they know the car is fucked and their loosing money on it already.

so yea, you're basically fucked.
Oct 31 2012 5:16PM
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2_fadez
Posts: 7780 - Karma: 4,180
Yeah but as a part of the lawsuit you can file to have the costs of the lawyer covered by the guilty party
Oct 31 2012 5:19PM
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yourthemannowdog
Posts: 4541 - Karma: 313
He was flipping the car and he didn't register the car. He gave me the title with the previous owner's name printed and signed.

I asked him if he wanted me to fill out a bill of sale and he said "I don't think you will need to, unless you want to". I thought the bill of sale was for his protection, so I didn't bother.
Oct 31 2012 5:24PM
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Lt-Aldo-Raine
Posts: 2309 - Karma: 120
Well if you decide to fix it you could get an engine from a junkyard for 1 stack or less. Not sure how you would carry an engine from a junkyard back to your mechanic though. Plus you gotta pay to have it installed.

Sorry dude it sounds like you got screwed.
Oct 31 2012 5:50PM
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deleted5
Posts: 14507 - Karma: 13,500
sounds like if you took it to a mechanic to look at you wouldn't have this problem.
Oct 31 2012 5:52PM
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mynamegus
Posts: 33 - Karma: 12
im not here to give you legal advice. i suck at that stuff. go see a lawyer for that. i ill however, point out that the quote for $3500 for a new engine is shit. thats a new subaru 4 banger engine, with labour factored in. (roughly) you could get a scrap engine for several hundred, or get a brand new engine (not subaru) such as a 350 small block v8 (more badass, way more power, but probably too big) for a grand, then its just labour. talk to your mechanic, he may have more options. in my 83 chevy 2500, i hydrolocked the stock 350 ci engine, thought i was fucked and my mechanic got me a 454ci big block v8 second hand from a friend of his for $1000, cost me $2200 for engine and install, because  got it second hand and not from the factory.
Nov 2 2012 2:16AM
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