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Car/Truck Dilemma

Sandwich

Pig my fish!
Staff member
May 23, 2002
21,031
5,921
borcester rhymes
I need some advice.

I recently (2 mo?) sold a truck that I only owned for a couple months. I didn't like the thing, the ride sucked and it got bad gas mileage. It ran fine and all or most of the issues were sorted, and the only remaining ones were pretty minor (squeeks, rattles, paintwork).

Recently, the current owner emails me saying he spent more money on it and still can't drive it. Short email but it had a nasty tone. I have no idea what the problem is, nor could I guess, but I did sell it "as is" and it was in fine shape when I left it.

My question is, do I respond to his accusatory email with an honest "I'm sorry, I told you everything I knew, and I thought the truck was fine" or do I just ignore it, since there really isn't anything I can do?

I'm not out to screw anybody, and I lost quite a bit of money on the deal, but I just wanted a different vehicle. I don't want to be a bad guy, but I didn't do anything wrong.
 

Sandwich

Pig my fish!
Staff member
May 23, 2002
21,031
5,921
borcester rhymes
yeah, I have a signed copy of the BoS with "as-is" in it.

I think I'm relatively protected under law...and I'm actually willing to help out physically...but not monetarily. I just don't want to deal with it, to be honest. I've bought cars that sucked before, and it blows when this happens, but he's accusing me of doing it on purpose, and that's just not true. I don't want to get into a big email exchange that leads nowhere but causes me stress...so I'm debating whether or not to send said email with hopes of quelling his concerns, or just ignore and hope that he gets things settled on his own time.
 

Sandwich

Pig my fish!
Staff member
May 23, 2002
21,031
5,921
borcester rhymes
so don't even follow up with a "sorry dude, i did nothing wrong, that sucks"? I don't want to be a DB, but I do feel bad that this happened to him.

I can't understand what went wrong though, the truck was fine when I DROVE it to his house...meh.
 

blue

boob hater
Jan 24, 2004
10,160
2
california
Burden of responsibility falls on the buyer. I facked up when I bought my Jetta and didn't have a wrench look at it when I bought it. Engine was screwed. I should have written a bill of sale up for it, contigent upon mechanical inspection by a qualified party. Guy who sold it to me knew the engine had problems, but that wasn't the issue. He did give me $500 back out of guilt, though. :think:

In any case, if the bill of sale says "As-Is", you're free and clear. You're not a car dealership, so there is no implied warranty whatsoever. Unless there is malicious intent, he has no grounds for any sort of claim against you.
 

skyst3alth

Monkey
Apr 13, 2004
866
0
Denver, CO
I had a Dodge Intrepid for a couple years and had some problems with it, so I decided to sell it. When the people came to buy it, it was a father, mother and 17 y/o son, the car was for the son. Everything was explained to them about the work done, but that everything was working fine. They had drove almost 4 hours to come see it and ended up buying it. The next day I get a call from the father:

Father - "There's a probem with the car, my son took it out last night and none of the electronics work anymore, won't go above 10mph, it's really broken."
Adam - "But it worked fine on your ride down?"
Father - "Yes but it's not working anymore"
Adam - "So it worked fine on the 4 hour drive down to CT, then your son took it out, and brought it back broken"
Father - *long pause* "I'm sorry for wasting your time."

Basically, you sold it as is: not your problem anymore.
 

jimmydean

The Official Meat of Ridemonkey
Sep 10, 2001
40,941
13,135
Portland, OR
I sold my truck last week and the guy says the motor is shot. I sold it for $200 less than I was asking and have since offered to refund him an additional $100 (rebuild kit is $300) to cover the cost.

I sold it "as is" and it's been a daily driver since I bought it 4 months ago. But the motor could have a dead cylinder and I just didn't notice. I bought it under the impression the motor had been rebuilt last summer.

I only offered the dough because I felt bad for the guy. He was nice and his email was more of a "just so you know" type. Not sure if he will take me up on the $100 since I tossed in a few hundred worth of parts on the sale too.