Bought A Lemon Hybrid

It's not fair to call a 7 year old car a lemon. IMO forget trying to make contact yourself. I'd file a police report and press for charges. If your goal is to recover your money then don't repair the car. Next time investigate before buying. Good luck.

 

I know you intend to file a police report (also, I assume, a complaint through the DMV), but I suggest you also call the California Attorney General's office. Even though this is a private party sale, it does have the appearance of a fraud, and the Attorney General may already have been keeping information on the person responsible.

Also, start checking court records in your county to see if there are other lawsuits against this person. If so, then you may save yourself some time and money by contacting the attorneys who already have actions going against this person.

 

I don't necessarily think you bought a lemon. You made a common used car mistake, which is you bought a 7 year old used car without having a someone qualified to take a look at it. I have learned my lesson before and now when I look at a used car I take along an OBD II scanner with me and plug it into every car during the test drive. I have no idea what your legal options are, you may want to pursue the person who sold it to you having to pay for the repair.

 

The basic legal claim is for fraud. Among the remedies would be recision of the contract, meaning the car would be returned in exchange for the dollars. Also, depending on the evidence, the buyer here could be awarded costs and, potentially, attorneys fees. I don't know (and won't advise on) the California law on this topic, but there may also be room for punitive damages.

 

The title of this thread is grossly, and I hope not intentionally,
misleading. It has a certain, how can I say it... alarmist tone, that is
sure to draw ill informed or ill intentioned visitors from the 'web.

Whether this unsavory misdirection is intended or not, I cannot believe
that Priuschat would allow itself to be so blatantly abused as to be
the permanent site for this malignancy.

An accurate title would read something like:

A dishonest person sold me a broken car. What can I do now?

 

I don't think there is any evidence that it is a fraud if you bought the car 'AS IS".
There is no law to require the owner to disclose any problem with the car like in real estate transaction. This is why we call the "USED CAR SALESMAN".
But you did have a contract with him about the repair, you can sue him in civil court if you can find him.

 

I doubt California law is that different from the rest of the U.S. in terms of fraud.

The evidence is that the seller used misrepresentations with the intent that the buyer would rely on those statements to the buyer's detriment and the seller's benefit -- and that those things all did happen.

The seller lied (sole owner; wife was the only user; had to replace for a reason other than a problem with the car; suggested the value was significantly higher than it really was; agreed to repair with no apparent intent of doing so), the buyer relied on it, and it has caused damages to the buyer.

Fraud is not an easy thing to prove, but the facts here are pretty strong.

 

Good luck with the legal remedies; it would seem that you are better off without this car.

If you decide to keep it, contact Art's Automotive in Oakland or Luscious Garage in San Francisco. They are the go-to shops in your area and you're lucky (in this aspect at least) to be near them.

Post updates please.

 

That all sounds so good but there are a few problems with it. First you have to find him. Secondly he has to have enough money to make it worth going after him. Most of these guys spend it as fast as they scam it. Buyer beware is not just a slogan.

 

Since the person has already signed something saying they will pay for repairs, the hardest part is to truly find them. They might not have a dime so it could be a dead end. However, once they are found the appropriate course can be taken whether it is done through a private attorney or the DA. Chances are this is one of a multitude of scams they are pulling. Therefore I suspect that actually finding them will be the hard part.

As I learned with a hit and run, just locating them is not sufficient for getting a settlement. They can ignore legal notice (lacks teeth) until you can find some sort of authority/leverage that forces them to respond. In my case it was locating their place of business...they happened to be a business owner so I was going to go after their business insurance first...they didn't want that and once they figured out my game they capitulated. You might have to pursue small claims and locate their bank accounts, property etc. to place liens against them.

Figuratively...find their balls and put them in a vice grip. Literally would be better, but figuratively should work.

 

As I stated before if the car is sold "AS IS". it is the buyer's responsibility to find out the condition of the car. This relieves the liability of the seller, as sometimes the owner does not know what's wrong with the car. This is why private seller always invoke the "AS IS" clause.

Second it is you words against his words about who the previous owner is, very difficult to prove in court unless you have a recording.

 

I find it amazing that in this day and age people continue to get duped and taken advantage of. With all the tools we have available to us it boggles my mind that with just a little due diligence this whole issue could have been avoided. First off, I would go to the guy's house and punch his lights out. Ooopss scratch that.... that's just wishful thinking.

I am truly stumped here because I don't think you have any legal remedy especially if you bought it as is. It is not a criminal matter but definitely a civil matter. You can try and sue the guy and if he doesn't show up in court you will be given a default judgment. Then you can have his wages garnished or his bank account attached and recover some/all of your money.

 

Curbstoner.

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Why all this focus on "As Is" when the OP clearly did not buy it on this basis?

 

Yes, but a couple of things. First in the original post, the buyer did NOT buy it "As Is" he bought it with an evidently signed agreement that the seller would warranty it for a month. So it was not sold represented as "As Is".

Secondly, determining previous owner can easily be done. DMV's have records. Which is how the OP evidently found the previous owners.

 

Although the seller signed an agreement for repair, it does not mean it is not purchased As Is. Let the OP clarify this.
IMHO, the seller seems to be a flipper, buying cars and selling cars for a living, he will be smart enough to sell cars As Is to protect himself. The repair agreement is just a bait since he has disappeared.

When I sold my mini-van, I have the buyer signed an agreement that it is sold As Is and signed by a witness. This is to protect me from getting sued if the new owner claimed that the brake failed and causing him to crash into a pole and he get permanently disabled, even I know the brakes are good at time of sale.

 

Here in Virginia it's easy enough to go to Small Claims Court and get a judgement. When I did it a decade ago over a contract breach, it was $30 to file. I got a summary judgement for over $10 grand, and never saw a penny. The judgement is the easy part. Finding the guy and finding assets that could be used to satisfy the judgement is a whole other matter.