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No recourse for private party buyers??

17 years ago

We just bought a Honda Odyssey from a private party (a minister at that). We had the car 2 days and the engine light came on. Mechanic says it is a catalytic converter. 2 hours after I left the mechanic, the transmission dropped. I now have a $9k loan for a car that needs $5k in repairs. The previous owner says he knew about the converter, but said it was not necessary to fix because it's not mechanical it's just for emissions. Do I have recourse if he knew about the problem and chose not to fix it or disclose it? He says it was on one of the repair tickets (he added it to the pile as we were signing papers). I guess I should have seen it, but come on, 2 days and $5k in repairs. He said he is a minister and he doesn't lie about things. I say, minister or not, there is no way he didn't see this coming! Could I go to a lawyer, small claims, stop my check?

Comments (5)

quirkyquercus
17 years ago
Take a look at this topic. It has been discussed recently.
sdello
17 years ago
you don't say how old the vehicle is or how many miles are on it.

Transmissions don't often "drop" for no reason. If the previous owner supplied you with all of his repair tickets then it doesn't sound like he was trying to hide anything. check local regulations but I believe there is little legal recourse for private sales. "caveat emptor"

sorry for your troubles. good luck
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johndeere
17 years ago
You say you had the vehical 2 days and the engine light came on?Have you wondered why he knew that the Cataletic converter was causing this.However the light was not on?Probably because he knew to unhook the battery to reset the codes.Then it takes awhile for the light to come back on.Ussually just long enough for the test drive and the sighning of the papers.Problem is prooving it.Private party buyers beware.All the seller has to do in court is dummy up.
quirkyquercus
17 years ago
You know I bought a used mustang once from a dealership. The check engine light came on... I kid you not.... before I even got home with it after just buying it! Turned around brought it back and they fixed it. Not the same thing you're going through, just sayin'. This would of course be an example of the buyer (me) "dummying up".
DNT1
17 years ago
The catalytic converter should not be a big deal, you can have a new one installed cheap enough. I just had one put on a chevy truck it was $129.99 installed. Now the tranny problem can run a couple of grand hopefully you got a super duper cheap deal and everything will come out about even. Only recourse that would be effective would be to call uncle Quido in Chicago and let him have a talk with the preacher. Do you need the phone number?

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