what to do in this situation?

[bevis90]

hi all.

i wanna know wat u guys would do. my friend just picked up a car that he was buying and on the way back the engine stalled, smoke coming from the engine and i think it doesnt start. is that seller liable for all the damages..? and if he was on full comp does that cover under insurance because it wasnt transfered to my friends name yet.

imma go with friend to meet up with the seller later on today so wanna know what to do

[namski]

The car has been sold and it's been signed off then the insurance company won't do anything about it. Did your friend get insurance for the car before buying it? if not, there's no way of claiming for the car. Best of luck for him going back to seller and trying to work something out. Seller isn't liable after he's sold/signed the papers over.

My advice get an NRMA inspection before buying the vechile and going for a test drive if he didn't, for next time.

[dinorider]

Sh*t.... Your best chance is to work something out with the seller and hope he's a reasonable kind of guy. That really is the best you can do. Hope he hasn't cancelled his insurance, hope he's got some sense of honour and accept that the car was a dud, and hope he hasn't transferred the car out of his name.

And please, never ever ever ever ever ever ever everv buy a car without a proper professional mechanical inspection with it on a hoist. And compression test. The full works.

I got F*cked over once because I wanted to save a few $$$. Never again. In that situation, I went with a so-called mate to check out a car, and everything looked ok. In an attempt to save a few dollars, we bargained to buy the car off the seller and go settle the roadworthy stuff ourselves. After all, the car's registered, is a daily driver, looks ok, so what could be wrong right? As I found out.... plenty....

The very next day, I took the car to a mech's shop for its roadworthy certificate. Strike one: brake discs too thin. Fail. Strike two: A whole chassis crossmember was MISSING and bits of the chassis showed poor welding. It was invisible from the top, and can only be seen if you hoist the car up and peep under the body work. Boy, I was so F*cked because the work to get the car roadworthy would end up costing more than the car itself. It had apparently been smashed and put back together is a rather dodgy fashion. No roadworthy certificate, car becomes illegal to drive in a month.

I called the seller, who was a woman, and told her, "hey look your car's not roadworthy. I can't get it registered. I can't buy it. I want my money back. Please."

She said, "why not? I bought it 5 years ago it was ok I never crashed it. I can't give you the money back. I've put it into a deposit for another car. My husband took the forms today morning and got this car taken off my name. It's yours now. Sorry. I can't help you."

F*CK. I was stuck with a very expensive LEMON. And I didn't have the money to deal with a LEMON.

In the end, the car was sold to a junkyard for close to peanuts. I lost 80% of the money I paid for it. Not. Happy. Jan.

In the end, I think either the woman who sold the car to me was conned herself and got it with a dodgy roadworthy cert when she bought it, or she knew about the problems with the car and just wanted to pass it on to an idiot. i.e. me.

In my time of looking for used cars, I find that there are a lot more dodgy cars out there than many people realise. Buyer beware.

[Chriskoss]

Same happened with me, I wont go into the details but don't trust anyone no matter how friendly/nice the seller is. Chances are, theyre only being friendly cuz they want the car out of their sight ASAP.

Even though it is a bitch, get a mechanic to look at it. Dont think NRMA does it anymore, but just say hey can i take it 2 a workshop with you, get it checked out first. Obviously youll have to pay the 80 or watever for the inspection but thta 80 can save you thousands in the long run can't it?

In your mates situation, looks like he cant do anything, the transaction was complete, and unless the seller said he will happily give money back if not happy (and thats hard 2 prove even if they did), you can't do anything else

Try threaten them with the legal system if they are unco-operative etc, obviosuly first be polite, calm, and talk to them clearly about what has happened, but really, its a second hand car, the risk is all on the buyer

Its a different story if you bought from a registered business (dealer etc), as consumers are protected under the Trade Practices Act, and any professional company will shit bricks if you say you'll go to consumer affairs and the ICCC etc if they don't refund/fix a dodgy car that they sold and garuntee'd

[OMG.JAI xD]

If the sale was advertised somewhere and engine faults were not detailed as apart of the advert you can press charges for invalid or misleading advertising.
You havent even transfered the car under your name yet.


However. If this happened because you guys gave the car a bit of go driving back. Its entirely your fault.


EDIT: I just read the original post again. It stalled and smoke coming from the engine.

Im guessing it overheated?
If thats the case. The seller is not liable. The incident happened while you were driving back.
If it wasnt and it was due to a mechanical fault that was bodged up. then i guess u can take it to authorities.
But it is your responsibility to check the car properly before purchasing. Checking levels is part of the checks.

[Mikecivic78]

once u have bought ur car, its a slippery slope. U can go to the roadworthy mechanic and complain if the r/w was dodgy. Did u sign a contract? its hard 2 get anything from the seller if u signed that u are now responsible 4 the car. Getting a proper inspection from ur mechanic (unless u know ur cars well) is essential. U can see much more once its on a hoist.