The One Thing You Must Know Before Buying A Used Car - Podcast

"SteveLehto" (stevelehto)
08/18/2016 at 09:00 • Filed to: None

On average about once a day I get the phone call. Someone bought a used car and it just exploded. A day, a week, a month after purchase. What can they do? Oh, they bought it “as-is”.

Yes, this is the number one problem with used car purchases across the board. People do not know the full implications of buying a car “as is”. In most states, a car dealer can sell a vehicle “as is” to a buyer so long as the nature of the sale is disclosed to the buyer. This is usually done with a purchase agreement which states that the sale is “as is” and with a Buyer’s Guide which also notes that the car is sold with “No Warranties.”

Despite the two (2) documents placing the buyer on notice of the “as is” status of the sale, buyers seem surprised to learn that they have no recourse against the seller when the car breaks down, dies, explodes, burns, grenades or otherwise fails to get itself from Point A to Point B at the behest of its owner.

“But the seller told me it was a good car!” “The salesman said they inspected the car and it checked out.” “My mechanic said the Check Engine light was reset by someone before we bought it.” The stories are endless and they all get us back to my point. Before you buy a car “as is,” you need to know what that means. And all of its implications. Are there ways to protect yourself? Of course there are.

Which is the topic of this week’s podcast. The audio:

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

And the video:

The pic at the top was taken in the parking lot not far from a winged car meet in Alabama last fall. For a few days, they were everywhere.

Follow me on Twitter: !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!

Hear my podcast on iTunes: !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!

Steve Lehto has been practicing law for 24 years, almost exclusively in consumer protection and !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! He wrote !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! .

This website may supply general information about the law but it is for informational purposes only. This does not create an attorney-client relationship and is not meant to constitute legal advice, so the good news is we’re not billing you by the hour for reading this. The bad news is that you shouldn’t act upon any of the information without consulting a qualified professional attorney who will, probably, bill you by the hour.

DISCUSSION (11)

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > SteveLehto
08/18/2016 at 09:39

Interestingly, in Kansas a dealership or ‘supplier’ is prohibited from selling cars as-is. A buy-here-pay-here I work for on the side was recently torn a new one by the DA for doing so, as well as having their buyers guide (which states ‘this stuff may be wrong with used cars’) taken out of context and accused with selling ‘salvage’ cars because the buyers guide has a list of ‘stuff that is wrong with the car’. A hefty fine and rewording of the buyer’s guide solved those issues.

SteveLehto > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
08/18/2016 at 09:44

I believe KS is the one state which explicitly disallows As Is sales. I think there might be an issue in another state where it is more of a gray area. But everywhere else - People need to know this.

Thanks for the note.

Milky > SteveLehto
08/18/2016 at 10:14

To add to your point of always get vehicles inspected and that its hard to get a decent car for 1000 bucks. A few years ago I had a beater $1500 SC400 inspected for a $100 by a shop a couple doors down from the shady dealer. Guy took my money, looked it over and said “yea its a piece of shit, but mechanically its sound.”

Thing ran like a top for 2 years before I crashed it. I cant think of any reason why you wouldn’t get a vehicle looked at by someone who doesn’t benefit from its sale. Even if you’re only paying for peace of mind, I’ll gladly do it again for my next car purchase.

His Stigness > Milky
08/18/2016 at 11:00

It seems like common sense, but getting a car inspected, by anyone, is unbelievably rare. Shit, just the other day a Civic was towed in because the clutch took a shit, and the car was a MESS! The radiator core support bad been welded back together by what looks like a freshman in high school. The timing belt was shot, and we didn’t even have to pull the cover to see that, because there were no covers. It was passing oil everywhere. The “paint job” was so bad it looked spray painted, but to an idiot it looked good. I think the frame or subframe was bent.

The car was a total mess, and the customer had just bought it a week before.

You can't cure stupid.

Standard_Deviation > SteveLehto
08/18/2016 at 13:53

I just picked up a used Mercedes. The selling dealer was far away (6hr drive), so I didn’t have much opportunity to see it before showing up to buy. I was very nervous about spending this much money on a car I had only seen once.

Thanks to the tips in your podcasts, I had the knowledge and confidence to make sure everything was above-board. I inspected the vehicle inside and out, crawled around underneath to look for signs of problems. Compared the dealer’s service records to CarFax and AutoCheck. Took a look at the service work orders. Even got a report direct from the manufacturer confirming service and warranty coverage.

Crucially, I got them to change their sales contract to include statements of my own wording! They really didn’t want to do this. They told me they “can’t” change the contract, but when it came down to ‘do you want to make the sale or not’, they obliged.

I believe the knowledge and confidence imparted by your podcasts directly resulted in the dealer making sure the car was very near perfect when I arrived to pick it up.

Thanks Steve!

SteveLehto > Standard_Deviation
08/18/2016 at 14:23

Glad to hear it.

Thanks for the note!

NJAnon > SteveLehto
08/18/2016 at 20:44

*sees photo of Plymouth Superbird* Steve is showing off. :P

Standard_Deviation > SteveLehto
08/19/2016 at 10:48

Results:

Drive: Even with 61,000kms on it, the Merc drives better than any car I’ve ever driven. No vibrations (not even subtle ones), perfect alignment, effortless power and precise steering. Handles well, but not “handles like a car” well as many reviews incorrectly state. Very, very happy with how it operates mechanically.

Interior: Looks literally like new. However, there’s a sliding door over the centre console. I didn’t think to test it at the dealership. After handing over the cash and leaving with my new (used) car, I slid the cover closed and it got stuck! Google taught me that people lose business cards in the slidey mechanism all the time, which jams it up. Was a 10 minute fix to remove the offending card. (It was one of those RFID security cards - I wonder what it opens?) Lesson: TEST EVERYTHING, EVERY LITTLE THING!!!

Exterior: Not quite as described, but pretty good. Tiny chips on the leading edge of the hood. Subtle imperfections in the bumper paint on two corners. Two wheels were replaced with new due to curb rash and two were refinished due to stains. It also had, what I’ll call, a ‘dealership detail’ - looks great unless you know how to spot swirls and holograms.

Warranty: I made sure to get a Mercedes-Benz document listing my car’s VIN and specifying warranty until 160k / 2021.

Cost: Not cheap for a used car, but it cost less than Honda quoted me on a new CRV and significantly less than Subaru quoted on a new Outback.

SteveLehto > NJAnon
08/19/2016 at 12:47

I have tons of pics. Always looking for excuses to use them.

Driving_Impaired > SteveLehto
11/12/2016 at 00:05

Steve, what kind of experience do you have with dealers not providing a title? As the law (In GA at least) states, a dealer must provide a title within 30 days of purchase. Well, this dealership did not. And that was 6 months ago now. They have done some sketchy stuff to give me temporary tags but now they are avoiding me completely. There seems to be a real failure in the system of helping buyers that have to experience this. The state licensing board is who investigates this but that’s on a first come, first serve basis... in other words, they’ll get to it when they get to it. Meanwhile someone like me is driving around in a non-registered car with no tags (it is insured though) with the very real risk of the car being impounded if I were to get pulled over. The worst part is, this dealership apparently has no problems doing this to other people as well as you can see from their google reviews . I am desperate to get this resolved and yet, there appears to be no resolution in sight. Any advice?

SteveLehto > Driving_Impaired
11/12/2016 at 10:59

Not sure about GA. In Michigan, the state jumps on that. If you have no title, it probably means they have not sent in the title application. Most likely because they don’t want to pay the taxes. Which is what the state REALLY wants.