I purchased a 1996 right hand drive subaru vehicle from a co-worker whom I thought was reputable. I work at the post office as a rural carrier and my vehicle I used to deliver died and was not worth fixing. I quickly purchased this car from a carrier who had a few vehicles for sale because she no longer wants to "deliver" and work in the office now. I had to find a car quickly because my job depended on it, if you don't have a delivery vehicle you are out of a job! I test drove and it drove nice. The seller enthusiastically promised that she had replaced and/or repaired everything on this car and that she was the only owner and that it was in good running condition. She had her son do all the work on it.
2nd day out delivering the breaks went to the floor on the way home, I coasted into meiniki muffler that happened to be in front of me and barely stopped pumping the breaks heavily. Manager inspected it and showed me it up on the lift next to another car. He pointed to the back breaks of a car with normal working back breaks, then pointed to mine. Mine were covered with dried break fluid excessively,so much he had to scrape it away to expose the brake system. He stated" This looks like someone abused these breaks putting fluid in repeatedly for a long time to keep the break peddle up". I said "I just bought the car less than 48hrs ago and the check hasn't even cleared yet"! He said "this looks like the seller filled it with break fluid to sell you the car, she had to know they were bad"!
I confronted her at work and she denied and refused to acknowledge it even. Also while turning in cul-de-sacs the first 2 days, I heard clicking loud. Turned out my ball joints were on the verge of going too! I spent $408 on all new back breaks and front ball joints at meiniki.
I took the car to my ASE certified mechanic brother and he looked it over, he said other then that, everything looked good. Since right hand drive vehicles are hard to find, I could small claim her for the brakes and ball joints and keep the car.
Less than 300 miles driven and a few weeks later, the car died while delivering mail in the GSP airport. No warning, airport mechanic even looked and said he had no idea what was wrong. Towed one place and that mechanic had no idea what was wrong, only clued me in that it is major and needs a subaru professional. Towed to the subaru service center and they told me the engine was destroyed due to mechanics neglect, whomever replaced the timing belt recently, did not tighten and properly balance the harmonic balancer that holds the belt. This causes the pistons to untimely go down on the valves and eventually it slammed all pistons down on the valves at once bending them and letting no air circulate in the engine, therefor destroying the engine. He said, "I must have noticed I was using alot of fuel and had no engine power for awhile". I said, "NO I had just purchased it and hardly drove it from being in the shop for other repairs! Subaru service specialist/mechanic insists previous owner knew something was seriously wrong and deceived me.
Also according to the seller, the odometer was out a very long time and that engine most likely had much more miles then the odometer says, so I over paid for it, seller told me about the odometer after the check cleared instead of before I purchased it. So the vehicle condition was not obvious to 3 mechanics when I bought it, they were only something a owner would be aware of from driving the vehicle regular and neglecting the condition of it. I spent $1,700 to replace with a used engine, in order to keep my job! I paid $4 grand for the car. I spent near $7 grand in less than a month to save my job. I filed in small claims court and will supeonna all mechanics involved. Seller has come back with a big law firm, demanding strict evidence and dismissal AND her attornies fees! Do you think I have a case?? Do I need an attorney?? Anyone advice is appreciated!

Small Claims Court Procedures (http://www.courts.state.va.us/pamphlets/small_claims.html)

All parties shall represent themselves in actions before the small claims court except as follows:

1. A corporate or partnership plaintiff or defendant may be represented by an owner, a general partner, an officer or an employee of that corporation or partnership. An attorney may serve in this capacity if he is appearing pro se, but he may not serve in a representative capacity.
2. A plaintiff or defendant who, in the judge's opinion, is unable to understand or participate on his own behalf in the hearing may be represented by a friend or relative if the representative is familiar with the facts of the case and is not an attorney.

If a party wishes to call witnesses besides himself, he or she should consider having them served with a subpoena, even if the witness has willingly agreed to appear at the trial or is a defendant. If the witness has received the subpoena at least five days before trial and if his or her testimony is important to the case, the judge will usually continue the case until a later date (if requested), should the witness not appear. Otherwise, the trial usually will proceed without that witness.

You do have a case, and a very good one, if what you have provided is correct. Are you really seeking damages under $5,000?

I'm not sure that you have a case, unless you can prove that the seller is a dealer. Otherwise, you bought the car from a private party, who told you that the work had been done by her son (which would have had me asking if he is a mechanic!) and those are "as-is" sales. Didn't you have the car looked at by a mechanic before you bought it?? If not, the next time you buy a used car, make sure that you do. Doesn't matter if you are buying from your best friend or a complete stranger. Most mechanics will do an inspection for less than $100, tell you what is wrong with the car, what kinds of work it is likely to need in the next few months, and give you a much better idea if you want to buy that car or not.

Hello X:

In most states, used cars are sold "as is", unless the seller warrants certain items. A seller could and should say NOTHING but "as is". However, if a seller warrants something else, like their son fixed this and did that, then what the seller says has to be the truth, or its FRAUD.

The trouble you're going to have is proving that thus and so was said.

excon

Hello X:

In most states, used cars are sold "as is", unless the seller warrants certain items. A seller could and should say NOTHING but "as is". However, if a seller warrants something else, like their son fixed this and did that, then what the seller says has to be the truth, or its FRAUD.

And the other issue is that, according to the OP, the person selling the car said that her son did the repairs. It may be that the son was a clueless idiot, but did in fact "fix" the problem by adding more brake fluid, etc. In other words, "my son fixed it" doesn't imply that he fixed it correctly, unless there is some reason to think that the son was qualified to do the job (he has a job as a mechanic, etc.) In which case, it's not fraud, but an accurate statement of what happened.

Just as a point of reference, there was a case on People's Court recently where a couple bought a used car. Wife drove it to work the first day that they had it, came out after the shift was over, and the entire engine was destroyed because the car had caught on fire during the drive to work. (The wife had noticed it smoking before buying it, but had been assured by the seller that it was just "leaking steering fluid" burning.) The judge ruled that the buyer couldn't recover any money, because it was an as-is sale.

Just for future reference get everything in writing.

A lot will depend on the bill of sale, the written bill of sale will take the place of almost anything said, Next of course you will have to prove they said anything.

Almost all private used car sales are as is ( and normally stated so on bill of sale)

You made the serious mistake of not having it inspected, if you had done that you would have known not to buy it.

So you can try, but without knowing what written agreements were in place it is hard to say ifyou can win or not.

I had it inspected by my ASE certified mechanic brother less then 48hrs of buying the car when the breaks went. Also the meiniki mechanic did a 20 point inspection and said the engine appeared fine. The subaru mechanic is addament that the only a driver of the car would have noticed something was wrong and unless she told a mechanic about her symptoms none of us would have suspected the engine was bad. She clearly would have felt loss of power,excessive fuel burning and misfiring out on the road and unloaded the car knowing it was on it's last leg. She misrepresented the car to me as being fully functional with all major work for it's milage being done by her son who was working as a mechanic(but no longer is! Would like to know WHY now). There is no bill of sale only title transfer with no AS IS written anywhere. I have supeonna all mechanics who inspected and worked on the car, it only cost $8 each supeonna and $80 for the small claim filing. I am not asking for a refund on the car but to cover repairs and legal fees in excess of $2,200. I'm pushing that she misrepresented the car conditon and that the mechanics who looked at it could not see the major engine problem with the naked eye or ear and they all clearly state she knew and deceived me. If I had professional mechanics opinions within the first 48hrs (she would not LET me take the car out of her site without paying her first and kept keys for 1 week), then how is this fair for a court to let her get away with this? I did what I had to do to keep my job and was taken advantage of. I promise you I will make everything I buy have every last word of their BS in writing from now on, normally I do but was in a serious tough situtation trying to keep my job in this situation. I have to buy a 2nd delivery vehicle so I have a backup one when the other breaks down too. Also keep in mind this is a commercial and official postal vehicle privately owned. It's not for personal use!

You've invested in small claims court so go through the process. But there is no way we can tell what the outcome will be. You have some points in your favor, (especially the Subaru mechanic if he testifies that the driver would have to know there was a problem, but a mechanic wouldn't unless they were told of the problem.

On the other hand, the AsIs nature of private sales is on her side.

Good luck.

Yes scottgem I guess your right, no one can be sure how this will turn out. I'm trying to stay calm and get all the insite I can before court. That's weeks away, I'll let you all know what the outcome is. Sounds like I have a "little hope". Keep me in your prayers, the defendant requested a jury trail so it's in the publics hands!

That was a BIG mistake in my opinion. A jury is much more likely to side with the consumer. A judge is going to rule on the law and the law was barely, if at all, on your side. But requesting a jury trial, she is now relying on a jury's sense of fairness!

Do they even have jury trials in small claims court?

I believe that you can request a jury trial in small claims court, for an additional fee.

It is a bit odd that she is requesting one, which makes me wonder if she doesn't have something that she thinks will get the public on her side. I'm not sure what, but it's something to think about. Any previous bad blood between you two, etc.

I'm pushing that she misrepresented the car conditon and that the mechanics who looked at it could not see the major engine problem with the naked eye or ear and they all clearly state she knew and deceived me. If i had professional mechanics opinions withing the first 48hrs (she would not LET me take the car out of her site without paying her first and kept keys for 1 week), then how is this fair for a court to let her get away with this?

It's called caveat emptor... let the buyer beware. The law says that you have every right to have the car inspected before you buy it. The seller did not put a gun to your head and force you to buy her car. You could have walked away from the entire deal, in which case she can't come crying to the court and make you pay for it, either.