Does he say based on his “finding” that some type of government agency could force him to give you a refund (or at least put a judgement against him)? Is the finding going to say that document fraud and inspection fraud was uncovered?
In regards to the compression fitting issue,before a issue like this turns into a criminal situation any businessman would simply replace the line with a new one without a compression fitting repair, issue resolved.
What is the reason you should recieve a full refund in this situation? Again you have a investigator saying your car is high priority because it is unsafe to drive and then you say the investigator says it can be driven with compression fittings (is there now more than one?) What is the issue that makes your car unsafe to drive and who is making this conclusion?
Keep other issues (like the car stalling) out of the rufund/unsafe to drive issue,it makes your case appear like a simple case of buyer remorse and a buyer who is simply unhappy with the deal they got and is looking for a way out.
I agree with Lenjack. Do not drive the car!! Compression fittings are NOT permissible for brake lines. And I don’t see how the DMV can force them to give you a refund except by threatening to yank their inspection and dealers licenses if they don’t. But that’s not the same thing as a court-ordered judgment against them. Since they aren’t able to give a refund because they don’t have the cash, they may be on the brink of going under anyway. If they do, you will be far down the line of creditors, and may get nothing. I would contact a lawyer or take them to small claims court, pronto.
they can’t “force” him. it seems like if he says he doesn’t have the money, we’ll go on and on for months until it goes to court. yes, it will disclose the fraud and inspection fraud.
the whole thing with the brake fittings has got me spinning. yes, both the mechanic who did my inspection and the dmv investigator said i could drive it.
it’s not a big deal to fix the brake line? There is only one Investigator from DMV and he confuses me. The car was bought by the dealer as “salvage” but he did not disclose that to me. And the second issue is the brake line.
I understand what you’re saying about keeping the stalling issue out of the picture.
What about the rusted out bottom?
I’m beginning to think I might do better keeping the car.
Thank you very much. Kate.
Dammage:THE MECHANICS REPORT
4 news tires
front brakes and rotors
all four wheels are bent
power steering pump leaking
trans lines leaking by radiator
right front wheel bearing no good
rear brakelines fixed with compression fittings
bottom of car very rusty
NOT WORTH FIXING
I finally am getting it, this “Dealer” is not a Dealer in the sense I am use to working for (major auto manufacture sales outlet). This is a guy that has a paved lot and a license to buy cars at the auction. The GM and Chrysler guys that got the ax are virtual Donald Trumps compared to this guy.
Mechanics call these lots “lemon lots”. One area I am confused about is just what kind of inspection this guy scammed her on. Does he have a license to do state mandated (some states have them,my state AZ does not)safety inspections? If he is truly commiting fraud in the safety inspection or with the documents there should not be a inforcement problem.
We had a large lemon lot dealer here in Tucson and Fort Hauchuca (military base town) and this guy was scamming primairly military people with the salvage vehicle scam. The base commander forbid his people from buying from him (I did not know a base commander could do that but it happened) and the DMV forced his Fort Hauchuca outlet to shut down.
Yes, it fits the definition. Installed correctly, those fittings will work up to a point. They are not designed to withstand the higher pressures a brake line can experience.
Here’s the thing, they will likely hold pressure under normal, light braking pressure. This will be tempting to continue using since they seem OK. But the worst case is emergency braking when you have to stomp on the brakes. They could let go at the time when you need them most.
Brake line connections use a DOUBLE FLARE as extra protection against failure for a reason. It is a critical safety item.
This is not safe and would not normally pass any detailed inspection. A state inspection could easily miss something so subtle so it’s not necessarily the dealer who did the inspection. The point is, any professional performing this repair should know better. There’s an old saying, you don’t inspect in quality.
The amazing part is that this is completely unnecessary IMO. You can go down to the local auto parts store and buy varying lengths of prefabricated brake line. If it ends up being a bit too long, you can take up the extra length with a tubing bender. You don’t HAVE to own a double flaring tool to do this work, although you can’t “splice” into an existing line without one. IMO brake line is far too cheap to take these kind of dangerous shortcuts. Why anyone would do so is beyond me.
This should not be an expensive fix. Any decent shop can cut out a length of the line and splice in a properly flared line in a short time. I wouldn’t waste time trying to get the dealer to do it. You can follow up with demands for reimbursement later. Go to a brake shop and ask them to repair it properly.
I finally am getting it, this “Dealer” is not a Dealer in the sense I am use to working for (major auto manufacture sales outlet).
There are new car dealers…and USED car dealers…NY has MANY used car dealerships. Some states I lived in those small used car dealerships are almost non-existent. I don’t know of any New car dealership that would sell a car like in this condition.
You are right on when you say the “dealer” is a guy with a paved lot and a license to buy cars at the auction. I called my mechanic and he said it would be $125 to fix the compressed brake line. If I do that I would be compromising the whole Investigation since that is the basis of my claim to get my money back. And I called the dealer and asked why he hadn’t sent the warranty in and he said “why would I do that when I’m giving you your money back.” I said he could be shut down if he doesn’t return my money and he said “don’t threaten me” as if he’s going to call the police on me. I want to get him out of my life. He is poison. I wonder why Pennsylvania gave the car a clean title. I’ve read that somehow a bad title can become good with some hanky panky. Right now I want a car and $125 sounds ok I guess. I have no idea. Well that’s today’s update. I’ll make a decision soon because I need to get back to work. And I am not one to put up with delay and dragging out. Kate.
About 30+ years ago NY passed a law specifically targeting these used car dealerships. They would pop-up…sell these worthless cars…then shut-down after just a few months in business. Then open another one a couple of weeks later (sometimes in the EXACT same location). The law that was passed made the OWNER personally liable. What was happening was the owner would file for a corporation…and only the BUSINESS was liable. But since he would shut the business down after only a few months…the people he screwed had no recourse…even though he was now in business doing the same thing…BUT because it was a DIFFERENT corporation charter he couldn’t be touched by his those clients.
two more weeks have gone by. today the guy told the inspector he does not have the money to reimburse me. He was told to send in the necessary stuff to activate the warranty. $425 I paid for it. I’m getting the brake lines fixed. How much should that cost?
And maybe slowly replace the tires and the fluid lines that are leaking.
Take it from me. DO NOT TRUST ANYONE WHEN YOU ARE BUYING A CAR. Even if you think you know him.
I’d take him to court. That will really cost him. Let him file bankruptcy then. You don’t know what other problems you might be seeing down the road due to the fact the car was totaled and then repaired. IMHO…this guy should NOT be in business. You’ll be doing a community service by taking him to court.
I can only afford to take him to small claims court. And the inspection from motor vehicles said the court could supoena him.I’m of two minds. Motor vehicle has been on this case from the start. I believe the inspector will really try to get whatever he can for me. In small claims I’m kind of anonymous. I’ll probably fix the brake line. I’m so sick of this. what does IMHO stand for?
It’s time that you destroyed this weasel. There must be commercial television news somewhere near you. If you aren’t near NYC, then maybe Buffalo or Rochester or Syracuse or Albany. Don’t mess with the county cable company, unless they are the only evening news that you get. I can’t imagine that’s possible. But why would the Big City care what happens to you? Because they serve dozens of areas just like yours, and they want to show that they are relevant to all the homes they broadcast to. Call the station tomorrow and give them the opportunity to make this guy’s life worse than he ever dreamed possible. Make him invite you over to choose any car on his lot. After a real mechanic has inspected it, of course. You have options. Exercise them.
See the Judge. Take him to court. The car won’t pass a N.Y. safety inspection with compression fittings in the brake lines. It’s illegal for a licensed dealer to sell this car…You might want to talk with a real lawyer and possibly recover more than $2700…
today the guy told the inspector he does not have the money to reimburse me. He was told to send in the necessary stuff to activate the warranty. $425 I paid for it. I’m getting the brake lines fixed. How much should that cost?
Tell the inspector the next time he’s there to let the word “lawyer” or “court” or “TV news station” slip out in a conversation, see if that gets him to budge.
How much should the brake lines cost to be fixed? Nothing, I wouldn’t pay to have it fixed until this deal with the dealership is finished
A Small Claims Court decision in your favor does not get you instant cash. It gets you a “judgment” against the defendant. This is not entirely different than the action the DMV took against him. His answer to the Small Claims judgment will be the same; “I don’t have any money”.
With the judgment in place you no doubt will eventually get your money. It just probably won’t be real soon, and that doesn’t sound like it’ll help you much.
Keep the lines of communication open, as distasteful as that may be. Stay civil. I do like the previous idea of having him do an exchange. He can come up with an acceptable exchange wholesale, and will by far be the cheapest way out for him.
Insist that any vehicle he comes up with to exchange is throughly inspected by your independent mechanic.
Let him know if he can do this soon, like in the next few days, that this can all go away. He’d be a fool to turn it down.
The lack of real enforcement power on the part of Motor Vehicles still makes me wonder about this situation.
It appears the document situation has past muster. So all we are dealing with is one poorly prepared brake line,no accident,no injury,no damages,under 3000.00 purchase price,really that is all this boils down to.
I do feel all the other issues with the car would have been discovered if the OP had done a vehicle inspection,again we are dealing with personal responsibility.
From what I understand, the actual mechanical damages are fixable. The title I got does state that the car was Salvage. I forgot to ask the inspector about an exchange of cars. I will leave him a message. I’m going to a mechanic Monday morning. Regardless of what I do, Motor Vehicle is taking him to Court anyway, for selling me a salvage car and not disclosing it to me. The inspector said the creep who sold it to me can easily say he doesn’t have any money to the court. The creep said he will reimburse me for repairs and will validate the Warranty. How can I possibly believe anything he says. I’ve been told not to call the creep because I can’t help getting angry with him and I’ve been told that will not help the situation. Thank you for all your advice and help. Kate.
This is not entirely different than the action the DMV took against him. His answer to the Small Claims judgment will be the same; “I don’t have any money”.
The BIG difference there is you can now force him to PROVE he doesn’t have any money…and place liens on his property. I know…I’ve done it. I was owed $5k for a consulting job I did…the owner claimed they didn’t have the money to pay me…I filed a claim in court…and won…He made the same claim in court…The judge then said…“OK…I want to see all your bank statements and General Ledger statements for the past 5 years.” I got my check the following day.
I was actually going to try to dig into his past and his financial history. But that will be hard for me. The wife of the guy who showed me the car on the lot, who knew it was salvage at the time of purchase, is a friend. Although I don’t know how much of a friend she is now. She told me a long story of her intention to leave him, saying this car business had changed him in a way she did not like. Perhaps I’ll send her an email. I don’t know if her husband has a job anymore. The owner of the place, Sean, claims he had no knowledge of the salvage history. So all this rests on the other guy. But I think that Sean, the owner, is lying every step of the way. Now he says he’ll reimburse repairs and activate the warranty. I have no reason to believe this is true. My brother found a good used car for me with only 32,000 miles on it. The plan was that I would buy that after being reimbursed. OH, I FORGOT TO MENTION, I think the odometer is not working properly. I’ve only driven this car in my small town to grocery store and stuff like that.The odometer claims I have driven 600 miles!!! How do I figure out if the odometer has been fixed somehow.?
Kate.