Thats exactly my complaint, the vehicle was suppose to have been up to state safety standards because it suppose to be a safety inspection. If something wasnt working like the A/C or radio or something then thats my own tough luck for not checking those things but the average consumer should have an expectation that if a vehicle passes a state safety inspection then the vehicle will be safe to operate for a reasonable period of time. it should certainly be safe to operate for at least the the 90 days that the inspection certificate is valid for, which this vehicle wasnt.
The brake lines gave out a week before the 90 day inspection certificate expired.
The maryland safety inspection is pretty in depth which is why inspected vehicles in maryland cost significantly more than an un-inspected vehicle.
The higher cost is based on the theory that an inspected vehicle will need little or no major maintainence for the first few years of ownership since it has been inspected and deemed up to the states rigorous vehicle safety standards.
i dont mind paying the higher price for an inspected vehicle because im too old to play vehicle roulette where you don`t know what your getting by buying an un-inspected less expensive vehicle.
When I pay more I damn sure want to get what i paid for, a vehicle that is safe to operate and needs no major repairs for a few years.
If I wanted to take my chances of buying a vehicle with rusted out brake lines I would have bought an un-inspected vehicle for a lot cheaper.
I live in a very rural area,its almost impossible to find a vehicle for sale that has been inspected. I didnt know he was operating a used car sales lot out of his house until i got there to look at it, he at least 6 vehicles in his driveway that didnt have tags on them, that was my first clue that he was probably running a used car lot :) when i got home i checked craigslist again and thats when i noticed he had more than 1 vehicle for sale.
i did pay more for it because it was inspected and was suppose to be up to the high state safety standards.
a vehicle with rusted out brake lines is something that you would buy un-inspected for $500 and take your chances that it doesn`t have rusted out brake lines.
ive bought many un-inspected cars in my younger days and didnt complain when the transmission would stop working on my way home from buying it,because I knew that I was buying an un-inspected vehicle and it was a crap shoot.
i don`t like the way the inspection program works. The shop that inspects it is the judge,jury and executioneer. they get to decide whats wrong, they get to fix hats wrong and they get paid for fixing it, maybe just a little bit of a conflict of interest?
well, the tow truck never came and got the vehicle and i havent heard anything else from the guy since this morning, im starting to have second thoughts about letting him do anything to it.
They were pretty unreliable inspecting it and now they are unreliable in following through on their offer to remedy the problem.
Itâs not against MD laws to purchase a vehicle, have the seller sign the title transfer and leave the purchaser information blank. Happens frequently because the owner does not want to spend the money for sales tax and registration fees. Whether the guy pays income tax on the money he makes is a completely different story.
you do have a choice of taking it somewhere else to get it fixed and take it back to have it re-inspected.
If you donât mind me asking . . . how much did you pay for this truck?
Have you crawled underneath yet, and made sure the frame isnât also rotted out . . . ?!
I mentioned that, because I saw a lot of rust in those pictures, but Iâm not sure if any of it has yet compromised the integrity of the frame
If the frame is also rotted out, it might be wise to just bail
Sorry if this sounds harsh
While browsing through some of the Maryland blather about car sales and so on I found a reference to a 30 day/1000 miles limit on complaints. You state youâve had the vehicle 3 months soâŠ
To reiterate my earlier comments, thereâs some nasty looking rust other than the brake lines which makes me wonder if the car should be scrapped. This needs to be examined by an expert.
You also state the title was not in the sellerâs name. If theyâre not a licensed dealer then theyâre curbstoning and jumping titles. If theyâre not a licensed dealer then that makes any complaints about inspections possibly moot points.
There may, or may not, be some issues which need to be looked at by the AGâs office.
I paid $1,900 for it, no I havent looked underneath and thats another reason why I dont want to spend a lot of money repairing it because its old and i dont know what other major things might go wrong.
The truck has been around though, when i got it the windshield had parking permit stickers,inspection stickers etc on it.
one was from massachusetts, one was from new york, one was from virginia and one was from north carolina
Reading over the whole thread here it makes me almost believe you had this planned all along. Buying a junk car, never even looking under the hood, have no idea about the history of the car other than it has been registered in a number of different states, a shady, but not necessarily illegal transaction, no independent inspection, but completely relying on the inspection station confirming a perfect car.
People buy from these used car hustlers because they are seeking a deal, the same vehicle from a used car dealer would cost twice as much. It may seem that the used car dealer is over charging for old vehicles but most of the time there is a difference in quality. A used car dealer canât run and hide from bad deals, while they do occur, selling junk is not the norm.
If inspectors failed every vehicle that appeared rusty I believe there would be fewer used cars in that state for sale and the price of a used car would be greater.
In retrospect when the deal seems not so good there is the desire to call the authorities, to report the seller who is akin to a marijuana dealer for engaging in an undocumented sale, ignoring that there are two people involved in the sale.
Yep, you`re right I just called the maryland state police and talked to one of their inspection enforcement officers.
He said you have 30 days or 1,000 miles after the date of purchase to file a complaint.
That would explain why the shop never came and got the vehicle yesterday, the guys boss probably told him not to bother doing anything since it`s too late to file a complaint against them.
I was having second thoughts about letting them take the vehicle anyways.
He also told me something that i wasnt aware of, he said that the maryland vehcile safety inspection isnt as strict as most people believe. he said that the inspection criteria is the bare basic minimum that will allow the vehicle to be safe for for the 30 days or 1,000 until the complaint window closes.
so what I learned from this is, basically if something on the inspection list can last for 30 days or 1,000 miles the inspector can pass it even if it doesn`t meet the state basic minimum safety standards.
I think this also proves what many people already suspect, that the main reason that the inspection shop fails something is because they want the business of repairing it.
EDIT: I called the shop back today to tell them to forget about it, I dont trust them to work on my vehicle. Before I could say anything the guy said he didnt realize that it was over 100 miles from his shop,so if I wanted to get it fixed near my home he would send me $200.00 check to help pay for the repairs.I told him sure, thats fine with me,so I guess 'the checks in the mail" At this point it doesnt matter if he sends a check or not because I already decided to not trust them to do the work and to just do the repairs myself at my expense.i ordered enough stainless steel brake line to replace all the brake lines.If I get the check thats cool, but if not it wont prevent me from doing the repairs.
yeah it was kind of too good to be true and too good to pass up, it`s a 1999 c1500 LT suburban with tow package,151,000 miles,inspected, $1900.even after the cost of materials it might be a good deal and a good vehicle after I replace the brake lines.
If I was you, I would not spend one red cent on stainless steel brake line untiIl AFTER youâve crawled underneath the truck and determine the frame is healthy enough
If it looks like swiss cheese under there, it may be time to throw in the towel
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If I was you, I would not spend one red cent on stainless steel brake line untiIl AFTER youâve crawled underneath the truck and determine the frame is healthy enough
If it looks like swiss cheese under there, it may be time to throw in the towel
[/quote]While I agree completely about not throwing good money after bad, I think the odds are fairly good that the frame is solid. Iâve experienced similar rust-through of brake lines on a '99 Dakota. The frame was completely intact, with only light surface rust. Brake lines seem to attract and encourage rust.
Only a thorough inspection will tell, though.