Sister's "New" Truck toast, what to do...

She is! I was definitely blessed with my family. We are probably the strangest, most comical family... ever. We may not have a lot of money or stuff like that, but we always have each other. There's a lot of love in my house.

 

You have got to have laws in your state that prevent this type of thing from happening .
Go crazy with your camera documenting everything for future reference.
What paperwork went with the title ?

 

You guys might be SOL on this one. When it comes to private party sales, about the only course of action you have is small claims court. And even then, it doesn't look good for you. The seller is not required by law to divulge any and all problems. It's the buyers responsibility to make sure they are not buying junk. I take it the truck was never inspected by an independent mechanic before purchase?

Same thing happened to my friend's son. He paid $2500 for a used Prelude that was supposedly rebuilt by the seller's Honda mechanic buddy. He never got it checked by an independent mechanic. Within two months, the tranny went out and the timing belt snapped causing damage to the valves. Almost $3500 later, it ran like a champ.

 

I don't understand this either. The zip tie was keeping the clutch partially disengaged?

 

Your only recourse is small claims court. You could take him under the assumption that he willing deceived you and sold a car that was unfit for the road. As far as I am aware, almost all states have statues and common law requiring a seller to disclose all facts known about an item that may impact the selling price or desirability of a potential buyer.

Seeing as this guy was a mechanic, he most likely knew about all the issues your sister is running into. It may be worth your time to have an attorney write a strongly worded letter to this guy, and take him to small claims court should he not reimburse you the cost of repairs.

I did go through something similar with an old car I sold, where a shady mechanic fixed the idler pulley by welding it back together and never disclosed it to me. The next owner brought it into the shop a few months later and it was discovered. She took me to small claims court, and we agreed to split the cost of the repair. Stupid me...

 

I thought most states required a state-approved inspection before transfer of title, even if privately sold. Obviously, with the loose lug nuts and zipped-tied clutch, it appears that the vehicle was not properly inspected.

If an inspection was done, maybe there is some recourse there?

 

I haven't lived in a state yet that required the state to inspect the vehicle prior to transfer of title. So far, I've lived in 3 states on the east coast. I'm not doubting your state does that but I'm not sure how common it is across the other 49. MA only requires a photo inspection of a vehicle purchased used and carrying full insurance coverage. They take pictures of it when you buy it so you can't defraud the insurance company but that's it.

 

You should have used your powers of persuasion being an older brother to make her make the right choice and buy a toyota pickup.

That sucks but what can you expect from a $2000 truck?

 

Small claims court it's your only recourse. Negligence all ready exists in the fact the wheel fell off he is a repair shop after all.

 

I have noticed that a lot of mechanics drive and own pos cars that stay broken. A lot of body guys drive cars that look like they went through the crusher before they got them.

 

Virginia appears to require annual inspections, but you are right, that an inspection is not required at transfer of title.

From http://www.dmv.state.va.us/vehicles/#buying.html :

So either the OP's family member bought the vehicle with the inspection sticker already on it, or was driving it without the required inspection.

 

Terrible deal, but learn from this.
Trust no one and if you are not familiar with what you are buying invite a friend along who is or pay someone to come and inspect. This shaddy shit happens way too much and it sucks these A holes get away with this, but the fact is they do.

 

What about a $2000 Toyota pickup, what can she expect from that?

Not everybody has 10k in cash laying around to buy a used car, those same people might need or want a truck. $2000 truck doesn't mean you get one that is duct taped together to the point of catastrophic failure when the tape peels off.

Cute post, I guess, but you have 2 stupid assumptions in 2 sentences...

 

I've lived in NY, VA and MA, they all require safety inspections but none would have necessarily caught the issues with this particular truck. They wouldn't have caught a messed up transmission or even the wheel lugs being loose necessarily. Here, they only zip off one wheel, check the brakes and put it back on. Unless they chose that wheel (which is unlikely because they usually check the front), they wouldn't have even caught that.

If they guy worked at a local shop, he probably had it 'inspected' on his own time.

 

My 4runner was just a bit more than that when i bought it, ran fan fucking tastic for 5 years with just changing the oil (and a clutch after year 3). I sold my 99' 4runner for 2200, it was in perfect shape mechanically, i would drive it across the country tomorrow if i needed to.

Smartass.

 

*Younger brother. I'm 21, she's 25. Believe me, I tried!

This is my assumption, all I truly know is that the zip tie was on the clutch pedal somewhere, and all of this happened with the truck right when it popped off. It's the only thing I can think of, though I have a hard time believing that a zip tie could put any pressure on the pedal...

The sticker was on it when she bought it. It's a September sticker. It's a real sticker too. The cop that stopped to assist us when the wheel came off that day took a look at it and confirmed that it was a legit sticker. Even looked it up for us to see which shop it was done at, which I didn't know they could do. He was pretty cool, and quite helpful. Even gave me a card with info about applying for VA Beach police when I asked him about it.

 

The truck will be getting towed to my house in the next couple days so I can get a good look at it. As of right now, it is going to be parted out.