Need some advice on bad purchase

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while all of the above is true to a point, we are dealing with a small claims action if anything at all and the level of proof required is much less than in civil court. Yes he should have had it inspected but he relied on the sellers statements of fact. The seller knew that the truck was not safe to drive and that is the point that needs to be hammered on... having a safe vehicle on the road is of a "compelling state interest". You will get only one swing at this if the seller doesn't come clean. Small claims court is easy and you will probably win because it is small claims court. If the seller owns his house or other property in the county where the sale was made you can put a lien against those properties and they will have to be cleared before he can re-fi or sell and with a 10% interest per year on the accumulated dollar amount it adds up fast. If you do go to court and loose you have gained some experience and wisdom albeit rather expensively.

 

Well, you're assuming the seller knew it was a rusty shit box. Did he? Probably. But that's pretty hard to prove. He's just going to claim ignorance, which again, unless you subpoena every communication or document he has on the matter (that's not really a thing in small claims court), I doubt you'd be able to show he knowingly sold a shit box.

Besides that, we, as private party sellers are under no real obligation to know the ins and outs of our cars or know exactly what makes a vehicle safe or not, anyway. We aren't professional mechanics or engineers. We aren't expected to be.

So, if OP wants to stick it to the guy, and make his life hell, so be it. I personally have better things to do with my time, like starting the search for a donor vehicle with a good frame to make the swap...

 

My opinion on it is if he will give your money back I would take it and consider yourself lucky.and on the other hand if he says ho pound sand your left with a case of fraud for not telling you the truth and having said that a fraud case would be an expensive proposition so if it were me I would just file a small claims court case and use your wife as a witness to him saying the frame was replaced. I dont want to beat you up about this but you do have some blame in this by not having an independent shop look it over and if he wouldn't agree to it then it's time to just walk away. When buying a used car it's always considered "AS IS" unless it comes with a warranty or makes false claim about it and in your case he said frame was replaced. Just my opinion. I dont think he will give you your money back. I didnt see how much you paid unless I missed it. Good luck and hope he gives you your money back

 

It would be evidence of fraud if they go to court, if the frame truly was not replaced, which can be verified easily enough. I'm not a lawyer, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night!

 

You may want to look more into the lack of a Cat. It is against Federal law to sell a vehicle without a Cat. (as far as I know). So you may have more teeth in that fact when you approach the seller for a refund. Best of luck

 

I am curious if one had paid x amount $$ for a " inspection" can you then go after the inspection company.

When most I was involved in they just testified the problem was not evident at the time of inspection this goes back far to many years to think about

 

I've seen enough late night Judge Judy. I know exactly how this is gonna play out

 

Yeah, and what's crazy are the expectations some people have about Toyotas' responsibility for +20 year old trucks that develop a problem.

I just had a conversation last week with a guy who lives 3 houses from me. Last Summer, I had pointed out to him he had small hole in his frame just rear of the RH upper shock mount. Otherwise, his truck is cherry at 96000: 98 ext cab; 4x4; he bought new. He is still furious Toyota would not replace the frame. His son-in-law repaired it for him. He says he is selling his wife's Highlander, and probably his truck because he is so mad at Toyota. "Never again...!".

Here is the funny part. In preparation for his Toyota purge, he called his bank and asked Blue Book on his truck. He was told $14,500. He said "I knew that couldn't be right, so I called a second bank. Same. Can you believe it? 22 year old truck and still worth that much?" He even said his wife told him if he gets rid of the truck he'll be sorry since it has never broken down on him in 22 years. "But by God, I am done with Toyota!". I could barely keep from laughing at him.

 

Pride is the biggest deceiver the world will know
What a shame, that such a level headed experience over 20+ years can be thrown away in one pride filled stupid moment of 'I'll cut off my arm to show them' type of thing ... SMDH

 

OP if the guy is willing to take the truck back and refund you, do it.

The $700 in parts you’ll lose will pale in comparison to either the legal fees, your time spent chasing reparation, and/or the money/time you’ll spend repairing it or swapping it to a donor vehicle.

Move on from this guy, this mistake and start over.

$700 isn’t the end of the world.

 

Nah, all he'd have to do is claim he was told it was replaced, and since he's not an expert, he believed them.

I guess he forgot to tell the banks about the rusty whole(s) in is frame? But that's not how much it's worth, that was probably just how much the bank would be willing to loan you for purchasing one.

There are people on this site who continually complain about Toyota not giving them "appropriate" answers, or wants them to fix their truck.

Here's the thing: Toyota gave you FIFTEEN YEARS to figure this out, and really only had the most basic of requirements.

If you live in a state that salts the roads in the winter, and you haven't once looked under your truck looking for rust in the last 15 years, I don't feel sorry for you at all. But go ahead and be the Karen of the Toyota Enthusiast world and ask to speak to the manager.

 

I would just add that its it's obvious that the original owner never been to the dealership shop and had any work done cause if he had they would've fixed it and also if you live in a place where they salt the roads you have to no that there would be a problem unless this person never owned a car and there a teenager

 

Where are y'all located to get that kind of value,,, Kaliforney?

 

' buyer beware ' .......