I bought a car from a con artist, what do I do now?

[neoh]

It's a long sob story, read the first paragraph and the last two to get to the end of it.

I purchased a 1997 honda civic CX from Top Wheel Auto in Coquitlam on Oct 10th. I went and took a look at the car, and everything under the hood looked fine. The test drive was fine, and everything that I saw indicated that the car was in good running condition. The car was within my price range, and I desperately needed a car, so I found what money I had left and purchased it. It had a 6 month warranty on it, which I figured would be alright considering I'm waiting for my work to lease me a vehicle and needed something in the mean time.

I drove the car off the lot, and the shift knob came off. I thought alright, just the screw - no problem.

I work in Richmond, live in Mission. Drove the car to work, no problem. Drove it home after work, when I got home I realised the car had overheated. I popped the hood, and the hood latch broke off; so I thought, alright, add insult to injury.

I work about 80-90 hours a week, I couldn't get this car back to the dealership. I called him, he says to bring it in and he will look at it, then I can get it taken care of through warranty. So I agreed, but couldn't get the car back to him for about 3-4 days later. I would top up the rad and managed to get to work for the next few days like that.

Sure enough, I get a day off and manage to get to the dealer. The rad fan would not turn on for me at all, I figured thermostat or temp sensor must be bad. Took it to him, and BAM the bloody fan turns on while I'm there. He says that the car is fine, it's not overheating, that his wife drove the car a week before I bought it and had no problems, and that if I needed work done to take it to an authorized dealer and it would be covered under warranty.

Well what can I say? Now the car isin't over heating.

I take the car to my mechanic, barely making it due to overheating. Change the temp stat, thermostat, and drive the car away. Overheats.

Water pump damaged from overheating. Waterpump replaced, timing belt replaced. Overheats.

Rad flush, compression tests are fine, we figure there is a leak in the rad somewhere. Figured I keep the water level up, I can take it to where I need to go. Have someone else take a look at it as I need a pressure test done on the rad. Didn't get far. After overheating again - head gasket toast, rad fan sensor still broken, rad cap is toast, etc. etc.

I did a check into this car. Turns out this car is a salvage, had major front end damage, when I was told minor bumper damage, which he showed me paperwork for. Though this looks like it was put together with nice looking pieces with bubble gum and floss. The engine needs to be completely replaced. I have a non working car, no money for the work, no way to get to work to make the money to buy a new one, and I'm stranded and broke.

I want my money back from the dealer. There is apparantly no lemon law in BC, and nothing else I seem to be able to do. Any ideas how I can get my money back from this crook?

[iambuRnz]

bring it back to them and tell them to fix it as it is still under warranty. dont wait until that warranty runs out.

you should have ran a background check on the car first before you signed it. that's just common sense.

[neoh]

I lacked complete common sense, lets keep that out of the equation on this one.

[iambuRnz]

its still under warranty so get it fix or get a different car from them. (if refund is out of the question)

[604nguyen]

never trust a used car salesman, always check the car out yourself,
not sure if you can get your money back, but you signed the papers, the car is legally yours. dont quote me on this, but i think u can 'return' it if its within 7 days

[lowside67]

The best way to get some leverage on your side is to get in touch with the Motor Vehicle Sales Authority of BC, their website is http://www.mdcbc.com

The entire reason the motor dealer council exist is to help consumers like yourself obtain satisfaction from car dealerships in the case of disputes like this, also for things like deposits, etc. If the dealer completely and thoroughly disclosed the history of the vehicle (in writing on the bill of sale), your case is going to be much more difficult to obtain any satisfaction on. However, if he was not completely specific to the extent of the damage as reasonably as he can be expected to know about it, the VSA will either require him to compensate you the difference in value or will unwind the deal and will have you return the vehicle to him for a refund.

Now thank me, and next time make an effort to do business with a reputable car dealership - there is a reason that our cars are sometimes more expensive - they are not junk!

-Mark

[lowside67]

Originally Posted by 604nguyen

never trust a used car salesman, always check the car out yourself,
not sure if you can get your money back, but you signed the papers, the car is legally yours. dont quote me on this, but i think u can 'return' it if its within 7 days

First of all, buying from a used car salesman is not the problem... buying from a shady used car salesman was the problem.

And no, there is no automatic policy for "returning" the vehicle within 7 days UNLESS the vehicle was not declared properly on the bill of sale, as I just posted in the post before this one in which case the VSA will help make that possible.

-Mark (used car salesman)

[604nguyen]

Originally Posted by lowside67

First of all, buying from a used car salesman is not the problem... buying from a shady used car salesman was the problem.

And no, there is no automatic policy for "returning" the vehicle within 7 days UNLESS the vehicle was not declared properly on the bill of sale, as I just posted in the post before this one in which case the VSA will help make that possible.

-Mark (used car salesman)

"shady" is what i meant

lol

[Zulu]

Dealer: want a car? Great. Here are several fine example that cost XYZ.
Customer: I have Z to spend.
Dealer: Are you sure? If you spend XYZ you can get these amazing vehicles.
Customer: Yeah I have Z.
Dealer: Ok... you can buy this beater for Z. My wife has been driving it around for the last few weeks it seems ok.
Customer: Great I'll take beater for Z!

*customer drives away in $Z beater*
*beater is a beater and breaks*
*customer posts angry thread about dealer being a scammer*

*cheap hongers mash their fail keys*

[neoh]

The specific issues with the car are not covered under the warranty. The warranty is through a third party (Global). I have 1 star warranty, but the gasket, rad, etc - is only covered under the 4 star warranty.

[sonick]

Originally Posted by Zulu

Dealer: want a car? Great. Here are several fine example that cost XYZ.
Customer: I have Z to spend.
Dealer: Are you sure? If you spend XYZ you can get these amazing vehicles.
Customer: Yeah I have Z.
Dealer: Ok... you can buy this beater for Z. My wife has been driving it around for the last few weeks it seems ok.
Customer: Great I'll take beater for Z!

*customer drives away in $Z beater*
*beater is a beater and breaks*
*customer posts angry thread about dealer being a scammer*

Way to be helpful d-bag. The OP sounds in a tough spot as it is, working 90 hours a week with little to no savings, and likely doesn't need you to make him feel even shittier.

[lowside67]

Originally Posted by neoh

The specific issues with the car are not covered under the warranty. The warranty is through a third party (Global). I have 1 star warranty, but the gasket, rad, etc - is only covered under the 4 star warranty.

Read my post again.

The only way that you are going to get rid of this car is based on the accident history not being as described. As long as you cant prove that it was mechanically unfit for safe transportation the second you drove it off the lot, you are going to have a seriously uphill battle. You need to look at your bill of sale and see what it says with respect to the accident.

-Mark

[neoh]

The report I got from the car was damage to the back passanger side fender, and the bumper, which caused the car to be written off. He also showed me pictures of the damage, and it was very little. I was aware of this situation when I bought it, and got the price lower due to this. However; upon further inspection (after the vehicle had already been purchased for that matter) shows the front bumper had been recently replaced (different shade of red that I didn't notice before) and that would indicate obvious front end damage that was not reported to me during the initial sale.

Believe it or not there, Zulu. I do actually understand how this shit works. I do also understand that when someone says "damage to the bumper" when the damage is actually to the front end, thats when I start calling people out on their bullshit.

[lowside67]

Originally Posted by neoh

The report I got from the car was damage to the back passanger side fender, and the bumper, which caused the car to be written off. He also showed me pictures of the damage, and it was very little. I was aware of this situation when I bought it, and got the price lower due to this. However; upon further inspection (after the vehicle had already been purchased for that matter) shows the front bumper had been recently replaced (different shade of red that I didn't notice before) and that would indicate obvious front end damage that was not reported to me during the initial sale.

What does it specifically say on the bill of sale with respect to damage? There should be a section where it specifically describes any previous damage to the vehicle. Your post above says that "you did some checking" and found out that it had significant damage beyond that, what did that consist of? If the car is a rebuilt and you knew that and he wrote that on the bill of sale, you are SOL. A rebuilt is a rebuilt for a reason... public service announcement: 99.999999999% of the time cars are not written off for "little minor damages".

-Mark

[Zulu]

[neoh]

Originally Posted by lowside67

Read my post again.

The only way that you are going to get rid of this car is based on the accident history not being as described. As long as you cant prove that it was mechanically unfit for safe transportation the second you drove it off the lot, you are going to have a seriously uphill battle. You need to look at your bill of sale and see what it says with respect to the accident.

-Mark

I was replying to an earlier post, but yeah Mark - I'll take all of this into consideration. I got a carfax report on it and I'm going to see what I can do with the paperwork he gave me and the rest of the information.

[hirevtuner]

if the salesman told you it was a minor bumper accident and you find out later from carfax/mechanic that it was a totalled, won't it be misrepresentation?

maybe you can consult a lawyer about it or the motor vehicle dealers association

[Jgresch]

Lowside is thge only person you should be listening to (^and that guy cuz of the same answer)

Contact VSA, NOW! If there is not full disclosure, they have to pay you the value difference or let you return the car!

[Jgresch]

And what does it say on the Bill of Sale under the DECS? specifically repairs over $2000... if it says there has been none, then you are in the right and if you have solid proof that it was a salvage, you can talk to VSA abotu returning the vehicle because they must dislocse this to you during the sale.

[Jgresch]

And finally there is no registered company called Top Wheel Auto, do they have another name? WHat was the sales persons name?

http://mdcbc.amsasp.com/PublicSearch/

Edit: NVM found it. *Automobiles not Autos

[J____]

you should find his tranny and put it up for sale, that's what you should do.

[jigga250]

Originally Posted by Zulu

*cheap hongers mash their fail keys*

[Greenstoner]

Originally Posted by Zulu

Dealer: want a car? Great. Here are several fine example that cost XYZ.
Customer: I have Z to spend.
Dealer: Are you sure? If you spend XYZ you can get these amazing vehicles.
Customer: Yeah I have Z.
Dealer: Ok... you can buy this beater for Z. My wife has been driving it around for the last few weeks it seems ok.
Customer: Great I'll take beater for Z!

*customer drives away in $Z beater*
*beater is a beater and breaks*
*customer posts angry thread about dealer being a scammer*

*cheap hongers mash their fail keys*

You sounds like a guy I know, his name is Asshole
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[gearshifter]

If you asked him if there was any damage to it, and he didn't disclose all of it for obvious reasons..

You can sue in tort for Deceit (Fraudulent Misrepresentation).
You'll need to prove that you asked if there was any damage and he only specifically told you that there is minor bumper damage and NOTHING ELSE.

Courts would remedy you with either rescission of contract or awarding damages for deceit (monetary).

But now that you know of the problem and history of the car, I advise you to stop using the car or else it would mean that you have accepted the fact that the car is a lemon and you WILL NOT BE ABLE TO SUE.

[Alpine50]

Sorry to hear about that sucks
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