Legal matters

[KaTdaToplesS13]

As some of u know i totalled my 94 vert silvia(240sx). Good thing I had insurance so they're gonna pay the amount I owed to the finance co. The ins co sent me some forms explainin stuff and a form from a company called VinGuard. VinGaurd said that my vert was in a wreck prior to my ownership.The thing w/that is that the dealership that I bought the vert from didn't tell me that it was in a wreck before. So my parents called their lawyer and u know asked them if I could sue. All the lawyer asked me if I had signed a consent form so i looked through all my papers signed from the dealership and therewas nothing. So the lawyer said Im entitled to my down payment($1900), payments of my car($230x3mnths), and ins payments($180x3mnths) so thats a good amount of money. Probably enough for a new s13 coupe or sumthin. Sucks that I lost the car but atleast ill get all that money back. I kinda think that its messed up but hey its money right? Do you guys think ill win?

[Fenvy]

why do they have to tell you it's been in a wreck? it's a problem if they try to hide a salvage title from but I don't think it's their fault for selling you an USED car that's been slightly wrecked before.

You will also have a hard to prove that a wreck, which damage does not exceeed the value of the car, was fixed, inspected then driven by you for sometime, who didn't notice any problem, and suddenly hit a tree in an open street.

and yes that's pretty messed up.

[KaTdaToplesS13]

I know that what im about to do is messed up. But the thing is that it was illegal for him to sell me the vehicle without telling me the car was wrecked. Also by calfornia law a dealer must inform the buyer if the car has been in a wreck in the past. I know this because one of my parents has a dealers license.

[KaTdaToplesS13]

and also a consent form must singed by the buyer disclosing that information

[Fenvy]

lol, don't tell me your parents sold you the car

anyways, I am under the impression that it is not illegal. In addition, I believe you signed something at the time of sales pertaining to "as is, no warranty"

put ethics aside for a moment, I don't think you have a case either for the said reasons in my previous post.

By the way, how long have you driven the car? 6 months?

[The Mic]

I know that what im about to do is messed up. But the thing is that it was illegal for him to sell me the vehicle without telling me the car was wrecked. Also by calfornia law a dealer must inform the buyer if the car has been in a wreck in the past. I know this because one of my parents has a dealers license.

That may be for new vehicles, but used vehicles are another ball park all together.

Cite a provision that "not telling you that the car was wrecked" would be violative of- A case such as yours is the reason VIN history reports are made readily available for reference. A salvage title isn't by any means an obligation on the Dealerships' part for disclosure.
Modified by The Mic at 6:09 PM 6/17/2005

[KaTdaToplesS13]

come on Loveless y would I even think about suein my own parents.(I hope u were JK about that) Whats not illegal? Also I did sign an "as is, no warranty" form but that only releases the dealer from any responsibility for the vehicle after the date of sale. Anything prior to that date the dealer is responsible for, as in informing me the vehicle was in an accident.

Hey Mic I think that law mainly applies to cars that arent fresh off the lot. And the rest of wat your sayin I dont really get so can you explain

Modified by KaTdaToplesS13 at 7:43 PM 6/17/2005
Modified by KaTdaToplesS13 at 7:52 PM 6/17/2005

[Fenvy]

it was a joke, either way, you will lose this hopeless "battle"

if there is anthing wrong with this country it's that anyone can sue someone over the dumbest reasons. Please don’t induce your own misfortune upon others.

In any case, it's your life style, it's you that's giving up ethis, moral principles, and this whole ordeal is a joke.

[KaTdaToplesS13]

Its actually funny your right atleast about one thing. People can sue for the dumbest reasons. But you can say what you but we'll just see how this situation comes out.

BTW Just out of curiosity What nationality are you?

[Fenvy]

yeah, let us know how it turns out

[KaTdaToplesS13]

NO PROBLEM.

[MAXIMUS Nismo]

put ethics aside for a moment, I don't think you have a case either for the said reasons in my previous post.

ok, with ethics aside, as stated before, isn't it illegal for the dealer, to not notify the buyer of a previous wreck in his state? Also, after notification, the buyer would have to sign a release form of some sort stating that he was made privy to such information by the dealer, which would make his battle futile. But, since no disclosure was made, nor any release signed, it is my beleif that this battle, if waged correctly, can be won by toplessS13 and his friend in the suit.

Only drawback I see is that if another vert is no found, topless may have to change his/her screen name...........

[Fenvy]

let's pretend for a moment that it is not legal to sell this car in that state. The court rules that the dealer is to return the 3000$ or whatever amount back to topless but oh wait, topless already totalled the car. The dealer isn't responsible to return the money for nothing. By that, I'm saying that the transaction was for a perfectally running car but now it's nothing but scrap metal. What is the dealer going to do with it? Even if this goes into court, which I doubt, will not make any sense.

in additional defense of the dealer, it is evident that topless has altered the car which may have contributed the accident, silva front end, suspension... etc is evidence enough. A counterargument of pursuing JDM won't work.

[Florida240sx]

Yea.A dealer has to inform you about the car being wrecked.It's a safety hazard to you.Whether they tell you directly or not is a different story.During all the paperwork they can slip you the paper and say it's a second page for the "sold as is" and then if anythign happens they say they told you an dthey have a copy of the paper.Guy here in town gets wrecked vehicles fixes them and sells them.Can't tell they been in a wreck.He got in trouble for not informing the buyer about the previous incident.Got fined forget how much.He still does it, he just has to get the form signed.

[Fenvy]

Florida240sx's story proabbly portray a mechanic or a body shop who does this on the side. Dealers however are not stupid, they have standard forms for things like this.

[The Mic]

Yea.A dealer has to inform you about the car being wrecked.It's a safety hazard to you.Whether they tell you directly or not is a different story.During all the paperwork they can slip you the paper and say it's a second page for the "sold as is" and then if anythign happens they say they told you an dthey have a copy of the paper.Guy here in town gets wrecked vehicles fixes them and sells them.Can't tell they been in a wreck.He got in trouble for not informing the buyer about the previous incident.Got fined forget how much.He still does it, he just has to get the form signed.

Again, please cite a provision. That may be the case in your state, but I don't recall a federal statute obligating dealerships/private owners across the nation in that fashion.

[Red coupe]

even if it is illegal for them to not disclose info about past problems how thoroughly is a dealership legally obligated to look into a vehicles history?If they don't have to do history reports then the dealership could easily say they are on the same boat as you, and were sold a car without the owner disclosing it had been wrecked...

[Eikon]

I don't know the laws for every state, but I can tell you that car dealer's do NOT have to disclose accident history on the vehicle. I would assume this is true in nearly every state.

The title history is the way to track accidents. If the car has a salvage, or insurance write-off history, that must be disclosed to the buyer of the vehicle on whatever states disclosure forms.

I sold used cars. Many were in accidents. Most very minor accidents.. paintwork or a fender replaced or somthing like that. If the buyer asked about the history and I knew the history I had to tell them what I knew. I was smart though and didn't care to learn the history of the car. If they wanted to know, they simply needed to pull a carfax report.

You will not win the lawsuit unless you can prove to a court that you asked specifically about the accident history, that the salesman, finance person, or whoever you talked to knew that history, and that they deliberately lied to you.

Even if you had a document signed by the dealer saying that they don't know of any accident in the car's history, and you can prove it was in an accident, you would still loose.

The dealer is not required to research the accident history. Only if the title is branded do they need to know or disclose.

Don't waste your time with a lawsuit... the only person who will get paid is the lawyer.

[The Mic]

even if it is illegal for them to not disclose info about past problems how thoroughly is a dealership legally obligated to look into a vehicles history?If they don't have to do history reports then the dealership could easily say they are on the same boat as you, and were sold a car without the owner disclosing it had been wrecked...

Dealerships aren't legally obligated to check any more than you or me. If they sell a vehicle with a salvage title and they say it doesn't have one, the dealership is liable. Doesn't matter if they knew or not.

I don't know the laws for every state, but I can tell you that car dealer's do NOT have to disclose accident history on the vehicle. I would assume this is true in nearly every state.

Yeah; That's what I've been saying, but most are deaf to this.

[The Mic]

Hey Mic I think that law mainly applies to cars that arent fresh off the lot. And the rest of wat your sayin I dont really get so can you explain

Sure. If they are not asked, Dealerships are not legally obligated to disclose any accident history. It's an "If they don't ask, don't tell" policy most of them have, and it isn't illegal.