Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Arizona

Fraud or misrepresentation

I drove from Illinois to Arizona to purchase a used motorhome from a private individual. They had advertised it on the internet as having a ''new Chevy 454 motor has less than 1000 miles. After purchasing it and driving it approximately 60 miles, it quit running and had to be towed to a repair shop. They got it running and I drove on to Oklahoma City, where it lost a considerable bit of power and I could not go faster than 40 miles per hour. I stopped a Chevrolet dealership and they found that only 5 of the 8 cylinders were firing. They told me it was definitely not a new engine and was probably the original engine. I'm back home in Illinois, and the motorhome is still at the dealership near Oklahoma City, where they are going to have to dismantle the engine to see what's wrong, and they tell me that they may have to put a remanufactured engine in it. Now the lady's mother admits that it was not a new engine, but rebuilt, and they don't want to pay anything to fix it. Do I have a legal case to make them pay for the repairs or a new engine, and if so, do I need an Arizona attorney? Thanks


Asked on 2/28/01, 5:12 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Charles Aspinwall Charles S. Aspinwall, J.D., LLC

Re: Fraud or misrepresentation

If you can prove the misrepresentations concerning the engine, that constitutes civil fraud and you should be able to recover your direct and incidental losses from this transaction. Assuming you can get the mother to admit to the deception in writing or in oral testimony - a big assumption - you will have the preponderance of evidence you need to prevail.

Although you might be able to press this claim yourself in small claims court, traveling back and forth from IL would deeply diminish your recovery. An AZ lawyer is probably your best bet as the matter may be able to be handled without the necessity of your travel to AZ.

Good luck.

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Answered on 4/24/01, 9:11 am


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