Legal Question in Business Law in California

About to 4 months ago i bought a 1997 expedition from a used car dealership. when i test drove it it drove fine, but in only 3 days or so it started showing major problems. I ask the dealership before buying this car if the engine and transmission of the car is good he said "yes", that was his first lie. I asked him if the car ever been in any accidents he said "no", that was his second lie. After takin the car to a machanic i found out it had a blown head gasket, needed a fuel pump, it had no antifreeze what so ever or oil which shows he never even looked at the car before selling it, a bent pinion arm showing that this car had been in a major accident, needs a rear pinion seal, it needed roters and brakes plus more. When i test drove the car it pulled to the right rather hard, when i asked the dealership he said "it needs an alinment" that was a lie, it cant be alined intil the rest of the car got fixed form an accident it was in before i even bought it. My machanic told me that the dealerships machanic had to have known that because it was easily noticable. After all of this, all the dealership did was get me a good price in fixing the blown head gasket. trying to fix this car so far has costed me 1000+ dallors in repair and is not even half way done. In the month of oct 2010 i was unable to pay the payment. but in nov 2010 i was able to pay the payment, and i have dec. 2010 payment before the 5th when it would be considered late. Well the guy comes to my house on the 4th of dec. and repoed my car no warning or nothing, just for being one month behind. After they took my car, I walked outside and noticed the owner of the dealership and the repo man hiding around the corner talking. I walked over to him to ask him how much i needed to make it all right and he drove off "fast" almost peeling out. When i tried to call his phone it was off he was unable to contact. The car was financed in house i gave him 1400 down with a monthly payment of $256.

for my first payment i gave him $500 in sept. 2010. On the payment of Oct. 2010 i didnt have because all my money i had saved went toward fixing the car and one of my checks were late do to problems in pay roll, which the dealership was aware of. Nov.2010 i walked in the dealership and gave him 250. But before i even got a chance to pay Dec.2010 payment he repos me without warning. He is very shady and i feel played and cheated. My questiong is what can i do, am i stuck in this deal (i still owe 4000) or is there a way i can get out of it or can i sue him? my girlfriend was a witness to all this, all his lies and i have all reciepts please help me????


Asked on 12/03/10, 6:27 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Bryan Whipple Bryan R. R. Whipple, Attorney at Law

Using this web link,

http://dmv.ca.gov/fo/fotocinv.htm#investigations

I found this information:

The DMV Investigations Division protects the programs and interests of the department and public through active fraud/counterfeit detection, investigation, audit and enforcement services. The Investigations Division diligently enforces laws, rules, and regulations that apply to new and used vehicle dealers, brokers, dismantlers, registrations services, vehicle verifiers, driving schools or traffic violator schools, and other vehicle-related businesses.

If you'd like to file a consumer complaint against any of the above-listed groups, please click on "Record of Complaint Form." Follow the directions for completing the form and then mail it to an Investigations office in your area-see address listing on form.

You may want to try the links yourself and get a copy of the DMV complaint form.

Another or an additional approach is to sue in small claims court. To find out how to do this effectively, go to Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or a local bookstore and get a California-oriented paperback self-help law book on how to prepare, file, win and collect your small-claims case.

There are also small-claims advisors in the courthouse in every county.

Read more
Answered on 12/09/10, 8:51 am


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