Legal Question in Consumer Law in Louisiana

Most used car sales are "as is" with no warranty and with a waiver of redhibition. Redhibition is a Louisiana law that states that if an item has a latent defect at the time of the sale that was not known by the buyer at the time of the sale, the buyer may be able to rescind the sale or get a reduction in the price. And, if the defect in a car arises within three days of the sale, it is presumed that the defect did exist at the time of the sale.

Most used car sales waive this right of redhibition. If your sale did waive that right, you would be pretty much out of luck unless it appears that the seller knew about the defect and tried to hide it from you, which is fraud. If the seller defrauded you, you obviously can rescind the sale regardless of whether you purchased it "as is" or not. Otherwise, you took the risk when you bought the car that it could stop working at any time.

The moral is, when buying a used car, get it COMPLETELY checked out by a certified mechanic BEFORE you buy. Know what you are getting into before you put your money down.