Legal Question in Real Estate Law in New Jersey

On 8/31/09, I purchased a used vehicle from Sea Breeze Ford in Wall Township, NJ in my name, with the understanding that we would pic the vehicle up on Saturday, /4/09. On 9/1/09, I received a call from the dealership asking if they could deliver the vehicle to me so that they could get the vehicle closed out on their book for their month-0end procedures, and I agreed. They delivered the vehicle and rewrote the paperwork in my husband's name.

On 9/2/09, I contacted the dealership and informed them that the CD player, which was listed on the window sticker as an am/fm/cassette/cd player would not eject nor play a CD we placed in it and the clock was also not working. I was told by the finance manager that I would have to bring the vehicle to them for repair because items like this were not covered under the 90 day warranty if I took it to a local Ford dealership. I made arrangements to take a day off on 9/3/09 to take a vacation day from my job and brought the vehicle down to them for repair. After looking at it, they informed me that the Laser/Motor on the CD player was not working and the entire radio needed to be replaced at my cost.

I disagreed, telling them that since it was listed as part of the package that the car contained and since I was not notified that it was malfunctioning, it was their responsibility. They said that items like this were not covered under warranty and they were unaware of the problem (they had taken the car from their sister dealership) so they were not responsible. After much discussion, they left a message on my cell phone (I saved it) stating that they would pay $250 towards a replacement with a different type of am/fm/CD player, but I would be responsible for the rest and to call them back. I called appx. 15 minutes later, but the finance manager had steped out & when I returned to the dealership, I was told that since I did not answer them, they did nothing and that they also had not repaired the clock.

They had also been informed on my arrival that the tachomoter was not working and said that I would be responsible for taking it to a Hyndai dealership for repair because they didn't have the tools to do the repair, and if it was not covered by Hyundai, I would have to wait 30 days for the extended warranty I urchased to kick in (although they gave me a 90 day power-train warranty and this is considered part of the transmission system, which is covered under that warranty).

I want to know if I am responsible for the repair of these items out of my pocket. As I said, I was not notified of these problems at the time of purchase, and I feel that since I notified them in under 24 hours of the am/fm/cassette/CD player & clock malfunctions, and within under 3 days of the tachometer malfunction, that they are responsible for the full cost of the repairs. Also, please note that the vehicle was NOT sold to me "as is" on the purchase contract.

Thanks for any help you can give me on this.

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