Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Pennsylvania

Re: Automobile Law Question

Depends on what you mean by "ripped off."

If you mean that as a competent adult, who was free to shop at any other used car dealer, or check price guides, Consumer Reports, used car classified ads, etc., to compare and shop for the car, you voluntarily agreed to pay X thousand dollars for a car, you got the car you bargained for, and now have information that maybe it wasn't such a good deal, that's not being ripped off.

Pennsylvania has a strong Consumer Protection Law. It forbids a long list of unfair tactics which are popular among used car dealers, such as bait and switch, misrepresentations about the quality of the product, etc.

If the dealer turned back the odometer, concealed an accident history, etc., then you would have a claim. But if the only complaint you have is that you agreed to pay 2,000 more than "Blue Book" value, that doesn't strike me as being illegal. There are different blue books; some give wholesale prices. Insurance companies like to use books with lower values because they limit their payouts when a car is totalled.

If your car had low mileage, extra options, or especially good condition, it might well have been worth 2,000 more than book value.