I just recently bought a 2001 mustang GT and the title says its clean, but has a bent frame. This would make the car salvage due to it being unsafe. In addition, they did an inspection on the vehicle before i picked it up and somehow it passed. Could i sue this dealership?
You probably can. What legal claims you may have woul depend on your sales paperwork, what representations the dealer made to induce you to purchase the car, and whether or not the delaer hid anything from you, among other things. Wrecked and repaired cars can be dangerous because you don't know the quality of the repair job or the repairman. Car dealers generally have a higher disclosure obligation than an ordinary consumer would have selling the car. If the dealer knows something and realizes that the buyer would want to know about it, but doesn't disclose it, the dealer may be committing fraud by concealment. Every state has its own definition of fraud, but generally it's a lie or something kept hidden that costs you money. There is a big difference in value between a car that has never been wrecked and one that has, even when the repairs are done right. It's called "diminished value" and it means your car is worth much less than one that was not wrecked and repaired. You probably have the right to either cancel the deal or recover the amount you were overcharged for the car. If you want to know what your car is really worth, take it to a car dealer and see how much they will give you for it after you tell them that the CarFax for it says it was wrecked and it may have frame damage. Many car dealers won't want to buy it at all. Once you have already spent your money, it's not too late to have an independent repair shop inspect it and tell you what they think, but the best time is before you put down your hard earned money. Still, there is more than one way to get rid of a wrecked car (or a bad car) or to get even when you’ve been ripped off. First look at your paperwork and see if anything was written down about any kind of guarantee or warranty. In a used car deal, most of your legal rights are dependant on the paperwork you sign. However used car dealers are required to post a Buyer Guide form on the window of every car and many dealers don’t comply with the law. That sticker can also give you more rights. Also, if the lie to you, that can be fraud. To know what all this means in your particular case though you should talk to a local Consumer Law lawyer about your state laws and what your rights are, right away. Call your local attorney's Bar Association and ask for a referral to a Consumer Law attorney near you or you can go to this web site page for a Free Online 50 State National List of Consumer Law Lawyers (http://www.ohiolemonlaw.com/ocll-site/ocll-locate_local.shtml) and find one near you (lawyers don’t pay to get listed here and most of them are members of the only national association for Consumer Law lawyers, NACA.net). But act quickly because for every legal right you have, there is only a limited amount of time to actually file a lawsuit in court or your rights expire (it's called the statute of limitations), so don't waste your time getting to a Consumer Law attorney and finding out what your rights are. If this answer was helpful, please give it a “vote up” rating below. Ron Burdge, Attorney, www.SalvageTitle.info, www.burdgelaw.com
TX, I'm told has a decent consumer fraud act, as the GOP has not yet gotten around to gutting it in favor of businesses. Contact local counsel right away to enforce your rights before they disappear.
Find someone qualified here:
http://www.naca.net
