I just bought a 2000 VW 1.8TURBO Beetle. I had test drove it a day before and everything worked perfectly except the air conditioning. I told the dealer that if he wanted to make a sale to call me when it was fixed. He called me the next day and i test drove it again and everything seemed perfect. I left the carlot at about 3:20. Before I even got home the check engine light came on. I called the dealer he didn't answer. I got home and decided to drive it back to the carlot. I get into my car and it won't even start. I've literrally had it for less than 2 hours and it won't start. What are my options?
In a used car sale in almost all states, your legal rights are mostly determined by the paperwork that you sign. The miles on the car when you buy it can make a difference in those very few states that require dealers to give a minimal warranty on used cars they sell. A local Consumer Law lawyer can tell you if your state law requires that. Otherwise, when problems arise after the sale, you should first look to see if anything was written down about any kind of warranty or guarantee or right to cancel the deal. You should never buy any used car without insisting on at least a 3 day warranty because if you get any warranty at all, then most states have a law that can automatically give you even greater warranty rights than the car dealer may realize. But that’s not the end of it. There’s also a federal law that requires all car dealers to post on the window of all used cars they are selling a special “Buyer Guide” form (it’s often called a Used Car Window Sticker) that discloses whether or not a warranty comes with the car. Many small lot car dealers don’t comply with the law because they don’t fill the form out right or they don’t use the “federal” form but just make one up. If they don’t do it right, then you may end up with a warranty after all (even if you think your sale was “as is”) and you may even have the right to cancel the sale. The back side of the form has to be completely filled out and many car lots, big and small, fail to do that too and that may also trigger your right to cancel the deal. You can see what the Buyer Guide form looks like on this web site page: http://ohiolemonlaw.com/used-car-lemon-law.html. Even if you have the right to cancel the sale, the dealer will likely never agree to it so you should argue and try to schmooze (that's a legal term for negotiate) them into helping you out. If nothing works, then it's time to get to a lawyer right away because you probably have more legal rights than you think you do. To find out what your rights are in your state, you need to talk to a local Consumer Law or Auto Fraud attorney who deals with this kind of case (it's called "autofraud" or car sales fraud). 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. Before you decide to buy your next used car read this .com guide on “How to Avoid Buying a Lemon Used Car in 7 Steps”: http://www.attorneyqna.com/legal-guides/ugc/how-to-avoid-buying--lemon-used-car-in-7-steps. Once you have already spent your money, it's still 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. After that, you may need to talk with an experienced Consumer Law attorney to find out what your rights are under your state laws. You probably have more legal rights than you think - and certainly more than the car dealer will admit you have. If this answer was helpful, please give it a “Vote Up” below. Ron Burdge, www.CarSalesFraud.com, www.USLemonLawyers.com
Attorney Burdge is right...
Many times you can get relief from a bad car deal, not because the car broke down right after you bought it, but because some "fast-and-loose" car dealers take short-cuts on the paperwork that is required in a car deal.
The average car buyer has little or no idea about what all of the state and federal regulations are, and even the big dealerships sometimes struggle to stay in compliance.
Consult with an auto fraud attorney in your area, and search the naca.net website for help.
