My neighbor recently bought a 07 TL from a private party. It showed clean title on the carfax and it has no visual damages at all. The seller claimed that it has never been in any accident and has no any mechanical issues whatsoever. So he bought the car and took it to a friend's shop for some basic maintenance. I forgot what he was trying to replace (maybe a new HID) that require the bumper cover to be off, anyway they later found out the bumper cover, reinforcement, and absorber were all aftermarket brand (looks like the parts are from a vendor call keystone) they decided to dig in more, guess what? ac condenser, radiator, radiator support, headlight and grille....etc are all aftermarket brand. I was guessing maybe the car previously rear-ended or ran into something pretty bad and never got reported to insurance company or dmv. He called the previous owner and the guys said that's not possible. Can my neighbor file a lawsuit against the previous owner based on fraudulent misrepresentation? It has been less than a week since he bought the car!

 

You can file a lawsuit for just about anything in the good 'ol USA.

Was the person that your friend bought it from the original owner (i.e. 1 owner car)? If not, then it may be hard to prove the person knew about the damage.

Was there a sales contract? If so, what does it say?

 

Yes the guy was the first owner, there was no sales contract between my neighbor and the guy. Will that matter cuz the guy said he has never been into any accident but he never said anything about the aftermarket parts on the car, perhaps my neighbor never ask him?

 

If you want assurances, get them in writing. Lesson learned.

 

No sales contract = no way to prove that previous owner ever made any claim(s) that car was accident free and that all parts are original. It would be a case of he said, she said. Your friend will have to decide whether it's worth the time and money to pursue this in court.

Long shot, but see if the Carfax Buyback Guarantee will apply to your friend since the Carfax report says it's a clean title: http://www.carfax.com/manifest/bbg/termsConditions.cfx

Not sure what your friend would have to do to prove that the car isn't clean.

In the end, he might just have to take this as a learning lesson: pay $100 and get the car inspected by a mechanic, make sure all VIN #s match, and get a sales contract with everything in writing.

 

Your friend soesn't have a case or shot at winning the case. No contract = SOL.

 

AZ and gatr called it. No contract = SOL.

 

nope, i would contact car fax for a buyback or something.

 

always get a contract or a bill of sale that states the terms of sale. If I am selling a car I sell it AS IS. I tell people if the car has been in an accident, but its up to them to do a mechanical inspection on it.

 

Have to have a bill of sale.

 

Agreed. Every BoS I've ever written has AS IS, no warranty, etc all over it. I'm not the type to lie, but even so the buyer doesn't know that and needs to check everything out himself. If something is not how they expected and they didn't confirm with me or check it themselves, they're SOL once the sale is complete

 

your friend has nothing to stand on.... sorry.

 

Carfax is a complete joke when it comes to trying to use it to determine if a car has been in an accident.

I sold a car that had been in 3 accidents that had all been reported to insurance and one of the accidents involved a state trooper coming out and filing an accident report. I sold the car 2 years after the last accident (so plenty of time to make it onto the Carfax report) and the car had a clean Carfax.

When I listed the car for sale, I stated it had a clean Carfax. I was very sure not to make any false claims that it had never been in an accident.

Now all 3 accidents were minor. (Two were extremely minor with just bumper cover damage.) Maybe Carfax has a threshold of what they consider an accident?

 

Not looking good for your friend.

 

I don't know, my GTO had $10K worth of damage and showed up clean on a car fax (all went through insurance)

 

Well Carfax just sucks then. Especially because buyers really trust them. I feel bad for folks who end up with an accident on there because buyers view it as the plague of death.

 

carfax is a hit or miss... my 02 CLS showed clean but had been in 2 accidents previously

1994 accord showed salvage title correctly

2003 Legacy showed 2 owners and consistant milage

 

Not sure what he'd sue for, unless the car doesn't drive straight or the repaired paint is peeling. Much entitlement...