Well my fellow dopers ive been taken by a scam artist. I went out to get a used car for my son and daughter to drive to school. I saw multiple cars that I liked, However my daughter fell in love with this 1990 Honda Accord being sold by this nice man that worked at a laundromat. Nothing seemed to be wrong with the car and we ran a carfax report and the such so we paid $2900 for the car. Now this is not a whole lot of money but it is enought to make one angry when they start to find problems. We soon found a “next oil change at 92,000 miles.” this is all fine and dandy but you must consider that the car has 83,000 miles on it. We took it to a mechanic to find out what the story was and soon found that the car had atleast double that mileage. That was just the beginning. The brakes were shot, it burned oil, bad timing belt and the such. The mechanic deemed the car unsafe to drive. When we called the guy about it he changed his story and so on, the normal scam artist stuff. Now i ask you guys for your honest advice, What can I do. The car was bought in DC but the owner and I are virginia citizens. A lawyer friend says small calims court in virginia but does anyone have any advice. Please respond im desperate.
Well, I’d say, take the guy to court and have the mechanic testify as to the condition of the car. You may get satisfaction. It would help if you had any paper work from the previous owner that would suggest he was claiming it was in better condition than it really was.
if he filed the wrong odometer data (turned back the odometer), that is often a criminal act. Don’t know how you’d prove it, though
When buying a used car, take an expert along.
(When buying a house, get it surveyed.)
Good luck with this one.
Well i thank you guys for taking the time out of your day to help me. The money is not whats important really its the fact that someone could be such a jerk. That just really bothers me. You know this sounds really corny but why cant we all just get along. Thanks anyway.
Prod.
I’m gonna play Devil’s Advocate and ask you what this guy SAID as opposed to what you ASSUMED. Did yout test drive the car? if it is unfit to drive, wouldn’t you have noticed a problem?
Did he tell you there was under 100,000 miles on it, or did you assume 83,000 didn’t mean 183,000?
Many times, people take used cars to the shop before buying them for a $40 check-up. You should have done this.
Ok i’ll stop scolding you now 
If I were you I’d gather as much proof as possible about what you expected out of the car. If you have no physical proof of something, it comes down to his word against yours, unfortunately 
One other thing…do “lemon laws” apply to used cars? Does the OP have a “buyer’s right” to get his money back>
Two lines of attack:
- Odometer – I am also unclear whether he claimed it had less mileage than it did, but it is a crime to fiddle with the odometer.
- Lemon laws – if your state has them, you’re probably in luck.
Otherwise, I think you’re screwed. You looked at it, you bought it of your own free will, your problem.
I don’t think a Honda of that time period would only have a 5-digit odometer; that was more of an American car thing, and by the 90s I think even the American cars had 6-digit odometers. If it misrepresented the mileage, you’ve got a case, I think.
Yes we did test drive the car. He also did say that it had only 83,000 miles on it. thank you all anyway. we asre pursuing legal action with a lawyer friend. everythinbg was fine for 5 days then it all went wrong. There were no obviouse problems.
Thank you dopers.
Prod