My name is George M. Delgado and I am a full time student as well as a United States Veteran. I recently purchased a 09 Nissan Maxima from a used cars dealership with an accident on the carfax report. I didn’t mind the accident as long as there wasn’t severe damage done to the vehicle. A month later with the car, the transmission is going and it turns out that there’s frame damage on the vehicle due to the accident. However at the time of purchase when the accident report question came up they told me there wasn’t any frame damage on the vehicle because they new it would jeopardize the sale. They told me only minor body work was done to the car, a total of $400. It turns out that the total repair for the car was more than $4,000?
Hoodwinked by a used car salesman?
I’m shocked, shocked I tell you, to hear of such a thing!
I wish you some serious good luck, you’re going to need it!
I would recommend that you contact a pro-bono legal office. If you go to a unversity with a law school, check their webiste to see if they have a student legal aid program.
The best place to ask the question is to a lawyer who specializes in such areas. Also your State may have some kind of consumer protection agency.
I believe that the Maxima probably has the CVT automatic transmission. On some Altima models, they extended the warranty for that transmission to 100K miles. Of course that might have been for the original owner, but it may well be worth asking the question to Nissan.
I hate to say it, but the transmission problem likely has nothing to do with the accident.
Generally a good assumption, but you can’t tell for sure without determining what part failed, what caused it to fail, and is that cause reasonably associated with the mechanism provided in the accident. I’d be interested to know more about the accident that bent the Maxima. It’s hard to think of what might’ve happend that introduced enough force to the car to twist it (to the point where the transmission would be compromised), and still result in only $4,000 in repairs.
The rest of the OP is going to depend hevily on where the transaction went down and what required disclosures are in place.
So you are saying that the carfax report was altered? or are you saying that you didn’t actually look at it? Did you buy “as is”? I ask because usually a 3 year old used car will carry more than a 30 day warranty on major drive train compnents.
Inigo “what might’ve happend that introduced enough force to the car to twist it (to the point where the transmission would be compromised), and still result in only $4,000 in repairs.” This question is based on your assumption that transmission failure is related to accident. When a good assumption ie., failures of unrelated component are unrelated, is supported by such factors as ‘I can’t imagine how they could be related in these circumstance’, the good assumption becomes even better.
My advice is to try and find out if your state has any applicable Lemon Laws regarding defective used cars. If they exist, there’s a pretty good chance the state or someone else has posted them on line. If your state does have one, get a copy, see if it seems to fit your case and what you need to do formally to get the process going. At the same time, call up the dealer, explain why you think the Lemon Law applies and what the penalties for the dealer would be, and offer the dealer a chance to make things right outside of legal proceedings.
Legal action I don’t know much about. However, for the benefit of those reading and considering buying a used car I offer this. The best protection is in advance of making a deal. Take the car to an independent garage, have them inspect it on the hoist, and get their opinion on the viability of the car. If you are charged for this it is money well spent. My garage guy doesn’t charge if you are a regular customer.
Legal advice is best suited to IMHO.
Colibri
General Questions Moderator
Well, I did start that sentence with, “It’s hard to think of…” which I would think implies a healthy amount of skepticism. That said, lots of non-obvious things happen and I’m always open to new information.
I believe that Carfax admits that their reports are not all-inclusive, so some information may be missing from them. But in this case, the report said that the car had been in an accident. But you were assured by the dealer that there was no frame damage. Did you get that in writing? If not, and noting that IANAL (i.e., I am not a lawyer) you’re going to have a hard time proving fraud or misrepresentation.
What does your specific warranty say?
If sold “as is”, there still must not be any mechanical defect of a safety nature, I would say a bad transmission, if it was not disclosed to you, is one.
If after your personal research, you find the contract has been broken, such as an implied warranty (safety issue), address that to them in person. If not resolved, try a certified letter.
If not resolved, consider small claims court.
From what I’ve read the used car safety laws are specific to certain states and involve actual safety equipment like lights, brakes, and seatbelts, not the transmission. Obviously the OP needs to look at his warranty and post that info here if he wants applicable advice. I’m also not sure what being a student and/or veteran has to do with a problem with a car dealer.
What do you want to happen? Dealer take car back and give you a refund? Be paid money as the difference between what it is worth and what you paid for it? Dealer take it back and fix it for free?
Depends on your state but small claims court might be the quickest means to an end.