Cheated in a car deal

[xman]

I am writing this mail to see if I can get some type of help with the problem

that I am facing with respect to a used car that I bought from a private party. In

sept 2004, we bought a 1997 Honda Accord from an elderly woman named Wanda.
We checked the car from Autozone and Bridgestone and they did not find any major

problems with the car. We also got a history of the car from www.carfax.com (Car

Fax) and all it indicated was the mileage was not true mileage on the car. The

reason that the old lady was selling the car was she had some disease with her leg

and she has problem bending her knee, so a Van works well for her instead of this

car. She had bought this car from a Police Auction. Her husband is a car mechanic.
In Dec 2004 we were hit by a car from behind, it was the other driver's fault.

His insurance company decided to fix the car and requested us to take it to the

Honda dealer in town, Penske Honda. The dealer told us that the car had been in a

major accident and as a result has prior damage that is not worth fixing. He showed

how cosmetic repairs were done to conceal the damage caused by the accident.He said

that the frame of the car is twisted and could prove fatal in an major accident. The

old lady did not tell us about this, her husband being a mechanic and had worked on

this car should have known about the problem.
There are other problems with the car too, sometimes the car does not start.The

only way to start the car is to disconnect and reconnect the battery. Since I am a

software engineer, I know the hard reset thing works. If I were a non-technical

person I would have to take the car to the mechanic everytime it stopped.
This week its air compressor pulley also broke. It seemed a little rusted.
We are frustrated with the problems that we are having with this car. The

problems seem to appear one after the other.
We feel cheated. We were sold a car which was in an accident and were not told

about it. We are not of the sueing type, but this deal has hurt me and my wife

immensely. We repected the lady for her age and her words when she spoke about her

medical condition, but now We are losing faith and don't feel like trusting people.

Can we get any legal help?

[Anonymous]

What would legal help do for you, unless you are willing to sue?

Depending upon the value of the car, you may wish to consider bringing an action for fraud in small claims court.