Repair of Undisclosed Collision Damage to a Used Car
My question involves personal property located in the State of: VA
OK here is the situation. In January my girlfriend purchased a used car from a used car dealership, upon doing a carfax we learned that the car was in an accident in 2007. Before she could get a loan for the car the credit union required either a copy of the police report or a letter from the dealer stating that the damages had been repaired. We initially tried to get the police report but were unable to do so, so the dealer willingly provided a letter to the credit union that there was no front end damage to the truck (which I have a copy of the letter).
Fast forward 4 months and my girlfriend and I are driving to work when the check gauges light comes on and the temp begins to rise. We pull off into a safe area at the earliest possibility and the truck is leaking fluid badly. We call for a tow and take it to a garage and learn that the water pump blew. We paid the garage to fix the coolant system and picked the truck up the next day. We drove downtown to go to a ball game and after the ball game I notice coolant under the truck. I add water and we get the truck home. I manage to convince my girlfriend to let me take the truck back to the garage the next day and when they get it and look at it they say the radiator burst because the new coolant system finally built up pressure and found the weak point. I agree to have them fix the radiator and go home. I get a call that afternoon and they ask me to come in because they need to show me something. After pulling the radiator they found that the radiator support was bent and twisted a good 3-5 inches and determined that this was do to a previous accident. They said they tried to get a new radiator to fit but couldn't because of how fare out of alignment the support was and that the AC coil and the transmission coil in front of the radiator were also bent from the front end collision. they also showed me damage to the radiator where it had been pushed into the fan. knowing that the truck had not hit anything in the four months we have had it and the extent of the damage I am certain this damage happened as a result of the accident.
Since the dealer had claimed no front end damage and we were going to have to get the radiator support straightened just to get the truck back together I called the dealer in a show of good faith to get them the opportunity to make things right. The dealer agreed to have the truck towed at their expense and to look at it. They confirmed all of the damage that I had seen and from the conversations I had with them that friday and the following monday I was left with the impression they were repairing the damage at their expense. On Monday they told me it would be done by Tuesday, by Thursday I had not heard anything so I called them and they said they were almost done putting it back together. I did not hear anything else from them until Saturday when they called and wanted to know why we had not picked it up yet. I told them I never received a call letting me know it was ready for pick-up and that at that time we would not actually be able to make it in. It was at this time that he informed me that he expected payment of just over $400 dollars for the repairs.
At this point we decided all future correspondence would be done via e-mail and so my girlfriend sent him at least 3 messages asking for information about what work had been done to the truck. With each message she simply got responses that the truck was ready for pick up. He has finally provided an invoice showing the work and he says that the damage was not there at the time he sold the truck so he is not responsible. The whole basis for the argument is that "the truck couldn't be driven in that condition, especially for four months" The fact that we were driving it when the water pump went and drove it between the water pump going and the radiator tells me that physically it was possible to be driven. As a structural engineer I know the amount of force it takes to bend steel tubing 3-5 inches, and it is not possible to happen without some body damage.
The key to all of this is we never signed anything agreeing to the work or authorizing him to do any work and all conversations we had left us believing the dealership was coving the cost of repairs. It was not until the repairs are completed that payment was ever mentioned to us. I have had enough work done on cars to know that before garages do work they will get authorization to perform it and money is always brought. We are suppose to go in tomorrow to pick up the truck, but I do not feel we should be paying for the repairs since we never agreed to them, had we known he was charging we likely would have taken the truck elsewhere. My question is what legal claim does he have to payment since we never authorized the work or agreed to payment and what legal right do we have to the truck without paying?
Re: Repair of Undisclosed Collision Damage to a Used Car
Your state does not require a written estimate for repairs unless requested, so it appears that the dealer has the right to bill you based upon your oral request for and authorization of the repairs. It's unfortunate that you assumed that the repair was free, and did not ask whether that would be the case.
He is taking the position that the damage was not there at the time your girlfriend purchased the truck. Your girlfriend is free to take a contrary position, and can even sue over it in small claims court, but that won't secure the return of the truck. As she bears the burden of proof in a lawsuit, to prevail in court your girlfriend will have to establish by a preponderance of the evidence either that the damage was present at the time she purchased the truck, or that the damage could not have occurred after she purchased the truck (essentially trying to prove pre-existing damage by implication).
If she pays by credit card, your girlfriend can dispute the charge. I can't promise that a dispute would succeed. If it were me, I would make a note that I was paying under protest on anything I had to sign associated to get the car returned by the dealer.