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Can You Return an As-Is Used Car if it Was Unsafe to Drive

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  • 09-25-2015, 07:16 PM
    Ashley_engert
    Can You Return an As-Is Used Car if it Was Unsafe to Drive
    My question involves a consumer law issue in the State of: California

    I bought a 2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee from a used car dealer, on 8/19/15. Today's date is 9/25/15. Conveniently I went and picked up the title and the tags today and on the way home out of the front passenger side it started to make a Noise and I asked my wife where the noise was coming from and that is when she noticed antifreeze covering the floor, I pulled over and put it in park and then noticed smoke coming from the pedal. So immediately I grabbed our keys, wallet, and put the hazards and got out.

    Called the police department and they transferred us to the fire department. They came out and helped us get it to the side of the road. I was trying to find the leak and getting the anti freeze out of the carpet so I pulled the carpet back and there was a rag that was burnt and soaked through and a puddle of anti freeze under the carpet. We called a mechanic to see if the could drive it home and they said no, bc it is a hazard bc it leaking means that it was burning through the heater line. It was a hazard to the passenger because it was burning at 200 plus degrees. We did sign an as is warranty. But they did not tell us about this. They knowingly put that rag there And knew about the leak; the rag that was soaked and was burnt.

    Please help.
  • 09-25-2015, 11:54 PM
    Taxing Matters
    Re: Can You Return an As-Is Used Car if it Was Unsafe to Drive
    Ok, you bought the car used from a dealer. You bought the car “as is” meaning that it had no warranty. That generally means that you assumed all the risk of whatever condition the car was in when you bought it. This is why you should always have a used car you wish to buy inspected by a mechanic you trust before you agree to the purchase. Among the rights that California gives used car buyers buying from a dealer is a right to buy a two day option to return the used for a full refund. But even if you bought that, the two days were long since gone by the time this incident occurred. California requires that cars that are claimed to be certified used cars must meet certain requirements, among them that the dealer has inspected it and that the full inspection report must be provided to the buyer. Cars sold “as is” do not qualify to be advertised as “certified.” In California, if a dealer does not claim the car as “certified” you want to ask why that is — often it will be because there is some defect in it that disqualifies it from certified status.

    You may ask a California personal injury lawyer if the dealer has any liability to you here as a result of this. In my state you wouldn’t, but California is more liberal in its tort law and perhaps you would win if you sued. But at best all you’d likely get if you sued is the lesser of (1) cost to repair the defect or (2) the difference between the value of the car without the defect and the value of the car with the defect. You had the car for a month and presumably drove it for that month before you noticed the problem. You could have had it inspected during that time to find the problem and repair it. In any event, it appears no one was injured as a result of this problem. You don’t win anything for injuries that might have happened but didn’t.
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