A family member of mine traded in a 2002 used car a week ago for another 2004 used car. The paperwork was signed, a downpayment was given and financing was obtained through Nissan USA. The car that was traded in was modified and the dealer was aware of this. (The modified parts were installed by another certified dealer. The modifications were installed over a year ago and he had not had ANY problems with this up to that point. The dealer that installed the parts warranteed the work done to the engine and it had not needed any service other than regular oil changes every few weeks/months.)
After the dealer had it a week, his teenager son wanted the trade in for himself. The father, who is the finance manager at the dealership, let him drive it around and agreed to not sell it to anyone else. Between the son driving it around, the father driving it around and it going back and forth to the dealership, the car had switched hands several times. One person at their dealership told us after a few days of having the trade in, that "they ragged it out and raced it everywhere" they went.
Well, a week after this had gone on, he gets a call at 11:30 at night from the father of the kid that was going to buy the trade in for himself. He said that the car all of a sudden stopped running and he was leaving the car on the side of the road. It would start, but not go into gear, meaning that he may have either blown the motor or the transmission. He told him that he would have to come in the next morning to sign "new paperwork" now and that the deal they had "wasn't a done deal" afterall. The father said that the car was left on a street (which was at least 5-8 miles or more from the car dealership) and that they would just tow it into the dealership lot in the morning.
After getting the call, he had a hard time understanding WHY the car was taken off the lot and being driven everywhere if this wasn't "a done deal". The guy also stated that he couldn't get it towed because they didn't have any insurance on the car yet. Which brings up another point. What is any person from the dealership doing with the car, driving it around town, with no insurance, leaving it on a side road, at 11:30 at night? When he asked the guy if he had been running the car "hard", he said "yeah, I guess I had".
Bottom line.... what recourses does he have? Can the dealership just ask for the used car back after it's been signed off on, license plate & insurance switched, and driven for over a week? And since they damaged the car, which there are witnesses noting that it had been driven "around town" everywhere before they blew it up, what can be done to make sure they take care of the damages they've done and/or keep the trade in? Even the factory speakers have been damaged, the aftermarket 1 year old amp blown up now and there's a dent on the side door that wasn't there at the trade in. All this in one week! Help!

