private party sale gone bad

[Johnny Quest]

so a buddy of mine bought a truck from a guy up in Heber, guy said that it ran fine. after the sale was complete, the truck passed safety no problem, but wouldnt pass emissions. turns out that theres low compression in one of the cylinders, most likely a burnt valve. bulb was pulled from the CEL. does he have any grounds to force a 'return' with the guy, since they hid the fact that the CEL was on? the truck apparently runs fine, takes parley's canyon in stride, but wont pass emissions.

 

[skiboarder]

They don't have emissions up there. So as far as the previous owner is concearned
it ran fine

 

[TurboMinivan]

1) The Utah DMV has a free downloadable bill of sale, and prominently featured therein is the phrase "all used vehicles are accepted as received and not guaranteed" or something to that effect. This alone would indicate your friend has no recourse.

2) if the CEL bulb had been removed, then the CEL would not have illuminated at startup--a dead giveaway to this common tactic. In general, I would venture that it is the buyer's responsibility to inspect any item before deciding to purchase it.

It sounds like your friend has an emissions repair bill in his near future. Sorry.

 

[jeeper]

I believe all sales are 'as is' unless a warranty is provided.

 

[skiboarder]

Caveat emptor. Or how ever it's spelled.

 

[UNSTUCK]

AKA buyer beware.

 

[JL Rockies]

Register in Heber.

 

[Stephen]

As others have said, Wasatch County has no emissions (which is why all my vehicles are registered there!), so the previous owner is correct when he said it "ran fine" as far as he is concerned because it passes inspection in Heber. In Utah, the lemon laws are pretty weak. Its the buyer's responsibility to conduct his do diligence on the vehicle before he buys it. Pulling the bulb to keep the CEL from lighting up was something the guy probably did just to keep from being annoyed by it. And even if he did it for malicious intent, you'd have a hard time proving it.
Sucks, but your buddy is stuck with the rig.

 

[sLcREX]

Does a PO Box in Heber work for an address or does it have to be a physical address?

 

[Kiel]

lemon laws only work with new cars

 

[Johnny Quest]

yea we figured that he's SOL. i forgot that there is no emissions up there. maybe a PO box is in his future...

 

[Caleb]

How old is the truck? I think there are a few exceptions to the sold as-is clause on private party sales. I may be wrong. The exceptions, I believe, are tampering with the emissions systems and not disclosing that, and safety systems have to be functional (can't have a blown air bag, seats belts must work, etc). I could be wrong but it may be worth looking in to seeing if the CEL is included in either of those systems and if those clauses are real or if I'm just making things up.

 

[Johnny Quest]

i believe it is a 2000 ranger

 

[jeeper]

yea we figured that he's SOL. i forgot that there is no emissions up there. maybe a PO box is in his future...

DMV told me the registered address has to be at a real property. Can't park a car in a PO box, cant register it to one.

Use the Previous Owner's address for the registered, and have the mailing address be the new owners. You could even tell PO you are doing it because he sold a bad truck to your buddy.

 

[rollover]

Mail box Etc. UPS Store address. Any mail box store. List the po box # as a suite # at the Mail Box Store.

 

[bryson]

Who is to say the PO is even the one that removed the CEL bulb? Maybe he bought it that way, and having no emissions, he would ever know any different.

I have bought and sold dozens of vehicles in Utah - vehicles are sold as-is in Utah - and AFAIK, the seller is not legally responsible to disclose anything... it is all up to the buyer. Most people are honest and won't give you any problems intentionally, but of course it does happen.

Unless you can PROVE that it was done with malicious intent, I don't think you can rightfully call him up and blame him for the problem... It may be worth asking him if he knew anything about it, but I'd hesitate to even go that far.

Just think how you'd react if someone called you up and blamed you for a problem that you didn't even know about...

 

[thefirstzukman]

Mail box Etc. UPS Store address. Any mail box store. List the po box # as a suite # at the Mail Box Store.

Might get you through this year but new software is in the works and it won't very long. I have to fight each time I register my stuff because I dont have a physical address and only a rural route box, this last time the girl at the DMV who I know told me this would probably be the last time I would be able to cheat. I have a house in kanab so next year I'm going to move everything down there.

 

[Unimog]

I would ask the seller he would be willing to resolve the problem. The answer might be no, but it is always no if you don't ask. Some people are just helpful that way.