I used my car as a trade -in when I bought a used car from a dealership. After everything was signed and completed, right before I was ready to drive off, I changed my mind and decided I didn't want my old car to be part of the deal. I told the salesman and he said they wouldn't do anything with the car until they heard back from me. This occurred on Wed. evening. The salesman said he wouldn't be there the next day, so we agreeded I would come back on Fri. When I called on Fri. to be sure the salesman would be there, I was told by a manager that they had started working on the car because the rain had washed away the note the salesman had put on the windshield saying not to do anything with it. He said they had just done a safety inspection and replaced the front brake pads and turned the rotors. He said he would have the salesman call me. After waiting half the day I called him (salesman) and he told me they had replaced all the brakes and I would have to pay the cost for that $870.00 plus the $3000. which was the trade-in price. At this point I decided I would let it go and I went ahead and signed the title over to them on the following Monday. However, after more reflection I decided I did still want to keep the car. I called the next day and asked the manager if I could still buy the car back and he said, 'yes, if I paid what they had in the car'. He said I should call back and talk to the salesman tommorrow (Wed), that he would be in at noon. I assumed, after all this, they would not do anything else to the car but called the next morning just to be sure, and left a message for the manager asking them to not do any more work on the car. When I spoke to the salesman shortly after noon that same day, he said they had done more work on the car which amounted to $5500. I asked him to break that down for me and he said he didn't have that information. I asked him to check on that and call me back when he had it. I didn't hear from him that day or the next day, Thurs 5/26. I know I have made this worse because of my indecision. This started out as a verbal agreement that I could buy my car back for the original $3,000. that was the trade-in value. I did not authorize any of the work that was done subsequently. I did make a mistake in signing the title over, but after that the manager told me that I could still get the car back for what they had in it. And the amounts they're giving me are what they would charge for this work, not what it cost them. Based on these facts, would I have grounds to sue them, would it be worth the time and effort? The car is worth more than $3,000. Kelly Blue Book price for a trade-in is $6150. Thanks
05/27/2011 |
Category: Automobiles |
State: Colorado |
#24912
We cannot give legal advice, and are not forming an attorney-client relationship with you. The following is not a substitute for the advice of a local attorney. But we hope the information will be useful.
If I was suing them, I'd rely on their mistake regarding the washed-away note. However, if I were defending them, I'd say you waived your claim on them regarding the note when you went ahead and signed away the title after you had that information, rather than insisting they honor the agreement you made with the salesman and evidenced by the washed-away note.
Your case gets worse after this, because the manager said you could buy it back for what they had in the car. But he didn't promise to stop working on the car. He may've never got your message to not do anything else to the car, and even if he did, well, it's his car at this point, and he's not obligated to obey your request. So 'what he had in the car' at the point you were ready to buy it back was $5500.
You could take this to small claims court based on the initial note, and say that they were just jerking you around afterwards, and hope to get a sympathetic judge - but your odds of winning much doesn't seem great. You'd probably have to do it on your own, because there isn't enough money in it for a lawyer to be interested in taking the case. You may want to chalk this up to "live and learn" or you may want to try your luck in small claims court, but it will take time and trouble (whether "too much" time an trouble is relative to each individual, so I can't really answer that for you), and you are certainly not assured of winning anything.