Tag: cars

Let’s say you hold a used car from a dealership and later want to bring it back for a refund. Do you have the legal right to get your money back in any case of the reason? Does the “Three-Day Cooling Off Period” apply?

That’s what “Mack” thought.

‘I Looked Under the Seats and Found Drug Bits and pieces!’

“I bought a used SUV two days ago and want to take it back to the dealer for a refund, but when I told them why they laughed at me and refused,” Mack told me in a call just.

When I questioned if there was no matter what thing involuntarily incorrect with the vehicle, he answered, “No, it drives fine, but it is what I found under the front seats that scares me: shifty drug bits and pieces.” His tone of voice grew increasingly loud the longer we spoke.

And what was he looking for under the front seats?

“For money or jewelry now and again that winds up there, but instead I found vaping gear! That’s illegal! I don’t know what other illegal items are in the car, and I want my money back! Also, don’t I have three days to cancel the narrow?”

I clarified to Mack that while there is such a thing as a Three-Day Cooling-Off Rule, in most all cases – counting this one – it doesn’t apply to car buys. And besides, in his state, mere possession of vaping hardware is not illegal. Unless he had the right to bring the car back for a refund – spelled out in the sales narrow – the dealership could decline his request.                                                                 

Car Buyers Shouldn’t Believe the 3-Day Myth                                                          

“There is a mythical three-day return period on cars,” Michigan Lemon Law attorney and author Steve Lehto points out. He is also the host of the highly informative “Lehto’s Law,” YouTube channel. “Even though it doesn’t exist, people are still adamant that they can return a car within three days for any reason. That right does not apply to motor vehicle transactions.”

The Three-Day Cooling-Off Rule is calculated to protect patrons from high-difficulty sales tactics more along the lines of door-to-door sales, or sales from a seller’s fleeting place, such as a hotel room, fairground, restaurant or caucus center, according to the Federal Trade Fee.

So, Mack is out of luck here.

Lehto’s Advice for Anyone Looking for a Used Car

I questioned him to list the steps anyone looking for a used car should follow to reduce the chances of winding up with a terrible case of buyer’s remorse.

1. Investigate is the most vital thing you can do before taking a test drive.

Price, based on your place, model, mileage and vehicle gear can all be researched online for free using a car’s VIN. Just type in the VIN and sites such as the Inhabitant Indemnity Crime Bureau (NICB), VehicleHistory.com or iSeeCars.com/VIN will tell you the car’s year, whether there are any open recalls and other data that should shape your declaration to buy it.

2. Inspect the car physically. Look for leaks!

Check the oil, warmer coolant level and its color to be sure it is clean and not impure. If the seller will let you, look at the brake fluid and the transmission fluid, read-through for leaks. Petrol, brake fluid, transmission fluid, steering fluid, engine coolant – none of that should ever be dripping from the car!

But, in a car with air conditioning running, water will drip off the condenser and that is normal.

3. Spring for a mechanic’s expert opinion.

If you are serious about buying the car, spend the money to have a mechanic check out the car before buying it. Most workings like doing inspections. They place the car up on a hoist, perform their inspection, drive it around the block, and tell you if they found a touch. It will be money well spent.

Do not place physically in the spot of buying the car and then a few days later find out that a touch is incorrect and then taking it to a mechanic.

4. Do a thorough, matter-of-fact test drive.

Don’t just drive it on the parking lot or around the block. Test drive the car the way that you naturally would drive. Get it out on the road, up to your local speed limit. Does it vibrate? Does it make weird noises?  Does it drive honest?  If it doesn’t, this is one of the most obvious divulging signs of a real problem. Does it pull to one side?

It could be the tires. It could be the alignment. It could be a bent unibody.

5. While you are test driving the car, check all.

The  radio, the A/C, the heat, and spend the time in broad daylight. Never let them rush you! Never buy a used car at night, as you could easily miss body hurt or scratches.

6. Never shop alone.

Do not be sucked into believing that the vendor knows a thing about the car! It doubtless just came in to them two days ago. You must check it out physically, or with the help of a well-informed friend or family member.

7. Be very careful with third-party, total warranties.

Many are scams. If you want a warranty, those that come from the manufacturer are commonly far better.

Concluding our chat, Lehto cautioned, “Don’t fall in like with a pretty face!  There are lots of excellent used cars out there, and you will find another one.”

Threats of Blackmail Didn’t Pay Off for Our Car Buyer

So, what finished up experience to our car buyer, Mack? He didn’t be thankful for the answer I gave him, and grew mad.

“Unless they give me my money back. I will terrible-mouth them online and picket their outlet!” he yelled.

“Mack,” I said in a tone of voice leaving no room for doubt about my seriousness, “that���s blackmail, and when we hang up, I am calling the dealership and warning them of your threats. So, word to the wise, forget those thoughts.”

He didn’t like that proclamation, not at all. “How can you do that?” he screamed. “This chat is confined by the attorney/client privilege!”

“Mack, we have not customary an attorney/client link,” I answered calmly. “Merely calling a lawyer and amplification your plotted, illegal course of conduct does not make a certified link, and the lawyer may even be vital to report the chat to the apt people, counting law enforcement.”

And that is correctly what I did, giving the dealership a heads-up. Opportunely, Mack followed my advice and backed off from his threats. He went back to the dealership, tail between his legs, to retrieve the SUV he had attempted to return, and his grandfather accompanied him to make an apology for his 25-going-on-12-year-ancient grandson’s actions.

Case closed, lesson learned.

If a car dealer lets you take a car out for a test drive and it suffers catastrophic engine and transmission hurt, are you reliable for the repair charges?

Note, I didn’t say, “Because of a touch that you did incorrect,” rather, that it veteran a breakdown that occurred while you were driving the vehicle.

Baffled? So, too was my reader, “Alissa” who lives in a suburb of Los Angeles, not far from one of most pictorial and yet shifty sections of freeway on Throughway 5, which connects Southern California with the Central Valley.

Known as the Tejon Pass, often called the Gossip, it is a steep 5½ mile, 6% grade at the northern end of the pass that makes inhabitant news every winter when it is shut down due to ice and snow, stranding thousands of motorists and huge rig drivers.

In summer, it can ruin a vehicle’s engine and transmission if they are in poor shape up. It has two runaway truck ramps. All of that said, coming down I-5 is one of the most dramatic drives I know of and never tire of the encounter.

Found the ‘Ideal’ Used Compact Sporty Car

“I was looking for a low-mileage, compulsory, sporty car from Detroit and found a 2013 model year that I thought was ideally priced at $15,000 at a car dealership in Los Angeles. They photocopied my ID and driver’s license, handed me the keys and said, ‘While this fastidious model is no longer being manufactured, it was seen as Detroit’s answer to BMW and Mercedes. Take it everyplace you like.’

“I have family who live in the Central Valley and know the Gossip like the back of my hand. After success the summit at about 4,000 feet, I started my descent, and shifted into a lower gear as I have always done.  This is called ‘engine braking’ and allows the transmission and engine to slow the vehicle so you don’t run the risk of brake-fade.

“At first the car behaved naturally, slowing down a bit, but then, in shifting to a lower gear, abruptly things went very terrible quickly. The tachometer – showing engine RPM – started climbing towards and then into the red, at over 7,000 RPM and finally the needle was pinned at the end of the tachometer.

“I tried to up-shift, but nothing happened except this dreadful, dreadful sound rising. Next, I heard what sounded like an explosion, with smoke billowing from the car. I pulled off the freeway and onto the shoulder, heard more weird, ‘crunching’ sounds, then the car absolutely died.

“I phoned the dealership and they sent a tow truck. Later I learned that both the transmission and engine were ‘blown’ by over-revving.”

‘It’s Your Fault Because of Downshifting’

“Mr. Beaver, the used car manager, both in a letter and screaming at me on a touchtone phone call, is insisting that I pay for repairs to the vehicle. ‘You use a car’s brakes to slow down, not by downshifting!’ he continual.

“But this was an compulsory, not a manual, and I have always downshifted automatics when descending the Gossip with no problem. Can you help?”

‘Trying to Scam Him,’ Were the Observations from Auto Workings

I spoke with workings at transmission shops from across the country and with technicians at dealerships that sold this fastidious brand of luxury vehicle. They all agreed that unless there is a defect, an compulsory transmission will prevent you from over-revving your engine by up-shifting reluctantly or by not allowing you to shift to a lower gear if there is a the makings to over-rev.

Said a technician from Denver: “Automatics manufactured over the past several decades will not allow themselves to self-destruct. If you are driving at freeway speed and try to shift your car into the incorrect gear, it won’t. It may shift to a lower gear than what you are in, but will not allow itself to cause the engine to over-rev.”

But, they all stressed, that, while most cars with manual transmissions have a rev limiter – or other gears that  prevent over-revving – nothing will stop you from downshifting into the incorrect gear and casually over-rev the engine.  “That’s why it’s

vital to always take into account how quick your car is moving before deciding to downshift into a lower gear in a manual,” every mechanic pointed out.

Before I gave them the model, technicians at dealerships that carry the brand of car my reader drove said, “You’re talking about the XYZ, right? That car had tons of transmission harms.”

Also, they all agreed with Alissa that it is impeccably apt to use “engine braking” as way to help slow the speed of automobiles and huge rig trucks on roads like the Gossip.

A Small Chat with the Dealership’s Owner

It was evident that either the used car manager was dense about no matter what thing mechanical, or was trying to bluff my reader into paying for a touch that was not her fault.

In conversations with auto dealer friends of this column, the end they all reached was that asking the consumer to pay for repairs was so incorrect as to risk the Sphere of Motor Vehicles or Constituency Attorney Consumer Fraud Departments getting caught up.

In summary, they said:

“When a used car suffers a catastrophic breakdown on a test drive – mainly a car nearly 10 years ancient – unless you can prove the consumer projected to harm the vehicle, you weigh the cost of repairs against just donation it to an auction lot, or having it confirmed scrap.”

Armed with that in rank, I phoned the dealership’s owner. Not only was he unaware of the facts of this case, but when well-informed what his used car manager was doing, became very upset.

“It is plain incorrect! Please tell your reader that I am so sorry she was place through this nightmare and that if she still needs to buy a car, to pick one out and arrange to speak with me. I will make things right.”

I conveyed that in rank to Alissa, and it is my appreciative that she will take him up on the offer.