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Plenty. I've bought about 20 cars over the past couple years, none of them even CLOSE to this expensive (think $400-800 range) and they all hold up. Some are broken to start with, which is why I buy them, then fix and have a decent car.
Isn't a car only a lemon if it gives you a lot of trouble even though it's brand new? I'm no lawyer, but for an older $3000 truck, I'm pretty sure it's "as is" unfortunately. Car dealers are 95% crooks.
Well I guess we will all know in the morning when they "roll back" the truck right back down to the dealers lot...
Then we (or they, because I have to work) will know whether or not they are good, reputable people that stand behind their product and do what I think is right and either properly repair the truck OR offer back the full purchase price without making a fuss over it. I mean this happened within 40 minutes of driving it off of the lot coming straight home and less than 20 miles on a 4-lane highway. It made it home, but he said the oil pressure gauge was on zero when he pulled in and the engine oil had a funny smell when he checked it once he got home with it. I mean I know its an old truck, but seriously for $3000 (which may seem like pocket change to the rich folk on here, ), but IMO a vehicle should last longer than 30 minutes.
If not, then everyone I know will know what a crooked dealer this is and its not even my truck, but I know ALOT of people in this town.
this happened within 40 minutes of driving it off of the lot coming straight home and less than 20 miles on a 4-lane highway.
He took the truck for a thorough test drive, right ?
Noting that a test drive shouldn't be a quich dash around the city, it should last at least an hour and include as many different types of driving as possible to completely evaluate the vehicle before parting with $$$.
I'm presuming that as part of his evaluation that he pulled the dipstick to make sure the car actually had oil in it ?
Checked for slime etc ?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tennesseestorm
It made it home, but he said the oil pressure gauge was on zero when he pulled in and the engine oil had a funny smell when he checked it once he got home with it.
So the oil pressure gauge showed zero, it was" making funny noises", and still he continued to drive the vehicle ?
I'm sure I don't have to explain the naivety of that decision.
Agreed, a car should last much longer than 20 miles, and it sucks that he's bought one that didn't, but his actions have also been a contributing factor here IMHO.
He should have stopped immediately and had the vehicle recovered.
It could have then been given back to the vendor to give them a chance to correct the fault or refund.
If the oil pressure was at zero, and the car was driven, then that's probably ruined the engine and made diagnosing the initial problem impossible, thereby making it hard to prove the car was defective when they sold it, rather than being dmaged by being driven with inadequate lubrication.
Sad as it is, if the invoice has a variety of "sold as seen", then he may not have much to go on.
Also, as others have stated, lemon laws are for new cars, not used cars
To anyone reading this, as well as other similar threads, I again stress that if you don't know about cars, take someone with you who does, or pay for an engineers report before you buy any car.
Note, actually know about cars, not think you do.
Knowing how to change the oil and where the water goes doesn't mean you know about cars.
Hell, even as a mechanic, I've been caught out a couple of times. Nobody has a crystal ball, but unless you're trained, simple things can be easily missed.
Trouble is, simple things can have consequences if they get suddenly complicated.
He called the lot as soon as he got home and they told him to put thicker oil in it!
If someone told me that, I think I'd have to get them in a head lock and whack them up side the head until they said it hurt, then I'd start hitting them harder.
Put thicker oil in it.... wow clearly an idiotic statement. Goes to show the guy on the other end of the phone is hoping you will "just go away".
On another note are you for certain there really is something wrong with the engine? The gauges in some of those trucks are known to not read right. Those little gauge sensors in the engine are notorious for going bad. They're easy fixes though.
Your Dad should've taken the truck to a trusted Auto mechanic shop and have them go over it with a fine tooth comb. It would've cost him $100 or so but it would've been money worth spent and he wouldn't have this major headache on his hands. An ounce of prevention.....
Some of those dealers mask engine bearing problems by loading up the crankcase with 80w90 gear lube. There's also some kind of "magic in a bottle" you can use to get an engine running for about 15 minutes if it has compression problems.
Tennessee does not have a used car lemon law or "return period" as some states do. However, there are several other laws that may apply and help in this situation.
FTC Used Car Rule - Reuqires that ALL dealers post a "Buyer's Guide" on all cars that they sell and this guide must be included in the final paperwork when the sale is made. Failure to post the guide or include it in the sales paperwork will invalidate the sale and the dealer can be subject to a $16,000 fine. The language of the guide also legally trumps anything written in the sales paperwork that is contrary to what is said in the guide.
Implied Warranty - Tennessee is an implied warranty state and dealers are required to only sell vehicles that are "sound", the way they get around this is posting that the vehicle is "As-Is" on the buyers guide. If this was not done, then the vehicle carries an implied warranty that it was sound and operational. If the vehicle was not posted "As-Is" then the implied warranty is what is referred to as a "Warranty of Merchantability". What this means is that the good being sold must be able to perform its basic function, which in the case of a motor vehicle is be able to be driven. For example, accessories like a radio wouldn't be covered, but the drivetrain would be. The buyer must be able to provide cause that it is reasonable that the seller knew about the defect at time of sale.
Uniform Commercial Code - This is the genesis of the above "implied warranty" and "warranty of merchantability". However, the code is very "dense" and has a a lot of provisions in it. One of those is the provision that a seller is an "expert" helping a buyer choose appropriate goods. In this case, a seller cannot purposefully steer a client relying on their expertise to purchase a knowingly defective good. Proving this is difficult as you again must prove that the seller knew there was an issue, but this provision overrides even an "As-Is" posting if the known defect was not clearly stated to the buyer.
So, just some ammo and fancy terms to throw around if it comes to that. If they are anywhere near a well run dealership they would have covered all the "easy" bases, leaving only the UCC provision as a possible ground to go after them. Of course, you need to provide reasonable proof that they had/should have had knowledge of a defect.
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), but IMO a vehicle should last longer than 30 minutes. 
wow clearly an idiotic statement. Goes to show the guy on the other end of the phone is hoping you will "just go away". 
