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we have just bought a car in California and had it shipped to florida
there are 4 or 5 advertised items that are not on it
Bluetooth comp
heated seats
backup camera
we also only got one key
and there is a bad chip on the bonnet with rust starting , we were told bodywork was good, maybe I have to accept that as a risk of buying unseen ??
they may well be decent and resolve the bits but if not where are we 'based' legally ca or Fla ?
Where there any warranties about the car purchase contract?
With the expense of the shipping on top of the purchase price, it's unlikely that you'll now be able to unwind a deal, especially if you were offered or had an opportunity to do a pre-purchase inspection.
This is a not uncommon scenario on sight unseen interstate car buying transactions for private parties. Your best option now in the absence of any buyer protection coverage will be to attempt to negotiate with the seller for a partial refund.
The only state I've ever been able to get a dealer to make a price adjustment was in New Mexico when the advertised options weren't on the vehicle when it was delivered. Their dealer license/bond is at risk if they don't make good on the advertised features.
Many states are like VT, where I had a dealer "sell" me a car he never purchased. Took my money and the car was never shipped. He waited out the dispute time frame on eBay, stalling that he was awaiting a transporter to get the car to me, so eBay was out of the picture. VT dealer licensing didn't care, they left it up to the dealer to voluntarily refund my money. The lic board told me up front in response to my complaint that they didn't expect that the fellow would send me much, if any, of a refund. They were correct, I got $300 back; there was no disciplinary action taken against his dealer license. Their attitude was that the misrepresentation was a civil matter and advised me to sue. We all know that the cost of the suit would have been far in excess of the loss and there was no guaranty that I'd be able to collect on a judgement.
Bottom line: you can ask for an adjustment, but don't expect much at this point from the seller. It's way too easy at this point for them to blow it off. Consider how badly they misrepresented the car to begin with ... Do you think they're gonna' get a new attitude now?
Legally, you don't have much in the way of consumer protection in a deal like this. Neither state is going to do much about it that will benefit you. If you'd bought the car in person, then you'd have been able to spot the missing items ... And could have worked that out or passed on the car. Florida has no control over a dealer in California, so that's not an option.
It begs the question why someone would buy a car sight unseen from 4 time zones away? Without even having someone local at least take a look at the car?
When I bought the M3, I flew out and looked at it myself. It was for sale by a person who I had at least met at BMW technical conferences, so I had *some* confidence that it would be reasonably as represented.
But buying an "appliance" car, one that you could buy in most any town in the nation, in Cali, then having it shipped to Florida - why do that? The discount, if any, probably is not worth the risk of what actually happened.
just to answer the q's , the wife had specific criteria (women) and only found 3 cars meeting them. one was a back street dealer in Texas, checked with locals bad rep,gone. One was in La, too much...the dealer in Ca was a Buick?Gm main dealer so not a small rip off. they did send lots of photos, and were very helpful.............and we got a smoking deal.
they may well step up and resolve the problems.
honestly the heated seats are no biggie nor is the Bluetooth, the backup camera was something she really wanted so if they agree to pay for an aftermarket system we will be happy (sensors or camera)
the paintwork is ,in general, pretty good, just this one annoying chip. we can get it fixed, if that's the cost of buying unseen they hey we are still well ahead and have to take it on the chin.
I was hoping we could trade forgetting the advertised 'non ' items for a few $$ towards the paint, parking and new key.
if we get anything great if not, she is still happy.................
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