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The buyer should focus his time and energy of getting the car usable. Lawyers and small claims and the rest of it is all time and money he doesn't have.
He should have signed the title over if you paid cash. You should have the title in your possession now. If it is a fraudulent title contact the authorities and/or sue him.
It might not be as hard to repair as it seems. There have been a number of times when I got a bargain price on a car because the seller thought there was something seriously wrong with it. But it usually turned out to be much easier to repair than the seller thought it would be. They usually try to scam the buyer by hiding the problem. For example, if smoke comes from the hood when you drive it more than 5 minutes, they won't let you drive it more than 5 minutes to decide if you want to buy it. But then it turns out the smoke is coming from a gob of goop stuck to the engine, and you can remove it easily. And lots of other easy-repair scenarios like that, which make sellers anxious to sell cars, and willing to give a good price.
It might not be as hard to repair as it seems. There have been a number of times when I got a bargain price on a car because the seller thought there was something seriously wrong with it. But it usually turned out to be much easier to repair than the seller thought it would be. They usually try to scam the buyer by hiding the problem. For example, if smoke comes from the hood when you drive it more than 5 minutes, they won't let you drive it more than 5 minutes to decide if you want to buy it. But then it turns out the smoke is coming from a gob of goop stuck to the engine, and you can remove it easily. And lots of other easy-repair scenarios like that, which make sellers anxious to sell cars, and willing to give a good price.
Good point. Another thing I'd like to point out to the OP is to check recalls. We bought a used car and something major went wrong with it but when I checked recalls for that model our problem was listed and since it hadn't been fixed by the previous owner we got it fixed for free.
The seller did put some writing in the contract: " 2 month warranty, for you customer, if there are any problems come up, i will refund your money in 100%". Can i use this to get my money back?
Perfect! Now find a lawyer specializing in lemon law/Magnuson-Moss actions. See if they'll take it on a contingency.
I can think of 4-5 counts I'd use based on what you've said already.
As for finding the guy, public records searches aren't expensive these days.
Based on what the OP has said.. I'd say because it's really hard to drive a car that isn't running. No power steering.. No power brakes... Can only go downhill.. That kind of thing.
Even if it costs more to pursue the guy than it would cost to get the car repaired, it might still be worth it for the feeling of satisfaction of bringing a sleazebag to justice. OTOH, you never know just how evil the person really is. What if you sue and he sends a hit man?
Yeah, you own it now....probably not much you can do.
How does it drive, when it is running.
You might want to take it to a good shop and have them give it the once-over for safety-related issues. Look at the underside/frame, take some measurements to see if the damage put the frame/suspension out-of-true.
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