Sold the camaro to a dealer and now they want their money back. - Camaro5 Chevy Camaro Forum / Camaro ZL1, SS and V6 Forums

Supercharged2011 · 08-23-2016, 10:17 AM

Hey Guys, so last week I sold my car to a local Toyota dealership and I get a phone call yesterday saying that my car looks like it has been raced very hard and at one time had a roll cage installed. The sales manger proceeded to tell me that there is holes in the body from where the roll cage was mounted and that qualifies as frame damage in the state of California. Does anyone know if this is correct? Do I indeed need to give the money back and pick up the car? Also I already paid off the loan and don't have the money laying around to "buy back" the car? Thank you in advance for any insight on all this, I'm kind of stressing out about this.

flipstyledsm22 · 08-23-2016, 10:23 AM

If you bought it second hand, tell him you had no knowledge of anything being done to the car prior to you. Then tell him all sales are final.

His fault his dealership did not perform a thorough inspection of the vehicle before exchanging cash.

vinman · 08-23-2016, 10:25 AM

Did you give them a warranty or sell it as is?

flipstyledsm22 · 08-23-2016, 10:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vinman

Did you give them a warranty or sell it as is?

If it was a dealership, mostly likely it was a sale 'as is'. They typically don't want any ties with you after their screwing... It's pretty ironic though, that the dealership is upset with a purchase

Dizzy82 · 08-23-2016, 10:43 AM

Did you lie about the vehicle being modified during the sale?

JerTM · 08-23-2016, 10:46 AM

They wouldn't give you your money back if you had bought it and discovered all that so I see no reason why you should have to do the same.

Ledzepx · 08-23-2016, 10:47 AM

Really depends. Are you the original owner? If so did you let them know that the car was being raced? If your the second owner then no you should not responsable. If you didnt know. Not your fault. There fault trying to make a sale quick and not checking the camaro over. Then there problem.

sherob · 08-23-2016, 10:47 AM

I would be going over the paperwork you signed... make sure there aren't any * or ** or *** that can screw you over.

ChrisBlair · 08-23-2016, 11:01 AM

Might be worth lawyering up...but...the car's been out of your control for a week.

If the shoe was on the other foot, the dealership would tell you tough luck, they can't know what you did to the car in a week.

Supercharged2011 · 08-23-2016, 11:02 AM

I'm the second owner of the car, I did bring the car in to the dealer twice to get a appraisal on what they would give me and at that time they took the car into the back and did a "inspection", I don't know what the inspection entailed but I assumed at the time they went over the whole car to make sure it was road worthy.

Ledzepx · 08-23-2016, 11:04 AM

Well then. There problem. Two times you say. Well who ever looked at should be responsable.

ChrisBlair · 08-23-2016, 11:05 AM

Well...was there ever a roll cage installed?

13BRM2SSRS · 08-23-2016, 11:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JerTM

They wouldn't give you your money back if you had bought it and discovered all that so I see no reason why you should have to do the same.

+1 no doubt!

MrChrisLS3 · 08-23-2016, 11:55 AM

If you didn't install a roll cage, then provide evidence that you bought the car used and were unaware of these modifications. They will probably persist with their legal department. Civil cases, in most courts, the burden of the plaintiff is prove their case more likely than not. If you can show that you never had a roll cage in it, perhaps pictures of the car spanning the time range you owned the car, you'll win.

Warning, disclosure goes for both dealer sales and private sales. So, if you knew it was modified at one point, and didn't disclose it, they might have a good case. Even though they have every tool at their disposal to inspect the car, they can't really dig too deep into until they own it, so the claim that they inspected the car and should've seen it then may not hold water. However, this will also help you if you can make it more likely than not that you had no idea about it.

What will probably happen is that the dealer will make a decision if it is worth pursuing in court. Since this will take some time, more likely than not, they will sell the car wholesale and come after you for the difference. Of course, at this point you will want to hire a lawyer. If you actually didn't know about the roll cage, your lawyer may be able to go after whoever sold you the car. The bright spot in this strategy might be that you can hold off having to pay until you get paid, at which point the dealer might just drop the case. Of course, you'll have to pay your lawyer.

P.S. If you did modify and race the car, keep in mind that social media can bite you in the behind on this one.

08-23-2016, 10:17 AM	#1
Supercharged2011 Drives: 2012 SS Join Date: May 2015 Location: Gig Harbor, Wa Posts: 60	Sold the camaro to a dealer and now they want their money back. Hey Guys, so last week I sold my car to a local Toyota dealership and I get a phone call yesterday saying that my car looks like it has been raced very hard and at one time had a roll cage installed. The sales manger proceeded to tell me that there is holes in the body from where the roll cage was mounted and that qualifies as frame damage in the state of California. Does anyone know if this is correct? Do I indeed need to give the money back and pick up the car? Also I already paid off the loan and don't have the money laying around to "buy back" the car? Thank you in advance for any insight on all this, I'm kind of stressing out about this.

08-23-2016, 10:23 AM	#2
flipstyledsm22 Let's go fishing! Drives: a car with 8 cylinders Join Date: Apr 2016 Location: Seabrook, Texas Posts: 1,129 View My Garage	If you bought it second hand, tell him you had no knowledge of anything being done to the car prior to you. Then tell him all sales are final. His fault his dealership did not perform a thorough inspection of the vehicle before exchanging cash. __________________ "When choosing between two evils, I always like to try the one I’ve never tried before." Mae West 1892-1980

08-23-2016, 10:25 AM	#3
vinman The BBOMG fill-in husband Drives: 2015 2SS/RS 1LE AKA V1LE Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Elmira, NY Posts: 4,458 View My Garage	Did you give them a warranty or sell it as is? __________________ UPSTATE C5 MEMBER

08-23-2016, 10:43 AM	#5
Dizzy82 Drives: 2011 1LT/RS A6 RJT SuperCharged Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: 87114 Posts: 3,503 View My Garage	Did you lie about the vehicle being modified during the sale? __________________ Power is worthless without control. *The 2nd* protects the 1st.** BMR sub frame brace, BMR tunnel brace, LSR sways, LSR CM ca & tl, Sphon ExD el, GM tower brace, Megan EZ Streets, Goodridge Stainless Steel Braided brake lines, PowerStop D/S rotors & pads, Doug Thorty Ceramic Shorties, Magnaflow x-pipe, MRT V2.0, KICKER PowerStage sub & amp, Infinity speakers & tweeters, Viteese Throttle Controller, Viteese Paddle Shifters, ACS T2 Splitter, ACS T2 Ports/Quad LED lights, VDI kit, Havoc diffuser, IPF ECU/TRANS tuned, IPF/KPE Supercharged. 364RWHP/297RWTQ

08-23-2016, 10:47 AM	#7
Ledzepx Drives: 2010 2SS Camaro 6sp. Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: South Jersey Posts: 639	Really depends. Are you the original owner? If so did you let them know that the car was being raced? If your the second owner then no you should not responsable. If you didnt know. Not your fault. There fault trying to make a sale quick and not checking the camaro over. Then there problem. __________________ www.rsconversions.com

08-23-2016, 10:46 AM	#6
JerTM Drives: 2011 2SS/RS M6 Join Date: Oct 2015 Location: Utah Posts: 1,941	They wouldn't give you your money back if you had bought it and discovered all that so I see no reason why you should have to do the same.

08-23-2016, 10:47 AM	#8
sherob Drives: 2015 SW 1SS/RS 1LE Join Date: Mar 2015 Location: Brighton, CO Posts: 2,736	I would be going over the paperwork you signed... make sure there aren't any * or or * that can screw you over. __________________ “The Eagles and the Captain and Tennille ruled the airwaves, and we were the answer to it.” - Joey Ramone

08-23-2016, 11:01 AM	#9
ChrisBlair Buick 455 Fan Drives: 1970 Buick, 2012 1SS LS3 Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Boston MA Posts: 5,957	Might be worth lawyering up...but...the car's been out of your control for a week. If the shoe was on the other foot, the dealership would tell you tough luck, they can't know what you did to the car in a week. __________________

08-23-2016, 11:02 AM	#10
Supercharged2011 Drives: 2012 SS Join Date: May 2015 Location: Gig Harbor, Wa Posts: 60	I'm the second owner of the car, I did bring the car in to the dealer twice to get a appraisal on what they would give me and at that time they took the car into the back and did a "inspection", I don't know what the inspection entailed but I assumed at the time they went over the whole car to make sure it was road worthy.

08-23-2016, 11:04 AM	#11
Ledzepx Drives: 2010 2SS Camaro 6sp. Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: South Jersey Posts: 639	Well then. There problem. Two times you say. Well who ever looked at should be responsable. __________________ www.rsconversions.com

08-23-2016, 11:05 AM	#12
ChrisBlair Buick 455 Fan Drives: 1970 Buick, 2012 1SS LS3 Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Boston MA Posts: 5,957	Well...was there ever a roll cage installed? __________________

08-23-2016, 11:55 AM	#14
MrChrisLS3 Drives: 2018 1SS M6 Join Date: Nov 2014 Location: Houston Posts: 2,617	If you didn't install a roll cage, then provide evidence that you bought the car used and were unaware of these modifications. They will probably persist with their legal department. Civil cases, in most courts, the burden of the plaintiff is prove their case more likely than not. If you can show that you never had a roll cage in it, perhaps pictures of the car spanning the time range you owned the car, you'll win. Warning, disclosure goes for both dealer sales and private sales. So, if you knew it was modified at one point, and didn't disclose it, they might have a good case. Even though they have every tool at their disposal to inspect the car, they can't really dig too deep into until they own it, so the claim that they inspected the car and should've seen it then may not hold water. However, this will also help you if you can make it more likely than not that you had no idea about it. What will probably happen is that the dealer will make a decision if it is worth pursuing in court. Since this will take some time, more likely than not, they will sell the car wholesale and come after you for the difference. Of course, at this point you will want to hire a lawyer. If you actually didn't know about the roll cage, your lawyer may be able to go after whoever sold you the car. The bright spot in this strategy might be that you can hold off having to pay until you get paid, at which point the dealer might just drop the case. Of course, you'll have to pay your lawyer. P.S. If you did modify and race the car, keep in mind that social media can bite you in the behind on this one. Last edited by MrChrisLS3; 08-23-2016 at 12:16 PM.