Help Need Advise... bought private party car with undisclosed accident history.

[Yupkwondo]

Here is the story,

Bought an out of state 2001.5 S4 Avant, 80,000 miles. Seller (2nd Owner) claimed the car was clean, carfax was clean...however the car was 100% in some sort of collision. Impact was front drivers door, a-pillar, wheel area.

The seller never disclosed any issues that I found on the car.

When it arrived, it needed a right rear wheel bearing, and has a somewhat severe shimmy over 50+ mph.

The seller claims that the car had bad tires and was told that was the reason for those issues. He mentioned bad tires when I purchased it, however never went in depth that these were supposedly symptoms of that. Or that they even existed.

Was installing a boost gauge in the car and under the knee bolster there was all sorts of minor damage to the relay and fuse holders. I investigated further, took it to a trusted body shop, and they found that it looks like a whole A pillar was installed (non factory welds, rust spots, misaligned body panels, etc...) Add to this the entire wheel geometry is off, which is actually causing the vibration.

E-mailed the seller, he claims no knowledge of the accident, yet now claims he knew about the shimmy and rear wheel bearing...strike one to his character.

Does anyone really know my options, I know generally used private party cars are as is/where is...however, is blatant lack of disclosure something I can go after?

There are more minor issues that the seller failed to disclose, and I believe he knew he would get away with it because he lived in a remote area of colorado where no one would be able to check the car out, and 3 plus hours from an Audi dealership.

In the end I believe all of it should be fixable, but it is not the car that the seller represented.

Let me know your thoughts...

Thanks

[2k1.5blacks4]

I am not sure of the law out there but I know in some states if you buy a car private party as is then you have to deal with it.

[alosh]

sorry buddy but you really cant to anything...there are no implied warranties by default in a private sale.

also, he can claim he had no idea, and under that circumstance, he gave you full disclosure of the problems he did know about. so now that hes admitted he knew about the wheel bearing, you can give it a shot and hope he pays up

[audispeed]

fraud

knowingly saying something that isnt true with the intent to induce reliance is fraud

question is, did he know?

[Yupkwondo]

He had to know something was wrong...

Let's say he didn't get into the accident, he owned the car for a year with the pre-existing condition. I mean the drivers side wheel sits back towards the rear over half an inch from the passenger side. If you go over 50 mph it vibrates like the wheels were never balanced, etc...

He states the tires (which are his explanation of the vibration) were changed 10,000 miles ago. Yet he put around 20,000 miles on the car. A change of tires isn't going to fix that issue, nor change it at all.

So with that said, could any person own a car for over a year and 20,000 miles and not know that something that extreme was wrong...I've had it 2 weeks and 300 miles and figured it out.

[OldYella]

Your screwed to be blunt. Youll spend just as much time if he doesnt pay directly with lawyers and court.

[Tiluleshpingen]

get it fixed and let him pay half

[Yupkwondo]

get it fixed and let him pay half

I would probably be satisfied with that...we'll see how he responds in the next few days

[cdc]

isn't there some sort of buy back guarantee on carfax is the car turns out to have been in some sort of accident.

[Unispeed]

inspect inspect inspect... buying a car is a big thing for most people.. look at it over closely next time. I bought a repairable with a salvage title but all it needed was a new core support wich is bolton on our cars anyway.. the rest was good... bottom line is you gotta inspect closely.. I cant help but wonder about all these flood damaged cars that will be sold with "clean titles" to unsuspecting buyers...

[getslideways]

There is not a lot you can do unfortunately, most clauses state that it was your responsibility to get the car checked out first prior to purchase. But i hear you man, this happened to a friend of mine too, it sucks!

I believe some states have something similar lemon laws for private parties, where if the car is grossly misrepresented you can go to small claims court for your money back. I thought i saw this on judge judy or something because IIRC the buyer ended up losing because the car had a stated 101,000 miles on it which was 1k miles over that states requirement for lemon law for private party to be effective, BUT i very well could be wrong and recalling this incorrectly.

[Reaxion]

If it was a dealership you would have the upper-hand. In this situation I think you may be a little out of luck.

Don't give up though!

[DEB5S4]

Whenever I purchase private party cars I always draft a formal contract of sorts. The contract outlines any conversations we have had concerning the car and can be used as a legal signed document by both parties should it ever be needed. Sorry to hear about your luck but I doubt you have many options.