I Think I Bought A Lemon Please Help?
i bought a car from a dealership as-is. the next day i brought it to a mechanic and he said he found a fuel leak. he then informed me that it is against the law in illinois for a dealership to sell a car with either a known fuel leak or with brake problems. i tried calling a bunch of probono attorneys and lawyers but they have yet to call back and my window of opprotunity to stop the check is rapidly approching. HELP ME PLEASE
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you just said the problem “known”. They may not have known about the fuel leak. If it didn’t fail the state inspection, they didn’t do anything wrong.’
1why did you bring it to a mechanic the next day? that gets done before you pick it up.
regardless, it’s as-is, you;ll have to fix it.
Lemon laws only apply to new cars, and new cars are not sold as is. If you bought something “as is” it was used, and as is means what it says.
2If you stop the check, the dealer who was harmed can and probably will turn it over to the DA.
Attorneys can’t help you if you didn’t bother to inspect before the sale instead of after.
If, by “Is it against the law?” you are asking about stopping your check, yes. If you mean is it against the law to sell you a car clearly stated “as is”, no.
There is no lemon law regarding used cars. However, in your case. State law mandates that a dealer must insure that the used cars they sell are safe to operate, a fuel leak is a safety issue and they must fix it. If the dealer is declining to make repairs, let them know that you will be contacting the
3State board of automotive repair
DMV
Local news
This is precisely why you have the car inspected BEFORE you lay down your dough.
Call the dealership you bought it from tell them the problem and see it they will fix it for free. If they wont then inform them that you know that the law states it can not be sold with a fuel leak. And tell them dont threaten them that if they wont help you than you are gonna have to report them and talk to your lawyer. Them find a lawyer that will help. The internet is a good place to look for them. And then go to google maps and those sites and find the dealership and write bad reviews on them!
4You would have to prove the dealership knew of the leak before selling the car.
5You bought a used car in “as is” condition. You should have taken it to the mechanic before you bought it. It’s too late now. A used car with problems is not a lemon. It’s a car that has been neglected, abused, and not taken care of properly. That’s what you bought. Enjoy it.
Ignore Matt. He is off base on this one. Did you have the vehicle checked over by a shop before you bought it? I didn’t think so. They most likely had no clue about the problem. It also does not make it a “lemon”. It is a USED car. You bought it as-is. Don’t waste time or money on a lawyer. You also better not stop the check. It would put you in a real kettle of hot water. Have the problems fixed and get on with your life.
6hence why you bring it to mechanic BEFORE you buy it
7it was sold AS IS
and it doesnt mean they knew about ithe leak
Just have the leak fixed!
8You can not be serious. You’re going to hire a lawyer and sue them over a couple of hundred dollars?? Talk about over-reaction!
9First of all, no lawyer will take this case because like I said, it’s couple of hundred dollars.
Secondly, AS-IS means AS-IS. Not AS-IS except when there’s a fuel leak or squeeky brakes.
The first thing you should do is contact the dealer and explain what your mechanic found. Most dealers will offer to fix it for free or offer to pay half especially if you found it the day after. They are under no legal obligation to do this but they often do it as a customer satisfaction ploy. A satisfied customer will tell 10 of his friends, an unsatisfied customer will tell 100.
If they refuse, report them to Better Business Bureau (bbb.org). This will usually change their mind since bad publicity is not worth couple of hundred bucks.
If they still won’t do it, then you could try suing them in small claims court. But you will lose since AS-IS means AS-IS. You will just miss a day of work and whatever pay you would’ve made.
If none of these work then you have to just pay it. If a fuel leak is all it has, then you got off easy.
Next time, take it to your mechanic BEFORE you buy.