I bought a new car and traded in a car with a salvage title. The dealer wants to sue me. Does he have a case?

Question

I asked a question similiar to this a few weeks ago, but I now have new information. To those that have not read my first question I will retell the story. I bought a new nissan on 5/29. I traded in a car that had a ny salvage title written right across the front of it. Six weeks later the dealer sent me a letter telling me I committed a serious offense. I contacted DMV and they informed me I had not. The dealer now wants to be compensated in the amount of 1,000. He painted some of the car and has had it in his possession for over six weeks. I talked to him yesterday and he says if I don't pay him he will take me to court and win. He says he has done this several times and won.In the meantime I contacted the dealer that sold me the car with the salvage title and told him he never informed me when I bought the car that is was salvage. He said he did verbally, which is a lie. It was not on the bill of sale. What would you do if you were in situation?Thanks for your advice.

Answer 1

You need to look on your buyers order. There is a section where you initial stating that your car is not a salvage, rebuilt, or flood vehicle. If you signed it, then he might have a case. If you didn't, which many dealers forget to have the customer initial, then its his word against yours. I'm not a lawyer, so you may want to consult one, however I have seen this happen a couple times, so check your buyers order.

It will be labeled:
'Trade-In Certification: The Customer certifies his trade-in vehicle has never been titled under a State or Federal "Brand", such as "Defective", "Rebuilt", "Salvage", "Flood", etc_______'

Good Luck. You can email for assistance.

Answer 2

I would suggest taking this question to an attorney. Here's the definition of Salvage Title. He might have a case against you but you might have a case against the dealer you purchased the car from.

Salvage Title — A Salvage Title is issued on a vehicle damaged to the extent that the cost of repairing the vehicle exceeds ~ 75% of its pre-damage value. This damage threshold may vary by state. Some states treat Junk titles the same as Salvage but the majority use this title to indicate that a vehicle is not road worthy and cannot be titled again in that state. The following eleven states also use Salvage titles to identify stolen vehicles - AZ, FL, GA, IL, MD, MN, NJ, NM, NY, OK and OR.

Answer 3

What is wrong with the car, or did you just pay too much for it? Did the dealer give you any kind of guarantee/warranty? If you are military, talk to your base legal office. Basically, anyone can sue anyone for anything. But being realistic, you are talking about an international case, which might result in one or two flights to Germany, and lawyers nowdays are charging on the low end around $300/hour, plus they usually want a large retainer up front unless you have an awesome case, so, this is probably one of life's lessons learned the hard way.

Answer 4

The dealer that sold you the car has to disclose a salvage title.They should have put it in writing, then when you register the car it will be branded as a salvage vehicle,you should have noticed this when you got the title in your name.As for the new car dealer if you handed him the title and it said prior salvage he owns it.If the car was financed and the bank holds the title you should have disclosed it,anyway it's all heresay so you shouldn't be held liable for the new car dealers mistake for not asking "Does the car have a clean title"stop returning his calls and if he dosen't stop bothering you tell him your going to sue him for harrassment.

Answer 5

This varies by state, but usually you do have to disclose it, but you may not know it was salvaged if you weren't told. If all this happened in the same state then tell the dealer that you traded it into that it was never disclosed to you. Therefore he can go after the other dealer if he wishes. But I cant believe they would waste their time for only a $1000. They must be small or desperate.

10 yrs in the biz

Answer 6

Guess he should of used carfax. He screwed up and is trying to get you to get him off the hook, contracts signed, did he ask if the car was a salvage? Any where in the contracts does it ask that? If not then I see no problem here, would never go to that dealer again. Buyer beware

Answer 7

It might be worth a call or consult with a lawyer in your area. A few dollars might save you a lot and some grief. Some Dealers try to bully people, you should find out the laws in your state.

Answer 8

it will be a matter for small claims court ,,there will be no lawyers..pay the fee to one for 30 mins of his time

Answer 9

call a attorney and ask