It’s best to sell your used car truck van motorcycle boat etc AS-IS With NO Warranty expressed or implied. Buyers no doubt will find faults on used automobiles. This opens the door to sale price renegotiation or threats of legal action.
This private party offered a 1 owner 1991 Toyota MR2 for sale. Seller stated in his advertisement for the car it was in excellent condition.
We’re inclined to believe this by looking at the photos. But this car has a lot of miles on it. And according to it’s vehicle history report has been registered in several states. Two of the states it was registered in were Indiana and Ohio. Seller also mentioned the car has studded snow tires mounted. Seller also stated it was used as a winter car in a forum topic. Winter usage was not disclosed in the listing description that we could see. Unless that verbiage was in the listings Q&A hidden from public view.
No matter how nice that little MR2 looked on the outside , I would suspect undercarriage rust and corrosion. Northern states are often called “the rust belt” are prone to rust and undercarriage damage.
In order to help melt snow and ice they use rock salt and sodium chloride on the roads. This can do major damage to a cars undercarriage in a short time. Plus a small car like a MR2 sits so low in the road it stands to get more damage. By 1991 sheet metal the uni-body is made of got pretty thin. It could possibly have sustained major damage without it’s owner knowledge.
I listed a 1991 MR2 recently that I believed was in excellent condition and stated so in the title of the sale. I needed to get rid of this car immediately before spending additional funds on re-titling, licensing and storing the car in NC, and put a $500 minimum on this so the price would not hold up the sale. Read the rest of sellers forum topic here .
The buyer should have inspected the car or had it inspected by an inspection company. The seller should have put the verbiage on their listing page “This car sold AS-IS with NO-Warranty Implied” possibly going one step further to say. “If it breaks in half – you own both halves” It’s just that simple.
Want to avoid a possible confrontation about your vehicles condition? Be sure to ADD this verbiage “AS IS NO WARRANTY” to your cars for sale ad. If your car has it’s balance of available Factory Warranty Remaining. You should still state you are not giving any warranty with it. Factory warranty covers the vehicle itself not the owner that possesses it. Cover Your ASS!
Here is a short audio snippet from Doc explaining why AS-IS Sale is best.
Doc also suggests using a state approved Bill Of Sale. If your bill of sale does not contain the terms of sale such as AS IS. Be sure to add the above verbiage to it. Call your or search your local motor vehicle bureau for a bill of sale you can print out.
DocCyber
I'm a 71yo Florida-born good ole southern boy who operates the longest-running Fidonet network Wildcat-5 computer bulletin board system in America. I blog my opinion about many worthy subjects as an Internet hobbyist and maintain a large political archive. If you find this information helpful please add your thoughts and share wherever possible! 🙏
