private car sale trouble

[BlackLightning]

this is long so bare with me here.


Here is the situation I am just looking for advice on. I put my 1995 Turbocharged cavalier on ebay for sale. It sold and I exchanged emails with the guy and made a date for when it would be picked up. He lives 6hrs away and I told him I would recommend a trailer as the car has never been driven further then 50miles that I just drove it to and from work once and a while.

So the guy comes with no trailer and I told him again I would have brought a trailer and the car has never been driven 6hrs 300miles. He looks everything over and says ok I'll take it. So he signs a bill of sale that I printed out stating it was being bought as is and then I made a copy of the title he signed. Then I go and deposit the cashiers check the next morning. Today 3 days later I get a call saying the car broke down half way home and it had to be towed and they aren't willing to pay for it and will be putting a stop payment on the check and that I should come get my car and to call him.

So what the hell am I supposed to do? The bank says it takes 3-4 days to process the check so if there is a stop payment I assume my only course of action is to sue? So I call and tell the guy the car was sold as is, that he signed papers stating that and that I will not pick the car up and if a stop payment is put on the check I will have to sue. there was nothing wrong with the car when he picked it up and he has had it for 3 days. He claims he drove a steady 55mph the whole way home and there is no reason it shouldn't have made the trip. I again said I told you numerous times in email and in person that I would trailer it and then I got put on hold a few minutes and then he said I will call you back to see if we are going to sue or not. It sounded like he was talking to some guy in the background.

sorry so long. I am so pissed off right now about this :chair:

[Yooformula]

if he signed a bill of sale stating no warranty and sold as is then its on him. If he stops payment, I would sue him. hopefully the check clears before he can stop payment.

[pOrk]

Your shit out of luck if he stops payment before it clears.

Will be an easy lawsuit to win, but its going to suck to deal with all that mess. Keep all the emails, print them up unchanged and contact small claims court if you sold it for less then 5 grand ( I think ).

Good luck, this is the reason why I ONLY take cash now for auto sales.

[Yooformula]

good point about cash for auto sales OR a postal money order.

[4eyedstang]

sue him your will win for sure you may have to file in his county tho and bring some $$$ i think its $50 to file in small claims unless it over 5k. people like that piss me off

[HRSEPLA]

Cash and carry, expecially if it can't make a 3 hour tour.

[SpdRcrZ]

DAMN!!!! What a POS guy! Try and stall him till the check clears. He signed saying it was bought "as is" and was warned to trailer it. He signed the title taking ownership, its his problem.

Hope it all works out for you GP!

[BlackLightning]

The guy lives in Indiana. Would I have to file down there or would I file here to sue? It was under 5k total price. I knew I should have demanded cash but figured a cashiers check would be safe as well. I guess I was wrong. :(

[brownc00]

I wouldn't sweat it. It's pretty hard, if not impossible to stop payment on a cashier's check. They can be cancelled if they are reported lost or stolen, or if the bank finds the check itself to be fradulent. Dudeman will go to the bank and find this out and give up. At most he'll e-mail/call you and *****, but there's not much else he can do.

[Windsors 03 Cobra]

I wouldn't sweat it. It's pretty hard, if not impossible to stop payment on a cashier's check. Dudeman will go to the bank and find this out and give up. At most he'll e-mail/call you and *****, but there's not much else he can do.

I hope so for the sellers sake, WHAT A PITA. :chair:

[BlackLightning]

My bank said he could put a stop payment on it and that I would have to sue to get the money back. So basically he would have the car and the cash and who knows what's been done to the car since friday. I am hoping for the best and will call Wednesday to see if the check has gone through or not yet.

[Car Guy]

Yeah, it's really sad but now a days cash is the ONLY way you can guarantee a sale that won't come back to bite you. Unless you wait for the check to cash and make sure the $$$ is in your account before doing the transaction.....

With that said I'm almost positive that you will have to file a claim here in Milwaukee, but I could be wrong. I just went through something like that and the buyer was from New York, he had to file a claim in small claims court here in Milwaukee.....

How much $$$ did you sell it for...???






:3gears: :3gears: :3gears:

[brownc00]

My bank said he could put a stop payment on it and that I would have to sue to get the money back. So basically he would have the car and the cash and who knows what's been done to the car since friday. I am hoping for the best and will call Wednesday to see if the check has gone through or not yet.

If he does that, report the car stolen. That will surprise him! :wooo

[pOrk]

You could always run the check to a check cashing joint, pay the big bucks but you have the cash and they have to chase the guy down to sue. It might work?

[Car Guy]

If he does that, report the car stolen. That will surprise him! :wooo

I never thought of that but technically the car IS stolen because he broke the contract which is the bill of sale.....






:3gears: :3gears: :3gears:

[BlackLightning]

How much $$$ did you sell it for...???

$4050.00

[Yooformula]

umm but he has a SIGNED title, I am not sure if he can still claim it was stolen.

[BlackLightning]

I wouldn't sweat it. It's pretty hard, if not impossible to stop payment on a cashier's check. They can be cancelled if they are reported lost or stolen, or if the bank finds the check itself to be fradulent. Dudeman will go to the bank and find this out and give up. At most he'll e-mail/call you and *****, but there's not much else he can do.

I think you are on to something. I did some googling after you posted and came up with these two links.

http://www.bankersonline.com/compliance/gurus_cmp120202i.html
http://www.bankersonline.com/operations/gurus_op072103d.html

So I am thinking he called and they wouldn't cancel the check which is why when the phone conversation ended he said I will call you back if we are going to sue. I can only hope :)

[tommyt5078]

I think you are on to something. I did some googling after you posted and came up with these two links.

http://www.bankersonline.com/compliance/gurus_cmp120202i.html
http://www.bankersonline.com/operations/gurus_op072103d.html

So I am thinking he called and they wouldn't cancel the check which is why when the phone conversation ended he said I will call you back if we are going to sue. I can only hope :)



From my understanding brown is correct since it's a cashier check, if it were a normal check then he would be able to stop payment. You shouldn't have any troubles if the cashier check is legit!!!!!

[GTSLOW]

^^ I hope you guys are right. Sucks to hear about idiots like this.

[Car Guy]

umm but he has a SIGNED title, I am not sure if he can still claim it was stolen.


^^^ That is a very good point.....

I hope I'm wrong but I thought that you could cancel a cashier's check someway somehow.....






:3gears: :3gears: :3gears:

[GTSLOW]

^ You can, but it has to meet the criteria ex. fraudulant, altered, etc..

[CobraSnake]

If i get any sort of check for selling a car, I take the buyer to the back with me and make him watch them hand me the money. That way I have the money and he has his car and off he goes.

Mark

[Car Guy]

^ You can, but it has to meet the criteria ex. fraudulant, altered, etc..

What about if the item you purchased with that said cashier's check was 'not right' (for lack of a better word) ...???

Just curious.....






:3gears: :3gears: :3gears:

[4eyedstang]

you can always call the cops if the check is cancelled .giving a worthless check is a crime. then work from there.good luck

[brownc00]

What about if the item you purchased with that said cashier's check was 'not right' (for lack of a better word) ...???

Just curious.....

:3gears: :3gears: :3gears:

I don't think so. The cashier's check is getting drawn against the bank's account and they really don't give a ratzass if you think you got shafted. There are also federal laws that prevent the banks from not honoring checks that they write against their account. Banks REALLY don't like drawing legal attention to themselves.

[BlackLightning]

I will give an update when I know more probably towards the end of the week. Thanks.

[Prince Valiant]

There's just not much to the story. The check will clear provided it the check itself wasn't fraudulent. The sale will stand since all cars are sold "as-is" in the state of Wisconsin unless it's noted otherwise.

Since you'll have your money, there should be no issue regarding you having to do anything in IN....and since the sale occurred here, he'll have to file here if he wants to sue.

I say he just man's up and fixes the car.

What issue did he have did he have with the car, ie, what broke down?

[Neal Steffek]

A cashier's check is the same as cash. He can't stop payment on it. He is just trying to scare you to get a better deal so don't worry about it.

[Moparjim]

Just some important notes/facts to add - I have bought/sold a shitload of cars the last 20 years lol:

1) People that have said he cannot cancel a "cashiers" check are correct. It used to be basically as good as cash. If the check was good to begin with, it should clear and you should be fine.

2) That being said, nowadays I would NEVER EVER take or pay with a "cashiers" check anymore. Insist on cash, or have the money electronic transferred between your bank and theirs. "Cashiers" checks nowadays are all too often fraudulent, homemade, etc. The banks don't seem to give a shit either - they will take it, cash it, give you the money, then days or weeks later when it turns out to be no good they will demand the money back and you are screwed. You would think they could actually verify that they are good electronically or something, but as I said they are part of the problem and do not seem to care.

3) Regardless of the outcome of the cashiers check, you are owed the money. Sucks you may have to sue and try to collect it. Even if you didn't have a bill of sale clearly stating so, Wisconsin is a "buyer beware" state - any used vehicle is "as is" there is no warranty or what not. It's pretty much as simple as that - even used car dealers that have the checkoff sheets in the windows you can have a problem 5 minutes later with something they checked as "OK" and you have no legal recourse. They are just required to have "reasonably inspected" the vehicle - all they have to say is they check it out, it was working, and it didn't appear to have a problem. The fact that it broke 5 minutes later is bad luck and your problem. Many dealers will do something for you just out of customer service concerns , but they are not legally required to - ANY used vehicle in WI is "as is".

[Car Guy]

My bank said he could put a stop payment on it and that I would have to sue to get the money back.

So why would the bank say this then...???






:3gears: :3gears: :3gears:

[HRSEPLA]

Just call and report it 'stolen':)

[CobraSnake]

So why would the bank say this then...???






:3gears: :3gears: :3gears:

cause he probably talked to a stupid teller that didn't know what they were talking about.

Mark

[BlackLightning]

cause he probably talked to a stupid teller that didn't know what they were talking about.

Mark

I think that's exactly it. What I read on here and google it all says it can't be stopped. I think he tried to cancel it and was told no and thats why he said he would call me back to see if they were going to sue. I am going at lunch to try to pull the money and will open a new account elsewhere as I am sick of dealing with the idiots at my bank.

[CobraSnake]

I think that's exactly it. What I read on here and google it all says it can't be stopped. I think he tried to cancel it and was told no and thats whay he said he would call me back to see if they were going to sue. I am going at lunch to try to pull the money and will open a new account elsewhere as I am sick of dealing with the idiots at my bank.

Aren't we all. My bank is a bunch of retards.

Mark

[Car Guy]

I think that's exactly it. What I read on here and google it all says it can't be stopped. I think he tried to cancel it and was told no and thats why he said he would call me back to see if they were going to sue. I am going at lunch to try to pull the money and will open a new account elsewhere as I am sick of dealing with the idiots at my bank.

So wait, he told you that the BANK was going to sue YOU...???

And if not, who would be 'they'...???






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[Prince Valiant]

So wait, he told you that the BANK was going to sue YOU...???

And if not, who would be 'they'...??? It could have only meant "him" and like his dad or someone...

Couldn't be the bank that issued the check, since they already received their cash.

[Car Guy]

It could have only meant "him" and like his dad or someone...

Couldn't be the bank that issued the check, since they already received their cash.


Well if that's the case the buyer is going to get a rude awakening for thinking he could sue the seller...!!! :rolf If anything it should be the other way around, but at this point it looks like everything will work out for both parties.....

This guy is either an IDIOT or is really trying to royally screw you over.....






:3gears: :3gears: :3gears:

[BlackLightning]

He was talking about they were going to sue me. I am assuming him and his dad or whoever. It was a younger guy 17-19yrs old who bought the car. When he was on the phone he kept putting me on hold and I could hear him and another guy talking in the background faintly.

[Car Guy]

He was talking about they were going to sue me. I am assuming him and his dad or whoever. It was a younger guy 17-19yrs old who bought the car. When he was on the phone he kept putting me on hold and I could hear him and another guy talking in the background faintly.

I was thrown off (thinking the bank wanted to sue you) because he has not an ice cube's chance in hell of suing you successfully, I honestly can't believe he'd actually say that to you :loser . Once you get your $$$ ('in hand') call him up and tell him to go 'F' himself, and then to go play on the interstate with his 'daddy'.....

I seriously hate people like that with a passion.....:flipoff2:






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[wikked]

Yea you can't put a stop payment on a cashier's check... that's like trying to do it on a money order.
The money is already gone from his account, and into the cashiers check. It's like he gave you a $4,050 dollar bill.

The only way he could get that money back, is if you handed him the cashier's check back.

I had a sale fall through at the last minute once, and I just shredded the cashier's check... oops!
It's not easy taping hundreds of tiny strips together... the bank teller was pretty amused.

[Windsors 03 Cobra]

$4,050 for a 95 Cavi ? Gotta love Ebay and redneck hosers err hoosiers.

[Car Guy]

$4,050 for a TURBO'd 95 Cavi ? Gotta love Ebay and redneck hosers err hoosiers.


Fixed...!!! :thumbsup






:3gears: :3gears: :3gears:

[88Nightmare]

we still have yet to find out what broke on it. If it was something like the head cracked or somethin, I'd be pretty bent about it too, but I'd realize I bought this pile of junk, its up to me to fix it. If its something minor like a charge pipe popping off, big deal.

[BlackLightning]

He didn't say what was wrong with it other then the voicemail which said the car was having transmission problems and he had to have it towed. He didn't say anything more then that. I have had the car since 1998. It's been turbocharged for 5 and a half years and I drove it the afternoon it was picked up and there were ZERO problems with it. The car has a huge transmission cooler with a fan on it as well. The car had never been to the track either. It was very well taken care for as long as I had it.

Here is a pic of the car.

http://racers-edge.org/z24front.jpg
http://racers-edge.org/manifoldturbo.jpg

[88Nightmare]

looks nice. maybe he is just trying to scam you out of some money?

[BlackLightning]

who knows. the bank wont release the money until the check is processed as I was told so I am going to call thursday to see if it's cleared yet and then close the account.

[HY35F2T]

Just some important notes/facts to add - I have bought/sold a shitload of cars the last 20 years lol:

1) People that have said he cannot cancel a "cashiers" check are correct. It used to be basically as good as cash. If the check was good to begin with, it should clear and you should be fine.

2) That being said, nowadays I would NEVER EVER take or pay with a "cashiers" check anymore. Insist on cash, or have the money electronic transferred between your bank and theirs. "Cashiers" checks nowadays are all too often fraudulent, homemade, etc. The banks don't seem to give a shit either - they will take it, cash it, give you the money, then days or weeks later when it turns out to be no good they will demand the money back and you are screwed. You would think they could actually verify that they are good electronically or something, but as I said they are part of the problem and do not seem to care.

3) Regardless of the outcome of the cashiers check, you are owed the money. Sucks you may have to sue and try to collect it. Even if you didn't have a bill of sale clearly stating so, Wisconsin is a "buyer beware" state - any used vehicle is "as is" there is no warranty or what not. It's pretty much as simple as that - even used car dealers that have the checkoff sheets in the windows you can have a problem 5 minutes later with something they checked as "OK" and you have no legal recourse. They are just required to have "reasonably inspected" the vehicle - all they have to say is they check it out, it was working, and it didn't appear to have a problem. The fact that it broke 5 minutes later is bad luck and your problem. Many dealers will do something for you just out of customer service concerns , but they are not legally required to - ANY used vehicle in WI is "as is".


isnt there something called the lemon law?my buddy bought i used car and told the dealer to fix the tranny that went out in 1 day.They tried to charge him but i guess he said something about lemon law and they fixxed it for him.Inless they just changed that recently cuz this was i think 4 years ago/

[SmokinRAM114]

isnt there something called the lemon law?my buddy bought i used car and told the dealer to fix the tranny that went out in 1 day.They tried to charge him but i guess he said something about lemon law and they fixxed it for him.Inless they just changed that recently cuz this was i think 4 years ago/

pretty sure lemon law only applies to new vehicles under warranty. if he bought a "certified" used car, then i can see why he would *****.

[SpdRcrZ]

$4,050 for a 95 Cavi ? Gotta love Ebay and redneck hosers err hoosiers.

I sold my turbo setup, engine & ECM, transmission, and exhaust for $5250...... that guy got a hell of a deal (other then it was a 95 and automatic ;))

Hope it clears fine for you GP. Just out of curiosity, what bank are you currently with? (Chase has been pretty good to me)

[lordairgtar]

pretty sure lemon law only applies to new vehicles under warranty. if he bought a "certified" used car, then i can see why he would *****.
Yup, Lemon Law does not apply to private sales. A lot of things can happen to cars that aren't driven much. Rubber hoses can dry rot and lines can corrode. I drove a 78 Caddy back from Indy years back and the belts and hoses all went south half way back. I just replaced them and continued on my way. What a dork! Could be as simple as a loose trans oil line or just low on fluid.

[Berettaspeed]

all private sales are AS IS no matter what. you cannot prove the seller knew anything is wrong with the car. and the fact that its modded throws all that lemon law out the window.

NOTE TO SELF.. after sale RUN TO BANK AND CASH the damn check. LOL


i have stoped a payment on a money order. thats why you save your copy. i had it stoped when i sent it.( you can have it actived whenever) i told the guy ill give him the other half when i get the rest of the parts. people kinda had bad situations with the guy. so i told him thats the only way i would buy it from him. but it went well and he got his money and my stuff was fine.

[Moparjim]

isnt there something called the lemon law?my buddy bought i used car and told the dealer to fix the tranny that went out in 1 day.They tried to charge him but i guess he said something about lemon law and they fixxed it for him.Inless they just changed that recently cuz this was i think 4 years ago/

Lemon law only applies to brand new cars. Lemon law also is pretty weak and you have to have the exact same problem back to a dealer 3 times without it being fixed before they have to take the car back, and even then you often have to fight to get it done. Like I said, many used car dealers will take care of you, only to provide customer service and because it is good for their reputation not because they are legally obligated.

[CobraSnake]

Lemon law only applies to brand new cars. Lemon law also is pretty weak and you have to have the exact same problem back to a dealer 3 times without it being fixed before they have to take the car back, and even then you often have to fight to get it done. Like I said, many used car dealers will take care of you, only to provide customer service and because it is good for their reputation not because they are legally obligated.

yeah but I know at dealerships at least you have a 3 day right of recision on used cars.

Mark

[BlackLightning]

I went back to the bank at lunch today and she said everything looked good and was clear so I was able to pull all my money and close the account. :banana1:

[Car Guy]

I went back to the bank at lunch today and she said everything looked good and was clear so I was able to pull all my money and close the account. :banana1:

Good to hear :thumbsup , now refer to my post (#40) and call him back.....






:3gears: :3gears: :3gears:

[Yooformula]

I would call him and thank him for his business...lol

[wikked]

I went back to the bank at lunch today and she said everything looked good and was clear so I was able to pull all my money and close the account. :banana1:



http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/94/Win_button.jpg/180px-Win_button.jpg