View Poll Results: What would you do?
1: Give him money back and take the engine back
1
0.79%
2: Give him some of his money back, and take the engine back
1
0.79%
3: Give him some cash to help offset the repair costs
22
17.32%
4: Do nothing...was sold in as-is condition
101
79.53%
5: Something else (please elaborate)
2
1.57%
Voters: 127. You may not vote on this poll
What would you do?
02-24-2005, 09:47 AM
#91
Intermediate
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Harrisburg Pa.
Posts: 27
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Originally Posted by mitch236
The sad truth about law suits is that if the settlement price is low enough, it is more economical to settle than fight. Even if you would win. Can you tell I've been through it before. The lawyers know exactly what it will cost to fight and they set their settlement just below that. Best advice is to have a lawyer in the family
Have a nice day
03-04-2005, 12:41 PM
#96
Intermediate
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Harrisburg Pa.
Posts: 27
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
MORE LIKE........................... Bought used race engine
Installed
Fired it up
Rod knock
Screwed blued & tatooed
Or as you boys say buyer beware or "thats razzzing"
Installed
Fired it up
Rod knock
Screwed blued & tatooed
Or as you boys say buyer beware or "thats razzzing"
03-04-2005, 12:58 PM
#97
Drifting
Wouldn't you have opened up the engine that you just bought from a wrecked car? Some people kill me. I have enough fun opening up engines from cars I bought. The was already out of the car. Throw it on a stand an take it apart. Easy......
03-06-2005, 01:26 AM
#99
Burning Brakes
Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: Jupiter
Posts: 1,093
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Originally Posted by JC in NY
Actually, if you want to start with legal mumbo-jumbo, then you should also point out that these kinds of implied warrantys of fitness only apply when the seller is a merchant who sells the item in the regular course of business. If the seller is just a private individual then there is no implied warranty and the sale is considered "as-is" unless some warranty is negotiated.
So what exactly is a "merchant"? The seller in this case is stripping a car and selling off all of the parts individually. Does that make him a merchant? The real problem is that as soon as you get into grey areas it opens the door to go to court. Get your opponent into court with any sort of reasonable argument and you can usually force some sort of settlement.
Which is why I think it is safer to state clearly what the expectations are of the parties. For example, if neither of you really want warranties then the best way is to make clear that the item is not expected to be a finished, working product.
Someone asked how long the warranty lasts ... there is no limit on the warranty but the warranty is only relevant to the condition of the goods at the moment of sale. The buyer would have to prove that they were defective when sold and that they didn’t become defective after the sale. Not always easy and increasingly more difficult as time goes by. The limiting factor on bringing an action would be the statute of limitations in that state.
Another good way to limit these warranties is to insist that the buyer inspect the goods at the time of sale and confirm that he has found them to be in the stated condition. That shifts the burden for discovering hidden defects to the buyer. He cannot very well argue then that there was a hidden defect that is now only just coming to light.
Stephen
03-06-2005, 02:47 AM
#100
Originally Posted by FixedWing
The real problem is that as soon as you get into grey areas it opens the door to go to court. Get your opponent into court with any sort of reasonable argument and you can usually force some sort of settlement.
In some respects, I agree with Z-man. If the cost of the engine + the rebuild costs less than a new engine, the buyer made a good purchase.
On the other hand, I can see the point that if the cost of the engine + the rebuild costs more than a good used engine, the buyer made a poor purchase.
I can see how the buyer might feel angry if he's in the second scenario and he might feel that he's due some compensation. What's making it tough for some of us is that there were quite a few experienced people either taking a ride with Pesky or next to his car while it was running (and running hard) and heard no problems with it. This includes up to the day it crashed.
If I was on the jury, I would guess that any engine troubles might have been caused by the crash. Call me silly, but I would think that the onus is on the buyer to list the stipulations on the sale, as I believe that anybody who buys parts on a car that crashed and flipped over has to know that they are buying on an "as-is" basis.
My personal guess is that the only reason Pesky posted this poll is that the 3 months that the buyer waited to test the engine were during months that aren't typically being used for driving. If the engine was sold in May, and the buyer waited until August to express disappointment, my guess is that Pesky wouldn't have posted, but would have told the buyer "too bad."
Now the other issue is that the buyer might have taken his engine to a mechanic right away to have it tested, and then it took 3 months for it to actually get checked... I'm not saying that's the case here, but I've dealt with mechanics who work on that sort of timetable.
03-06-2005, 02:59 PM
#102
Intermediate
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Harrisburg Pa.
Posts: 27
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
The very first post by pesky 914 was misleading and incorrect on the timeline. The engine was delivered to the buyer on or around Nov 20 2004 (a deposit was given before that but engine was not delivered yet) The shop installed the engine (adapted to 911 exhaust wiring etc.) fired the engine up on or around Jan 20th. Nov.20th to Jan.20th is 2 months! There are no tests to be done to show a rod knock, only firing the engine and listing. The disassembly of the engine showed a destroyed rod bearing and crankshaft(not caused by flip over) The first posting made it sound like he installed the engine immediately , raced it for 3 months then had a problem -couldn't be farther from the truth. The rod knock was obviously was a pre existing problem(whether anybody heard it or not -was anybody actually listing for a rod knock? ) There are many noises in a race car - you have a helmet on - there are loud exhaust noises etc. It obviously wasn't heard. When the engine was starter up and the noise was heard there were several options at that time. 1 Go to the shop and see and listen for yourself.2 At least call the shop and speak to them. 3 Call the sellers mechanic and have him contact the buyers shop 4 have the buyers shop take it to the sellers shop to check it out. Many options could have been choosen by communicating with the direct parties involved. But instead we go to a websit (very impersonal) and do a poll tainted by misinformation.Should have bellied up to bar talked directly to parties involed and found a solution. Anyway thats water over the dam now , and buyer is handling the problem . I just find it hard to believe in this world of telecommunications you can't talk to someone via a phone to solve a stickly situtation . 
03-06-2005, 03:10 PM
#103
Intermediate
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Harrisburg Pa.
Posts: 27
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Originally Posted by RJay
Sad, but true. I got sued once by a buyer of a 1971 or 2 Super Beetle which I sold for $800 back in around 1975. Unfortunately didn't write as is on the bill of sale. The owner took it to a VW dealer who pointed out a bunch of things wrong with car, charged them $600 to fix the stuff and they purchaser sued us. Never got to inspect anything. it was all done without our knowlege, the buyer never got an estimate, nor did they contacted us prior to the work being done. Just had everything done and then slapped us with a law suit. Highly suspicious, but under advice of our attorney we settled and split the bill. Can you tell I'm still pissed off about it to this day!
Sad but true the only way a "as is " stands up in court is if both parties sign a notarized contract . Also check Conn. state law along withalmost every other state law -- DOESN'T MATTER MERCHANT OR INDIVIDUAL ( check under implied warranties) Have a nice day
03-07-2005, 10:55 PM
#105
Rennlist Member
Originally Posted by eimc
Sad but true the only way a "as is " stands up in court is if both parties sign a notarized contract . Also check Conn. state law along withalmost every other state law -- DOESN'T MATTER MERCHANT OR INDIVIDUAL ( check under implied warranties) Have a nice day
Have you been in this situation before?