well, my brother is going to drive out to dfw tomorrow so he can take the car to a mazda dealership. God only knows why (i don't have any details at this point). But he'll decide what he's going to do from there.

 

if you have a bill of sale, its sold as is no warranty. I sell cars all the time. Its always as is, I mean if thats true I should call the guy I got my 95 cobra from and threaten him, its just a buncha b s. As far as you knew it was a good car, when it was sold. What he did after he got it, thats his problem. Bill of sale or no bill of sale, it really doesnt matter, its there problem now.

 

you mean you havnt sued or arrested this guy yet??? whats taking so long

 

well, thing is....he talked to a lawyer today. The lawyer told him that the situation is a bit stickier that what it appears. Here's what I mean. Initially, the bill of sale was going to list one whole price, but the final bill of sale divided the sale price in a way that the guy could pay less on taxes (or something to that degree). IDK, but what the lawyer is saying is that if he takes it to court, it'll all get whittled down to a "he said, he said" case.

Either way, evidently now the guy wants to work something out. He's apparantly going to give my brother the money that he owes, but he wants my brother to share some of the responsibility in repairing the car. I don't know much else from that. But I pretty much agree with you guys. The guy fucked himself over, and now he's trying to take my brother for a ride all because he knows nothing about this business.

 

good inforative thread, even if there was a 3 day law for used cars, I'm sure you could prove it was abused.

And this is a key example why you do things right the first time....

 

report the car stolen.

 

i'm army and i would have shot the bitch.... than again i'm trans... so we shoot everthing lol

 

I wouldn't even agree to splitting responsibility on the damages, he bought it, it is sold as is. I would tell him, pay up or its being filed as a stolen vehicle and you will sue for damages while it was in his possession...I wouldn't give him any other options than that.

 

Here's why the lawyer won't take it to court. First of all, there were two bill of sales: one with the actual price of the car, and another with a "reduced price" that the dude was going to give the tax/title people so he wouldn't have to pay full taxes. Second, both bill of sales said the date of purchase was 01/16 (today), as oppose to this past saturday when it actually happened. Because of these discrepancies, the lawyer says the case will get whittled down to nothing more than a "he said, he said" case. He probably could file a report with the police, but the dude said he's still going to pay what the car is worth minus the cost for repairs. So technically, he won't be able to file a report, cause he's going to pay (just not the full amount).

The Mazda dealership (supposedly) said that the cause could've been abuse OR improper care, so it was inconclusive. So basically, my brother is the one left screwed here since he's getting less money than what the car is worth.

 

i am very familiar with texas law and have done work for similar cases, but i would have to charge you. it goes both ways though, if your brother looks guilty over a second and lesser bill of sale the other gentleman will seem as a second party to the crime of fraud.

any halfway decent lawyer would relate this to the new owner and explain that not only the seller is at stake, but so is his freedom.

 

isnt that called tax evasion?

and like mentioned... report the car stolen...

 

Lesson Learned.

 

1: Why the hell did he put the sale date as today? That alone nullifies any claim he had since legally the car was still his.
2: He could technically sue for theft, but the guy's offering to pay, and if this whole thing goes to the court, since the thing was shown inconclusive he wouldn't be able to sue for damages.
3: They're both guilty of tax evasion too, which probably would not go so well in front of the judge.
4: He should have cleared the check before the title was handed over, but we've been over this already.

In short, your brother is a tard. He did damn near everything you can do wrong in a private auto sale.

 

it was his first time doing something like this. lesson learned i guess. and watch your mouth, that's still my brother you're talking about.

 

I am not sure what cases you had worked on. However, based on Texas law, private sale on a vehicle is as is. There would be no such fraud as you say since it is a private sale. I also spoke with my friend's dad who is a state judge and he laughed that it has not been filed as a stolen vehicle yet. He says that once the check was canceled, it would be considered theft.

I would love to hear how this is tax evasion. Tax on a vehicle is only assessed for a dealer, not a private sale. The guy is just recently offering to pay, he had originally canceled the check after taking possession of the vehicle, that is theft. There are many ways that it could go. However, I see no possibility of the seller being at fault. You should read the state laws again.

 

Because he paid (let's say) 10 grand for the car, and was going to register it for 8 grand. When you register a vehicle you purchased from anyone you PAY TAX ON IT. My Redline was used and I had to pay sales tax, I know I'm right.

Here's the problem - he contacted a lawyer and the lawyer said he didn't have a case. Obviously I'm right in some manner. Had he immediately went to the police and seen if he could have reported it stolen, he might have had some shot, but he has gotten in too deep and now has no chance.

 

well, if that is the case then probably 90% of people out there buying vehicles from private sellers are committing tax evasion, cause I know lots of people that have done this and have never paid any form of tax.

 

First of all, in texas you don't pay taxes on what you paid for the car. You pay taxes on the kbb value for it. I know this because my wife and I recently got her xterra registered. She paid 2000 for it, but the kbb said it was worth 5000. We had to pay kbb. Frankly, I don't know why they (my bro and the dude) did it that way (maybe inexperience on both their parts).

Just because he went to a lawyer, secondly, doesn't mean he's not going to do anything about it. The situation changed, probably for the better on both party's expense. So that's why there won't be any litigation. The main, to correct what you're saying, that the lawyer did not want to take it to court, is because of when he turned over the vehicle. The bill of sale had on it 01-16-2009, one week after he turned the car over. This means that legally, the car was still in my brother's possession at the time that he was damaged. It's the same concept as letting your friend drive your car, and they wreck it. It's still your responsibility (or your insurance's) because you allowed your "friend" to drive your car.

 

Ah, in Michigan you get to list exactly what you paid. I figured that since the dude wanted a lower priced bill it was the same in Texas.

Yeah, I know that it was still his responsibility since it was still in his name. That's what I said a few posts back.