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Head gasket blown! Bought car today! Please help!

A

amdforever2

Golden Member
I bought a 1992 Thunderbird.

It's head gasket blew less than 5 hours later. It was sold in kansas.

here is bill of sale text.


Text of bill of sale:

This document is to certify the sale terms of a 1992 Ford Thunderbird (VIN = 1FAPP6049NH129661)
The seller is (sellername).
The purchaser is (purchasername).

The terms of sale are as follows.

On January 31st 2003 $1150 will be paid to the seller. Purchaser will gain posession of vehicle at this time.

On February 7th an additional $226.01 will be given to the seller.

At this time seller will relinquish all rights to this vehcile and sign the title for this vehicle over to purchaser.

The total sale price is $1,376.01 as determined by Ebay Motors Auction. The item number for this Ebay Motors Auction is 2400850628.

By signing this document these parties certify:

Seller has recieved $1150.

Purchaser will pay $226.01 on February 7th, 2003.

Seller will sign the title over to purchaser upon recieving $226.01.

That the item description listed in the Ebay Motors Auction is accurate.

Seller may only regain posession of the vehicle if the $226.01 is not paid on the date mentioned and no agreement can be reached about payment at a later date. This sale is contingent upon the vehicle passing a Missouri State Safety Inspection. A Missouri State Safety Inspection certifies this vehicle is safe to drive. If this vehicle fails to pass a Missouri State Safety Inspection purchaser is responsible for bringing the vehicle to Missouri State Safety Inspection standards as long as bringing this vehicle to Missouri State Safety Inspection standards does not cost more than $300. If the costs for repairs to make this vehicle pass Missouri State Safety Inspection standards exceeds $300, purchaser will be refunded all funds paid to seller. For all purposes the parties agree that this vehicle is being sold in the state of Kansas and that this sale is subject to the laws of the state of Kansas.

It is signed by both people.

Can I sue him?

Somebody help me please omgomgomgomg
 
No, but you can spend the what, whole 15 bucks on a new gasket, and put it on yourself. 😛
 
When did the gasket blow? When you got it, or when it was in the sellers possesion? If the latter, it is their fault because you bought the car as advertised, not blown.
 
Private party? These sales are "as-is", you can try to put a new gasket on yourself. It's what I did when this happened to me (albeit 2 months after the purchase, not 5 hours).
 
Originally posted by: amdforever2
The repairs are estimated to be at least $1k.
Click to expand...

It shouldn't cost you more than $100 - $150 if you do it yourself, and that's for everything you'll need (new gaskets, bolts, oil, coolant etc..)
 
1) How do you know the gasket is blown?

2) You can't sue because your car broke.

3) You can refuse to pay the outstanding $225, but if the gaskets blew while the car was in your possesion, you will have to pay HIM to fix them.

4) If you feel like learning about cars, you can fix it yourself for less than $100.
 
maybe its not a head gasket

i dont know

smoke out of exhaust

tons of smoke
engine shakes



the contract says any inspection point costing more than $300 entitles me to full refund

this is inspection point and it costs more than $300
 
If this vehicle fails to pass a Missouri State Safety Inspection purchaser is responsible for bringing the vehicle to Missouri State Safety Inspection standards as long as bringing this vehicle to Missouri State Safety Inspection standards does not cost more than $300. If the costs for repairs to make this vehicle pass Missouri State Safety Inspection standards exceeds $300, purchaser will be refunded all funds paid to seller.
Click to expand...

Can't you use this to get your money back?
 
Originally posted by: Carrot39
It won't pass the safety inspection (can't drive it) cost more then 300 to repair.

Ken
Click to expand...

Could you please tell me what a Safety Inspection in Missouri consists of?
 
Originally posted by: amdforever2
maybe its not a head gasket

i dont know

smoke out of exhaust

tons of smoke
engine shakes



the contract says any inspection point costing more than $300 entitles me to full refund

this is inspection point and it costs more than $300
Click to expand...


What happened to it? You said it was fine this morning. Explain what you were doing when it broke, and a more detailed description of the problems you're having.
 
The vehicle sure as hell cant have smoke billowing out of the exhaust notfred!!!!

KingNothing, I'm not a lawyer, I don't know, can I?


I bought it 5 hours ago. I was driving it normal. Engine started to intermittently lose power, temperature went all the way up, smoke.
 
Missouri safety inspection

Doesn't sound like it would cover your problem per se, BUT it sounds like your car is going to fail an emissions inspection.

BTW, have you talked to the seller yet? Maybe he'll take the car back, you never know. Simplest solution to the problem.
 
Is it dark smoke, or blue? Dark smoke is oil, lighter smoke is probably water.

Does it blow it while accelerating or when you let off the gas and coast, it makes a difference for diagnostics. Shaking engine may be a motor mount.
 
Originally posted by: amdforever2
The vehicle sure as hell cant have smoke billowing out of the exhaust notfred!!!!
KingNothing, I'm not a lawyer, I don't know, can I?
I bought it 5 hours ago. I was driving it normal. Engine started to intermittently lose power, temperature went all the way up, smoke.
Click to expand...

you can have smoke POURING out of the exhaust w/o it being a head gasket.

Go look at the car. Open up the radiator (make sure it's cool first!) and see if it's full or low. See if there's any oil in the coolant. also, pull the spark plugs and look and see if any of them look rusty or tarnished (moreso than the rest of them).
 
I think "safety inspection" means that the head and taillights, brakes, turn signals, wipers, etc. work. Not that the engine is running. If you fail a safety inspection, at least in NJ, you're not supposed to drive the car until you fix what was wrong with it. If your head gasket blew, that's not necessarily a safety inspection failure, that's just a run to the parts store for a new one. I dunno. 😕
 
Originally posted by: KingNothing
it sounds like your car is going to fail an emissions inspection.
Click to expand...

A head gasket leak won't likely make a car fail emissions. Most of the extra crap coming out the tailpipe is water, and they don't check for that on the smog machine.
 
The car is obviously currently unsafe to drive. It will not pass a safety inspection.


To repair headgaskets do you not have to remove the engine etc etc?
 
amdforever2,
Please describe events from "we shook hands, I take the keys, start her up and start heading back to Missouri" to now.

Did you check all fluid levels before you left?

Include approx. time of day, weather, pretty much all the details pertaining to the car and conditions leading up to the event.

It may take a little time, but someone in here could help save you big $$$ and/or alot of aggravation.

Good luck.
 
Originally posted by: amdforever2
The car is obviously currently unsafe to drive. It will not pass a safety inspection. To repair headgaskets do you not have to remove the engine etc etc?
Click to expand...
Engine removal is not required but you should get a second opinion before you do anything drastic.
 
I would bet that the engine has had head gasket trouble before, and the seller replaced it and sold it just to get rid of the piece of sh!t. 🙂 Good luck.

Whatever you do, have the heads cleaned up by a machine shop.. Warpage could be the problem, especially if the head gasket blowing caused the engine to overheat.
 
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