Mass. law on buying used vehicle from private party (warranty)

[StageLeft]

Not relevant to me now but I find this interesting:

http://www.mass.gov/?pageID=ocaterm...content&f=used_vehicle_warranty_law&csid=Eoca

Specifically, if you buy a car from a private party and can "prove" that a defect you shortly find thereafter was known about them and not disclosed you have the option of forcing them to buy it back.

In practice this seems like it would pretty much never work. There are a ton of major problems in a car, from leaks to the thing regularly not starting or missing gears that a seller could say they simply didn't know about, right? In theory this sounds great but I think it seems practically speaking it wouldn't have much teeth. The forced warranty from a dealer probably works well, though.

 

[Gibson486]

Not relevant to me now but I find this interesting:

http://www.mass.gov/?pageID=ocaterm...content&f=used_vehicle_warranty_law&csid=Eoca

Specifically, if you buy a car from a private party and can "prove" that a defect you shortly find thereafter was known about them and not disclosed you have the option of forcing them to buy it back.

In practice this seems like it would pretty much never work. There are a ton of major problems in a car, from leaks to the thing regularly not starting or missing gears that a seller could say they simply didn't know about, right? In theory this sounds great but I think it seems practically speaking it wouldn't have much teeth. The forced warranty from a dealer probably works well, though.

It's not easy and it requires intervention from the court to enforce it if the private party refuses to acknowledge it. If the seller "did not know about it", tough. They need to disclose issues and they cannot declare ignorance. Also, this only pertains to issues that are major, such as tranny or major oil leaks. No one, expcet ghetto people, would waste their time on minor issues.

This is why the period is only 30 days. It used to 60, however. 30 days gives you time to get a mechanics opinion in.

MA is very anal on "protecting" consumers.

 

[boomhower]

Why don't people do their homework themselves? Get a car inspected by a competent mechanic before purchase. Why folks think spending a $100 a an inspection is a waste of money when making a large purchase is beyond me.

 

[hanoverphist]

Why don't people do their homework themselves? Get a car inspected by a competent mechanic before purchase. Why folks think spending a $100 a an inspection is a waste of money when making a large purchase is beyond me.

unless you go through 10 or 12 cars...



(i have a mechanic friend that has checked out every one of my new vehicles for free, but if i had had to pay for them i would be out a good chunk of change)

 

[StageLeft]

unless you go through 10 or 12 cars...



(i have a mechanic friend that has checked out every one of my new vehicles for free, but if i had had to pay for them i would be out a good chunk of change)

$100 every couple of years is nothing, though. And if you're buying cars more than that (even that is a lot) wth!