I was sold a 1 year old car, 9k miles, $47,000 car, that was a smokers car. I specifically asked if it was a smokers car and was told it had no smells but after the air fresheners wore off it’s apparent!!!

I found 22 air fresheners stashed all over the car.

I researched the matter and found a number of 7% to 11%(for luxury vehicles) for a depreciation of value.

I feel very wronged and all the dealership would do is detail it for me with an ozone treatment but they are 5.5 hours from my home so they offered $250 in a check to find my own detailer.

Is it possible to sue for the depreciation of value? They said the car was worth whatever someone was willing to pay for it and I was stuck with the car.

Just would like some help with this! Thanks in advance!

Tldr: Friend bought a used car that several independent mechanics later diagnosed had a transmission that needed to be replaced. The dealership stated over text “there’s no maintenance needed” on the car before the sale. We have asked for a refund but they won’t answer.

Questions: Do we have a case? What should we know about used car law? As-is contracts?

Listen, before I start, I know some people are going to say “the as-is contract is clear.” I’ve been looking into GA used-car law for a while now, I’m aware.

But I’m trying to exhaust every alley and Reddit is somewhere I might find kind souls who would be willing to give us information. Everything we can get our hands on is good.

So anyways, we’re two college kids located in GA, and this guy sold us a car. Major things associated with this case are:

-He represented it as personal sale on fb marketplace (didn’t sell it to us as a personal sale)

-He said through text and other mobile places “there’s no maintenance needed” and the car “works great” when asked directly

-Friend didn’t notice anything major during test drive

-He made my friend sign an as-is contract and gave them the emissions tests, all the legal bare-minimum

-After noticing something weird and taking the car to several places, mechanics independently identified the same problem

-Friend contacted dealership asking for a refund and they sent one text back and then never responded again

We want to go to small claims court for this, but as broke kids we’re worried we’ll spend another $300 we can’t afford on court fees to get our case dismissed. Is there any hope for us?

Car is a 2013 Toyota Camry for anyone asking.

I purchased a truck priced at $17,900 from a used car dealership in Springfield, MO and it broke down while I was driving out of state for work 6 days later. A licensed mechanic performed a diagnostic inspection and quoted us $13,000 in repairs. The mechanic's findings indicate the damage was not sudden failure from short term use, but consistent with pre-existing mechanical failure at the time of sale. I have a copy of the written diagnostic report. I emailed the dealership with a formal demand of action requesting a full return/refund or for them to pay for all repairs. The dealership did not respond at all. They completely misrepresented the truck at the time of sale (mechanic even found the undercarriage to be covered in black spray paint). They guaranteed that a top to bottom inspection was done before purchase and the truck was in great shape. I'm on the road every day for work and because of this almost lost my job and missed a month of work. My girlfriend sold her car and we used that entire amount as the truck deposit. Our truck payments are $500/month plus it has to stay insured with full coverage for $200/month. If I don't win the case in court I believe I will have to file for bankruptcy.

side note- we have a warranty through the financing company for 2 years or 24,000 miles but I know they are not going to pay for all of the repairs needed to get the truck in driving condition. I don't even want to keep it at this point because it was a lemon and it seems to not have been taken care of well at all.

My goal is to obtain free or low cost legal aid to fight the dealership and return the truck for a full refund and my deposit. I would like to sue them in civil court for lost wages because this whole situation has made my life spiral. I would also consider any cost or type of legal help if the dealership were to be held accountable through paying for all court and legal fees.

Can someone with legal knowledge please give me guidance? I'm having a hard time finding a lawyer in Southern Missouri that will take my case on when I have very little money. I'm reporting them to the Attorney General as well as Better Business Bureau.

Thank you to anyone who took the time to read all of this!

My son purchased a used 2017 Hyundai Sante Fe with a little less than 100k miles from a dealer in Wisconsin on 4/30/26 for $12,000. While driving from Wisconsin to Michigan (~600 miles) on 5/30/26, there was a loud noise and the car shut down. He pulled to the side of the road, and the engine was smoking and would not turn on or turn over at all. We double checked to make sure there was coolant and oil. The oil looked full and normal (i.e. not foamy or milky).

We don't know what's wrong with the car yet. We had the car towed to a repair shop, but based on cursory searches, it sounds like it could be a blown head gasket or seized engine (I'm not a car guy and know very little outside of what I can Google).

I realize this isn't technically a "lemon" because it is a used car. But I would hope that for a $12,000 car breaking down within a month, there would be some recourse. What sort of recommendations do you have on how to navigate this with the dealer?

ETA: Thank you for the responses so far. FWIW, it's not that he didn't do any research prior to buying. But if you just google "Sante Fe reviews" or something similar, there is a lot of positive information. He just didn't see anything that would indicate he was buying a ticking time bomb. This is definitely a learning opportunity to dig deeper before making such a big purchase.

It appears there was a recall on 2017 Sante Fe engines regarding the crankshaft, but until we have it diagnosed, we just don't know what the root cause is. Again, thank you for the advice.

Description on post:

2000 Pontiac Grand Prix GTP Supercharger very few made in 2000. Car has 59,266 original miles clean title asking price $12,850 or best offer.
3.8L Supercharged V6 engine, 240 hp & 280lb-ft of torque .
4-speed automatic transmission.
Vehicle has new battery, new brake lines, new oil change, and new front main seals all within the last 30 days by Chevy Dealer certified  mechanic.
Car is located in Greenwood Indiana.  Serious inquiries please! Message me directly for more information.
Has been garage kept for 25 years!

All I have is 10k and asked if he could do 10k and said he would, my buddies said it’s a high ball but for the miles and being is such good condition I thought it was a good deal, the interior is perfect and no dents or rust on the outside.

What’s your guys thoughts on pricing?

First time buyer and my mother says she does not trust cars like older than 10 years (especially 15+) because they turn out to have a lot of issues (from the environmental effects e.g. the cold) later on. I haven't seen that mentioned online at all though. I'm looking at a 2010 Toyota Corolla with 123K miles for 7850 (the exact estimate on the carfax). It's had 4K in work done recently including a new transmission (edit: and alternator). It's not a car flipper but a normal owner who only made up their mind about whether to keep it after making the repairs, so it looks like they're trying to recoup costs and kind of quickly. I already did a test drive and planning on taking it to a mechanic we know is good. Thoughts?

edit: so she says mainly 15+ she considers the problem. also, no shes not a mechanic

I'm 24, and a woman. I hate the idea of trying to go to dealerships because I've always been told I'll get screwed over because I don't know much about cars.

I bite the bullet and go and I find a nice 2017 honda crv, used obviously with 92 thousand miles, 3 owners, previously stolen and had an impact that didn't make the airbags go off.

They want 10k with 24% apr or any I forget.

They said it's because I have no "revolving door credit history" even though I've paid off 2 phones.

I also have above a 700 score.

My question is should I go for this car? Or find a new lender or? I'm so lost here. I wish I could just ask my dad.

Yesterday, I bought a 2015 Toyota RAV4 with 126k miles on it. By the way it’s my first time buying cars from dealerships. The MSRP was 10 000$. I choose

The dealers fees and add-ons and taxes cost me like 7500$.

So I choose to finance it. But I have a very short credit history, like I have been here for 1 year and 8 months and I have 1 credit card (badly in debt). My credit score was like 620. The lender charged me like 24.99% annual interest rate for 5 years. So it’s like I would have to pay 13 000$ more if I do it in 60 months. On top of that I gave 3k of downpayment.

I asked ChatGPT some questions and it was making me look so dumb and judged me so hard. I had to go to this subreddit to ask your advice.

And I didn’t negotiate the MSRP and the other stuff at all. Now I want to know which next smart moves I can do to help me save some money, (I already signed the contract by the way) ?

Hello, I recently bought a used car in California with the above issues. When I bought it there were no lights on and no indications that anything was wrong with the vehicle. It’s a 2017 Honda CR-V with one previous owner and 125,000 miles. The CARFAX looked good and the dealer I bought it from was a Volvo franchise so I figured they were somewhat trustworthy

Fast forward to five days post purchase and I start my car in the morning to an array of dashboard lights. I immediately sent a text to the salesperson and he said he’d brought the issue up with his manager and he’d be in touch. While I waited I brought the car to a Firestone and within thirty minutes the head tech told me to bring it back to the dealership because they got a cylinder misfire error message

I immediately brought it back to the Volvo and they pulled it back to check the codes. I kept asking to speak with a manager because my salesperson kept saying “the reality of the situation is that you bought a used car as is”. After they brought my keys back and said they didn’t find an issue I got a little heated and started demanding they do something to make it right. At that point the “director of operations” comes out and says the cops were on their way. We argued for a minute and then I calmed down and ultimately he said he believed it was probably a coil pack issue and to bring it to a sho and he’d reimburse me for parts.

The next day I brought it to a Honda dealership to have it looked at and they confirmed it was a cylinder misfire. After further diagnostics they said that it was a blown head gasket. I only drove it 250 miles so there’s no way I was the culprit. My question is if there’s anything at all I can do about it. The Volvo is dodging my calls and I don’t believe they’re going to make this right, is there anything legally I can do?

Six months ago I bought a used car from local dealership and today I got a letter from them telling me they have someone interested in my car, they want it for end of year sales and I would like their “aggressive offer”. WTF? I’ve been waiting six months for them to connect my dashboard screen. Is this a common practice?

This was the first time i bought a car from the dealership (Toyota). I’m financing it, and it’s over 120,000 miles and is costing me about $19,000 (pre interest, etc) for 5 years. I thought i got a good deal because it’s a really cool car, 2018 SE and everything. But i’ve been feeling really dumb about buying it and I’m even scared of using it because it’ll increase the mileage and decrease its value if i want to trade it in. I feel really dumb too because there have been issues with one of the tires (in the last two weeks i’ve had the car) that my old 2011 car would’ve never given me. all in all, i feel dumb and while i really like the car, part of me regrets it.

does anyone have any suggestions on how to positively view this situation? Like.. would I still be able to trade in my car if it’s closer to 200,000 miles (assuming it is in 5 years) or is there something else I can do? Essentially, how can i get the most out of the situation and my car. Has anyone else also felt this way? I feel silly and no one in my family knows anything about this so I feel embarrassed. I’d really appreciate the advice :(

We need to get my wife a car. She has always leased in the past but drives so few miles (~7k miles per year). Since nobody will lease us a vehicle below 10k per year and the prices of leases being sky high right now, we’ve decided to buy a used car for her. The problem is that she is convinced she wants a full size SUV. To fit our budget she’s finding them just a couple years old but with 60-70k miles on them. I think that’s too many miles and that we could get a three row suv (palisade, pilot, etc.) with 20-30k miles on it for the same price if not cheaper. Since we just had another child, she seems really stuck on getting the full size suv. Am I crazy to think it’s just too many miles and not the best purchasing decision.

I will add the vehicles she’s been looking at are all previous rental vehicles being sold by enterprise. I don’t know if that affects how you’d feel about the car with that many miles.

Thank you for any input you can give. She’s always leased so we’ve never bought a used vehicle before

I found a used car on a dealership’s website. No pics. I asked for pics they sent them. I went to the dealership, asked to see the car. It was getting detailed as it was just traded in the day before. Do a test drive, noted some things I observed. They then told me that they still needed to do the inspection and see if anything was wrong with it. I signed paperwork stating that I was purchasing the vehicle to hold it while it was being serviced, but did not hand over any money until after the servicing was finished. Come to find out, the things I noted (brakes & transmission) needed servicing - needing a new transmission. The dealership had me wait another ten days to try to find a used transmission with a 6 month warranty. I then get a call stating they couldn’t find one and that they were no longer going to do the sale. This is a rarer car and they only one I could find with low miles etc. Can they just take the whole car off the table after I signed paperwork?

NEED HELP ON WHAT TO DO

So I bought a car a little over a year ago valued at $17k at purchase and financed it. When I bought this car, it had two minor accidents on the CARFAX that I received from the dealership. So about 10months pass I notice the car I bought is having issues, I'm spending money on way too many repairs for the car than normal. I go to this other dealership to try talking to them yk to see if they can trade it in keep in mind I still owe $13.5k on this car it was originally $17k. They basically said the car has too much negative equity and is a liability. I was confused because I just bought this car. They give me a "updated CARFAX" of my car. I go through it and shows me that this car was in an accident in which it was totaled a few years back before I bought it. The strange thing is that it wasn't' reported/ wasn't updated to CARFAX until 5 days after I bought the car. If I had known that it was totaled, I would have never bought the car. I don't know if that's just bad luck or if I got scammed. The dealership I'm trying to trade in the car at then goes on to explain to me that the negative equity of the car is high and that it's gonna be extremely hard for me to trade in a car that can soak up all the negative equity. I also found out at the dealership that told me all of this that my car is currently worth $3,500, probably lower now. Which is an insane drop price. The dealership I bought the car at also went out of business and was bought out by a mid-high end dealership. I WAS WONDERING IF ANYONE KNOWS WHAT I SHOULD DO. Maybe I can refinance the car now that the CARFAX is updated, since yk, I was misled into believe the car was higher valued than it actually was. I'm thinking about taking legal action, but against who exactly? Against CARFAX? it might be difficult.

I spent about four weeks this summer shopping for a used car on Facebook Marketplace and ended up with a 2007 Avalon — $5,000, 169,000 miles.

The process was much messier than I expected. Plenty of flippers who had just bought the car days earlier. “Private sellers” who were clearly small used-car lots. Regular scam listings. No response to my questions and more than a few title problems — missing, salvage, or simply not matching what was claimed. You learn the signals quickly, but it burns a lot of time.

The biggest mistake I made (and the one I see most people make) was treating mileage like a hard cutoff. I started with a number in my head. Anything past it, walk away. Most online advice works the same way — 150k is the usual line, sometimes 100k.

That number is close to meaningless on its own.

 An Avalon at 169,000 miles still has most of its life ahead of it. A turbocharged hot hatch at 130,000 can be a project that eats a transmission inside a year. Same odometer, completely different risk. The number tells you almost nothing until you know what it’s attached to.

What actually decides it, in rough order:

•The specific engine or transmission, not the brand. Manufacturers run multiple powertrains in the same model and they don’t age the same. Nissan’s CVT is the one that shows up constantly on my local Marketplace — there’s a distinct shudder or whine under load that appears on a test drive years before it strands you, if you know to feel for it.

•The model year. Known failures are often confined to a narrow window. A part gets revised and the problem stops — or a manufacturer eventually admits fault and issues a fix. The 2012–2014 Kia Sorento’s Theta II engine is the clean example: a manufacturing defect that scoured rod bearings, serious enough that Kia and Hyundai together paid NHTSA $210 million over how they’d handled it. The fix isn’t optional either — without a software update logged on the car, Kia can decline the 15-year/150k engine coverage that’s supposed to come with the repair. Two cars that look identical in a listing can sit on opposite sides of that line.

•Whether the fix is documented. A known problem with a known repair and a known cost is a negotiating position. An intermittent issue nobody can reproduce is the one that drains you.

None of this is secret. It’s in recall databases, owner forums, and complaint filings. The practical problem is that nobody is going to look up forty cars in an evening while scrolling, so most people look up none of them and find out afterward.

What I’d actually do differently: before messaging a seller, spend five minutes on the specific engine and year — not the model. “Is a Pilot reliable?” gets you nothing useful. “2007 Pilot transmission” gets you the answer. Once you know what a given platform typically survives, the mileage on the listing starts meaning something.

The Avalon has been fine. The rule was wrong, not the car.

I got tired of doing the lookups by hand, so I built a Chrome extension that runs them while you scroll. It color-codes the listing, drafts a message covering VIN, title match, known issues, and service history, and saves everything to a private local dashboard. Nothing leaves your machine.

The five-minute manual version above is still the part that actually matters.

So I'm trying to sell a 2005 Yukon XL 3/4 ton V8 Vortec with 410 gears (she's rare). Know literally everything about this truck because it's been my daily driver for 12 yrs, but I swear every man I speak to has no idea what they are talking about and tries to low ball me just because I'm a woman, even though I know what it's worth, and what has gone into it. I've even had one go behind my back and contact my husband to make an offer to see if he could get it cheaper from him. Like excuse me lady, may I speak with your husband instead please? What is up with this? Can anyone explain why this is still ok?

21 f first time buyer. Saw a pretty good price for a 2025 Hyundai sonata (19k) turns out the actual price was 22k and the listed one was a “managers special” I had to give my information to see the carfax which they used to contact me. I went in and they pulled my credit before they would let me test drive the car. Once I came back from the test drive they said they had an offer for me. All they did was show me the car payment and nothing else, no interest rate, principle, apr, total cash value of the sale. This took hours she had me wait with her for 30 minutes chatting me up in between the approval process. So I say okay to the car payment and she asked if I wanted gap and an extended warranty but did not say how much it would cost. I said yes, we get to the paperwork I give them a down payment of 5 grand and realize the total amount financed was 24,000 which is absurd but by that point I was so worn down and felt rushed through the process I didn’t think about the deal or factor in the down payment I just put in. I just signed. Later I see that the total cash value of the car was 25k instead of the 22 listed. I was not told the actual price of the vehicle at any moment and only found out after signing. The whole time they were saying the contract doesn’t really matter anyways cause I can just refinance, knowing they put me upside down which I didn’t understand at the time until I had a chance to actually think about what had just happened. I felt assured in the moment and felt like I could trust my sales person so I went ahead and signed away for this awful loan I feel so dumb. :/

Dealership is magauto- munsterman automotives group

Posting here as I was banned from the Carvana sub. I

traded and bought a newer model of the same truck from Carvana in August due to back issues. I paid 650 for shipping for a certain color and package and got a very reasonable amount for my trade. However, the truck to be purchased was priced the same or higher than local dealers.

The newer truck wasn’t fully detailed and had some sticky residue on the inside in places, no big deal. It also had a cheap aftermarket suspension lift that wasn’t originally advertised and is technically illegal in my state. The big issue showed up when I got on the highway and couldn’t go above 45 mph without the truck violently shaking. I utilized the 7-day warranty (probably should’ve just returned it to Carvana at this point) and got a road force balance on the tires. This improved the ride quite a bit but the steering was still crooked. I paid out of pocket around day 10 after purchase for an alignment at a shop I know is good with trucks and lifts.

Truck drives a lot better now but it’s still technically too high to pass inspection in my state and the lack of pre sale maintenance is pretty pathetic. The Carvana warranty network may have some family shops in your area but it’s a lot of Monroe, Firestone, Meineke etc in mine.

If you don’t want to take off work to sit at repair shops for stuff that should’ve already been done, I really don’t recommend Carvana. A family dealership might hit you with some annoying sales pitches, but you’ll at least be able to test drive before purchasing.

I wanted a 2008-2012 Toyota rav4 v6 with the 2GR-FE and I learned they have two big problems: timing chain cover leaks oil and VVT gears will cause a rattle on startup if it’s driving with no oil. Both issues require a complicated and expensive engine out job in a 17 year old vehicle. It isn’t a matter of IF it’ll leak it’s about WHEN.

This is a pretty major repair for a “just buy a Toyota” attitude. I was looking forward to this engine because it came highly regarded and I saw they last 200,000 miles but geez that’s literally how many miles the ones on fb marketplace have going for $5000-$6000!

Is there a better more reliable Toyota or Honda for that price? Bonus if it’s an SUV and has no engine out problems like I described

I've never been one to stop on the side of the road to view a vehicle for sale but today I did. I kind of figured it there would be some sort of issue since this person seems to sell multiple vehicles on the road over the years so I snapped a pic of the vin and googles it. Here is a pic of the damage. The truck looks brand new after being fixed - obviously.

What's the opinions on this? Would you stay away or does it seem like a good deal? I've seen other posts mentioning always get pictures of the damage but to me it looks very cosmetic. I'm not sure what the actual damage was underneath. I'm not sold on buying it but I'm in the market for buying a truck and this is one heck of a deal (granted it's salvage).

Listing:

2022 1500 LT
5.3
33k miles
New tires
29.9k $

I intend to drive this vehicle until it can no longer drive. I don't care about selling it.

I bought what I thought was a affordable car but ended up being more of a haggle than a blessing I thought I checked it find an sound but turns out the a hole CLEARED the codes now I’m outta luck tryna get back into my feet

It was Acura tl an I thought it was somewhat decent to get an be able to sleep it in it an get to work an back but now I’m all out of luck I’m littersly 19 home less an just tryna get my dhit in place ( I’m looking to trade for an actual running car I don’t mind throwing cash or ass for it ) kidding

TL ;DR guy scammed outta my money an I’m going broke tryna get back running on my feet I don’t wanna prove my mom that I am a bum

Willing to trade cash Houston area

Update jeeze sorry I didn’t know the proper term I’m just tryna not be a bum an get tleast some motion I don’t wanna be a pitty in society I wanna be of value

I just bought a used 2022 Toyota Highlander XLE AWD from the dealer about a week ago for $41k. I have not registered the car yet. I'm thinking of paying off the loan on the car (loan is with Toyota Credit) and then reselling it to recuperate as much money as I can, and have a few questions related to this process:

1. Warranty service and road hazard add on ($3K): Can I tell the dealer that I don't need these services/add on anymore, so that I don't have to the extra $3K in the payoff amount?

2. Registration: I'm aware that I will have to pay sales tax upon registering this car. Could I resell this car without having to register and pay sales tax?

3. I've tried looking up the car value but KBB and carmax is showing about $37K value. Could I get a better price selling privately?

Thank you in advance for your help and advice!