Duno if we can still do it, but if you sell a car in California "AS IS" then there is nothing needed at all. No smog, no windshield, nothing. It's a hunk of steel. A good idea to sell this way to avoid liabilities for the tiniest thing.

This isn't a private sale. This was a trade in with the dealer.


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One would assume the dealer would be the smarter one here and know the car better than anyone. I say they shoulda checked it. But I'm not on the jury.

Again, in the dealers eyes they "just want to make a deal".


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same principles still apply, the dealer is still technically buying the car from you

shouldnt it be obvious that the car has Test pipes? it's noticeably louder than stock...

Just return the oem cats! Problem solved!

If you don't have it check the for sale section of the forum you will be lucky,one might sell it for just 50 bucks+ can of beers!

I don't see this having a happy ending for your friend. Even if he wins the dealership case*, whoever is in charge of enforcing the law that Z_ealot quoted is likely to take him back to court.

* Personally, I think it's the dealer's fault for not checking before delivery, but I'm not a judge.

I'm guessing, but I bet they rushed the deal through. I've trade cars at dealerships on a weeknight after scheduled closing and wondered if dealership even checked to see if the car had wheels.

Fine print can really bite you in the ***.

:iagree: on the other hand though, seeing as it's not even legal to buy a car without the emissions controls in place, the dealer themselves can get in big trouble, which is probably why they are going after his friend since they may have already incurred a fine for buying the car in the first place

I don't think it is illegal to buy, but rather to sell. It may be that the law is asymmetric with respect to sellers and buyers.

true, i guess we shall see how it plays out though...haven't heard from the OP in a while that's for sure

I've been reading all the post and asked James a couple questions about it this morning at the gym.

-He said the car had custom rims and they didn't even notice - he received a call a couple days later and they asked if he had the stock wheels :confused:

-he bought the Vet and had to pay $2500 over sticker, he didn't even have the Z there with him when he signed the papers and drove the car home. He had to turn it in the next morning, they were in his wife's car and they stopped to look at it.

- dealer called him about the cats about a month later and he went there with his wife and offered to 1. Return the vet. 2. Buy the Z back 3. Take the car back to shop and return it to stock and have it back same day.

THEY CHOSE OPTION 4: TOld him only Chevy mechanic could
Do it now and it would cost $$$$ and he needed to pay half. :stirthepot:

He is retired military like me and the military attorney told him they are just trying to screw him. They are submitting a response now.

According to Texas law all he has to verify was the mileage, which he did.

Some dealers are cool and some are POS

If he signed a contract that stated the emissions were not modified on the Z then he voided the contract and liable. Sure the dealership should have checked. One should never sign a contract unless you read it. My last two cars I told them up front that I had high flow cats. If at trade he told them that he had text pipes they would not have taken it in as trade. A place in Va got busted a few years ago for violating the federal emissions act by selling cars with no cats. When it was time for a two year Va inspection people that bought catless cars ratted them out. Emissions are federal not a state issue.

Violating a contract does not void it, it puts you in breach of it.

The reasonable solution is the dealer should accept an estimate from the shop of the sellers choice and only charge that amount to fix the issue. I can understand, now that the dealer owns the car, that they can't allow the original seller to take the car anywhere for repair.