Being sued by dealership, any input
 

One of my good friends from the local gym here is being sued by Womack Chevrolet in New Braunfels Texas.

Long story short he had the same set up as me with no cats. He traded his Z in on a new Camaro ZR1

He received several phone calls about the set up and they wanted to pay almost 2k to set it back to orginal.

He received a letter last week and showed it to me today and he is being sued for trading in modded car with no cats.

Anyone else heard of this or....

read the fine print about the trade in on used vehicles. I know for us in California we have to disclose if the emissions equipment has been tampered, used the car for commercial use (taxi police etc etc) or has been salvaged. granted the dealership who took the trade in should have done their inspection, but i don't know how different the laws are in Texas.

I did this. Alright ask your friend if he FULLY disclosed all the parts that weren't on the car during the trade.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I traded my car haha basically had NOTHING on it. (: but I disclosed it fully and the trade was accepted.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

it is the job of the dealership to certify and check all parts of the vehicle before trading it in. if paperwork shows that it was agreed on as in condition and you purchaed the new vehicle, it is not your fault but theirs for not doing a full trade in appraisal. I've worked at the dealership for years as a manager and I've gotten under the car in my suit especially checking the subaru's and other Infiniti's that would come in traded in. Let them eat it and put on a new cat and call it a day

Truth! :bowrofl:

:iagree::iagree::iagree::iagree:
That would require someone to actually do their job.

I truly believe they're just trying to screw this guy

Man that sucks!

As long as you have good credit, when they check the car they basically don't even car. They just want to make a deal. Here's the trick though, they will always give you a lower trade value even if you have everything in perfect condition. Love buying cars. Hahaha.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I also noticed when I trade in my cars they always ask me about the CATS and make me sign.

Of Course they do. When I traded in my 2013 speed 3, it didnt even have a stone chip or a ding in it. The interior was brand new as I used seat covers as well as as steerign wheel cover, they still only appraised it as Good condition, it will never be Excellent!

They can't resell a used car that has no cats.

dealerships have hoists and mechanics and should usually have basic access to schematics of vehicles they look to trade etc.

they ****** up plain and simple....case of shoe on the other foot.

But here down under - ...'she'll be right mate!'... O_o

This isn't necessarily true. They can't, as a practical matter, open the motor and see if you've changed internals or something like that. It really depends on the terms of the sales contract that one signs and applicable State laws. They probably SHOULD have looked for cats, but if part of the sales contract terms require disclosure of exhaust modifications or cats, and you sign on the line then you are bound by the terms. Remember, their intent is to sell it to a member of the public and it needs to pass State inspection. Sounds to me like the terms of sale are actually good for consumers on the whole, though it seems to have had an unfortunate turn here.

Texas law prohibits any person from selling, offering for sale, leasing, or offering to lease any vehicle not equipped with all emission control systems or devices in good operable condition. Violators are subject to penalties under the Texas Clean Air Act of up to $25,000 per violation. Buyers are advised to have the vehicle checked for all required emission control devices prior to purchasing a new or used vehicle.

A vehicle may not be legally sold if its original engine has been replaced with another certified engine but without the related emission control components. Tampering includes the failure to install the emission controls associated with an engine configuration.

http://www.tceq.state.tx.us/airquali...tampering.html

the above is directly from the Texas Commision on Environmental Quality website, so it looks like the OP's friend is in a bit of a bind as technically when he traded his Z in it qualifies as him selling the car to the dealer. the dealer themselves might not win the case, but the state of texas WILL go after the OP once the dealer notifies them of the sale, of which im sure they already have. Also, it sounds to me like the dealer gave him a couple of oppurtunities to correct the issue before they took legal action, im not sure why the OP's friend just didnt put the stock catalytic converter back on before he made the decision to trade in the car or if he didnt have them anymore, but to me at least....OP's friend sounds like he is screwed