Home > Research Legal Advice > Lemon Law > I bought a car from a dealership, ran a carfax and its been in two wreck...
Asked almost 2 years ago - Indianapolis, IN
FlagI bought a saturn ion 2 from a dealership and they told me it was a clean no damage car, when i ran the carfax on the car because of the many issues that keep coming up with the car i found out that the car was wrecked not only once but twice by the 1st and 2nd owners.
The lemon laws of your state won't apply here - they only apply to new cars that buyers fix multiple times and can't get the dealer to fix.
Here, bought a 5 year old used car, probably priced low, and probably sold "as is." That was your cue to do your due diligence and have your own mechanic inspect it, review the CarFax report and all the maintenance records, test drive it under varied conditions, etc. etc BEFORE deciding to buy it.
Proving they defrauded you requires you to show that they intentionally misrepresentated material facts that you reasonably relied on and that damaged you, which means you'd have to show they knew about these wrecks, and told you otherwise, and that you were reasonable in believing them, even though you apparently did no investigating of your own. Fraud requires a higher standard of proof, "clear and convincing," and I'm guessing "they" will deny telling you anything about the car being "clean, no damage," so that will be a very difficult thing to do.
When were the prior two collisions?
For example, if the dealer that sold you the car, purchased the car as a salvage/wreck from an auction, and then had the car repaired themselves before selling it to you, then you might have a case, because the dealer knew of the prior damage, and did not disclose it to you.
If the collisions were in the distant past, and the dealer is not linked to them, or should have had knowledge of them, then your facts are much weaker.
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