A car buyer wants to renege on his offer after he took the car. What are my options?

July 23, 2009 7:44 PM

A car buyer wants to renege on his offer after he took the car. What are my options?

As I was getting my non-functioning car towed, the tow truck driver offered to take the car off my hands. We verbally agreed on a price for the car, and he took the car that day. I knew his name, number, and employer, so we agreed to meet on a later date to exchange the title/cash.

I can't get a hold of him for a week, then finally contact him to find that he wants to renege on the deal and bring the car back to me because he decided he doesn't have enough money.

I just want the money and to be rid of the vehicle, do I have any rights that protect me from him returning the car?

posted by mwang1028 to travel & transportation (16 comments total)

None, really -- you have no contract, and he doesn't have the money. IANAL, but I am somewhat familiar with contracts, and you almost certainly can't force someone to buy something that they don't want to buy just because they were originally interested.
posted by ellF at 7:51 PM on July 23

This doesn't help much, but never hand over property, even without the title, without getting paid. If you do, make sure you have a strong written (and witnessed) agreement and even then, you may have trouble getting anywhere with it in court.

He has all the leverage here- he's got the car and the money, and he's had your car for a week. He may have used this week to strip it off the most expensive components (worst case) or get an estimate for repairing it, only to discover it is more expensive than he had guessed (best case). If you really want him to keep the car, and he is adamant that he doesn't have the money, the only way you may be able to be successful is if you agree to a lower price.

You also haven't told us what country/state you're in, and I'm no lawyer, but from a practical point of view you may have trouble getting your money. Either offer him a lower deal- and cash tonight- or tell him to bring the car back to your home-immediately.
posted by arnicae at 7:51 PM on July 23

Sounds like he thought he could fix it cheap and turn a profit then realized the fix was more expensive than he thought. I'd also check that he hasn't stripped anything out of your car or replaced good parts with shitty ones. Any witnesses to this agreement? Without at least that you're toast. Even with it it's going to be hard to collect.
posted by IanMorr at 8:02 PM on July 23

People, when you have a question about your landlord or the car you sold or any other contractual thing, you have to tell us where you are. Because, you know, the answer is different in different places, however confident the IANAL replies are.
posted by gum at 8:11 PM on July 23 [4 favorites]

I once had a guy make me an offer on a car, only to call later that night to say his wife wouldn't let him take the money out of savings to pay for it. Except that you let your guy drive off with the car, this seems pretty comparable. In my case, what it cost me was that I had let another buyer go because I thought I had one on the hook.

Sorry. I think the car is still yours.
posted by not that girl at 8:30 PM on July 23

I think you'll just have to suck this one up. You have no contract and no way to enforce payment from him, especially if he just decides to drop it back on your property. Seriously, what are you going to say to anyone (like a cop or a lawyer), especially after he does bring it back?

You: "This guy agreed to buy my car from me"
Anyone: "Do you have any contract?"
You: "No..."
Anyone: "Does he have the title to the car?"
You: "No, it's right here"
Anyone: "Where's the car now?"
You: "It's in my driveway"
Anyone: "Do you have any witnesses to this transaction, a signed cheque, bank draft?"
You: "No."
Anyone: "OK, so you have no contract of sale, no witnesses and no paper trail. Look buddy, you seem like a nice guy but for all I know you're someone who went off their meds a couple of days ago and invented this 'transaction' in their head."

Put an ad on Craigslist or something, and go down to the DMV and get some title transfer paperwork in anticipation of your future buyer. And next time make sure money's changed hands before the car does.
posted by barc0001 at 8:40 PM on July 23 [1 favorite]

However, the towtruck driver now owes you a big favor. Have him tow the car to someplace useful.
posted by theora55 at 8:53 PM on July 23 [1 favorite]

There is a contract. It's probably not enforceable in this case, and even if it was it would be a waste of time to try, but every time there's one of these oral contract situations on Ask MeFi someone pipes up with "there's not contract!"

Contracts don't need to be in writing!
posted by yesno at 9:06 PM on July 23

You have not only a contract, but full performance on your part: delivery of the car! That he took the car is evidence that he agreed to buy it. Why would you let him take it otherwise?

But you have no practical ability to enforce your contract, sorry.
posted by palliser at 9:11 PM on July 23

You have no contract

This is almost certainly false if the depiction of the story is accurate. There are only very specific conditions under which a contract must be in writing (and they vary somewhat by jurisdiction) in order to be enforceable. Typically all that's required is agreement ("we verbally agreed on a price for the car") and consideration (trading the car for cash), and verbal agreement works just fine.

All that said, even if the OP were to get a wild hair and sue, what damage has he suffered? Without more facts we really don't know, but unless he's turned down other offers in the interim or the car has significantly decreased in value (or something like that) the damage is negligible at best, and this doesn't look to be a case where specific performance is likely to be a remedy. In short: good luck finding a court to force him to pay you rather than just giving the car back.

If you're really into pushing this, hire a lawyer or check out the statutes on small claims in your jurisdiction. You're probably better off just chalking it up to a learning experience, getting your car back, and putting it on craigslist.

(I am a law school graduate studying for the bar exam, but I am not YOUR law school graduate studying for the bar exam...)
posted by toomuchpete at 9:18 PM on July 23

(I am a law school graduate studying for the bar exam, but I am not YOUR law school graduate studying for the bar exam...)

Well, you've got a few more days to cram or you'll get Statute of Fraudswn3d. Any contract for goods more than $500 has to be reduced to writing. Most sales of a car will fall under the SOF, although performance takes the contract out of the SOF, which is the case here. The devil is in the bar essay details.
posted by allen.spaulding at 9:46 PM on July 23 [1 favorite]

If you know a place that'll buy a junked car for more than $500, I'd like to know who.

Also... although performance takes the contract out of the SOF, which is the case here. Exactly.

Anyway, apologies, I didn't realize I needed to write a bar-ready response to this AskMe. I figured being correct was enough. I'll try to do better in the future.
posted by toomuchpete at 10:33 PM on July 23 [1 favorite]

Ask him if he knows a junkyard who'll give you some money for it, then ask him if he'll drop it off (and meet you) there. Chances are good, if he's been a tow driver any length of time, that he does know a junkyard, and is on good enough terms with them that you can get paid with his assistance.
posted by aeschenkarnos at 12:16 AM on July 24

Check the car carefully once it's returned. It would be fairly trivial for that guy to remove a few parts, maybe even a whole transmission, and hand the rest back.
posted by anti social order at 4:52 AM on July 24

"As I was getting my non-functioning car towed, the tow truck driver offered to take the car off my hands."

Why was it being towed in the first place? What are the specific details of "non-functioning?" Are we talking something internal that wasn't immediately obvious, or a dent the size of Chicago in the side?

That may clarify things a great deal.
posted by GJSchaller at 4:32 PM on July 24

Your options are as follows: Forget about this deal and learn from it such that you never deliver the goods without cash in hand or a written and signed contract or forget about this deal and don't learn from it.

Either way you pretty much have to forget about this deal.
posted by Justinian at 6:33 PM on July 24