I'm no lawyer. But the title transfer recorded has to have from what person or business you bought it. If it'* the business, then you fall under the (federal) Uniform Commercial Code. You really don't have to know much about it besides a business can't sell a high ticket item with something majorly wrong with it, which shows immediately. You also have some robust anti-lemon laws in SD, but I don't know if they apply to individual-to-individual transactions.

Individual states handle dealer and business licensing and all that. If he is just an individual flipping cars and he is doing more than a few a year, it is likely the state wants to talk to him. He'* essentially operating a business without proper licensing and he'* not paying business taxes to the local community and state. This guy doesn't want any attention drawn to him. And you can use that. Some states have criminal statutes on this kind of nonsense too. Like fraud.

If you don't want to do a quick meet with a lawyer, there must be a legal aid consumer advocacy group you can call, to see what your options are.

The $1,000? Possession is 9/10s of the law. My telephone bill lists all of the calls I make. i would stop payment ASAP. But I would call him, and tell him to make good on the work he was supposed to do for the $1000. If he is stupid enough to say no, fine. Confirm the payment is stopped. Then immediately call him again. See what he thinks now.

The reason I would do it that way, is if I end in a small claims action, I would present my phone calls to him as evidence that I was just trying to get what I paid for, and not trying to beat the payment. I would also pay to have a certified shop confirm that the engine is a pos. In PA, that cost would also be recoverable in a small claims action.

Either get him to straighten it out, or get proper legal advice. Your 45 mi drive is a pita, don't think he wasn't counting on that as a deterrent.

Thanks for the advice. Reinforced what I was thinking in the first place. I was actually on the phone with him earlier today about this. I expressed my disgust in a civil manner to which his only response was, "well, it is a used engine, what do you expect, and the car was sitting in a snow bank when you bought it, I wasnt hiding anything" but yeah... He did state the car was in good running condition and that the oil pressure problem was a sending unit. It was -15 out, so I didnt check it over as good as I should have, but honestly, without taking it to a mechanic, I had to take his word on the oil pressure, since I couldnt have sat in his parking lot and swapped the sending unit out for a mechanical gauge to test. Besides, sending unit out sounds perfectly normal for these engines, almost never see oil pumps out, so I had no reason to suspect he was lying.

Anyways, I am stopping payment on the check in the morning. As far as I am concerned, he didnt do the work I was paying him for. I marked the old engine in an inconspicuous location, so unless he removed the spraypaint and dirtied up the spot it was painted, he did actually swap motors, but I was under the impression that he would swap motors, and that he was going to give me a deal at $1000 since he had sold me the car only days earlier that blew up on me. In my communications with him, he said he could get the motor for $450, figured on around 7 hours for the swap at a reduced hourly rate, and then the cost of gaskets and fluids. No gaskets or fluids were replaced other than o-rings on the fuel lines and 5 quarts of oil. Last I checked, they dont amount to anything near $200.

All of my phone communications are on a land line to his cell, so who knows about call logs, but I have records of trailer rental to haul the vehicle to him and whatnot, so I can establish the time period.

Either way, I will stop payment on the check. They can file in small claims in my county, an hour away from his shop, wait the 5-6 months it takes, and try and justify in front of a judge charging for substandard repairs and work he did not perform on a vehicle he sold that was clearly defective, and was shown to be so in under 72 hours after sale to me. I mean I could see him arguing if I got back to him a month after buying it and said the oil pump went out. That is unforeseeable. Spinning a bearing 3 days after buying it? Any reputable seller would have made things right.

Toddster,

You posted the wrong password. I keep keying in "senttoyouviaPMhere" and it'* not working. My shopping cart is overflowing and I need to check out.

I have actually seen somebody do that on a Retirement Services board. Who said "old" means "wise".

That means Todd sent the password VIA Private Message to the person he was talking to.

The check already cleared, so I couldnt stop payment. I wrote the check on the 13th at 3pm and it cleared in my bank on the 14th, so they must have run straight to the bank with it the moment they got it.

I have spoken to the better business bureau, and I am waiting to hear back from the attorney general'* office now.

Anyone have a carfax account?

Reading this for the first time I do feel for you.

Let me ask a few questions though. Did he give you a set $1000 price to get and swap the motor or did he tell you when you picked it up it was $1000?

Flat rate on that job is probably 8-10 hours. Which is gravy for anyone that'* swapped a motor.

I think you were wrong not to involve police at the time. Then take him to court. Unfortunately you gave him another $1,000 and hopefully the car is running pretty well with only a questionable maf sensor.

No matter how we look at it, he'* dirty and you are poor.

If you don't mind my asking, what did you pay for the car originally?

1200 for the car originally. Bonnevilles regularly sell for over blue book value in this area, so I figured that was fair. I towed the car back to him when he said he would look at it and fix it, he called me a few days later and told me another 1200 to swap the motor. I asked if he could go lower, he said "$450 for the motor, I figure I will have a good 7 hours into the swap, and then all the fluids and gaskets, if I lower my labor rate I can do it for $1000" I said fine whatever, I need the car. Between renting the tow dolly to tow it back to sioux falls, gas in my truck, buying it, repairs, and licensing, I am $2500 into a car I bought less than 3 weeks ago that was supposed to be a $1200 car.

I should have called the consumer protecton bureau immediately I know, I don't think there is anything the police could do so.....

Unfortunately, even with replacing the MAF, there is still the matter of the oil leaks, the coolant leak, the exhaust manifolds that are leaking around the used gaskets, the vacuum leaks which I fixed, and the fact that the coolant in the engine is the same coolant that was in the previous engine. Of course there may be more stuff, I havent really had the time to look at more.

And yeah, I am poor as heck right now. As it stands right now, I have a wife and three kids, and the two of us can only get work right now 10-20 hours a week. Pretty much all I can do to keep off welfare. Used my student loans to pay this guy for the engine, borrowed the money to buy the car from my father in law.

Honestly, I feel like crap about this, this is the kind of thing that makes you really feel pathetic and worthless. Not only that, but I get to keep hearing about my father in law telling my wife how this guy saw us coming a mile away, he should have just found a car and had us buy it from him, and blah blah blah. I have bought so many cars in my life and this is the first time I have ever had a problem when buying one, my family usually asks me for advice when buying cars and asks me to inspect them. I have been a mechanic for years before going back to school. I had a weird feeling about this car, but I ignored it. I looked the car over as best I could in the -15 weather, and never heard any valve tick to suggest the guy was lying about it being just a bad sending unit. Normally I love the 3800 as a motor, they are IMO one of the best motors GM has ever produced. I love the look of Bonnevilles and think they are great cars too, and under any circumstances, I am sure I am right. I am just having some bad luck. Honestly, I feel so stupid about this that I am ashamed to even admit the details.

Do you have tools and a bit of engine knowledge? If so, we could help you to start chipping away at a few of the problems. Fixing the exhaust leaks is some what easy. Locate the oil leaks and we can see about changing gaskets. As long as the engine is running good we can help you fix the problems. Flush the coolant and refill.

I can fix the problems, I just need to wait till the weather is cooler. I just need to replace intake manifold gaskets, valve cover gaskets, oil pan gasket, and exhaust manifold gaskets. I will replace the MAF and MAP sensors with good ones I have. I have a set of 6 good injectors that I can throw on it if ever need be.

I am fully confident I can fix the problems with this motor. I am just annoyed at the fact that I am sinking so much money into this car that I just bought, AND that even after paying to have the engine replaced, I am dealing with more problems than I was before. Had I known it was going to go this bad, I would have just picked up a motor and a new cherry picker and done it myself. Though I shouldn't have had to deal with that in the first place, since I was originally told I was buying a car with a bad sending unit and not a bad oil pump. Therefore, most of what I am doing right now is trying to figure out my options, and trying to figure out just how bad I have been screwed.

Everything you need done we can cover here. So that should help a little.