test drive my car and blew it up?!

[Drifte]

So...this kid i know was for sure buying my car, just had to sign the title and hand me the certified check. It was a done deal, and my car was running great.

later i get a call he says its mis-firing. i go take a look, somehow a plug wire came on done on the coilpack. Remember I didnt get money yet hes a friend and wants to drive it while the check is coming.

next day says its still running funny and doesnt want it anymore, so hes going to bring it back to me. On the way its missing i guess and suddenly kicks it outa 5th gear and shuts off.

now i have no money, and a car that makes a really bad noise when you try to turn it over.


wtf am i supposed to do?!

 

[ROOKIE1]

Live and learn . It sucks but , was there any written legal agreement to purchase . Probably not , he is a friend . See what kind of friend he really is . Will he help repair , buy it anyway . He knows how it was prior to taking it . Friends or not always get money first . I have been in same boat . Once .

 

[Chuck_3]

I don't think you can do much except what rookie suggested. somebody test drove my car because they were interested and brought it back saying the brakes didn't work. I was like wtf the brakes work great and I get in and the pedal went all the way to the floor, I was so pissed. And recently my other car I was trying to sell (jetta) had a CEL on and it needed a new MAF so we got that fixed and people came to drive it and were serious about buying it and they were gone for 45 minutes or so and brought it back saying it runs bad and the lights are on. Hopefully it works out for you.

 

[Drifte]

I felt like I would be an ass if i made him sing some paper work. What I'm learning is the closer you are to a person the MORE important that paper work is. I do all my own work, and this car was in imaaculate running condition. It now looks like its hit some curbs, the passenger door hit the fender creasing it and bending the door.

I simply dont have the time or money right now to fix it, it sits in my parents shop now and im 80+ miles away at college. Looks like i might be parting it out to get something

whats sad is i didnt really want to sell it in the first place, i was selling it so i had the cash to my my girl a new car....what a weekend.

 

[matt j]

A while back i had a civic i was trying to sell, the guy took it for a couple hours and said it was overheating. I found out he blew the headgasket but i replaced it and he still bought it.

What kind of noise is the car making?

 

[MyBeatGSX]

whats sad is i didnt really want to sell it in the first place, i was selling it so i had the cash to my my girl a new car....what a weekend.

That is sad, because it sounds like something I would do. Its all good man, karma really works so it should work out well for you in the end. I hope.

You need to go talk to your "friend" and find out what he did. If it was me I'd be beating him to death as we speak. If he really is a friend then he'll own up to the fact that he abused the thing and that he's still obligated to buy it from you. He caused the problems, he should now pay you full price and be stuck with the problems he created.

Just another example of why NO ONE is allowed to drive my car.

 

[damentor]

Well depending on if you think he really beat the crap out of it and broke it. If you think he did I'd probably report it stolen cause it was fine before he had it. Difficult situation indeed.

 

[99gst_racer]

wtf am i supposed to do?!

Well, fix your broken car, then A. sell it -or- B. keep it.

What other options did you have in mind?

 

[Drifte]

I thought about saying it was stolen. We had a solid verbal agreement. Now im just telling him i cant except the car back in the condition it was in. It left perfect, and it almost came back broken(almost as in it didnt make it all the way back). He had been driving it for a couple days.

heres a pic of one new problem.

the door was never an issue, and is ruined now, even the door is dented. and theirs oil all over the enginebay now. even looks like oil was seaping out #4 on the ex. mani.

 

[travislaw]

I thought about saying it was stolen. We had a solid verbal agreement. Now im just telling him i cant except the car back in the condition it was in. It left perfect, and it almost came back broken(almost as in it didnt make it all the way back). He had been driving it for a couple days.

heres a pic of one new problem.

the door was never an issue, and is ruined now, even the door is dented. and theirs oil all over the enginebay now. even looks like oil was seaping out #4 on the ex. mani.

Sounds like your friend jacked up the car and doesn't want to deal with the fact that they screwed it up and would have to fork out more money to fix it once they own it. Couple pieces of advice:
1. Never let anyone drive your car on their own.
2. Signed Agreement before the test drive.
3. Get a new friend.
4. If someone is going to test drive the car, let them only drive it normal, if they want to feel the power tell them you are the only one allowed to do that while driving so that if it breaks it is your own fault. Make them sit in the passenger seat.

I am selling mine right now and I don't let anyone drive it hard or take it without me in the car the whole time. In fact I don't let my wife drive the car either.

 

[damentor]

I thought about saying it was stolen. We had a solid verbal agreement. Now im just telling him i cant except the car back in the condition it was in. It left perfect, and it almost came back broken(almost as in it didnt make it all the way back). He had been driving it for a couple days.

heres a pic of one new problem.

the door was never an issue, and is ruined now, even the door is dented. and theirs oil all over the enginebay now. even looks like oil was seaping out #4 on the ex. mani.

Well from your description if that guy is really your friend and he is trying to leave that on you to fix I would say definitely report it stolen or something cause that's just rediculous. Other than that everyone else here has pretty summed up the situation pretty well with your other options. Sorry man.

 

[Drifte]

I knew paper work etc would be a good idea. And no one ever does drive my car. My girlfriend of 3 years occasionally does, but is afraid to boost. She is probably a better driver than me. This guy i talked to online for a week straight, he checked out the car while i was outa town. said he would for sure buy it, just wanted to drive it once. he drove it, said the check would be here next weekend. and i trusted him. He was hoping he could take the car home that night; where I in turn was buying his civic for my drive to and from college.

you know the rest of the story....