Topic: Goof of the Month: Sold As-Is for a Reason

[Fobroader]

A shady dealer that's one thing.

Issuing a safety certificate is done by a licensed mechanic. That's scarier than a shady dealer.

There used to be tons of mechanics that would safety anything for a case of beer or a bit of cash till the government came down on them all old testament like

Yea, that's the thing.

Knowing all the possible suspensions and fines for doing this and they still do it?

Oh yeah....there are tons of Honest Hanks used used car lots that sell all sorts of sketchy rebuilt crap.....usually out of Quebec. 

[Arthur Dent]

It may not be the seller's fault. Sellers can be crooked but buyer's can sometimes lay blame for their own stupidity on the seller. Easier to blame someone else rather own up to your own dumbass moves.

I remember I sold a vehicle where I was very upfront with the seller. Painfully so. I clearly stated I had no driven it more than once around the block. I had no idea about the mechanical health of it beside the fact that it ran in the driveway. I strongly recommended not driving it home even in town never mind the 250+ kms he planned to. He said he would tow it home. He showed up by taking the bus here with no tools, no mechanical knowledge and attempted to drive it home in the dark. No backup either. The alternator died on route home. He kept calling that night (like 1am) saying his lights were getting dimmer and dimmer. I later heard he had been telling a vendor I also knew that I had "scammed and screwed" by misrepresenting it as in mint condition and I was a professional mechanic. 

I once bought a beater for $120. Drove it for over a year. I felt I got my money's worth but I kept it in town and was ready to walk away from it at anytime.

[Fobroader]

It may not be the seller's fault. Sellers can be crooked but buyer's can sometimes lay blame for their own stupidity on the seller. Easier to blame someone else rather own up to your own dumbass moves.

I remember I sold a vehicle where I was very upfront with the seller. Painfully so. I clearly stated I had no driven it more than once around the block. I had no idea about the mechanical health of it beside the fact that it ran in the driveway. I strongly recommended not driving it home even in town never mind the 250+ kms he planned to. He said he would tow it home. He showed up by taking the bus here with no tools, no mechanical knowledge and attempted to drive it home in the dark. No backup either. The alternator died on route home. He kept calling that night (like 1am) saying his lights were getting dimmer and dimmer. I later heard he had been telling a vendor I also knew that I had "scammed and screwed" by misrepresenting it as in mint condition and I was a professional mechanic. 

I once bought a beater for $120. Drove it for over a year. I felt I got my money's worth but I kept it in town and was ready to walk away from it at anytime.

If I was buying an MDX for $1400, I damn well would know there is something very, very wrong with that car.

[johngenx]

The seller was in cahoots with a disreputable mechanic. Now, honestly, the $1400 price should have set off alarm bells because it's so much lower than comparable vehicles.  That said, selling something so patently unsafe is immoral to say the least, and I'm supposing the safety certificate constitutes fraud. But don't expect any sort of action outside of small claims court. Defrauding someone in Canada is rarely pursued by any sort of authority. We are truly a "buyer beware" environment here. Shameful, really.

[rrocket]

The seller was in cahoots with a disreputable mechanic. Now, honestly, the $1400 price should have set off alarm bells because it's so much lower than comparable vehicles.  That said, selling something so patently unsafe is immoral to say the least, and I'm supposing the safety certificate constitutes fraud. But don't expect any sort of action outside of small claims court. Defrauding someone in Canada is rarely pursued by any sort of authority. We are truly a "buyer beware" environment here. Shameful, really.

In Ontario, the MTO frequently pulls the ability to do safeties (in 30 day intervals) for mechanics who did shifty stuff like this.

And they do investigate complaints.

[johngenx]

^^^ The Alberta government has started cracking down on this too, especially with Out Of Province Inspections.  And they FINALLY are shutting down private road tests, returning the testing to the government.  You won't be able to just buy a license anymore.

[tenpenny]

The seller was in cahoots with a disreputable mechanic. Now, honestly, the $1400 price should have set off alarm bells because it's so much lower than comparable vehicles.  That said, selling something so patently unsafe is immoral to say the least, and I'm supposing the safety certificate constitutes fraud. But don't expect any sort of action outside of small claims court. Defrauding someone in Canada is rarely pursued by any sort of authority. We are truly a "buyer beware" environment here. Shameful, really.

In Ontario, the MTO frequently pulls the ability to do safeties (in 30 day intervals) for mechanics who did shifty stuff like this.

And they do investigate complaints.

I know of a case here in NB where a guy left the shop that did his safety on a five ton truck, got stopped by CVE (Commercial Vehicle Enforcement) five minutes later, the brakes didn’t work. 

The shop that did his safety got a 60 day suspension.


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[Dante]

The story is not clear if the car was sold as certified or as-is.  Either way whomever singed the certificate should receive a visit or a letter from the government.
However, you don't need to be a mechanic to realize that it's unfit for road. Just a bit of common sense. The buyer carries a lot of fault in this situation IMO.
Any car sold for $1400 should raise a lot of questions to any person with a bit of brain. No free lunch.

[Firm]

Went back to the original thread and the story on the safety doesn't quite add up. Harmeet posted, in September, that it was "purchased mid-July, safety was done in December." Now, a safety in Ontario is only good for ~30 days, not sure what province this was in, but I doubt they're good for much longer in other provinces. So a December safety would not still be good in July.

So did Harmeet ever have this thing properly registered on the road? I'd guess not...It's more common than most people would be comfortable with for people to buy junk like this 'as is', and get a temp sticker for their plate. They'll then run the vehicle on the temp sticker for weeks, months, years, etc. Technically the temp is only good for something like 14 days, but enforcement is probably a bit tricky unless a cop happens to run/scan the plate for some reason.

[dkaz]

^^^ The Alberta government has started cracking down on this too, especially with Out Of Province Inspections.  And they FINALLY are shutting down private road tests, returning the testing to the government.  You won't be able to just buy a license anymore.

So that explains Albertan drivers...

[johngenx]

So that explains Albertan drivers...

Yup.  There were a lot of driving "schools" were you just went, gave them a bunch of money, and left with your license.  I have to wonder how many drivers out there never took any kind of road test.  But, we must all chant "private good, public bad" over and over again.

Of course, the PCs would never admit crap like that was going on.

[dirtyjeffer]

The seller was in cahoots with a disreputable mechanic. Now, honestly, the $1400 price should have set off alarm bells because it's so much lower than comparable vehicles.  That said, selling something so patently unsafe is immoral to say the least, and I'm supposing the safety certificate constitutes fraud. But don't expect any sort of action outside of small claims court. Defrauding someone in Canada is rarely pursued by any sort of authority. We are truly a "buyer beware" environment here. Shameful, really.

In Ontario, the MTO frequently pulls the ability to do safeties (in 30 day intervals) for mechanics who did shifty stuff like this.

And they do investigate complaints.

^^ i can attest to this.

the very first car i bought was given a called in safety...turns out, the dealer i bought it from got it safetied at his brother's garage...the MTO made the shop pay for everything my car needed, and they went over my car with a fine tooth comb...when the MTO guy left, he told the shop owner that if he ever had to return, they'd pull his licence.

[tooscoops]

people do things like this... buy a car as-is, and just plan to do a safety later and use it as a winter beater.... they then go to a buddy who will do the safety. the tech,  knowing their friend isn't going to throw them under the bus, are fully aware the car wouldn't pass a "real" safety and usually tell the owner/buyer that. but of course, they ignore it, because if it starts, it's all they want. (or so they think)

I've had my shop do a safety for cars I have plated... little things that would make it fail, they let me know about and make sure I say it must have happened after the safety. now, a true friend wouldn't let an actual unsafe car on the road, but if you are strapped for cash, and you just bought a mechanically sound car with a crack in the windshield, I know every tech who I call friend would write me that safety.

we can't know what was told to harmeet here, but it's possible that he was told, "i'll write you the safety so you can plate it, but DO NOT sell it, and realize that this is a very temporary car. I'm signing this as a favour". we just don't know.

[OliverD]

Went back to the original thread and the story on the safety doesn't quite add up. Harmeet posted, in September, that it was "purchased mid-July, safety was done in December." Now, a safety in Ontario is only good for ~30 days, not sure what province this was in, but I doubt they're good for much longer in other provinces. So a December safety would not still be good in July.

In NB a motor vehicle inspection is good for one year and in NS it's good for two years.

[Great_Big_Abyss]

Went back to the original thread and the story on the safety doesn't quite add up. Harmeet posted, in September, that it was "purchased mid-July, safety was done in December." Now, a safety in Ontario is only good for ~30 days, not sure what province this was in, but I doubt they're good for much longer in other provinces. So a December safety would not still be good in July.

In NB a motor vehicle inspection is good for one year and in NS it's good for two years.

MB is also one year.

[dkaz]

I was looking at a 2002 Toyota Sequoia that seemed to be in decent condition but the frame was about 30% rust. Should I bother getting a mechanic to look at it or skip it altogether?

[Great_Big_Abyss]

I was looking at a 2002 Toyota Sequoia that seemed to be in decent condition but the frame was about 30% rust. Should I bother getting a mechanic to look at it or skip it altogether?

Just because you see SOME rust, doesn't mean that it's rusted through.  It may still be structurally sound.  Plus, body-on-frame vehicles have more 'meat' to rust through anyway.

[Ex-airbalancer]

I was looking at a 2002 Toyota Sequoia that seemed to be in decent condition but the frame was about 30% rust. Should I bother getting a mechanic to look at it or skip it altogether?

Is it just surface rust , or does it have flakes or rust coming off 

[dkaz]

Looks like surface rust. I could probably apply POR15 to all of it. There is some body rust on the rear fenders as well. My wife likes the vehicle as do I, I just don't like the fuel consumption.

[Great_Big_Abyss]

Looks like surface rust. I could probably apply POR15 to all of it. There is some body rust on the rear fenders as well. My wife likes the vehicle as do I, I just don't like the fuel consumption.

I think its worth taking to a mechanic.  It's a 2002.  It's bound to have SOME rust on it, both body and frame.