help! please read on.
 

dear pelicanites,

hello, i'm posting this on behalf of my brother-in-law. :(
he bought a arena red cabriolet 911 sc 1983 32k miles for 17k. it's a very nice looking car. i like the color. he was driving it on weekends and having fun for a few years. to make story short. he needed a clutch work and tune up. so, i recommended jimmy. he looked at it and guess what. he found out more problem with the car i.e. broken head stud, odometer is not the actual odometer, clutch has more 100k miles on it, oil is leaking like crazy, etc. it's a nigthmare. my baby sister is stressing and my brother-in-law. jimmy recommended to take the engine to his shop and repair it. it would cost now of estimate 3.5k. he'll take some photos of the problem area. i feel really sad about this. it sucks that people sell car and not honest about it and rip you off for what it's worth taking peoples life savings.

my questions: please response. thank you very much for your help.

1. how do we start a small claims court process? (jimmy's advise)
2. do you guys have a lawyer recommendation in sf bay area?
3. do we need a lawyer to start process?
4. should we go ahead and have jimmy take engine to his shop to fix issues?

What you've described could be entirely your b-i-l's fault.

In fact the ONLY issue i see in your story is the odo being supposedly changed out. And that is not necessarily something the PO knew about. I'm gonna guess your BIL didn't have a PPI done by a reputable shop.

SOL likely has run; since it was purchased from an individual, likely there was no duty to warrant/disclose as it was an arms length transaction between individuals; even if it was bought from a dealer, disclosure/warranty is usually not required once a car reaches a certain age; caveat emptor; should have had a PPI.

If I hadda guess, he needs to bite the bullet and fix it, enjoy it and chalk it up to stupid tax.

Sorry:(

+1, this is why you get a carfax and PPI. Sucks for the BIL though :(

Most used cars are "as-is" unless otherwise stated. Unless you can prove that the person that sold you the car intentionally defrauded your BIL, then there's nothing that you can do.

"he was driving it on weekends and having fun for a few years" Besides, if he's had it for a few years, or even if he's only had it for a few months, the leaks and headstuds could have been broken since he bought it.

Did he get a pre-purchase-inspection done on the car by a reputable shop? It sounds like he did not.

I'd say that he should get the Porsche fixed and write this off as a valuable and important life lesson. Caveat Emptor!

a rule i've discovered about old foreign cars (and now bikes!):

Checkwriters of modest means should not buy them.

many of us are of modest means but are able to participate because we are not checkwriters. i think your BIL has just learned this lesson.

Too bad but not much you can do about it now.

I generally sell my cars privately v trading into the dealer.

I actively encourage prospective buyers to get a mechanic to look at it.

I basically tell them, "I'm not a trained mechanic, I know the car runs great today and has no issues but could not guarantee that the (for instance) tranny will last another week, month, year or 10 years. Nothing personal but once we conclude this deal I never want to see you again so please take it and have it checked."

For some odd reason they almost never do.

The key here is that the BIL was driving it on weekends for a "few years." $3500 is not a lot to pay for repairs every "few years." I don't know why he is suggesting a claim. He should just do his day job unless he wants to spend a day or two in the process of supporting the owner's claim.

Yeah, if you came back to me after "a few years" of driving the car and complaining of issues I'd tell you to go ***** in a hat.

FWIW, I spent $4k on my motor, part of the cost was getting it bone dry. Have put maybe 5-6k on the clock since then and guess what. It's developed a couple of drips again. It is what it is.

He is getting away cheap, almost sounds normal for an old car.

People say that any 20+ year old sports car will go up in value, and expect to put about $2,500 a year (on average) into it.

A couple years back I had TRE do an upper end on a motor for one of my customers. The car ran perfect (passed smog also) and didn't drip a bit of oil. My customer (who isn't the brightest guy in town) took the car to a different shop who "found" many things wrong with the motor and recommended another three grand in "repairs".
I would at least get second opinion on what the car needs.

thanks, guys. i know it's too late. i just feel sad about this. that's all. $3500 is not bad to fix issues. i guess nothing really he can do. get it fix and bite the bullet.

sounds like he got something out of the car..
problem..he never put anything back..
and so one day..P tax...

Rika

i got an "vash" email from my personal email address. is there something i need to worry about jimmy? i have a bad feeling about this. anyone had bad experience with jimmy? please advise.

FWIW, I did a pretty extensive DIY PPI on my SC, even brought new valve cover gaskets so I could check the headstuds. Bought the car and a month later, when I went to adjust the valves, two headstuds came rolling out. The problem was that the previous owner never drove the car and I drove the piss out of it. So after I had gotten it, it started needed work.

Your BIL is into an older Porsche after two years for around $20K, that's really not that bad?

Forget about it, fix the car and enjoy it. It will bring much happiness in your BILs future.
Life and Learn.

I had a '74 911 for 5 years and put in a rebuilt engine, new clutch, new brakes, couple rounds of tires, new rims, plus..... and I enjoyed every minute of it, that car was a blast! My mechanic, Frank Winterlik did a superb job for me, no regrets.

thanks, rob. i'll forget about the whole thing. i was just shocked. thinking that it was a 32k mileage car. but i was wrong.

I see, I overlooked the 32K part.
Hmmmm?
Still not worth it imo, be happy, enjoy the car.

A 32k SC would have gone for well over $17. That should have been a big red flag.

hey if he's going to part it out, I might be interested in a few things....