Lemon Law Homepage

Question: Does alabama have a lemon law to protect car buyers when the car is bought from an individual?

(Posted by: thetaylorgirls2 on 2009-11-13 19:50:34)

In mid- September I bought a car from an acquaintance who is a mechanic. After a "precautionary inspection " by her and another inspection by one of her mechanic friends, she assured me the car was in good working order. Tuesday morning the car died on me and was towed to a local machine shop. The car threw a rod. The engine has to be replaced. So far, the cheapest estimate is $1, 000 MORE than I paid for the car. Do I have an recourse?

Posted by: emiller1998 on 2009-11-13, 19:58:17

Nope. Lemon laws are for new cars. Cars sold by individuals are sold "as is ". With any car its your job as a buying to make sure the car is in an acceptable condition.

Posted by: rick29148 on 2009-11-13, 20:04:11

Lemon law doesn't apply. You'd have to prove that the seller knew about the engine, like a copy of a repair estimate. Now, because the seller is a mechanic, and should know more then a person on the street, that would be easier to prove, but you'll still need some evidence.

Posted by: ElGrande on 2009-11-13, 20:26:10

No state has a "Lemon Law " that protects anyone on a vehicle that is out of warranty. There are a handful of states that allow Lemon Laws to be used on preowned vehicles, but the one main caveat is that the vehicle is still under the original manufacturer's warranty. Lemon Laws never cover older vehicles purchased privately, and are not a "coverall " set of laws to protect anyone having car issues.

Posted by: alfredb1979 on 2009-11-13, 21:01:38

Where was your not so "precautionary inspection " in all of this? I guess that $100 you saved was well worth it after all. Anyway, like the others mentioned, this isn't a lemon. "Lemon " is a legal term that occurs when a vehicle is still under factory warranty. 'Bama has no such laws for used cars.

Posted by: xx_satanic_mechanic_xx on 2009-11-14, 09:56:23

As others have already told you, the lemon law does not apply. BUT I would not be so quick to villify the sellers. A car throwing a connecting rod is not something that gives a lot of warning. You can be driving along and all of a sudden it just goes. Its not something that can typically be predicted and prevented without a rebuild.

Posted by: N on 2009-11-14, 10:30:19

Nope. Its your car. Those are the chances one takes when buying inexpensive cars. Something very similar happened to me about 6 months after buying a car years ago. The mechanic did an in depth check out of the car and gave it two thumbs up. And it blew a rod 6 months later and cost me more than the car to fix. Impossible to predict and impossible to force the seller to do anything about it. You can ask and they might give you a few hundred if they feel bad for you but they don't have to. I sold a car to guy years ago that was fine, no problems. The transmission went out on the way home. It was sold as-is. Had he asked nicely, I probably would have gave him $300-400 because I felt bad. But he called me up cussing me out saying I ripped him off on purpose and he was going to sue me. I told him to have at it and hung up on it. He never sued and wouldn't have won if he did. Unless you have a bill of sale expressly guaranteeing the car, you have no legal claim.