Uncle Charlie
Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? California
I bought a motorcycle from a seller that read 15k miles on the odometer. The only issue was that the bike had a few stalling problems while riding the streets but no issues on the highway. The seller told me that he bought from a guy (the mechanic) who was the previous owner and knows that history of the bike and has done mostly all the work. The seller gave me a deal and also provided the phone number of the guy. I rode the bike home with the issues I was told. I later called the mechanic and rode the bike to him. I was told he would work on the air receivers and that that should solve the problem. We agreed on XXX amount of money. 1 month goes by and I had to contact him and the work was not complete. 2 months and nothing yet. The guy calls me after 2.5 months and says that the engine needs some work and it’s going to cost me XXXX amount, we agree. 3 months goes by and I call him and not ready. After 4 months, I start stressing him out because I need the bike to commute to work. He has never given me a date of when it will be done but instead says, “soon.” The following week, I call him and tell him I’m coming and the bike better be ready to run and I needed all my original parts back. We set a date and the day I come, he is barely finishing up his work. I have him turn it on and he tells me that a few things I would need to do to the throttle to bypass the engine from running high. I said ok because I figured it was something I would get use to. When I asked for the original parts back, I got some old dirty parts that didn’t look like they belonged to the bike. The exterior of the bike is still in chrome condition. I gave him the money and had my friend follow me home. After 25 min of driving on the highway, I heard a boom that come out of the engine. The bike started to stall again but this time, it stopped almost every time. My friend continued to follow me home with hazard lights. I ended up getting home after another 25 min of stopping and going. I called the guy and told him that the bike is not working. He said he would come the next day to look at it, he couldn’t come. He later called me and asked me to bring it to him so he can look at it. I explained to him that it could be driven and it would have to be towed. I told him I wanted all my money back and he said that he needed to work on it to make sure he did the mistake. I told him that I was not going to spend another 4 months and I prefer to take it to a certified mechanic and observe any mechanic damages.
I later called him and told him again I wanted my money back and he wanted to look at it first. I told him it wasn’t coming back to him. Then he tells me that the bike does not have 15k miles but instead it has over 60k miles and requires a lot of maintenance. I was shocked and I told him why he never told me this. He had no answer.
What I have is an invoice that was sent to me from his personal email. I have our conversation save in text messages. I have a video of the bike choking and stalling the day after. I have my friend as a witness of when the bike went down. On his personal business website, he has a photo of my bike in a location that requires 15-20 min drive, so my bike had to be working before he called me that the motor had issues.
Do I have enough facts to prove that I have a loss, damages, and possible fraud for the mileage? I haven’t contacted the last seller about the true mileage also. What case law can I use to support my case? I'm looking to get my money back and money to pay for the damages in case the certify mechanic says it will cost more to repair the bike.
I bought a motorcycle from a seller that read 15k miles on the odometer. The only issue was that the bike had a few stalling problems while riding the streets but no issues on the highway. The seller told me that he bought from a guy (the mechanic) who was the previous owner and knows that history of the bike and has done mostly all the work. The seller gave me a deal and also provided the phone number of the guy. I rode the bike home with the issues I was told. I later called the mechanic and rode the bike to him. I was told he would work on the air receivers and that that should solve the problem. We agreed on XXX amount of money. 1 month goes by and I had to contact him and the work was not complete. 2 months and nothing yet. The guy calls me after 2.5 months and says that the engine needs some work and it’s going to cost me XXXX amount, we agree. 3 months goes by and I call him and not ready. After 4 months, I start stressing him out because I need the bike to commute to work. He has never given me a date of when it will be done but instead says, “soon.” The following week, I call him and tell him I’m coming and the bike better be ready to run and I needed all my original parts back. We set a date and the day I come, he is barely finishing up his work. I have him turn it on and he tells me that a few things I would need to do to the throttle to bypass the engine from running high. I said ok because I figured it was something I would get use to. When I asked for the original parts back, I got some old dirty parts that didn’t look like they belonged to the bike. The exterior of the bike is still in chrome condition. I gave him the money and had my friend follow me home. After 25 min of driving on the highway, I heard a boom that come out of the engine. The bike started to stall again but this time, it stopped almost every time. My friend continued to follow me home with hazard lights. I ended up getting home after another 25 min of stopping and going. I called the guy and told him that the bike is not working. He said he would come the next day to look at it, he couldn’t come. He later called me and asked me to bring it to him so he can look at it. I explained to him that it could be driven and it would have to be towed. I told him I wanted all my money back and he said that he needed to work on it to make sure he did the mistake. I told him that I was not going to spend another 4 months and I prefer to take it to a certified mechanic and observe any mechanic damages.
I later called him and told him again I wanted my money back and he wanted to look at it first. I told him it wasn’t coming back to him. Then he tells me that the bike does not have 15k miles but instead it has over 60k miles and requires a lot of maintenance. I was shocked and I told him why he never told me this. He had no answer.
What I have is an invoice that was sent to me from his personal email. I have our conversation save in text messages. I have a video of the bike choking and stalling the day after. I have my friend as a witness of when the bike went down. On his personal business website, he has a photo of my bike in a location that requires 15-20 min drive, so my bike had to be working before he called me that the motor had issues.
Do I have enough facts to prove that I have a loss, damages, and possible fraud for the mileage? I haven’t contacted the last seller about the true mileage also. What case law can I use to support my case? I'm looking to get my money back and money to pay for the damages in case the certify mechanic says it will cost more to repair the bike.
