Pontiac Solstice traded

[chris3226]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? OHIO

My wife and I traded-in our 2006 Pontiac Solstice last week (Wednesday September 29th) against a 2010 Volkswagen CC.
Dealer and I agreed on a trade value and we paid cash the difference to purchase the CC.

We took possession of the CC on 09/29/2010.

Today, I received a phone call from the dealer stating that an engine light appeared on the Solstice (4 days after) and that they are considering canceling the sale. They also stated that they will stop the registration process on the CC.

When we dropped off the Solstice at the dealer, there was NO Engine Light.
And we did not have such an issue in the past.

Is this legal?

regards.

CF

 

[justalayman]

Is this legal?

Well, it's not illegal.

You will have to refer to any contracts you signed concerning your trade in including any warranty you may have offered as well as anything concerning the condition in general. If they can prove you knew of the light, or reasonably should have and you intentionally hid the defect, they may have a valid argument to rescind the sale.


Have they pulled the trouble codes? If so, what did the list as a problem?

 

[chris3226]

Answer

Thank you for your quick feed-back.

There is no Warranty implied in the trade contract that we signed.
One Document however states that "by signing this document, the seller states that there are no known issue with the car"

The dealer inspected the car, test drove it and there was no code at the time.
Code seems to have appeared sometime during the week-end.

The code state: P0171 Lean Mix (Blank 1).

 

[justalayman]

There is no Warranty implied in the trade contract that we signed.

ok

One Document however states that "by signing this document, the seller states that there are no known issue with the car"

I guess it's because it was an expressed warranty.

The dealer inspected the car, test drove it and there was no code at the time.
Code seems to have appeared sometime during the week-end.

Not saying you did it but when you clear the codes, they do not come back instantly.

The code state: P0171 Lean Mix (Blank 1)

I thought they only came with a 4 cyl. unless PO171 is used for the 4 cyl as well.

I do not know how much historical data is stored. I believe they can determine if/when the codes were cleared though. As I understand it, that is one thing checked at many emissions stations and if cleared recently, they are automatically failed.

If there is any way to obtain when any given code presented or if they determine the codes were cleared recently, I suspect they will be able to support a claim of fraud.

 

[chris3226]

Ok. Thank you again for your interesting reply. This is very helpful.

The Solstice has indeed a 4 cylinders engine but it also has an After-market
Turbo kit and a reprogrammed ECM.

I never cleared the code on the car (don't know how to) but I can not guarantee that my tuning shop never cleared any potential codes during the tuning phase...


So I guess I will have to wait and see what the dealer says.

Thank you again for your time.

 

[justalayman]

how long ago was the car last worked on by somebody that might have cleared the codes? how many miles driven since then?

 

[chris3226]

Last tuning on the car was in July this year to correct a rough iddle (due to putting in bigger injectors)... I drove the car maybe 300 miles since.

How long does a dealer have to officially cancel the deal? Any deadline?

regards.

 

[justalayman]

300 miles is plenty of time for the trouble to have triggered the computer if the codes has simply been cleared.

How long do they have? years if they want to claim fraud.

If it's been 300 miles, and you are honest about not having seen the light, I would tell them exactly that. They cannot unilaterally rescind the contract. They would have to sue you.

If they withhold anything needed to register, contact the DMV and then the states attorney general office.

 

[Lordy123]

It doesnt make much sense to me that a dealer would be dumb enough to rescind a profitable sale and/or loose a customer over a lean code.

Air is getting past the MAF, an injector is bad, Evap Cyl cracked, etc, nothing that trips this code is hard to diagnose. Nor are the repairs costly, no where near costly enough to loose a sale and a customer. I hope you have a mechanically inclined friend or family member that can call them and see what's going on, and what they're trying to pull.

 

[Zigner]

It doesnt make much sense to me that a dealer would be dumb enough to rescind a profitable sale and/or loose a customer over a lean code.

Air is getting past the MAF, an injector is bad, Evap Cyl cracked, etc, nothing that trips this code is hard to diagnose. Nor are the repairs costly, no where near costly enough to loose a sale and a customer. I hope you have a mechanically inclined friend or family member that can call them and see what's going on, and what they're trying to pull.

I don't know - seems to me that installing non-standard injectors on the vehicle might cause a problem.