Small Claims Advice-Case in 2 weeks

[lenaj]

MY husband and I sold our 2003 accord on ebay motors. i gave lots of details in the listing, lots of photos and specifically mentioned the car was in good mechnical condition (just replaced tires, brakes, and timing belt with receipts to prove it) but the car had scratches and physical flaws. we ended up selling the car to a man from out of state (GA) who made the initial paypal deposit and then flew up two weeks later to get the car. we actually picked him up from the train station, brought him to our house. he examined the car for 20-30 minutes, signed the paperwork, gave us the check and drove off. 5 hours later he called us like a maniac saying there were fingerprints and scratches all over the car and he was going to sue us for fraud and send us to jail for the rest of our lives. the phone calls continued for weeks until he finally left us alone. fast foward 10 months, our court case is in 2 weeks. he is suing us for 5 grand, the limit in our state. I think we should have a pretty good case, but i am nervous because my husband and i were not smart enough to write "as-is" on the title, i know this was stupid, hindsight is always great but i did say in the ebay listing it was a final sale. our other worry is this guy told us he lost the title and never registered the car in his name so not only is he going to sue us but he wants us to take the car back. what a mess. we don't want the car back! can he make us take it back legally if he supposedly lost the title? this is such a mess. i apologize for the long post.

 

[dee_dub]

What exactly is he suing you for? That is, what does he allege in his statement of claim? And how does he expect to prove it?

 

[lenaj]

he claims that we are frauds and we misrepresented the car and the small claims papers he specifically states only physical flaws, says the scratches were worse than we said. i don't understand what we could have done different, i think scratches are subjective, some people are more sensitive than others, and in addition, he came and saw the vehicle! he examined it for about 30 minutes, addressed the scratches, said they were fine, then did the paperwork, gave us the check and drove away.

 

[Gail_in_Georgia]

Then in court you present the initial documentation you posted on ebay stating the car had scratches and explain that you allowed him to physically examine the car for 20 to 30 minutes before the final paperwork was signed.

The judge might get a good chuckle when he reports he wants his money back because the car had fingerprints all over it. Used cars are generally sold "as is", although as a buyer he could have had the car inspected by a mechanic (it's interesting he wants to sue you for "scratches").

Any by the way, folks aren't thrown in jail "for the rest of their lives" for this sort of issue.

Gail