Verbal agreenment gone bad

[anthonyjames]

My jurisdiction is: Iowa

So here is the story:

I have a friend of a friend who let me borrow his uninsured second vehicle, that he had been trying to sale, so that i could get to and from my 2 jobs. It was a very laxed verbal agreenment, and the only thing really discussed was that i fill the tank, change oil, and dont get into an accident. The vehicle ended up being in my possesion for maybe 3 weeks and he borrowed it a few times to try and continue to sell it. As i started to drive the vehicle, i noticed that there were more then a few things wrong with it. It was leaking oil, and something was wrong with the power steering, so this led me to talk to him and propose an ammendment to our agreenment. I told him that I would pay 50 bucks a month to borrow the car, but not pay for damages that an owner should pay for...so we decided that sounded good and that i would pay him as soon as i could afford to...maybe a week later the aftermarket front bumber(right side) started to disconnect, and there was a chip on the side of the lowering kit. I didnt get into an accident with his vehicle, so i dont feel responsible for these damages. He has the paperwork in process to try and sue me for the damages(and possibly the wear and tear on the vehicle). I appreciated him letting me borrow the car, but now i am appalled at the direction this has taken. I am afraid he is trying to get me to fix a car that he couldnt sell. Advice appreciated, thank you.

 

[dee_dub]

Well, you have no evidence of your oral agreement that you were not to be responsible for any repairs, but fortunately he has no evidence of any oral agreement that you were. It's a toss-up. He's the plaintiff; he'll need to show the judge why you should be responsible for hundreds of dollars in repairs for things that are the result of chronic wear and tear when you only borrowed the car for a month.