Bottom line- should I be pissed off because he didn't tell me that he
> converted it to a 5 speed?
Well, you paid full private party value per my quick glance into the Kelly Blue Book. I would expect a modified vehicle like that to fetch somewhat less. On the other hand, if it has been really well cared for and gives you no troubles?
Gotta be your call.
I agree, he was very much in the wrong to not tell you up front.
Clearly deception. Thinking you'd never notice is clearly not an excuse, in fact it is an admission that there was something he was actively hiding. Obviously he felt it would harm his chances of selling the car at a price he wanted to disclose the conversion. And with good reason. Who knows what impact that has or will have over the life of the car. You've already uncovered one thing.
The test is not whether it would have made a difference or whether you might even have considered it in a positive light. When you purchases a car, you rightfully expect that it is the car that was produced by the manufacturer unless you are told otherwise.
To hide a major change like that is fraud pure and simple.
BTW, I'm curious about registrati>I posted a little while ago about my new (used) 96 Jetta GLS 5 spd and
Boy... that's a new one, getting screwed by someone other than the dealer! Here is our state when you purchase a car from a private owner it's purchased "as is". Now the former owner doesn't need to disclose any information about the car but I'm sure he answered all the questions you asked and with some luck they were honest answers. But maybe not. It's a buyer beware purchase just as it's is on E-bay or from anyone else. Now as for the car, other than you may have paid too much for it not being original it should do well.
Good luck
Two words: "caveat emptor"
You didn't check the VIN, did you? They indicate equiprment types (on most cars).
Just because someone didn't tell you they converted something doesn't make it any sort of 'deception'. just didn't tell and you didn't ask, let alone check. There's enough 'blame' to go around there...
It works, you paid the price you wanted for it. Consider this a lesson learned on buying cars.
Yes, I DID do a carfax. Suppose I should have put that in the original post. It does not tell you anything about the transmission. It listed number of former owners, and all the normal stuff you do a carfax to check, but it said nothing about the transmission. I've done plenty of carfax in the past, and I've *never* seen a transmission listed.
Nice of you to assume that I didn't check. As I said above, carfax does not list transmissions. I got my Bentley today, and in the front section about de-coding your VIN *NONE* of the digits are listed as indicating transmission type. HTH.
If he had done a better job, fixed cruise, etc no one would have known.
I live in NY state and the registration dosen't list transmission. The title lists mileage, engine, color etc but nothing about transmission. As I said in another post, the VIN does not have a digit for transmission- unless its hidden somewhere, "sequencial production number" perhaps. If the VIN does tell you somehow, it only showed up on the computer monitor at DMV- none of the paperwork I got from them lists anything about transmission type. Nor did the carfax I ran when I first looked at the car.
The issue here is that he lied to you... repeatedly. A transmission conversion should be disclosed up front to adjust the cost of the vehicle (all technical laws aside). Then, to say he never looked into fixing the cruise and STILL not telling you why it doesn't work or that the tranny was converted? It's your call on how pissed to be, but he'd be lucky if I didn't drive it through his lawn and into his garage to make myself feel better - I hate getting taken. At the very least, I would take it and have an estimate done to determine the cost of cruise control repair and tell him you'd like him to pay for it out of the extra money he SCAMMED from you.
TOE
Since the car was offered with automatic and standard transmissions from the factory what fraud was done!
NONE!
I have no faith in carfax and think it's only a marketing tool. Carfax like any company is in business to make money. One example is if a person smashes his car up to the point it should be junked but decides to fix it himself. Well no one would ever know....
It was not produced by the factory as a manual, that's what. If I buy a manual transmission car, I assume that whatever differences are required between a manual trans and an automatic were built into the car. I don't know that if they've been switched. And if the change is hidden from me, I have no opportunity to make a determination about it.
It is not what it appears to be, a manual transmission car produced by VW.
The test of right and wr>>>Which state? I believe that "as is" refers to no implied warranties or
I don't think that is very true. Dealers are in the business of ripping people off professionally. A private party usually just wants to sell their car - and probably realizes that if they rip the purchaser off, the purchaser knows where the seller lives.
Personally, I would trust your average "I'm selling my car" Joe over any dealer salesperson.
In this case, it looks like the seller was a little shady. But at least from my expierence private party sales usually go off better than buying a used car from a dealer. Plus you save a lot of cash and there is no pressure.
Just my $0.02.
-Pete
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