Used Car Purchase - Recourse Through AZ Lemon Law?

I bought a 2001 Jetta with +142K miles from a private party 10 days ago. Seller mentioned car might need some suspension work but didn't specifically say what. Car drove really good and was in really great condition and I didn't notice anything wrong with suspension. In my negligence, never bothered checking the car or take it to a mechanic to inspect it before I bought. Signed an "AS-IS" contract stipulating the following:

"The sale of vehicle by seller, XXXX, to buyer, XXX, is being sold with the understanding of both parties of no implied warranty and as-is condition. This transaction is being made on good faith by both parties."

After transaction was made, I took to register car to Arizona DMV. It did not pass emissions and took it to a shop and the cat converter needs to be replaced. There was no check engine light at all or warning from dash panel car needed work. Turns out previous owner was living one county but had the car address registered in another county in AZ as well so no yearly emission test was required when he would register. Guess he never even knew it was bad. He had the car for 5 years. Also, apparently the title was a manufacture buy-back in 2003. Previous owner bought it in 2005. Took it to a mechanic and was quoted over $2,300 to replace catalytic converter, replace front CV boot (suspension problem he mentioned), and other items which he recommended i replace.

Do i have any recourse under AZ Lemon Law or am i bound by the "AS-IS" contract I signed with him?

AFAIK, there is no "lemon law" that would apply to a used car with 142K miles on it. By definition, it's not a lemon. I would think that you are bound by the agreement and better to agree pursuant to a check by a mechanic next time. A learning experience, at least not too painful as if you bought it new. Good luck.

I would agree that there is no lemon law that applies to your car. An AS-IS contract would have no meaning if you could simply cry "lemon."

That having been said, if Arizona is like Georgia (and I have not done the research on this) you can not sell a car that will not pass emissions. It is the responsibility of the seller to insure that the car is emissions ready and if it is not, then the seller must either buy it back or repair the problem at their option.

You have no beef about the cv axle it's a used car and you are going to have maintenance issues. This may be the first one but will not be the last one. $2300 is way high for a CAT and CV replacement in my opinion.

Call the Title office in your State. Ask if you have any recourse when a car is sold that can not pass emissions. That will tell you where you stand. Good luck, don't feel too badly, it is a used car. I will bet the seller will be responsible for the CAT and you for the CV. Let us know.

jharris352 said:

I would agree that there is no lemon law that applies to your car. An AS-IS contract would have no meaning if you could simply cry "lemon."

That having been said, if Arizona is like Georgia (and I have not done the research on this) you can not sell a car that will not pass emissions. It is the responsibility of the seller to insure that the car is emissions ready and if it is not, then the seller must either buy it back or repair the problem at their option.

You have no beef about the cv axle it's a used car and you are going to have maintenance issues. This may be the first one but will not be the last one. $2300 is way high for a CAT and CV replacement in my opinion.

Call the Title office in your State. Ask if you have any recourse when a car is sold that can not pass emissions. That will tell you where you stand. Good luck, don't feel too badly, it is a used car. I will bet the seller will be responsible for the CAT and you for the CV. Let us know.

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Excellent point, the owner was living in the state, even if the car was registered elsewhere? Might be a valid point!

I would say that $2300 from a Honda dealer is pretty low for a car with that much mileage! Shocking that's all they could find to fix/ding you with! Seems to me like you got a great deal, and you just need to consider how official you want the repairs to be since you can probably pass an emissions test with less than $600 spent on repairs.

If you want the sort of protection you seem to expect, I'd look into a used car warranty, especially as the car is in decent shape now, recently inspected, but has lots of miles.

Would be neat to hear how you made out with this one too.