Private car sale in Ontario. Car was certified by dealership.

Question

Private car sale in Ontario.
Car was certified by dealership. No issues known by owner.
Purchaser examined car and drove to his satisfaction.
Completed used vehicle package, and purchase was made.
About 4 months later purchaser accuses owner of lying about the vehicle being in
an accident in the past and he was not told about this.
The original and only owner stated that there was never any accidents with the
car.
The car did have rear bumper body work repair in the past from someone backing
into it when it was parked at work. No mechanical issues.
The purchaser now demands his money back or else he threatens legal action.
Where does the owner stand on this issue?

Debra · Accepted Answer

Chat Conversation Started
debra thal :

Why does the purchaser believe that the car had been in an accident?

Why did the purchaser wait 4 months?

Customer:

Apparently he discovered the air conditioner does not work effectively and so
when he took it to his mechanic, the mechanic advised him that the car had been
in an accident in the front bumper area. And because of this, he believes we
lied to him. We did no such thing. The air conditioner worked all last summer
without any problems.

debra thal :

Then just tell him your position and say that this isn't open for discussion and
if he doesn't agree then he can sue you.

The botXXXXX XXXXXne is that there was no accident. The air conditioner worked
last summer. Things break but you did not know it was broken and you did not lie
or mis-represent anything to them so you are not liable.

If the matter ends up in Court he has to prove you lied. He won't be able to do
that because you did not.

I hope that helps but let me know if you need further clarification;

Customer:

The purchaser wants to show us where the mechanic identified the accident area.
Apparently there are stickers or something indicating an accident. Absolutely
not aware of what he is talking about. Nevertheless we agreed to meet him at our
dealership to get their honest opinion since the car was always serviced at that
dealership. How should we proceed?

debra thal :

The sticker is what the police put on the car after you report an accident. Is
that what they are saying they've seen?

Customer:

We do not know what he is talking about and that is what we want to see
tomorrow. These stickers apparently have to do with the bumper sustaining some
sort of collision according to him. He is threatening to sue us already over
this because he thinks he has all this evidence against us which we have not
even seen or have any idea about. Should we even see him tomorrow at the
dealership?

debra thal :

I don't know if you should see him or not. The fact is that you were not in an
accident so I don't know what he thinks he can show you.

You can show up and see what he has to say and then simply indicate that there
was no accident aside from someone backing in the bumper and to sue you but stop
bothering you otherwise.

Customer:

The fact is that someone bumped into our parked car and we had the body work
done. Does this constitute an accident, because we don`t recall telling him
about this. We considered this no different than if someone bumped our door and
we just took it to a body shop. Does every nick and scratch have to be told to
the purchaser?

debra thal :

I don't think it does and you certainly didn't try and deceive him. It was fully
repaired and didn't effect the functioning.

He is saying the a/c was damaged because of an accident and this is not true.

Customer:

Should we look into hiring a lawyer since he seems adament about suing us?

debra thal :

How much would he be suing you for?

Customer:

He wants the full price of the vehicle $17000 that he paid plus $1500 in taxes.

debra thal :

You don't need a lawyer, at least not at this point.

If he sues you it will be in Small Claims Court and you can self-represent. If
that happens you can consult with a lawyer if your prefer.

For not it's not really necessary to put out legal fees at least until you see
if this is an idle threat.

Customer:

Isn`t small claims court for damages up to $5000?

debra thal :

No. It used to be $10,000 but it went up to $25,000 in January.

Customer:

If we hire a lawyer, will he have to pay our legal fees?

debra thal :

No.

Even if you win, in Small Claims Court you not get a large order for costs. It's
really mean for parties to be able to self-represent.

Customer:

If we do proceed with a lawyer, what type of lawyer would be appropriate?

debra thal :

A general civil litigator would be fine.

You know, you can contact the Law Society and use their Lawyer Referral Service.
You will be given the name of a lawyer and can consult with the lawyer and the
first half hour will be free.

The number is:

1-800-268-8326 or(NNN) NNN-NNNN(within the GTA)

Customer:

Thank you very much for your time and expertise!

debra thal :

You are welcome. I hope you can work this out.

Private car sale in Ontario. Car was certified by dealership.

How JustAnswer works

JustAnswer in the News:

What Customers are Saying:

Meet the Experts: