Legal Question in Consumer Law in California

I bought a used car from a dealership about 6 weeks ago, signed all the papers and drove it off the lot. Yesterday the dealership called me asking me to bring the car back into the dealership to get smog certified (smogged). I'm in California.

Here's the problem. The (standard) contract I signed when I bought the car and drove it off the lot states (among other things) that the car is smog certified and legal to drive in California, that I paid for that smog certification and that I paid a fee for the title transfer - which cannot happen unless and until the car is smog certified.

So, according to Division 12 Chapter 1, Statute 24007 of the Vehicle Code - what the dealership did was illegal. They allowed me to drive off their lot with a sales contract stating the car was legal when in fact it isn't.

When I pointed this out to the salesman he was taken aback - I was angry because I've been driving this car every day thinking it was legal (I'm female and I suspect he assumed he was dealing with some stupid chick) and when I pointed out that it was illegal for him to allow me to drive off the lot in a car without smog certification - let alone without a title transfer - and that the contract I had signed stated it was fine and legal - he hung up on me. I called back and he hung up on me again.

What do I do? I'm driving an illegal car without my name on the title when I signed a contract stating it was smogged, title transferred and good to go. What recourse do have? Thank you for your help.


Asked on 12/19/10, 5:10 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Steven Simons Law Office of Steven A. Simons

The problem can be a simple as the fact that the smog certificate expired before the dealership processed the registration. Or it could be as complex as a scheme to raise your contract rate on the car. There are several steps that you can take to try and resolve the problem.

1) Call the General Manager (GM) of the dealership and explain that because of this incident you have lost confidence in the dealerships practices. Therefore, rather than taking the vehicle back to the dealership for the smog certification you will take to to a smog check station of your choosing at the dealerships expense. If the GM balks then tell him to unwind the deal. If the GM approves ask for this in writting so you know you will get a check for the smog inspection. If the vehcile passes smog then there is no problem. If the vehicle does not pass the smog inspection then you should demand a buy back or unwind of the transaction.

20 Contact the local DMV investigators. DMV can determine why the smog was not done. If it was a one time error DMV will find out. If it is a common business practice DMV can pull the dealer's license to sel.

3) Call an attorney experienced in car dealer fraud (like my office for example) and let us handle it for you.

Good luck and Merry Christmas

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Answered on 12/24/10, 5:29 am


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