Legal Question in Consumer Law in Colorado

I hope I put this in the right category.

My boyfriend and I bought a car from a couple on Tuesday the 8th. They told us that there was nothing wrong with it, and that it just needed some spark plugs and maybe a few wires. We quickly drafted up a form on Saturday after we looked at the car stating that we gave them $100 to hold it until Wednesday and 9th, and that the total purchase amount would be $1,700. We wrote the make, model, and year of the car, but didn't think to put the VIN, mileage, or anything else. All four of us signed it.

When we went back on Tuesday to complete the purchase, we were given the title and key but the title had someone else's name on it. The girl involved told us it was her brother who originally bought it for her and that she just didn't want it anymore because it was too big for her. The seller's name was signed in the seller box, so we didn't really think much of it.

Not even two hours after we bought it, the service engine light came on. We took it into a shop the following day and they did a full inspection of the car. It turns out that someone had disconnected the code reader wire, and when they finally got it reconnected, there were 26 service codes, half of which are emissions-related. The mechanic told us that, with all of these problems, the vehicle will not pass emissions, and we live in an emissions-required county. The girl who sold us the car said it passed emissions out where she lived and that she could pass it out there and transfer the address. We said no, because it needs to pass in the county it's going to be residing in. We told them that we just wanted our money back, and now they are refusing to give it back. We cannot legally drive this car because, since it won't pass emissions, we can't even insure it. And we are paying out of pocket for a rental car (I was in an accident which totaled our previous car, so insurance was covering a rental for a short time, but since it is our only car, we are forced to keep it and pay out of pocket since my insurance only covered the rental through Wednesday).

My question would be do we have enough to take this to small claims court? I've never had to do anything like this before, so I'm not sure how any of this works. I don't want to waste our time if we won't get anywhere, but I'm pretty sure that Colorado law states that you cannot legally sell a car that won't pass emissions to someone who lives in a county that requires a vehicle to pass emissions. No discussions of "as-is" were made, and we even asked if there were any problems we needed to know about or any major work done to it recently, to which they replied no.

I get that it's our own fault for not having it checked out before buying, but we really needed a car and it was the most promising one we found.

We also found them on Facebook and the guy who signed our little paper signed under a completely different name than the one that shows up on his Facebook, so we're not even sure what his real name is; we never even thought to check ID.

I hope we didn't screw ourselves with this one. We're hoping we can either sue them for the amount of the repairs for the car or sue them for our money back for the car, and maybe even sue them for the amount we will end up paying for the renal car. We just need to know if this is worth pursuing. We need a vehicle and without the money, we literally do not have a car. My boyfriend and I both work full-time jobs, so having a car is crucial. Do we have any options??


Asked on 11/11/16, 1:59 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

Stephen Harkess Colorado Legal Solutions

You have a strong claim, but it is a claim against someone whose name you are unsure of who might or might not have money or steady employment. It may be very difficult to collect your judgment after you win. Fortunately small claims court is relatively cheap.

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Answered on 11/11/16, 3:46 pm


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