The seller didn't mention anything - am I out of luck? Car sales legal questions answered by local lawyers:
Dear My Hometown Lawyers,
I must have bought a lemon! It's a 2006 Kia Rio and I paid $3,000 for it. As soon as I got it home, I noticed the transmission was so bad that the car was literally about to die. I was told at a local auto shop that to fix the transmission would be $2,300. I went back to the used car dealer and he said since I never asked about the transmission, he didn't have to tell me! Is that true? The car isn't worth more than a few hundred dollars in this condition and I feel horribly cheated.
A Little Elm lawyer weighs in: The law is what you think it is - it is unlawful for someone to fail to disclose known defects if such failure to disclose was intended to deceive the buyer - in this case, you. Your failure to inquire is not a defense to this law, so you are in luck. You could be entitled to up to three times your damages if the sealer is found guilty. If you prevail in court, you will also be entitled to any court costs you incur.
The best advice our law firm can give is to contact the dealer and let him know the situation. There's no reason you wouldn't win in court and he will likely want to handle things quickly before they go that far.