Ok so this is going to be a long thread, but would love input from you guys so if you have the time read the whole thing. I also want to have all this documented in case this turns into a legal matter...

As some of you may know I sold my Silver 1996 A4 a couple months ago (Oct.29th I think). I bought the S4 a couple weeks before and really didn’t have a need for the 2.8.

A younger guy maybe 19 or 20, seemed very interested in it, but didn’t have the money to buy it, so I had to turn him down to pursue other potential buyers. Those two fell through, and the other guy (Matt) called me back to ask if he could set up some sort of payment plan. I was extremely reluctant to do this, for the simply fact that I am not a bank. I didn’t want the hassle of having to try and collect this guys money, along with various other issues that go along with financing anything. But, me being the nice guy I am, decided to give the kid a break. I know how hard it can be when you don’t have a ton of money to save up for something you really want, so I bit the bullet and agreed for him to pay for the car gradually.

I asked Matt how long it would take him to come up with the money, and he said two months. So, I wrote up a contract which stated: He was to pay me $2000 up front, $1000 of which was NON-REFUNDABLE, he then had 2 months to pay off his balance, and if he couldn’t I held the right to look for a different buyer. If I found a different buyer and he still hadn’t paid all of the money, I would refund him everything he had paid to that point minus the $1000 non refundable deposit. In all honesty I wasn’t going to be a dick about it, if he needed more time I didn’t have a problem with it, again trying to be a nice guy here. During this time I still would have possession of the vehicle, 18” wheels and tires (which were included in the sale but removed from the car) and the title still in my name. Once full payment was made I would give all of those to Matt.

So he signs the contract, pays me the $2000 and so I “sold” the car. In the next few weeks he is really good about making payments, which by the way I drive 20 minutes to go pick up from him each time since he doesn’t have a car (again me trying to be a good guy and help this kid out). So it comes to be right around month later, and he calls and says I can get you all the money but the last $500. He says that he has paid all this money and really has nothing to show for it, so was wondering if he could have the car. Looking back on it I shouldn’t have but, ONE MORE TIME I am the nice guy and feel for the kid. So I say sure, I’ll bring the car to your house, but you cannot drive it or park it on any public road. The car isn’t tagged, registered or insured, so I have him sign another contract saying he will not do so. He pays me everything but the last $500 and we are good to go. At this point I tell him specifically, “if you need to put in any fluids in the car, they must be Audi approved. So for coolant or PS fluid you CANNOT go to a regular store for those”.

A week or so later Matt calls and says, I turned the car on and it was making a funny noise and the power steering reservoir was out of fluid, and that he filled it up. Funny because the car had been sitting in a garage for more than a month before I took it to his house, and I had no problems with it what so ever. Anyway, I say, “Ok so you went to Audi and got some more?”. No, he spoke with a friend and they said any fluid would do. This guy!! So I say he is dead wrong you need to flush that ASAP. He also says he is very unhappy with the car, the alignment is off and the light bulb that lights up the 2 by the shifter is out. Complaining about a light bulb being out? Give me a break. Then the alignment, it was fine when I had the car and bottom line he was not supposed to be driving the car period. I tell him not to drive the car.

He calls me a yesterday to say there are “big problems with the car”. He took it to a shop and now the steering rack needs to be replaced. Hmmm, could the fact that you put the wrong fluid in have anything to do with that? It could have been on its way out, but I didn’t have any problems when I had the car. He says it also needs to have 2 tie rod ends replaced and a CV boot was torn. I didn’t mention earlier but before I gave him the car I had it Maryland State inspected, and this is what came up. Passenger TRE needed to be replaced, tiny leak in the exhaust (funny because I had it custom done less than a year ago, but oh well simple fix) and the two of the tires didn’t have enough tread (the stockers, the 18’s have a great amount left, and he was getting those with the car. So basically all he needed to do was replace the TRE, swap wheels and put one weld on the exhaust leak and he would be find to have it pass inspection. Sorry that was kind of a tangent there, but bottom line he was aware of all the problems that I knew of from the get go.

Now he is saying that I need to pay him $300 to cover the cost of repairs. I tell him there is no way, and he must pay me the remaining balance of $500. He says there is no way in hell that will happen and I will not see the car until he gets that money! First of all buddy, I have most of your money, I have the title in my name, you are SOL. We have a signed contract stating the car was sold AS-IS with no warranty, so I’m sorry if you feel ripped off, but I was trying to be a nice guy the whole time and this kid is being a moron.

For those who have gotten this far, that’s basically where this whole thing stands for now, I told him I didn’t want to take legal action but I will if I don’t get the rest of the money by this weekend. I’ll probably just end up reporting the car stolen and get it that way. He is short a car or $1000 either way so he needs to step up and be a man about it. Buddy, you bought a USED CAR, I’m not a dealer. I guess this is what I get for taking on a charity case….

 

yeah you got him by the *****, to bad it ended up this way and you had the deal with the f-er. don't give him anything, Just get the car back and sell it to somebody who appreciates a good audi.

 

that's what you get for being nice ( if you have the books and the car is in your name? then its yours ) he can make you give him all the cash back including the $1000 because its not a contract of sale in the eyes of the law ( that's the UK of course ) just as well you didn't do it here you would have broken the law[:-]

 

The only way I will give him any money back is if I find someone else to buy the car for the same price. He already signed an agreement that says he will buy the car. Plus now he f'ed the steering rack up, so I will have to sell it for less to someone else...

 

Ya i agree you got nothing to worry about other than getting tough with this dooshwhich is hard when you have obviously been more than accomidating to the little ******. Its good you were nice to the kid but i would never set anything up like that with someone who isobviously impulsive and retarded and isnt and aduly who understands legal contracts.

 

you could take the car back and deduct the cost of repair to the steering rack plus anything else you find but the guy is trying it on in my book, in the UK we have a small claims procedure for this sort of thing

 

Dam that sucks some people are just stupid. I hope he does not know about AF and start coming on here asking for help.

 

from what i understand you have him in your hands. i would take the car back and give him his money minus the deposit and minus the cost to replace the rack. no more nice guy man. it's good that you wrote up that contract.

 

Yeah I really shouldnt have sold it to him, but at the time I was thinking about when I was struggling to buy my first car...

Hopefully it wont go to small claims court, but who knows.

 

Only thing you need to worry about it your S4.

Since he's a dump teenager and knows where you live.

Sometimes it's hard to be a nice guy, somepeople respect more when you're an @$$..

Good luck, hope everything will be ok without any hassle.