I have recently (exactly one week ago) signed the dotted line to purchase a 2005 Nissan Quest. At the time of signing the dealership had to fix one "small" problem, then we would be able to have the van. Last Thursday the dealer came and picked me up to go get the van, on the way to the dealership the van's engine shut off. This was not part of the "small problem." After a few hours the located the suspected problem, the Idle position sensor went out. after replacing this they, the dealership, drove the van to the station for me. upon getting in the van the check engine light was still on. The van is now back in the shop for the third time in a week. Does anyone know if I have a legal right to tell them to void the contract? I have signed the dotted line but never have i had the vechile in my ownership. The only times it has been driven by myself or my wife was on Test drives with the dealer in the car. any help would be great.

thanks in advance
MK2

Depends on what state you are in. Google your state name and "lemon law", or go to your state government website and look up "consumer protection"

I saw in your profile yer in texas, so I googled "Texas lemon law", and this is what I come up with:

http://www.dot.state.tx.us/services/motor_vehicle/texas_lemon_law/default.htm

Now; as to this problem and the "check engine" light still being on, that mighta just a been a really stupid "Homer" on the part of the dealers service dept.

After the "check engine" light comes on and you've rectified the problem, you have to "clear the codes" off of the onboard computer(s). Most often and most simply done by merely disconnecting the battery for awhile.

That MAY have been the problem, but in my mind that don't bode well for the service dept at this "stealership".

Its kinda like when your car stops running and ya think its outa gas, first thing ya do is check and make sure there is fuel in the tank.

Welp, car comes in for service based on the fact that the "check engine" light is on, last thing ya do is MAKE SURE the codes are cleared offa the computer and the "check engine" light is off.

Have you "taken possesion" of the vehicle, as in its now titled and registered in your names, or is it still in the name of the dealer???

If its still in the name of the dealer, I WOULDN'T "take possession" of it till ya have a nice long chat with either the sales or service manager and GET SOMETHING IN WRITING about what the dealers gonna do for you if crap like this keeps happening.

You don't care anything they say to you or your wife, cause when it comes to cars, dealers, and buying cars from dealers, "if it ain't in writing it don't exsist".

General rule of thumb with states lemon laws is ya gotta give the stealership 3 chances to fix the same problem, then ya can invoke the lemon law. NOT ALL CARS ARE COVERED BY LEMON LAW STATUTES.

Personally, I'd refuse the car, and I'd go into the dealer and QUITE CLEARLY indicate that to the sales manager.

Cause it may; depending on how good the dealer is, put you the unique position of being able to deal yourself into a newer, lower mileage, better condition vehicle. For the same money. That would all depend on what kind of "stand up" dealer this is, not wanting any customer to go away or go away unhappy.

Anywho, if you haven't accepted or taken official ownership of the car they'd probably have a tough time enforcing any contract about it.

It varies widely from state to state and then individual dealer from individual dealer, but as it stands right now you SHOULD be able to come out of this in better shape than when ya started.

And ONLY use any lemon law that may be available to ya if ya can't come to terms with the dealer. You GOTTA give them the chance to make any wrongs right!!!-JRC

I have look at the lemon law and from what I can tell it only covers new cars. However i have only signed the dotted line we have never had the car in our possesion. I have already spoken with the dealership this morning and they have offered to do a "trade in" for the amount current owe i.e. ever penny. So I at least can get a different vechile. I still would prefer to have them buy it back or tear up the contract or something but at least we have a starting point now.

thanks again

Call D8 Legal Assistance and ask them what you can do.

http://www.uscg.mil/iscneworleans/downloads/transition/LegalAssistance.ppt

Yeah, what there trying ta do is "upsell" ya. Sure, they'll take the POS ya already bought from them "in trade" for the "full value" what yer already on the hook with 'em for, but what are they gonna do for you now???

They gonna try to sell ya a newer more expensive vehicle and get ya on the hook for more, or are they gonna say something like "for your inconvenience we gonna give ya this newer, lower mileage vehicle thats $3000 more for the same money as our way of saying we're sorry".

You've indicated your preference is that you'd kinda like to back outa this totally and go car shopping elsewhere, have ya told 'em that???

Go read all your copies of the paperwork ya signed with 'em, there might actually be a "right of refusal" clause in there in that you have a specified period of time after you've signed all the paperwork and you can back out, no harm , no foul.

Don't beleive NOTHING anybody that works at a car dealer tells ya, as we go back to "if it ain't in writing it don't exsist".

Is there something else on their lot ya might like to check out??? Ya know, couple years newer, lower mileage, new tires, whatever,maybe priced a bit more than the toilet ya bought, just go and ask 'em- "What about if ya give me this vehicle over there for the same money??"

Ya gotta kinda play a little game here and feel 'em out, see how flexible and friendly they do or don't wanna be.

Like I said ya gotta give 'em a chance to "make right" anything they did wrong, but at the same time ya gotta "CYA" and make sure ya don't get the ole "splintery end of the fid" tucked to ya-JRC

Mr Flynn brings up a VERY GOOD point-

They DO know your an active duty member of the United States military, correct???

Aside from the legal asst ya might be able to get from DIST Legal, they definetly wouldn't be getting good press if they stuck it to ya and you and the Mrs decided to write a letter to the local newspaper or TV station about how poorly this car stealership treated ya-JRC

I had some problems with a dealer that seemed to be dealing "from the bottom of the deck." I paid four college students to spend a Friday and Saturday. They handed fliers to each customer that walked onto the lot while they remained on the public sidewalk. After screaming at the students for a while and then calling to scream at me, we came to a settlement -- including what I had spent on the fliers and students. This was done before the cameras arrived.

I hope you find a quiet and friendly way of getting what you deserve, but sometimes a little public attention to a problem is required.

Gee Gaylord, why didn't ya just tell 'em you are a Navy SEAL - that woulda scared the pizz outta them. And I hope you too find a quite and friendly way of getting what you deserve.

Tell them you dont want to take possession of the vehicle. they have not given you the car yet and you have not made any payments. check with legal and take a look here at the lemon laws per state.

http://www.carlemon.com/lemons.html

just be careful and dont let them talk you into something you dont really want, you'll hate yourself for it later.

if the dealer is making amends to fix the vehicle this is great, but you not having the vehicle is not so great after all you are eventually going to be paying money for it, so get your moneys worth. look into how many repair attempts the dealer has made, depending on the state you may be able to get out now depending on how many they have done. check out the link above.

Thanks to everyone who responded. I never was able to get anyone at D8 legal office so i talked to a lawyer thru EAP. the lawyer was from texas so he knew what laws where here. basically after talking to him i gave the dealership a choice, either buy the vechile back or i would contact the credit union that did the financing and let them know the deal was off for "FAILURE TO DELIVER." Apparentily in Texas that is all i had to do. the dealership was very willing at that point to rebuy the van. that is still in the shop. So again thanks to everyone.

MK2

outstanding! congratulations on getting out of this purchase. I had purchased a lemon many years back as an E-4 just out of A school and regretted it every since. It was in the shop more often than not and caused much stress. Luckily there are better laws on the books these days to help consumers bail out of horrible contracts for poor quality goods.

Yeah, I figured someplace in all that fine print "mumbo-jumbo" in the paperwork ya had to sign to get the car there would be some kind of "failure to deliver" or right of refusal clause. Or if it isn't actually written up in it there will be reference to some state or consumer general law that covers it.

Just MAKE SURE you get some paperwork that reflects what happened so a year from now when somebody runs your credit report cause your buying something this dealer ain't put anything in there about your buying a car and not paying for it.

This don't sound like a very good car stealership to begin with. I mean, hey, it mighta very well just been a coincidence that this sensor failed and caused the check engine light to come on just as you were buying the car, but it don't sound like they were taking very good care of ya after that happened. That car shoulda been in the shop immediately, and worked on and repaired immediately.

Always remember the #1 function of the sales dept at a stealership is to seperate a car buyer from as much of their money as possible, GOOD JOB!!!!-JRC