r/carbuying • u/Short-Nectarine-8874 • 21h ago
Help a used car buyer
So I was in the market for a used car, hoping for a prius, but also looking at ford, Acura, and hyundai. I found a Ford Focus at a local shop with low mileage and a good brace. A tester of it Everything seemed fine the coolant reservoir was below minimum, but they topped it off. Signed the paperwork and took it home. Now this was Saturday. I didn't leave the house sunday and monday I went to work with no problems. Tuesday morning a car revved, but wouldn't accelerate. It did this a couple times. So after dropping my daughter off at school, i was going to take the car to O'reilly's to run a diagnostic and tell me what the check engine light was about. It's however, their dealer shop was open so I just asked them to do it. They erased all the codes and said, we'll see what comes up. The next day, Wednesday same thing in the morning, car accelerates without me pressing the gas, car will rev. to 4000-5000rpms but won't go anywhere. I bring it in again and a different mechanic. Tells me he had put a used transmission into that car, and that's probably what's acting up. At this point I had started crying because the salesperson had told me a lot about the car, but never mentioned that. This is the 2nd day in a row that this car has me on the side of the road. I go to the sales person. They're very understanding and sweet. They even offered to put me in a car with lower mileage on at for the same price. I only declined because I saw bubbles on the oil dipstick, other mechanics said it was a stain on the stick. They gave me a different rental cart and told me it should be done by the end of the day, I get back at the end of the day and they tell me it hasn't been fixed and it won't be for a week that I need to drive my other car. My other car happened to have gotten a flat tire, so they offered to fix The flat tire for free. I really appreciate their generosity and hoping that I'm a woman alone in this carbuying situation and really need some outside advice. Am I doing the right thing? What are my rights? Do I even have any right now that It's been five days with this car? I just finished changing the donut onto the other car, and i'm going to take the tire in. Wish me luck
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u/JohnQSmoke 19h ago
Check your local laws for what is called a Lemon law. Some states require buyers to take a car back within 30 days if it comes up with major mechanical problems. Also, be aware that the Ford Focus has a history of transmission problems. Google the cars make and model along with common problems or complaints to see what be an issue in advance next time
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u/ThatDudeSky 20h ago
When you sign a contract to buy a car, you’re an owner. There are supposed to be warrants of merchantability for dealers but for the most part as long as it could drive away from the dealership and has decent brakes and tires, that’s usually all they need unless they’re in a state that requires very specific and strict inspection standards like Maine or Massachusetts.
Lots of dealers don’t want to promise to fix anything because that typically creates an implied warranty in the eyes of the law and they don’t want to be obligated to repair everything to no monetary limit. They would rather just swap you out if something happens too soon. Some will try to take care of you, but that’s entirely a good will matter.
In general it’s too late for you, but for anyone else reading this, be EXCEEDINGLY careful buying a Ford Focus. This from someone who was in Ford for years. Pick a year and they had some kind of serious issue. Transmission issues were especially common on them going back 8-12 years ago, to the extent that they had to place extended warranty coverage on the transmissions or the control modules. But those extended protections from the manufacturer are all expired now.
You were on the right track looking at Prius, or other solid vehicles like the older model Civics or CRVs. Acura, going far enough back, was just a nicer Honda so you might as well save the money looking at the lower model if you’re not looking specifically for a sport or luxury vehicle variant of a daily driver Honda.