chevy 6.2 caught on fire

[ccmf22]

my buddy went to go buy this 6.2 diesel in rode island (were from nh) and he bought it for 2300 and no joke 40 mins after he bought it was driving on the highway a cop pulls him over and tells him to get the truck off the road its smoking to much well him and the cop both turn around and its on fire. needless to say we was driving normal and it seemed fine but he wants his money back the cop said he could probably get his money back if not more, he signed a bill of sale but like it says the same damn day not even an hour its burnt to the ground. anyone have any experience like this?? hes bringing the guy to court btw

 

[skysurfer]

As my friend the car salesman says, "When you buy a used car and it breaks in half ten miles down the road, you own both halves.

A car lot might give some sort of credit to avoid bad publicity but if this was a craigslist deal your buddy is probably screwed.

 

[78shortandwide]

Does either of those states have a lemon law?

 

[smurph20]

Lemon law has nothing to do in this case. It wasnt bought from a car lot and it wasnt the same problem 3 times going unfixed.

 

[johnmc]

in Mass. the lemon law is for any car sold over 600.00. The seller is on the hook for 30 days. Nh doesnt have lemon law I dont know about ct.and Ri.

 

[bucket]

I used to watch those court TV shows every afternoon (lunchbreak, nothing else to watch), and this situation came up often. I don't remember the buyer ever winning.

 

[crazy4offroad]

The Lemon Law only applies to new vehicles but the Unfair & Deceptive Practices Act covers used vehicles, IF the judge can get the PO to admit he knew something was wrong with the vehicle before it was sold and didn't inform your friend. But, if anything was ever said though about "buyer beware" or "as-is" he's screwed. If it was mentioned he should NOT let the judge know, dont let it slip, dont give a hint like he knew there was any liability. As a matter of a fact if he said something like the guy said it was his daily driver or ready to drive, etc it would go better for his favor.

 

[Dieselshine]

I think your buddy's screwed man, like crazy said he might be able to squeeze a win under those circumstances, everyone writes as is on bills of sale around here including my self, yea just never know what can happen specially with an old vehicle, the only way you can get in trouble up here over something like that is if someone sells yea a vehicle or ATV bike etc with a lean on it then you have the PO by the balls and can pretty much get what yea want sorry about your buddy's luck he should taken that thing for a helluva test drive before putting anything on paper I've learned my lesson a couple of times over that.....

 

[adamv7010]

Any idea why it caught fire?

 

[HotRodPC]

Hate to say it, but I have a feeling your buddy just got burnt. No pun intended naturally.

Sad, and hate to hear it, but I doubt he has any recourse whatsoever. It's an old used truck with no warranty expressed or implied, so he's screwed.

 

[Camo]

Your buddy now owns a $2300 burnt up paperweight.


This is why I tell people, if you are not a mechanic take any prospective vehicle to a mechanic to get it checked out prior to buying it.

An expensive esson.

 

[ccmf22]

basically this is what happened so far the cop that was originally pulled my buddy over for the smoke etc heard that my buddy was a marine and hooked him up on his report. the cop specified the the car was clearly not up to par for driving on the road and that it was a hazard to his life and if he didnt pull him over he probably would have been severly injured or dead because "the vehicle caught fire in under a minute" to make the seller look bad.he also has 2 fire reports. and the towing company keep in mind the truck has been in the lot for about three weeks hooked him up after he heard about the situation and is only charging him the initial towing charge. and from the reseach weve done ri has a law were if the vehicle is not able to be road worthy aka not inspectable then the seller has the right to get his money back if our research is correct.. and on the ad it states that the damn thing had some issues that would make it uninspectable. i mean im doubting that hell get full compensation for it but the cop thinks hell get that and some. i have my doubts but with the cop on his side he could have the upper hand. any more thoughts ??

 

[ccmf22]

Any idea why it caught fire?

were not all to sure he said that the fire initially dripped on his diff and he saw a fire from were the gastank was and diesel if pretty hard to catch fire so im thinking electrical

 

[HotRodPC]

Diesel fuel will also burn, it just has to get much hotter before it will ignite. A spark can ignite gasoline, but it take a bit more than that for diesel. But, electrical is the more than likely case.

 

[Irishman999]

Diesel fuel is combustable, not realy flammable. Yes it obviously burns and has a flashpoint as does gasoline. My dad told me about a brand new cadilac that burned to the ground because someone left the cap off of the master cylinder and it caused a fire. If it was smoking enough to get stopped something is obviously burning and ready to ignite. Part of driving these old trucks or ANYTHING is having a fire extinguisher ready and watching your mirrors. A couple times I thought my 85 was going to burn down. Once was the hot wire going to my alternator rubbing on the valve cover and shorting out. I stopped after smelling that electric burning smell and found it before **** got serious. Second time was my valve cover gaskets leaking a **** load of oil onto the exhaust manifolds and causing smoke. I knew something was wrong after noticing smoke behind the truck so I stopped.

As far as the legality's of this transaction... In Arizona you can buy a used car from a dealer and they are responsible for its performance and condition for a short amount of days, if its a person to person transaction without a dealer licence there is no buffer zone. You get what you get and thats it.

Thanks for sharing the story, that being said we should all go out and double check our fire extinguishers.