One prevalent design flaw concerns seatbacks, recliner mechanisms and seat tracks. Car manufacturers continue to ignore injury statistics that could be prevented by inexpensive design revisions to car seats that would protect passengers, especiallyin rear end collisions.
Other known design failures have included airbags, axles, door latches, foot pedals, floor mats, fuel systems, fuel tanks, lift gates, window glass, rollover tendencies, roof crushing, seatbelts, steering wheels, tire separations, and more. The courts define a defective product as one that is unreasonably dangerous as designed, or it is not safe for its intended use, as designed, or it is more dangerous than an ordinary consumer would expect.
In cases where the design is acceptable, there may be problems attributed to the manufacturing process of the vehicles. The manufacturer may have created a flaw in the product during the manufacturing process, whether by accident or by negligence.
Fraudulent Advertising
In some cases a dealer will try to sell you a car that has been in a wreck, telling you it is in great shape. The car has the federally required "As Is, No Warranty" sticker on it which means you cannot return the car because you agreed to accept any damages. Try to get at least a 30 day warranty from the dealer, and always check the car through Carfax.
Some unscrupulous individuals put up ads for a car on eBay or such, at a price much lower that similar vehicles. Then they want you to use an escrow service they recommend to send your money to, via Western Union or other wire service. Of course the escrow company is their own company, and once you wire the money, there is no way to get it back. Never wire money, or use the dealers recommend escrow service.
Dealers advertise that they can get you out of your current lease or loan. However, what really happens is that the dealer pays off your lease or loan, then adds that amount to your new lease or loan. They then spread out the payments so that you don't notice you are still paying for your previous car, as well as your new car, and have twice the debt you had before.
Financial Fraud
Many car dealers use financial fraud to sell their vehicles. For example, you purchase a car and sign for a low APR. A week later the dealer phones and says you didn't qualify for that low interest - apparently the loan you thought you signed was "subject to loan approval". Then they ask you for more money and increase your payments. To avoid this scam, don't finance your car at the dealers.
Another trick, called the "Straw Purchase" happens when the dealer tells you you have a terrible credit score and need a co-signer. However, the dealer knows your credit score is so bad you would never qualify for a loan. He gets you to find a co-signer for the loan, but in the paper shuffle, it ends up that the "co-signer" is the actual purchaser of the vehicle.
Some car dealers can "forget to pay off your trade in". You trade in a car that you still owe payments on, and the dealer is supposed to pay off the loan for you and add the amount to your new purchase. Then the bank calls - the dealer has not paid off the loan, the car is still in your name, the bank is charging late payments to your credit rating - and you have no contract to prove that the dealer said he would pay off the loan.
The list goes on...
Automotive Legal Help
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Last updated on Jan-12-10
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