Entries Tagged 'Cars' ↓

So you’ve spent hours researching on edmunds.com about what car you wanted to buy. You’ve gone to several dealerships and found a great price on the exact specifications (canary yellow paint, your favorite color, of course) you were looking for. You’ve done all the paperwork and then you are handed the keys to your brand new car. And then you take it home.

And then you realize that canary yellow isn’t really your favorite color and, in fact, looks pretty ridiculous. So you take it back to the dealership and ask if you can trade it in for a different color.

Nope … no can do. I kid you not when I say that this actually happened to a former co-worker of mine. It is a widely held misconception that, like many other retail situations, one can usually just go back to the store and return it or at least get store credit. There are no take-backs when you buy a car. In fact, California even explicitly states that there is no “cooling off” cancelation period for vehicle sales.

Now if you have a real grievance about the car and you think it’s a lemon, that’s a different story …

One of the categories I’ll be blogging about in the Everyday Law Journal is Cars. Topics will include things to watch out for when buying a new or used car, leasing a car, what happens when your newly purchased car turns out to be a lemon, what to do when Mr. Ossifer pulls you over for giving that car an “Italian tuneup,” and oh so much more. I, or close friends of mine, have pretty much had experiences with many of the situations I’ll be talking about so do look forward to reading some interesting anecdotes.

Again, you’ll be hearing about this proverbial dead horse time and time again, but I’m gonna go ahead and give it a good beating now. PLEASE do note that you DON’T always have to involve lawyers. No one likes to do that because of the time and money involved. Many of these situations can be dealt with good negotiation skills, manipulation techniques to get your way, and proper understanding of the situation … wait, isn’t that what we pay lawyers to do? =)

Ah, the downfall of many. The Everyday Law Journal’s official advice is: DON’T GET CAUGHT. Get a radar/laser detector. Don’t be the first or last car in a pack of speeders. Go with the flow of traffic and don’t make wild and crazy, not to mention dangerous, maneuvers; you’re not Mario Andretti. Ok, you get the picture.

I’ve gotten several speeding tickets in my life. And I’ve learned from them. And paid from them … dearly. I’ve learned that if I drive 5-10 mph faster, I probably would get a speeding ticket, but unless I’m on a Cannonball 3000 race across the United States, I’m probably only shaving a few minutes at most on that commute. I’ve paid thousands of dollar on fines and lawyers. I guess I could say that I’ve indirectly paid for my lessons. Ok, you get that picture too.

In the next few posts, I’ll tell you about what to do when you get pulled over and if you get a ticket. I’ll include some “experiences” that “a friend of mine” has had …