Ok all you seasoned car hagglers, what should we do here?

[MikePA]

I had the car fax run on this car and this is what kind of made me really solid on going with this car. It had a beautiful car fax. Oil changed and tires rotated every 5k miles. 10,000. 20,000 30,000 40,000 services all done by the dealer it was bought new from. No accidents. One owner car. Everything was documented down to them bringing it to the dealer to have new wiper blades put on it. All documented right there on car fax

This Carfax report and the car you bought seem like two different cars.

 

[EarPlug]

Not true especially if sold by a dealer or expressly sold ''as is'' . There is the implied warranty and the Moss warranty act, which are federal laws and could apply. A quick search also shows in Pa used cars are not covered by STATE lemon laws unless the vehicle is still under manufacturers warranty, which this car is.

In this case it appears that the car has a bad transmission and with a Check Engine light it would not pass inspection. So, even if it sold AS IS, the Dealer has some repair responsibilities.


From the website PA Law Help

Can a dealer sell a car without a warranty?

Yes. New cars are almost always sold with a warranty, but with used cars there is often only a short warranty or no warranty at all. But even if there is nothing in writing, there may be an implied warranty that the car is fit to drive.

When a car is sold "as is," it means that there are no written warranties or implied warranties. However, you may still be able to force the dealer to fix the car:

if the dealer told you things about the car's condition that turn out not to be true, or
if the car has one of the problems listed in the previous section.

Are there any minimum standards that vehicles sold in Pennsylvania must meet?

Pennsylvania law states that every vehicle offered for sale must be roadworthy. It is also illegal for a dealer to sell you a car without informing you of the following problems if the seller knows or should know that they exist:

a cracked or twisted frame
a cracked engine block or head
bad transmission
bad differential
flood damage
the car won't pass state inspection
These rules apply to both new cars and used cars and even to cars that are sold "as is."
Pennsylvania also has a "Lemon Law," but it applies only to new cars that are purchased and registered in Pennsylvania. It gives car buyers special rights when a new car does not measure up to its warranty.

 

[MikePA]

In this case it appears that the car has a bad transmission..

What would make you think the car has a bad transmission?

 

[zzvyb6]

Try the other key.

 

[EarPlug]

What would make you think the car has a bad transmission?

From the original post - she pulls into the driveway balling her eyes out "THERE IS SOMETHING WRONG WITH THE CAR...IT WONT GO OVER 20MPH" I was like "no you prob put it in the wrong gear, so I get in and drive it, and low and behold, in first gear it hits 3,500 rpm and hit the rev limiter and wont shift. right back to the dealership I take it, go right into the owner of the dealerships office (he has a big glass office right up front) I explain we just drove the car off the lot 10 minutes ago, he said he remembered seeing us in there earlier, I told him what the car was doing, he took it for a drive, found the same problem I did

 

[Bota4me]

I have never met anyone that never had problems with their volkswagon... They do not make good used cars imo. Good luck and hope you get your money back.

 

[ustmd]

Monster318--did the used car dealer ever tell you what they did to clear the check engine light from your test drive?

 

[bspeedy]

Perhaps too late for this advice, but I would never buy a VW. Long story short: I bought a new Jetta fully loaded, total piece of junk with an incompetent dealer, went to arbitration and VW bought it back through the Lemon Law program. Still a lot of aggrivation and lost money. VW dealership and Regional Manager were indignant jerks who couldn't have cared less about me or my vehicle or my money. NEVER AGAIN.

Advice that's not too late: Don't accept this vehicle. Undo the deal. Whatever it takes. Give them a couple of grand in the process, if you have to. It will be money well spent on a lesson learned. Try to approach it in a friendly way. Be nice. Tell them you'll tell all your friends nice things about their dealership. Do anything to get your money and get out of this problem vehicle. If they won't play ball, visit a lawyer and find out what your legal options are. If no legal option, sell or trade the car.

I'm sorry you are in this situation, but don't make it worse by throwing good money after bad. Cut your losses. Go get a nice honda accord and drive it till the wheels fall off. I replaced my 2000 Jetta with one and it has 186,000 miles and still going strong with only routine maintenance.

Good luck.

 

[hawkeye08]

Let us know what you figure out, clean carfax is not in itself a positive, just means it is not a negative in my book. I have seen too many cases where the carfax was clean, but the car had issues. We avoided a disaster this summer when shopping for SUV for my daughter. Came to agreement with private seller of SUV, asked to have a few days to sleep on it and make sure it was what she wanted. Carfax was a mess, 5 owners, stolen and recovered once.. daughter called him and said we were going to pass and thanked him for his time (we did not put a deposit down and he could have sold it before we got back to him, we didn't leave him hanging)..

 

[arrow]

From the original post - she pulls into the driveway balling her eyes out "THERE IS SOMETHING WRONG WITH THE CAR...IT WONT GO OVER 20MPH" I was like "no you prob put it in the wrong gear, so I get in and drive it, and low and behold, in first gear it hits 3,500 rpm and hit the rev limiter and wont shift. right back to the dealership I take it, go right into the owner of the dealerships office (he has a big glass office right up front) I explain we just drove the car off the lot 10 minutes ago, he said he remembered seeing us in there earlier, I told him what the car was doing, he took it for a drive, found the same problem I did

Nope, does not mean a "transmission" problem necessarily. I mean it could be but more than likely ,not. Todays cars are governed by their computers. If the computer is getting a "trouble code" from one of the various sensors that an automobile has such as the Map or Tp sensor, it will signal the transmission not to go beyond a certain rpm or shift point. Some shift into second, some shift into first it all depends on what the manufacturers "limp" mode has in its algorithm.