Featured Bought a un-smogable prius under false terms

is this renewing the cat in some way, or cheating the system?

 

In my experience with Toyota vehicles P0420 is typically fixed by replacing the O2 sensor and not the Cat.

 

interesting, gotta make myself a note about this/

BION

 

Cheat

 

Nicely done. I still have a camry 98 with evap system check engine light. All I did was use fuel cleaner and filled gas tank no more than 3/4 and no less than 1/4, drive for 30 min at highway speed and get it smog'd. A day later, check engine would come on. Did that for 3 straight smog checks, helped me saved up money for a prius iv 2012 muahaha.

 

I personally hope the OP has fixed his problem.
Because there was no winnable lawsuit there.

Asking a seller if they "think" the check engine light will come on before buying it? Worthless.
By the OP's own admission he drove the vehicle before buying and everything seemed great.

All the seller has to do is say....we had no idea, bad timing for that to happen now.
And it's case closed.

 

Everyone in California that sells or buys a vehicle really needs to know and understand the law. He does have a valid lawsuit and he would absolutely win. It is so simple, the seller is responsible for providing the smog certificate. There is no sold as is in California no matter what someone says. Unfortunately most buyers are unaware of the law but here it is.

From the California DMV.

California has very strict laws for vehicle inspections. As the seller, you are legally obligated to provide the buyer with a valid smog certificate at the time of sale. The buyer should be informed that smog certification is only valid for 90 days after the date it's issued.

You may be exempt from this law if:

• You submitted a biennial smog certificate to the DMV within 90 days before the transfer date.
• The vehicle is 4 years old or less.

NOTE: Vehicles that are a 1975 model year or older are not required to have smog inspections.

 

Since it has a salvage title they just have to say they were selling it for parts.Or for parts cars need a smog inspection too?

 

Darn. I purchased my last 3 vehicles (which were older than 4 years old) from California, and not once did I get an updated smog test. I had to smog them all myself.

 

I have purchased a totaled vehicle from the insurance company and obtained a salvaged title. In order to register it I had to pay for a brake and lamp inspection and it then needed to pass smog to be registered. Just because something has a salvaged title doesn't change the registration or sales laws unless it was specifically sold for parts and it wasn't represented as for parts. This vehicle was registered and needs to comply with the DMV regs. If she was selling it just for parts this would be different and I think the situation would be different. I don't know if selling it after it was registered as Non Operation would change the sale.

 

Well now you can save some money in the future!

 

Fair enough. I concede non-familiarity with California's Seller/Buyer smog certificate laws.

 

not to mention she paid 3 times what the car is worth.. clean title should be under 4500, rebuilt knocks another 25% off