need advice 1967 chevelle

I Bought a 67 chevelle from the muscle car garage in wayne new jersey. I paid top dollar for the car and there policy is after you give them a 10 percent deposit they will start the car for you. They are in a tight showroom. To make a long story short i had the car 20 minutes and heard a rod knock and drove it right to my mechanic , he confirmed that it was serious. I immediatly called the owner Joel Rothke and told him and asked him to come down to listen . he replied no need i believe you. A $4500.00 motor job came next and i asked him to do the right thing and at least me half way. His answer was i wrote as is on the contract i can not help you. On another note he jumped title on the car to avoid the fees. Let the buyer beware i guess, it sounded fine under idle and kept saying the car ran like a clock, not a timex!Stay awake from places like this because we all work hard for our money but love our cars,this is my story, any advice im all ears.

Richie

Richie,

Look all over that contract, and see if he put in writing ANYWHERE including any advertisement that the engine was in good condition.

If it was all verbal, then there is not much you can do.

Should there be any claim he made about the running condition that contradicts the actual condition, prepare yourself for a civil negotiation with the owner of the shop.

Save all correspondence, all advertisement, everything. Make copies. Learn what your state's laws are around vehicle sales.
Save the old damaged parts taken from your engine as evidence.

Go to the owner with your information and photos of evidence, and explain in a calm rational manner what your side of the situation is. Your claim is the cost of repairing the engine damage. Not the whole engine job, but only what it would take to get the engine to run again. This may or may not be half the cost you mentioned above.
A shop's first response is to say "as-is, tough luck". Why? Because it's free to say that - most people will simply go away after asking once. Be persistent, and perhaps go the small-claims route if you have enough basis to sue. Be ready to go through with it, including losing time from work to go to court, etc.
I'm saying all this because I assume that somewhere the seller said the engine was good somehow in writing. And that this sale took place a reasonably short time ago. If one of these doesn't apply, then you might have to consider it a lesson learned.
Good luck, post back on what you do.
Tom

Tom, you made some good points , especialy keeping the old parts. I will let you know how i make out.

Richie

Also, look for references to originality, options, etc., to be sure you are indeed getting the car you contracted for. If it's supposed to be a "true" SS396, for example, run the VIN and make sure. If it is misrepresented as an "original" when it's in fact a "clone", that's fraud, and definitely a crime.

Be careful what you post and where, as there are litigations going on about liable, slander and defamation based on internet posts. Anything you say, you MUST be able to prove.

FWIW

Jim

I am one of the owner's of MuscleCar Garage and my partner and I must say that we are disturbed by what Richie Symth has posted. We are very curious as to why Richie Smyth felt the need to omit the following facts. 1.) Richie Smyth inspected this vehicle on at least three seperate occassions and even brought a family member with him who he claimed was a mechanic and gave this car the seal of approval. 2.) After Richie Smyth paid for the vehicle in full he took it to a mechanic that has NO AFFILIATION to MuscleCar Garage and had UNNECESSARY PERFORMANCE MODIFICATIONS done to the car. 3.) Why did Richie Smyth drive the car several miles away to a second mechanic instead of allowing the original mechanic that HE COMMISSIONED to perform the modifications to assess whatever issues he felt there were?

With regards to our policies WE DO NOT REQUIRE A 10% DEPOSIT TO START THE CAR!! This is a ridiculous allegation!! I can not express this enough!! MuscleCar Garage is always happy to start a vehicle for a client and only require a FULLY REFUNDABLE deposit if we need to empty the showroom for a test drive which is to insure that we have a serious buyer on these Classic Cars. MuscleCar Garage was the brokering agent only between the seller and Richie Smyth which he was well aware of. I do not know anyone who offers or has the ability to offer a warranty on a 41 year old car. If there is anyone or any establishment who can provide such warranties on older vehicles please let us know as we would love to offer this service.

We are sorry to hear that Richie Smyth is unhappy with his car, however; he needs to resolve his issues with the mechanic that performed the work on his 1967 Chevelle not the dealership that SIMPLY assisted him with the purchase. In todays world anyone can make a complaint or speak out on a forum, all I can say is that I hope that people who read this will visit our shop and see that we are very serious about providing excellent customer service and that we try to do our best when it comes to all of our clients. As we all are aware there are some people that will never be happy with the level of service that you try to provide to them. We wish Mr Richie Smyth happy cruising as we do for all of our clients.

Regards,
The staff at MuscleCar Garage

Well Richie, do you have anything to say now?

yeah i do highland lake . muscle car garges comment was bullshit. im not going to get into details cause i dont give a crap anymore, but i have been to countless car shows and nobobody had anything nice to say about muscle car garage and bad news travels fast

I never had a problem with Musclecar Garage. A few years ago, Joel and Kelly sold my 1979 Corvette professionally and settled with me promptly. They are both very pleasant to "deal" with. I purchased a beautiful 1993 GMC TYPHOON from them after the Corvette was sold and have not regretted anything. The truck needed some "work" but that is to be expected for a 17 year old high-performance SUV. They currently have up for sale my 1997 Chevrolet 30th Anniversary Camaro Z28 convertible.
If I had any doubts about their honesty and integrity, they would not have my car. No doubt there are muscle car "dealers" that are "shady", but to put Joel and Kelly in this category is wrong.