Want to know Options/Opnion

I purchased an 00 Suburban this weekend from a dealer in Nebraska. It's got nearly 200k but seemed like a decent deal and higher mileage doesn't bother me. I work part time for a dealer in Kansas, so had them transfer the title to the Kansas Dealer so I could sell the vehicle wholesale when ready.

On the way home, the service engine light came on, no biggie, the weather was turning bad so thought I'd look at it when I got home. Put the truck in 4 wheel high and headed home. About 50-60 miles up the interstate, the front end locked up and sent me, my tow dolly, and the car that was on it spinning across the median, both lanes of oncoming traffic, and into a ditch. There was no major damage to either vehicle. I had to have it towed to a repair shop though. I was under the truck when they pulled the train plug for the front transfer case and it wasn't pretty at all. very little lubricant and lots and lots of metal. The repair and tow bill was around 1200.00.

I called the dealer when I got home and told them what happened. I told them that I wasn't looking for them to pay the entire thing at all but wanted some help with the bill. What I got was "you bought a high mileage used vehicle as - is and we're not doing anything.


Is there anything I can do or am I screwed cause I did the dealer transfer? I did NOT sign anything that the vehicle was as-is? Should I just mark this up as a lesson learned and not do business with that dealer again?

It all depends on what the law is in Nebraska concerning used vehicle purchases. You already know that you should always check all fluids before using a newly purchased vehicle for the first time. I have a car trailer which I use to bring purchased vehicles to my shop for complete checkup before using them. That being said though I know that we all have probably been guilty of neglecting something and it comes back to bite us. If the dealer has made any public claims such as "every used vehicle goes through a 100 item checklist before we sell it" then you might be able to get something back from them. There is also in most states a implied warrenty of fitness--i.e. they sold you a 4-wheel drive vehicle and they failed to check or top off fluids as they should have-They had no disclaimer posted on the vehicle that stated that they had not checked the fluids, it is normal practice to check all fluids before you sell a vehicle, therefore you assumed that they did. Good luck.