Ok lets make this a fictional situation. Owner puts up for sale a fully documented freshly serviced '92 348TS that he has owned for a couple of years (and not driven more than 1500 miles). The car is in good to great condition with 55K miles everything is fresh with less than 2 months on belts, fresh tires, fresh brakes, fresh interior, A/C etc... Everything works, not show condition but excellent driver. Car is priced to move at a fair market price of $41K and is sold quickly "As Is". Buyer does not do PPI (not felt it was needed) and decides to fly in to pick up car and drive home 1800 miles. Car performs very well on initial leg of trip but battery dies on second day leaving him stranded on the highway - not good - pissed off buyer. AAA drops car a F-dealer for assessment and determines that alternator has failed (even thoug no warning light came on). Service records (coincidentally from the same dealer where $10's of thousands have been spent on maintenance) shows that alternator was replaced less than 5K miles. Buyer is told that the car is solid and was a wise buy, and elects to have the repair done as well as an assessment before continuing on his trip. Question? what is the responsibility of the seller if the buyer presents him with a bill of repair (moral vs legal)?
Buyer beware. Unfortunately things go south without warning. Why is buyer so pissed off anyway he/she did not have car looked at before buying and besides it's an accessory failure which can happen. No major damage and it sounds like the person got a good car.
I agree with dwhite...........same thing as getting a flat tire...............who knew? Obviously the seller would have no clue that the alt. was going bad. **** happens. 0.02
No big deal, IMO......As Is means what it says... Sounds like a bad battery killed the alternator but I'd get the indicator light checked out, bad lamp maybe..... Man, it sounds like he had a good deal even with the travel hiccups, give him my number to call, a trip home in ANY used Ferrari should be classified "adventure" and made with a fire extinguisher between your knees.....
348 batteries are hard to reach aren't they....I was chatting with my new neighbor about his new 348Spyder......maybe low on acid/water level? I still say "drive on....be happy!!"
"...if the buyer presents him with a bill of repair?" I think I would be inclined to politely say, "Sorry, I honestly do not feel that this was my responsibility. If the alternator went out two days before you bought the car, I would have paid for it. The records prove that I took excellent care of the car." Alternators should last a lot longer than 5000 miles.
Asked the same question - lamp was fine -maybe regulator in the alternator died... Ok, had a bad Sunday b/c of this but looking back I wasn't the one that made the decision to drive back (too long a drive for me) eventhough I feel the car is a good car. Anyway, I'll see if he presents me the bill, if so I might just buy the car back from him as I am having serious sellers remorse!
I had a similar situation happen and I offered to split the costs. This made the buyer happy and I didn't have him badmouthing me. I know its buyer beware but theres always that thought in their head that you knew something was wrong. In this sue happy world paying half can be much cheaper than attorney bills.
I'd say the seller has no moral or legal responsibility to pay for the repair. A 15+ year old car that has had the item repaired / replaced showed no signs of failure. If I was the seller, I'd probably kick in a few hundred just to be nice, but the dealer probably charged $800 or more for the repair. I would bet a PPI would not have shown any problems with the alternator anyway. It's all about honesty. If the seller had pulled the alternator light knowing it was going bad, then they have a moral resposibility to repair (and maybe a legal one also). Otherwise, it is buyer beware. I was considering selling my 348 a few months ago, and had another Fchatter ready to buy it. We discussed it very openly, and I was emphatic in my selling the car AS-IS. Oddly enough, he bought a different 348 (on my advice) and my alternator left me stranded about a month later. This is the only time the car has broken down on me in 3.5 years. Pulled the alternator and had it rebuilt for $85. No problems since then. BT
Buyer beware. It was a risk accepted by the buyer. Even if the PPI came out clean on the matter. Things happen in these cars. Part could have been bad. In that case, I would have gone back to the seller's help in getting some compensation from the initial replacement source. That's it.
If I was the buyer in this situation, I would be happy it was just an alternator and not a massive engine failure or something equally catastrophic. It sucks this happened, but don't lose any sleep over it. You obviously did everything in your power to maintain the car to top standards, and sometimes things break.
As long as "as is" was written on the bill of sale, I don't believe there would be any legal reason to cover the cost of repair. Morally? That's your call. I sold an MR2 to a nice kid a few years back and he had some unforeseen problems with it a few days later, so I went half on the repair. He never asked for compensation, but if he had been a jerk and made a fuss about it I probably wouldn't have offered. Alternators are like a wear item on these cars - I had one rebuilt and fry again within a few months. All just part of the ownership experience.
Our "fictional" character got a 1992 348 for 41K. Thats an awesome deal for an average or poor car. Your list indicates the car was above average based on all the new stuff. A PPI would probably change nothing. I doubt they could catch that problem before it happened Present the arguement with the seller but be happy regardless of his decision.
I've always noted "as-is, no guarantee" on anything I've sold. Not that I'm trying to unload something... but you never know and I'd hate to be on the other side of your situation (always put yourself in their shoes). I had an incident selling a car to a guy at work (never do this!). The next week he tells me there's coolant on the floor and if I knew anything about it? We sold the car with a pile of receipts and he knows how I am about things but his wife came after me... did I mention he's my boss? The car was for his daughter. Needless to say, I called my mechanic and told my boss he'd be in good hands. The big scare (he thought it might be a head gasket) was just a hidden hose and about 120 with labor. I offered to pay half, he said no... but made sure his wife knew I offered. Water under the bridge now but boy it kept me up at night back then! I'd say no grounds unless he has no idea what to do with his money. If your nice about it and don't come across acusatory... maybe? Brian (+1 on all the above!)
Bill of Sale does have "As Is", the fictional car sold on Ebay and had 355 wheel, new Hyperflows, X-ost system etc... I will see how the fictional buyer handles the situation. Thx for everyones input.
No, I am living in a fantasy world where I wished that I had a 348 (now that is quite close to the truth now) BTW, I hypothetically sold my 348 Spider to Roberto (Nitelife) a few months ago who really (or is it hypothetically) liked it... man I am losing track of reality!
If the new owner is frustrated with a bill for a new alternator, they are in for a long road of heartache driving any Ferrari. Every owner should budget at least $2k to $3k per year for unexpected repairs (and feel lucky each year you don't spend that much). So, if I were the seller, I'd consider the alternator failure one of the more affordable things that could have failed - hypothetically, that is. And, if I am the new owner, I'm still going to love everything about my new-to-me 348 and not let an initial repair bill ruin the fun of running around in one of the greatest cars ever made.
This is kind of funny - as this exact thing happened to me. The day I took delivery of my 348, the first drive - the alternator died. What can you do? Although in your "fantasy story" what should the new owner expect not having a PPI.
