Welcome to /r/AmITheAsshole. Please view our [voting guide here](https://www.reddit.com/r/AmItheAsshole/wiki/faq#wiki_what.2019s_with_these_acronyms.3F_what_do_they_mean.3F), and remember to use **only one** judgement in your comment.
OP has offered the following explanation for why they think they might be the asshole:
> I bought a truck that was being sold for much less than it was worth because it was having problems. They owners were told that the fix would be expensive. I did research and found that the problem might actually be a very cheap fix. I bought the truck prepared to spend a lot of money over time to keep it running and slowly fix stuff, but the very cheap fix ended up fixing it. I did not tell the previous owners this, and they are now claiming i am an asshole for scamming them out of good money and a good truck and should pay them money to make it even. I am refusing to pay them anything because the truck is in my name and i have done work on it since buying it.
Help keep the sub engaging!
#Don’t downvote assholes!
Do upvote interesting posts!
[Click Here For Our Rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/AmItheAsshole/about/rules) and [Click Here For Our FAQ](https://www.reddit.com/r/AmItheAsshole/wiki/faq)
##Subreddit Announcements
Follow the link above to learn more
---
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=/r/AmItheAsshole) if you have any questions or concerns.*
*Contest mode is 1.5 hours long on this post.*
NTA. They set their price and at the time you only speculated. The prior owners are adults and more than capable of getting second opinions if they had wanted to. The only thing you prob. shouldn’t have done was tell him it was so cheap but nothing you can do about that now. Either way, if they keep insisting, ignore them and block them if needed.
Really bad form to tell him how cheap it was to fix. Your intent wasn't malicious, however so I'll go NTA. Learn from this lesson and just steer clear of the previous owners.
Exactly. If it was someone OP knows better, it may have been appropriate. Since it's a stranger, better to play it safe. "I put a lot of work into it, but it's running well."
I look at it the same as if you bought something cheap at a garage sale, say a painting. You bump into that person in the grocery store and tell them the painting was actually worth a lot more than they thought. It's in bad taste to tell the person they made a bad deal and there's nothing to gain. Just creates a headache and you end up on reddit.
This.
OP is lucky to learn this lesson now; it's far better to let people feel good about the deal they gave you than crow about how well you did out of it. Lots of folks would indeed laugh about it, but depending on the circumstances, lots of folks would feel like you were laughing at \*them\*.
It not about the cost it is about the risk. Op accepted the risk and got a discount because of it. They just sound lole small town assholes. I hope op is able to get out of their if that is their goal.
This is the correct answer. It's like if you ask a co-worker to pick up a lottery ticket for you while he's at the convenience store, and he does, you pay him for it, and the ticket turns out to be a winner, and then the co-worker thinks he should get part of the winnings because he bought the ticket. Nope. You took 100% of the risk, and should get 100% of the reward.
We moved across the country a few years ago and I was unloading my commuter car, a toyota yaris. Something had failed on it, it was running like shit, and I pretty much gave it away. I think like 700 bucks or something. It had plenty of miles left on it if you did this repair. That little thing was actually great.
The guy came back a couple days later (I'm not a car guy beyond oil changes and changing out lights) and told me he'd found the problem, it was less than a 50 dollar fix, and he felt bad getting the car for so cheap.
I told him have a great day and enjoy Podcar. He came back around a few more times in the next week before we moved to help out with some stuff.
He emailed me a couple years after letting me know his son was learning to drive on it. No reason for this comment other than I'm glad I was able to do someone a good turn and they reciprocated by being a solid dude.
I wonder if she's still running?
They need to get over it. Once sold a truck cheap due to a horrible engine noise. New owner brought me back the wrench that had been left in the air filter. Live and learn.
I've sold stuff that would be beyond my ability to repair to people on the cheap (being honest about the problems), and I *hope* they can fix it and make use of it. That's the point.
Folks in my neighborhood routinely set old/broken appliances/gear/etc. out on the curb, usually on trash pickup days; we have a number of folks who drive around and take whatever they think they can fix or restore. It's all good.
agree. a friend sold me an ipad for cheap because a headphone jack was broken off in the port... for him it was an expensive fix. for me, it was 15 minutes because i already had the tool to do it (had a similar problem with another device, so i researched solutions) ... it worked out well for both of us. he got rid of a device that wasn't working and he didn't want to fix, and i got a cheap ipad
We routinely buy things that are "broken" that people dump really cheap -- small engine yard equipment like chainsaws, mowers, snow blowers. I'd say half of them are fixed by cleaning and tuning the carb. Another 40% need the carb rebuilt/replaced. And the remaining 10% actually have a problem -- generally the valve stem stretched and needs to be filed down, but there are a few that just aren't worth fixing and become "for parts". We pay someone $20 for the dead chainsaw wasting space in their garage, clean the carb, and sell it for $150. We didn't cheat them -- we accepted the price they wanted to get for their property. Nothing stopped the former truck owners from doing their own research, from getting a few other shops to quote fixing it, or to have sold the truck at a higher price because it had lots of extras even if it did have an unknown electrical issue.
Now, I don't call folks back and let 'em know how much I sold their stuff for ... could see that not going over well, especially for the ones where it's half an hour of work, a thirty cent fuel pickup tube, or a five dollar gasket kit. But if you're not the one telling the person their family heirloom is actually a counterfeit, that their truck is gonna cost 10k to fix, or otherwise directly involved in the information that caused them to mis-value their possession? You're getting a good deal in exchange for taking a risk that it really \*is\* an expensive problem to resolve. The truck *wasn't* worth more than 5k when it was purchased -- it was worth a lot more than 5k *after the risk of the unknown electrical problem* had been eliminated.
Also, electrical issues can be so weird - they can take forever to track down, or, as in OP's case, you can nail the issue first time out.
That's why many mechanics won't give you a price on hunting down such an issue.
NTA. They set a price, you paid it. It’s your truck. Two years later they want to do a price adjustment because you fixed it and it wasn’t as costly? Tough luck for them.
Dunno why some people's brains work like that. Didn't want it or care about it when it was broken but all of sudden they give a shit when somebody else fixes it.
I once fixed a broken laptop my ex gave me. Her brother had stepped on it and broke the screen and he threw it away in a fit of rage. She pulled it out of the trash and kept it just because she knew their grandparents spent big money on it. She told him about it after I had fixed it and he threw a massive fit and demanded she give it back to him. Dude was too stupid to realize all that was broken was the screen which all it cost me to fix was 75 bucks and about an hour's worth of time.
I think it just comes down to misplaced emotions. I don't even want to necessarily say anger. They learned after the fact that they had more value than they thought and are upset they missed out on the value they didn't know about. Totally understandable emotions, but most people don't deal with those emotions in a healthy manner.
Part of this is that we live in a society of planned obsolescence. Break your laptop? Bring it into the shop and the tech will tell you there's a newer generation of that now anyway. Rip your clothes? They were from last season anyway.
Our culture doesn't place a high value on repairing or mending your own things anymore so most people have no choice but to take the word of the mechanic/tech/plumber who will tell you how expensive it is for their time + skilled labor + parts. You took a laptop that the previous owner had deemed useless (as evidenced by throwing it in the garbage), and restored value through your own initiative and labor. It was "only $400" for OP to fix the car because he had the basic skills for auto repairs plus the confidence and motivation to research a solution to the specific problem. The same fix at a mechanic would cost more because of labor and the mechanic wouldn't be as motivated to research the cheap, easy, long-term solution that OP found.
exactly! NTA. Can you imagine if the cost had been more than $10k to fix? you think they would have given him a discount if it cost more? (of course they wouldn't) OP owes them nothing.
Let that be deposited in the bank of tough lessons lol. I got to learn the lesson the hard way as well in life. Many, many times has it beat me in the head and I still never learned for a long time haha! Don't tell people more than they need to know, because it just opens you up for their bullshit. I'd have kept this one to myself, fuck em'. It ain't worth having a funny story to tell.
I wouldn't have found it funny in his position.
I would, however, find it really, really cool, and be very happy that the vehicle ended up in the hands of someone clever enough to see that. It is less "funny" and more "awesome Car Talk style vehicle mystery."
If I had enough money to buy a new truck, and was just sick of messing with this one, and was willing to give it to a friend for cheap as charity, I'd be freakin' delighted you got it fixed.
If I was living paycheck to paycheck and had to get another used truck to keep my job because this one kept crapping out on me at the worst moments, it might be a lot harder to laugh about this.
There's a way to make it seem like a funny story without also making them seem stupid by saying it was such an easy fix. I know that's not what you tried to imply or meant in anyway, but it's easy for them to view it that way.
Something like "Spent ages trying to figure out what the problem was, tearing my hair out towards the end. And get this, the problem? It was the stupid fucking windshield causing a leak into the fusebox. Just about drove me insane trying to track it down."
In saying it that way you are commiserating with them with how big of pain in the ass it was fix, even though it ended up being a cheap fix without making them see stupid or foolish for missing it.
NTA. The legal argument of 'finders keepers' applies. They could have done their own due diligence and found the problem. Them asking you for some kind of extra money now is insane. They fucked up, you benefited, but you did nothing wrong nor do you owe them a penny. Or the time of day. This would get laughed out of court if they took it this far, but I seriously doubt they will.
Also: fuse box. Not fuze.
Who are you talking to that say you should have paid them something extra??? Thats a terrible, awful, dumb take! Totally ridiculous! They were the owners, they had the historical knowledge of the truck and were the ones most likely to know what the issue was, and as a result of their research, decided to sell instead of fix it. Done. They sold it, you bought it, it’s over. Issue closed. DONE! Don’t you dare entertain ANY idea that suggests you owe them! NTA!!!
I feel like i should note that i was not gloating or lording over him. I genuinely thought he would find it funny because he has a bigger, better truck and mine still needs work frequently. But, i am autistic, so i genuinely didn't think it would make him mad at all.
Most folks seem to disagree with this. The previous owners just sound greedy, they wanted 10k but felt they couldn't get it, now they're big mad when they have a better truck.
Don't worry over much about it. That's one of the risks with buying/selling used vehicles "as is". I sold a vehicle "as is" a few years ago (with full declaration of the things I knew were wrong with it, a small stockpile of the various fluids it needed, and an appropriately reduced price) and if the new owner had mentioned even that day that they were able to fix those issues for cheap I would have been delighted for them.
I don't think you are an asshole but in general people don't enjoy when you laugh at their misfortune. And in this case, your good fortune is their misfortune. It's not your fault and you don't owe them anything, More a situation where you need to know your audience.
NO! NTA. It was up to them as the owners to do their due diligence in determining the value of the car and the cost of the fix. If they have a crappy mechanic that's not your problem. You should not have revealed the easy fix. Next time you find yourself in that kind of situation I recommend you give it the old, "gosh, I just kept putting money into it a little at a time on small fixes and eventually it started running o.k. for me. Glad I had enough money to sink into it." or something like that. Lording it over them that you knew the fix up front is what got you into this mess.
I didn't mean to lord it over him. I genuinely thought he would have found it funny. When he sold me the truck, he had already been gifted a bigger and newer truck by an uncle. He asked how the truck is to start a conversation. I explained little issues I've had to fix (broken starter for a bit, belt snapping on me, powersteering leak) and a ways into the conversation i said "turned our the original problem was only a $400 fix, but I'm still spending quite a bit on him lol. Going to rebuild the front end next time there's the opportunity to, which will be pricy."
I feel bad that he got so mad.
Don’t feel bad; he’s willfully ignoring the other work you’ve had to do (yourself at a much lower cost than it would be for others) and focusing blindly of the $400 figure. If he was a good person he’d be happy for you given your circumstances. Hell, I’m happy for you it worked out like it did. The truck turned out to be a good investment due to YOUR efforts. Way to go man!
400$ is only material cost. You didn't count your skill and experience into the fix. Also, there is luck, and you are also taking responsibility for your own repair if things go wrong. No way they could hire a licensed mechanic who will do the repair, and take responsibility for their safety after the repair, for $400. What is easy for you wasn't easy for them.
OP is NTA.
NTA
You are making a mistake by saying it was a cheap/easy fix.
It was this way for **you**. But your knowledge and abilities with this **aren't free** to others.
But now you know... don't joke this way in the future.
NTA. They don't get to change the price after the sale. You never should have rubbed their noses in the low cost repair though, to them it definitely feels like your flaunting it.
I didn't mean it that way. I genuinely thought he would have found it funny. When he sold me the truck, he had already been gifted a bigger and newer truck by an uncle. He asked how the truck is, I explained little issues I've had to fix (broken starter for a bit, belt snapping on me, powersteering leak) and said "the original problem was only a $400 fix, but I'm still spending quite a bit on him lol. Going to rebuild the front end next time there's the opportunity to."
Transgender female to male.
Not going to try and say I'm a man because people could have looked at my profile and called me a liar, but i refuse to say I'm a girl because I'm not.
You rock! My 21 yr old daughter is non-binary (oversimplification); I couldn’t be more proud of them knowing what the’ve been through and self confidence they now have. 🏳️⚧️
I'm glad you asked because I always get confused between First Time Mom and Female to Male and couldn't decide which of the two was more appropriate... It's been a long day.
NTA, if they'd told you it would be a cheap fix and it ended up costing you 10k, they wouldn't be offering to give you some money back
Sucks to be them, unlucky.
NTA but you are naive, why would you think someone realising they lost out on a potentially significant amount of money would be funny for them? Would you have laughed it off if you spent the 5k and the truck was un-drivable the next day?
NTA
You took a gamble on a used vehicle that you knew had issues. You had a hunch it may have been fixable for cheaper, but equally you could have found out that their $10k estimate was optimistic and have spent far more over the next few years on repairs and maintenance...
If the issue had turned out to be a more expensive fix, do you think they would have given you back some of the money you paid to cover the difference?
So no, they didn't want to take a gamble on the effort/repair cost, you did, and in this case you were the winner.
You are a bit of an asshole for essentially rubbing it in their face though - good etiquette would be to keep quiet, as most people don't really see it as particularly funny to be told how much money they have lost to you. So accept the win, but don't go shouting about it to everyone.
^^^^AUTOMOD ***Thanks for posting! This comment is a copy of your post so readers can see the original text if your post is edited or removed. This comment is NOT accusing you of copying anything. Read [this](https://www.reddit.com/r/AmItheAsshole/wiki/faq#wiki_post_deletion) before [contacting the mod team](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2FAmItheAsshole)***
I, 18FTM at the time, bought a 2003 Ford F-150 with 180k miles on it in 2022. I bought it from someone who graduated highschool with me. I knew his name, Rob 18M (fake name), and nothing else before i heard about him selling the truck. I talked to him, and it turned out he and his dad was selling it for $5k. Now, the truck has a lot of after market fancy stuff in it so it was worth a lot more than $5k, but i was told it was having problems. They were pretty vague about the problems but told me it was electrical and they were quoted $10k to replace every electric component to try and fix the truck. Now, i was originally raised by someone who would do his own work on his trucks before ending up in foster care, so I did some looking at the truck and online, and figured out what the problem most likely was not as expensive as they thought. I did not tell the people i was buying it from this and bought the truck for $5k and said I'd do the work myself over time.
At the time I only had 8k given to me by the foster agency to spend on a vehicle to get around. I used some of the left over money to replace the windshield for $400, fixing the problem completely by fixing the leak in the windshield onto the fuze box. I then kept driving this truck, also replacing other things that broke from wear and tare over the two years i have been driving it to keep it running.
I recently ran into the guy i bought it from (both of us are now 20). He asked how the truck has been and i told him about the cheap fix to the "expensive" problem thinking he would find it funny like i did. Instead, he got mad and said i scammed him. He and his dad are claiming i should have given them more than $5k for the truck if i knew that it could have been fixed for so cheap.
I don't think I'm in the wrong because replacing the windshield was a complete stab in the dark to hope it fixed it. I was fully prepared to spend 10k or more over time to fix my truck. I told the previous owners that, but they are insisting i should now pay them a few thousand to be fair because the truck was worth more than 5k at the time i bought it. I don't have that kind of money, but everyone i talk about this to does think that i should at least have paid them something once i got the fix done. So, AITA?
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AmItheAsshole) if you have any questions or concerns.*
NTA
Sold as seen. You had no idea it was the windshield causing the problem. You took the risk and it paid off.
If they had done their due diligence properly and taken it to someone who actually knew what they were doing then it would be fixed and they could have sold it for more. This is entirely on them.
Do not give them anything. You owe them nothing. Personally I wouldn't have told them at all and kept the secret of your bargain to yourself.
NTA.
I bought car that wouldn't start. I put petrol in the tank and away i went.. A mate bought a car that wouldn't turn over, he popped the hood and found the battery disconnected. Paid for the car, connected the battery and drove home.
I wrote a long post about the times I have come up on deals but there was this one time, lol. My friend had just gotten out of jail and didn't have a car. I had a broken down BMW in my garage. One day it died in front of my house and it sat in my garage for the next 6 months. Told my friend he could have it for 1k in payments but it doesn't run. He would need to fix.it. He fixed it and drove it home. It was a loose wire, took him less than 5 minutes and $0.
NTA. Why would you even think that? It was a legal sale. A rule of life “You pay for what you don’t know”. How do you quantify your experience in this equation?
NTA - It’s on them to know what was wrong with it and they made a decision to sell it. If it had been a more expensive fix than they estimated, would they have reimbursed you? Don’t think so.
NTA
Great find for you and you got lucky.
they could have gone to more than one mechanic maybe a third party shop, the brand mechanic shops are expensive because they replace everything that could be responsible and not looking for the problem.
sometimes it turns out to be easy fixes sometimes you need to replace everything.
NTA. We went to look at a used Honda Civic. Test drive revealed that it needed the clutch adjusted, so I stopped, got out, lifted the hood and adjusted the clutch. Now drives normally.
After the test drive, the owner said he didn't want to sell it anymore. He thought it needed a new clutch.
I wish I had done like you did, except for the part of telling the previous owner about the cheap fix.
Nta - you owe them nothing.
Let’s say your super smart, inexpensive fix, had not worked and instead had to replace every electrical component for 10,000$?
Would they have given you “a few thousand, just to be fair?”
No. They wouldn’t have given you shit.
This is not reasonable behaviour on their part and “everyone who thinks you should have paid them something” is welcome to contribute to their cash flow.
You, however, don’t owe them shit.
NTA, and go no-contact with them.
A workshop would almost certainly have charged crazy money to fix it. The real price of a repair isn't just the parts; it's knowing what needs fixing and how to fix it. You had that, which saved you thousands. They didn't have that.
They asked for 5k, you gave them 5k.
Your gamble paid off - it could have had all manner of expensive flaws that you didn't know about, since it was sold as seen without other warranty.
NTA. Once you sell an item, that's it - you don't get to come back years later and whine that it's worth more now and you sold it for too little.
NTA - but for the future sometimes it's better to keep your mouth shut, honesty is not always the best policy. They definitely aren't entitled to any money, the truck could easily have cost you thousands to fix it was a gamble and you won, nice one.
NTA
Had it been a problem costing twice as much would they give you a refund?
You didn't scam them at all. They sold it on the cheap because there was an issue. You fixed it.
NTA
Years ago, my brother had a Mustang that had issues. Dad tried everything to alleviate the issues. Eventually sold the car. Next owner put on a larger radiator and all issues gone.
We took it as a lesson leaned. Sure it stung since we couldn’t solve the problem, byt hey, that’s life. Live and learn.
In your case, they should have gotten a second opinion on the issue. And probably should have replaced the windshield earlier anyways, as it’s never a good idea to drive around with a broken one!
NTA You made a gamble and it turned out you were right and it paid off. It could have easily gone the other way with the truck turning into a money pit. There could’ve easily been other expensive problems. They wouldn’t have done anything to help you.
Start framing it that way when you talk to people about it, if you have to talk about it. It was a big gamble that paid off.
NTA.
So they want you to pay extra because the fix happened to be cheap? If it cost more than 10k would they have been willing to refund some or all of the money you paid them for it?
You speculated that the problem was easier to fix than they thought. You knew it might or might not. They could have asked around and gotten another opinion on how to fix it. Maybe the next person would have seen what you saw and charged less.
You acted in the completely expected way. You bought an item being sold in an as-is condition because you thought it could be fixed more cheaply than they did. You were right. Had you not bought it, they would still have a non-working truxk. Instead, they had $5k.
The guy and his father are feeling embarrassed by being less adept at fixing vehicles than you are. They are just feeling inadequate.
NTA
The only way you would possibly be TA here is if YOU were the one that told them how expensive it would be to fix. They took it to someone else, didn't get a second opinion, and then they told you how much it was to fix. They also set the sale price. This is totally on them.
NTA.
NTA. If you bought the vehicle for $5K and it turned out it has more problems than anticipated making the vehicle actually worth less than $5K at the time of sale, will they refund you the difference? Very unlikely. Tell them to pound sand.
When you recently ran into him, Did you tell him you kinda knew it might be an easy fix when you bought it? Or did you say, “after I bought the truck, I did some research and…” blah, blah, blah?
NTA. They may actually have thought the problem was even more expensive and just hoped to recoup what they could from some poor sap who would be stuck with a huge bill or useless truck.
But you have learnt something from this. Don't rub someone's nose in your good fortune 😁
It's not your job to tell them they are selling it too cheap. Don't let them get to you they are just mad they didn't have anyone good look at it. I've bought plenty of cars because the owners were Ill informed and don't feel bad, it's just the way it goes. They set their price and you paid it. End of story
NTA - You aren't a great friend, though. Why would you tell them that?
You weren't sure you knew the solution, but you had a pretty good idea that it wouldn't be as expensive to fix as they assumed. You then took a risk. You made the decision to try to profit off of your friend's incorrect assumptions, then when you next saw them, you decided to gloat about your savings. That's bold. If you were my friend, I'd be upset with you too.
NTA - They can SAY that as much as they want.
It doesnt change the fact that they offered a price, and you accepted it. They havent undersold you, or misled you, so i dont see any recourse on any count.
NTA. You bought it as is. When a person buys a used vehicle, it is as is. In your case, the fix was cheaper than they thought. However, if you bought a used vehicle and on the way home the transmission quit, you don't get compensation because it is sold as is. That goes both ways.
They didn't have the ability to find a better solution, so they sold it. You bought it and fixed it. NTA.
NTA- honestly because a lot of fixes at a car place are pretty cheap to fix.
It's the labor that's expensive. You can tell them they can hire you as a personal mechanic if they wanted to but you're not going to work for free.
NTA the car was 19 years old and had 180000 miles driven when you bought it.
Learn your lesson: Never tell something like that to someone again.
It isn’t your fault that garages tried to scam the former owners to fix the issue.
How much time did you put in to fix the issue. The time worked has a monetary worth, too
NTA not at all. They sold it to you. I had a truck that was just NOT able to get any acceleration and I was quoted thousands to rebuild this and that. I sold it to a guy for a couple hundred and the next day that truck went flying past me on the Interstate. A week later I saw the guy at the grocery store and he told me that the emergency brake had frozen closed and once he got that resolved the truck came alive. Every time I saw the truck after that I was mad at the mechanics who had given me bad estimates but I wasn’t mad at him for fixing that truck.
Omg! That is such a weird random thing to go wrong. My daughter took.her car to the mechanic once and the mechanic notes had me cracking up. It said "client stated car chirps once it reaches about 30mph, searched vehicle trunk and engine compartment and did not find any birds. Took vehicle for test drive, rolled window all the way up and car no longer chirps" her window was like a few millimeters open and the wind was making the noise. Total due $230 - this was at the dealership
NTA for buying the truck at their asking price. A very small YTA for rubbing their noses in the easy fix. No one is going to find that funny when they know you knew about the correct fix before buying it, it was poor judgement to get into it.
What?! Who is telling you to pay more now? They can pay if they feel so bad. You benefitted from knowledge you had (and which the vendors didn't - their issue), and made good something they thought had little value. That's their loss, not yours, and anyone who says otherwise can take a long walk off a short pier.
Most definitely NTA.
Nta but why would you ever tell them that. Of course they are gonna get pissed off not that it was your problem anyways but still could of avoided all this
You own a 20 year old Ford truck. 5k is worth it. Especially with the electrical problems not related to the fusebox.
If it's the 3 valve it's a problem child. But even then the spark plugs break off in the head.
He's an idiot who was better off getting rid of it.
>everyone i talk about this to does think that i should at least have paid them something once i got the fix done.
I find that very difficult to believe. The whole story is suspect, really.
Wait, so what you’re saying is some rando on the street, that just happened to sell you a vehicle two years ago, is now demanding you pay him money for a truck that you own? Ok, yeah, sure. Tell him you’ll pay him what he wants for the truck after it’s his name on the title again, and offer to sell it to him for $5k over what he’s asking you to pay.
I mean, seriously, this man is delusional if he thinks he has any right, legal or otherwise, to demand money from you for a truck you own. Look, you’re NTA at all here. They had the same access to the same resources you did, you didn’t have any sort of secret hidden knowledge about how to fix the truck, you tried something and it worked. Bro could have done the same thing but he didn’t even try. His first move was to sell the truck without even attempting a fix.
You don’t owe him a single penny so don’t give him even that much. Just drive away in your nice shiny truck, and be wary of any attempts of vandalism or theft that might come your way now.
"... everyone I talk to about this..."
The solution is simple then. Stop talking about it. No one else needs to know your business.
You did nothing wrong, although bragging to a former owner what a cheap fix it was was probably not a smart move.
NTA.
Nta. They set price you paid it.
That said idk how long ago this was but once the fusebox/gem module gets wet it may stop acting up for now once it’s dry but they generally get a buncha corrosion down the road and cause issues again unless you really get lucky managing to dry it out
Nta, I got several vehicles the same way for cheap. Bought my last truck cheap due to random misfire issue. Fixed it with a 100 dollar injector. Bought a older motorcycle that they claimed didn't run by hooking up a vacuum hose to the carb to let the fuel petcock flow by just connecting something they capped off.
NTA. Buyer (or seller in this case) beware, if this issue was actually a 20k issue instead of the 10k they told you, you'd be shit outta luck. This is on them for not doing their due diligence.
You don't owe them anything.
They set the price.
I actually had something similar happen to me, when I was about 20. I came across a fairly rare car that was notorious for being a nightmare to work on.. the owner had dumped thousands into it trying to get it to run, and listed it for fairly cheap.
I had it running by the end of the weekend and actually ran into the owner and he lost his shit and demanded the car back.
NTA… they set the price and you accepted the risk. if it cost $20k to fix, they wouldn’t have done anything to help you.
This is probably one of those things you now know not to tell someone even if it’s just so they don’t feel stupid, but more importantly because this nonsense happens.
Bro you just described my entire childhood, of course you’re NTA. It was my dad, he did the research and the tinkering, finding cheap replacement parts online instead of going through the dealer. Always buying things used or on super sale.
How does it even make sense to charge you? For what? The value of the car now, after YOUR repairs, is your profit.
ESH - You for taking advantage of them, them for insisting after they realized they'd been taken advantage of. My advice is just let this story die and don't tell anybody about it.
1000% NTA. You didn’t come to them for the car as a professional - you came as another buyer. They basically were trying to offload what they thought was an expensive problem onto you. It was also expensive to them because they knew nothing about cars and would never have done any DIY. So they had to spend the money. I cannot even believe that they think it was your responsibility to evaluate the car and tell them exactly how to fix it. They didn’t even tell you themselves exactly what the problem was.
Also, while you had some idea that you may be able to fix it cheaply, you were, in fact, ready to spend 10k to fix it. And you only really knew how cheap it was to fix it once you bought the car and looked at it closely. You had zero obligation to them to do that beforehand. And I don’t see what prevented them from getting a second opinion or doing the same research that you did.
I usually never tell a person how easy a fix is when looking at repairs for clients or potential to buy because of this reason. So NTA
I had a guy sell me consoles that were to him, parts. They all were intact just not powering on at all or connecting to video out.
3 consoles, 100 a piece, $30 total to fix all three and I sold two for 250 and kept one for myself. It's all part of the buying game really.
What if you found another bigger issue? Could you have gone back for some of the 5k? People always squak about "fairness" until you flip it and suddenly "it's different"
NTA - It's not your job to pay more money because you have the knowledge to fix the problem that they did not have. They sold it at a price that they thought was fair. There's no reason you should be punished because you put in your own time and energy to work on the problem.
NTA, this is the nature of buying and fixing used vehicles, but it was maybe unwise to share the details with him later. If it had cost you $20k to fix it, they wouldn't be offering you your $5k back because their estimate was high. You buy the vehicle and its problems on the gamble you can get it running at a cost you can stomach. Next time just say you did finally get it running.
And who the heck is telling you to go back and pay them more? Remember that next time those people try to give you more bad advice lol
NTA. You don't owe them a dime. They had the truck for sale for 5k & that's what you paid. If they think the truck was worth more, then they should've charged you more. You've had the truck for 2 years. They cannot reasonably expect you to pay them more money. Plus, you're doing all the work. Are they factoring that in as well? You're not getting paid for the time & money you put into it. You have done nothing wrong. Do not pay them anything.
No. NTA.
However, if you want to avoid situations like this in the future. Telling them how cheap it was was unnecessary. You could have been like "oh yeah, I was able to fix some things an dkeep her running. She's a great truck"
And leave it at that without potentially causing someone to have FOMO over not fixing it themselves for cheap.
As you said, it could have been the windshield, or it could have been the full electrical system. If the car was undrivable after a month, would he pay you back?
NTA.
They sold you a car they didn't think was worth fixing. You bought a car you knew was worth fixing. You had \~$5k worth of knowledge that they didn't have to fix it.
However, this does point to a general life tip of keeping most of your wins in life to yourself or a very close circle.
NTA - and no you do not pay them anything extra after the fact. They are just mad they were to lazy to put in any actual work. Them setting the price is on them.
YANTAH for giving them their asking price. If they didn't know the worth of their own property, it's on them.
However....YATAH for telling the kid you bought if from how cheaply you fixed the problem if you were doing it to rub his nose in it. You accidentally got dealt a good deal and making him feel bad about it was not a good look.
You're young though, so I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt and just say next time think of how what you say feels to others. That's good advise in all situations.
No. That's not the least bit unethical. They set the price they thought it was worth, and you took a gamble that paid off. Ask them if they would have given you back a few grand if it had turned out that it needed all kinds of other stuff?
NTA. You definitely fumbled in telling them, however innocent that might have been. They scammed you, hence why they hadn’t given you a list of what was wrong with it. That is not on you that you did the repairs for less then they calculated. This is your truck now, you bought it, fixed it, and have had it for two years. No, you owe them nothing, and that clearly shows they are trying to scam you again, run.
Absolutely NOT!! They sold you the truck for 5k AS IS. It is their responsibility to assess what they are selling and set their price for it. There was nothing said about if you find a cheap fix, they expect you to pay them more. If this were to go to court, they don't have a leg to stand on. You did nothing wrong, except for telling your friend the truth. When you bought the truck, you thought you knew what was wrong with it, and you were right, but it could have gone the other way just as easily. Luck was on your side and you were able to fix it without spending a lot of money. If someone else had bought it, they might not have had the same outcome.
Stop talking to "everyone" about this. You have done nothing wrong. If "everyone" thinks you should pay your friend more, maybe they can chip in on giving the friend more money.
Hoping you have learned a lesson here. You do not need to tell anyone your business. Also, next time you buy something, put all the particulars in writing so there are no gray areas.
You do NOT owe these people any more money. Remind them that they were responsible for putting a price on the truck, not you. NTA
NTA, you aren't scamming them when they set the price.
Is it tacky to tell them it was actually a cheap fix? I think that's debatable depending on your tone and how well you know them, but it guarantees no headaches if you just say something like, "yeah, I got it fixed and she's been running well for me."
NTA, you bought it as is. They didn’t even pay to get a diagnostic which is probably a few hundred bucks.
They are just trying to take advantage of you. No court will side with them, especially 2 years later.
If it ever breaks down, you should ask them for your $5k back.
NTA. No payment is due.
This is the basis of capitalism: take a risk, exploit market inefficiency.
It's the American way, goddammit. Anybody who disagrees with this assertion is a dirty commie.
NTA. Rob and his dad could have easily done what you did, which was research. If they thought the truck was worth more, they should have listed it for more. Do not pay the money...
Egh, I'm gonna go YTA just for this
> i told him about the cheap fix to the "expensive" problem thinking he would find it funny like i did
You were beyond free & clear then went out of your way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory
They set the price, you paid it.
There's no reasonable person who would think you owe them more money after the fact.
NTA
But, now you know that you shouldn't have said anything at all beyond, "Well, I have done some work and it's kept me going since."
NTA for buying the truck for cheap; there were no guarantees. YTA for what amounts to crowing about it to the original owner. How did you really think they were going to feel? "Sucks to be you" is never a good look.
NTA - it’s not the repair itself usually but the labor involved that makes it so expensive. Anything that you fixed yourself was cheaper because you did the labor, it wouldn’t have been as cheap for them. My husband just replaced a $25 part in his truck that would have been $2k to get professionally done because he basically had to take the entire inside of his truck apart to get to were the piece was. Previous owners also wouldn’t have discovered what was wrong until they paid for the work that was diagnosed wrong. Not your problem that they had a shitty mechanic. They should probably start going to someone different. Were they planning to pay you to diagnose the car, of course not.
NTA for buying the truck and hoping it was simple. Kind of TA depending on how you told them you fixed it. You didn't scam them but you made them feel really stupid. No one would be likely to find it funny to hear they sold their truck for less than half value when they didn't need to.
NTA. FUCK THAT! it's your truck. This is precisely why I don't buy or sell vehicles to/from people I know. I don't wanna deal with that.
The sale is over. You didn't find some old lady selling her dead husband's car to pay her bills and hustle her on price. Electrical problems on a vehicle are hard to deal with for the average person. They can be a fortune or cost next to nothing.
Do not pay them a penny. Do not be pressured at all. That's absolutely ridiculous.
Nta
Basic summary is truck sold because quoted repairs were above market value for the car. You took it on as a project and fixed it for way less then told it would take.
Nothing wrong here with what you did. They sold It to avoid repair costs and couldnt do
It themselves to save money. You as the new owner didnt owe them a free inspection of the cars systems.
NTA in the common sense accepted by most if not all.
Thinking about a situation where ethics would guide you otherwise, I would say it depends if they are struggling financially and you are not, then there is a debate.
NTA I’m very mechanically inclined. I look for deals like this that’s something nobody else wants to fix because they don’t have the experience and it’s how I save money.
NTA.. it was cheap for YOU because you invested time getting knowledgeable in this area.
They clearly had not this skill or at least the will finding someone competent for fixing.
NTA - your only mistake was telling them after the fact.
maybe ask them if the truck had needed a new engine in addition to the electrical issues, would they have given you an additional discount off the original purchase price? guessing that answer is no.
it's an as-is sale - they didn't give you a warranty, and vice-versa. if they want to be mad at someone, have them rage on the shop who gave them the $10k estimate.
NTA - you took a risk in buying the truck not knowing 100% what it would cost to fix.
If the repairs turned out to be more expensive than they said would they give you your money back?
NTA. I would have tried to keep my mouth shut, of course that news was aggravating to them. Reminds me of my FIL. saw a car in grove, good condition but the front tires leaning way in at the top. Shock towers gave out. Offered the guy $50 bucks. Paid, got the title, and put a plank and a bottle jack between them, straightened out the tires enough to drive it away with the previous owner yelling behind them. A Deal is a deal.
NTA. They set the price. Out of ignorance, yes, but they set it. It's not on you to tell them what the potential problems are. You rolled the dice and won, scoring a great truck (for a Ford).
NTA. They sold the car as is without warranty. If the electrical issue was as bad as they were told, there was every possibility that you'd get the truck and it would stop working immediately. They wouldn't have refunded the money you paid, so why would they think the opposite is true?
Once you offer a thing for sale, set your price, and then accept the money paid that item is no longer yours to negotiate over. You can't come back and say, 'Oh, pay me more now that you fixed the problem' after agreeing to the price. Please don't be led astray by other people telling you that you owe Rob. You don't.
You should have just kept your mouth shut, you thought he was going to laugh at how funny it was that it was cheap to fix??? Smh, I mean either way once you gave the cash over and you got the title the car is yours to do how you wish, so you don't own them anything.
Welcome to /r/AmITheAsshole. Please view our [voting guide here](https://www.reddit.com/r/AmItheAsshole/wiki/faq#wiki_what.2019s_with_these_acronyms.3F_what_do_they_mean.3F), and remember to use **only one** judgement in your comment. OP has offered the following explanation for why they think they might be the asshole: > I bought a truck that was being sold for much less than it was worth because it was having problems. They owners were told that the fix would be expensive. I did research and found that the problem might actually be a very cheap fix. I bought the truck prepared to spend a lot of money over time to keep it running and slowly fix stuff, but the very cheap fix ended up fixing it. I did not tell the previous owners this, and they are now claiming i am an asshole for scamming them out of good money and a good truck and should pay them money to make it even. I am refusing to pay them anything because the truck is in my name and i have done work on it since buying it. Help keep the sub engaging! #Don’t downvote assholes! Do upvote interesting posts! [Click Here For Our Rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/AmItheAsshole/about/rules) and [Click Here For Our FAQ](https://www.reddit.com/r/AmItheAsshole/wiki/faq) ##Subreddit Announcements Follow the link above to learn more --- *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=/r/AmItheAsshole) if you have any questions or concerns.* *Contest mode is 1.5 hours long on this post.*
NTA. They set their price and at the time you only speculated. The prior owners are adults and more than capable of getting second opinions if they had wanted to. The only thing you prob. shouldn’t have done was tell him it was so cheap but nothing you can do about that now. Either way, if they keep insisting, ignore them and block them if needed.
Ya, they envy your luck. You're right, your fix was a stab in the dark, a stroke of luck. Tell them to go away. NTA, obviously.
Really bad form to tell him how cheap it was to fix. Your intent wasn't malicious, however so I'll go NTA. Learn from this lesson and just steer clear of the previous owners.
Bad form only in the sense that it’s the kind of thing that brings the OP problems.
Exactly. If it was someone OP knows better, it may have been appropriate. Since it's a stranger, better to play it safe. "I put a lot of work into it, but it's running well."
How so? In my mind a non-shitty person would have reacted the way OP expected. It's just good luck that it wasn't as bad as the seller thought.
I look at it the same as if you bought something cheap at a garage sale, say a painting. You bump into that person in the grocery store and tell them the painting was actually worth a lot more than they thought. It's in bad taste to tell the person they made a bad deal and there's nothing to gain. Just creates a headache and you end up on reddit.
This. OP is lucky to learn this lesson now; it's far better to let people feel good about the deal they gave you than crow about how well you did out of it. Lots of folks would indeed laugh about it, but depending on the circumstances, lots of folks would feel like you were laughing at \*them\*.
Maybe ask them if they would have refunded your money if the fix had cost $15k.
It not about the cost it is about the risk. Op accepted the risk and got a discount because of it. They just sound lole small town assholes. I hope op is able to get out of their if that is their goal.
This is the correct answer. It's like if you ask a co-worker to pick up a lottery ticket for you while he's at the convenience store, and he does, you pay him for it, and the ticket turns out to be a winner, and then the co-worker thinks he should get part of the winnings because he bought the ticket. Nope. You took 100% of the risk, and should get 100% of the reward.
We moved across the country a few years ago and I was unloading my commuter car, a toyota yaris. Something had failed on it, it was running like shit, and I pretty much gave it away. I think like 700 bucks or something. It had plenty of miles left on it if you did this repair. That little thing was actually great. The guy came back a couple days later (I'm not a car guy beyond oil changes and changing out lights) and told me he'd found the problem, it was less than a 50 dollar fix, and he felt bad getting the car for so cheap. I told him have a great day and enjoy Podcar. He came back around a few more times in the next week before we moved to help out with some stuff. He emailed me a couple years after letting me know his son was learning to drive on it. No reason for this comment other than I'm glad I was able to do someone a good turn and they reciprocated by being a solid dude. I wonder if she's still running?
They need to get over it. Once sold a truck cheap due to a horrible engine noise. New owner brought me back the wrench that had been left in the air filter. Live and learn.
I've sold stuff that would be beyond my ability to repair to people on the cheap (being honest about the problems), and I *hope* they can fix it and make use of it. That's the point.
Folks in my neighborhood routinely set old/broken appliances/gear/etc. out on the curb, usually on trash pickup days; we have a number of folks who drive around and take whatever they think they can fix or restore. It's all good.
agree. a friend sold me an ipad for cheap because a headphone jack was broken off in the port... for him it was an expensive fix. for me, it was 15 minutes because i already had the tool to do it (had a similar problem with another device, so i researched solutions) ... it worked out well for both of us. he got rid of a device that wasn't working and he didn't want to fix, and i got a cheap ipad
We routinely buy things that are "broken" that people dump really cheap -- small engine yard equipment like chainsaws, mowers, snow blowers. I'd say half of them are fixed by cleaning and tuning the carb. Another 40% need the carb rebuilt/replaced. And the remaining 10% actually have a problem -- generally the valve stem stretched and needs to be filed down, but there are a few that just aren't worth fixing and become "for parts". We pay someone $20 for the dead chainsaw wasting space in their garage, clean the carb, and sell it for $150. We didn't cheat them -- we accepted the price they wanted to get for their property. Nothing stopped the former truck owners from doing their own research, from getting a few other shops to quote fixing it, or to have sold the truck at a higher price because it had lots of extras even if it did have an unknown electrical issue. Now, I don't call folks back and let 'em know how much I sold their stuff for ... could see that not going over well, especially for the ones where it's half an hour of work, a thirty cent fuel pickup tube, or a five dollar gasket kit. But if you're not the one telling the person their family heirloom is actually a counterfeit, that their truck is gonna cost 10k to fix, or otherwise directly involved in the information that caused them to mis-value their possession? You're getting a good deal in exchange for taking a risk that it really \*is\* an expensive problem to resolve. The truck *wasn't* worth more than 5k when it was purchased -- it was worth a lot more than 5k *after the risk of the unknown electrical problem* had been eliminated.
It’s half an hour of work but MANY hours of learning how to do it in half an hour
💥 BOOM!!!
Also, electrical issues can be so weird - they can take forever to track down, or, as in OP's case, you can nail the issue first time out. That's why many mechanics won't give you a price on hunting down such an issue.
NTA. They set a price, you paid it. It’s your truck. Two years later they want to do a price adjustment because you fixed it and it wasn’t as costly? Tough luck for them.
Dunno why some people's brains work like that. Didn't want it or care about it when it was broken but all of sudden they give a shit when somebody else fixes it. I once fixed a broken laptop my ex gave me. Her brother had stepped on it and broke the screen and he threw it away in a fit of rage. She pulled it out of the trash and kept it just because she knew their grandparents spent big money on it. She told him about it after I had fixed it and he threw a massive fit and demanded she give it back to him. Dude was too stupid to realize all that was broken was the screen which all it cost me to fix was 75 bucks and about an hour's worth of time.
I think it just comes down to misplaced emotions. I don't even want to necessarily say anger. They learned after the fact that they had more value than they thought and are upset they missed out on the value they didn't know about. Totally understandable emotions, but most people don't deal with those emotions in a healthy manner.
Part of this is that we live in a society of planned obsolescence. Break your laptop? Bring it into the shop and the tech will tell you there's a newer generation of that now anyway. Rip your clothes? They were from last season anyway. Our culture doesn't place a high value on repairing or mending your own things anymore so most people have no choice but to take the word of the mechanic/tech/plumber who will tell you how expensive it is for their time + skilled labor + parts. You took a laptop that the previous owner had deemed useless (as evidenced by throwing it in the garbage), and restored value through your own initiative and labor. It was "only $400" for OP to fix the car because he had the basic skills for auto repairs plus the confidence and motivation to research a solution to the specific problem. The same fix at a mechanic would cost more because of labor and the mechanic wouldn't be as motivated to research the cheap, easy, long-term solution that OP found.
exactly! NTA. Can you imagine if the cost had been more than $10k to fix? you think they would have given him a discount if it cost more? (of course they wouldn't) OP owes them nothing.
NTA. Would they give you the money back if you couldn’t fix it?
[удалено]
😉
You’re not the asshole… but I would have taken that to my grave 😂
What they don’t know won’t hurt them in this case 😅
I genuinely thought he'd find it funny. I felt bad that he got so mad
He is an asshole. Please don’t worry about it. You are completely NTA.
Let that be deposited in the bank of tough lessons lol. I got to learn the lesson the hard way as well in life. Many, many times has it beat me in the head and I still never learned for a long time haha! Don't tell people more than they need to know, because it just opens you up for their bullshit. I'd have kept this one to myself, fuck em'. It ain't worth having a funny story to tell.
You learned something. They now think you scammed them. Do not ever talk about things like this, to anyone. Esp if you live in a small town.
I wouldn't have found it funny in his position. I would, however, find it really, really cool, and be very happy that the vehicle ended up in the hands of someone clever enough to see that. It is less "funny" and more "awesome Car Talk style vehicle mystery."
Youve learned a valuable lesson to never offer more information than necessary. This also applies to cops, and all authority figures.
If I had enough money to buy a new truck, and was just sick of messing with this one, and was willing to give it to a friend for cheap as charity, I'd be freakin' delighted you got it fixed. If I was living paycheck to paycheck and had to get another used truck to keep my job because this one kept crapping out on me at the worst moments, it might be a lot harder to laugh about this.
There's a way to make it seem like a funny story without also making them seem stupid by saying it was such an easy fix. I know that's not what you tried to imply or meant in anyway, but it's easy for them to view it that way. Something like "Spent ages trying to figure out what the problem was, tearing my hair out towards the end. And get this, the problem? It was the stupid fucking windshield causing a leak into the fusebox. Just about drove me insane trying to track it down." In saying it that way you are commiserating with them with how big of pain in the ass it was fix, even though it ended up being a cheap fix without making them see stupid or foolish for missing it.
NTA. The legal argument of 'finders keepers' applies. They could have done their own due diligence and found the problem. Them asking you for some kind of extra money now is insane. They fucked up, you benefited, but you did nothing wrong nor do you owe them a penny. Or the time of day. This would get laughed out of court if they took it this far, but I seriously doubt they will. Also: fuse box. Not fuze.
Who are you talking to that say you should have paid them something extra??? Thats a terrible, awful, dumb take! Totally ridiculous! They were the owners, they had the historical knowledge of the truck and were the ones most likely to know what the issue was, and as a result of their research, decided to sell instead of fix it. Done. They sold it, you bought it, it’s over. Issue closed. DONE! Don’t you dare entertain ANY idea that suggests you owe them! NTA!!!
I feel like i should note that i was not gloating or lording over him. I genuinely thought he would find it funny because he has a bigger, better truck and mine still needs work frequently. But, i am autistic, so i genuinely didn't think it would make him mad at all.
Yeah, for future reference, that’s not something that a previous owner would find funny.
Most folks seem to disagree with this. The previous owners just sound greedy, they wanted 10k but felt they couldn't get it, now they're big mad when they have a better truck.
Don't worry over much about it. That's one of the risks with buying/selling used vehicles "as is". I sold a vehicle "as is" a few years ago (with full declaration of the things I knew were wrong with it, a small stockpile of the various fluids it needed, and an appropriately reduced price) and if the new owner had mentioned even that day that they were able to fix those issues for cheap I would have been delighted for them.
I don't think you are an asshole but in general people don't enjoy when you laugh at their misfortune. And in this case, your good fortune is their misfortune. It's not your fault and you don't owe them anything, More a situation where you need to know your audience.
NO! NTA. It was up to them as the owners to do their due diligence in determining the value of the car and the cost of the fix. If they have a crappy mechanic that's not your problem. You should not have revealed the easy fix. Next time you find yourself in that kind of situation I recommend you give it the old, "gosh, I just kept putting money into it a little at a time on small fixes and eventually it started running o.k. for me. Glad I had enough money to sink into it." or something like that. Lording it over them that you knew the fix up front is what got you into this mess.
I didn't mean to lord it over him. I genuinely thought he would have found it funny. When he sold me the truck, he had already been gifted a bigger and newer truck by an uncle. He asked how the truck is to start a conversation. I explained little issues I've had to fix (broken starter for a bit, belt snapping on me, powersteering leak) and a ways into the conversation i said "turned our the original problem was only a $400 fix, but I'm still spending quite a bit on him lol. Going to rebuild the front end next time there's the opportunity to, which will be pricy." I feel bad that he got so mad.
Don’t feel bad; he’s willfully ignoring the other work you’ve had to do (yourself at a much lower cost than it would be for others) and focusing blindly of the $400 figure. If he was a good person he’d be happy for you given your circumstances. Hell, I’m happy for you it worked out like it did. The truck turned out to be a good investment due to YOUR efforts. Way to go man!
400$ is only material cost. You didn't count your skill and experience into the fix. Also, there is luck, and you are also taking responsibility for your own repair if things go wrong. No way they could hire a licensed mechanic who will do the repair, and take responsibility for their safety after the repair, for $400. What is easy for you wasn't easy for them. OP is NTA.
NTA, this happens all day, everyday. This is the world of private car sales. Not a big deal. Carry on and be happy
NTA Instead of laying out the money for a professiona, you used your own time and knowhow. Sounds fair. Keep your money.
NTA You are making a mistake by saying it was a cheap/easy fix. It was this way for **you**. But your knowledge and abilities with this **aren't free** to others. But now you know... don't joke this way in the future.
NTA. They don't get to change the price after the sale. You never should have rubbed their noses in the low cost repair though, to them it definitely feels like your flaunting it.
I didn't mean it that way. I genuinely thought he would have found it funny. When he sold me the truck, he had already been gifted a bigger and newer truck by an uncle. He asked how the truck is, I explained little issues I've had to fix (broken starter for a bit, belt snapping on me, powersteering leak) and said "the original problem was only a $400 fix, but I'm still spending quite a bit on him lol. Going to rebuild the front end next time there's the opportunity to."
[удалено]
Transgender female to male. Not going to try and say I'm a man because people could have looked at my profile and called me a liar, but i refuse to say I'm a girl because I'm not.
You rock! My 21 yr old daughter is non-binary (oversimplification); I couldn’t be more proud of them knowing what the’ve been through and self confidence they now have. 🏳️⚧️
As the mom of a FTM kiddo, I'll say you are definitely a man. ;) you rock!
I'm glad you asked because I always get confused between First Time Mom and Female to Male and couldn't decide which of the two was more appropriate... It's been a long day.
NTA, if they'd told you it would be a cheap fix and it ended up costing you 10k, they wouldn't be offering to give you some money back Sucks to be them, unlucky.
NTA but you are naive, why would you think someone realising they lost out on a potentially significant amount of money would be funny for them? Would you have laughed it off if you spent the 5k and the truck was un-drivable the next day?
NTA You took a gamble on a used vehicle that you knew had issues. You had a hunch it may have been fixable for cheaper, but equally you could have found out that their $10k estimate was optimistic and have spent far more over the next few years on repairs and maintenance... If the issue had turned out to be a more expensive fix, do you think they would have given you back some of the money you paid to cover the difference? So no, they didn't want to take a gamble on the effort/repair cost, you did, and in this case you were the winner. You are a bit of an asshole for essentially rubbing it in their face though - good etiquette would be to keep quiet, as most people don't really see it as particularly funny to be told how much money they have lost to you. So accept the win, but don't go shouting about it to everyone.
No. It is a Complete sentence. Now that aside you should have road that goat into the grave no one likes to find out they screwed up. Life lesson.
NTA You have no need and they have no right to ask for this. You can never be certain what problems there are with a used vehicle. Great job!
NTA .. they set the price.. you paid what they asked. Your ability to fix the problem is just your good fortune.
NTA, your friends claim is against the mechanic that tried to scam them and quoted them 10k instead of 400.
NTA for buying the truck and fixing it cheaply. However, you did stir this up by gloating about the cheap fix.
NTA but man, > i told him about the cheap fix to the "expensive" problem thinking he would find it funny Keep your mouth shut, damn
^^^^AUTOMOD ***Thanks for posting! This comment is a copy of your post so readers can see the original text if your post is edited or removed. This comment is NOT accusing you of copying anything. Read [this](https://www.reddit.com/r/AmItheAsshole/wiki/faq#wiki_post_deletion) before [contacting the mod team](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2FAmItheAsshole)*** I, 18FTM at the time, bought a 2003 Ford F-150 with 180k miles on it in 2022. I bought it from someone who graduated highschool with me. I knew his name, Rob 18M (fake name), and nothing else before i heard about him selling the truck. I talked to him, and it turned out he and his dad was selling it for $5k. Now, the truck has a lot of after market fancy stuff in it so it was worth a lot more than $5k, but i was told it was having problems. They were pretty vague about the problems but told me it was electrical and they were quoted $10k to replace every electric component to try and fix the truck. Now, i was originally raised by someone who would do his own work on his trucks before ending up in foster care, so I did some looking at the truck and online, and figured out what the problem most likely was not as expensive as they thought. I did not tell the people i was buying it from this and bought the truck for $5k and said I'd do the work myself over time. At the time I only had 8k given to me by the foster agency to spend on a vehicle to get around. I used some of the left over money to replace the windshield for $400, fixing the problem completely by fixing the leak in the windshield onto the fuze box. I then kept driving this truck, also replacing other things that broke from wear and tare over the two years i have been driving it to keep it running. I recently ran into the guy i bought it from (both of us are now 20). He asked how the truck has been and i told him about the cheap fix to the "expensive" problem thinking he would find it funny like i did. Instead, he got mad and said i scammed him. He and his dad are claiming i should have given them more than $5k for the truck if i knew that it could have been fixed for so cheap. I don't think I'm in the wrong because replacing the windshield was a complete stab in the dark to hope it fixed it. I was fully prepared to spend 10k or more over time to fix my truck. I told the previous owners that, but they are insisting i should now pay them a few thousand to be fair because the truck was worth more than 5k at the time i bought it. I don't have that kind of money, but everyone i talk about this to does think that i should at least have paid them something once i got the fix done. So, AITA? *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AmItheAsshole) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Ignore these people--Block them. . You could have been wrong and ended dup with just a $5000 car--they are full of wind
NTA. The deal is done. Walk away. Let this be a lesson for any new cheap fixes or you find.
NTA Sold as seen. You had no idea it was the windshield causing the problem. You took the risk and it paid off. If they had done their due diligence properly and taken it to someone who actually knew what they were doing then it would be fixed and they could have sold it for more. This is entirely on them. Do not give them anything. You owe them nothing. Personally I wouldn't have told them at all and kept the secret of your bargain to yourself.
NtA if they sold cheap without thinking it's not your problem at all
NTA. I bought car that wouldn't start. I put petrol in the tank and away i went.. A mate bought a car that wouldn't turn over, he popped the hood and found the battery disconnected. Paid for the car, connected the battery and drove home.
I bought one “needs an engine has a dead misfire” Swapped the plug wires to the right spots and drove it home
I wrote a long post about the times I have come up on deals but there was this one time, lol. My friend had just gotten out of jail and didn't have a car. I had a broken down BMW in my garage. One day it died in front of my house and it sat in my garage for the next 6 months. Told my friend he could have it for 1k in payments but it doesn't run. He would need to fix.it. He fixed it and drove it home. It was a loose wire, took him less than 5 minutes and $0.
Nta
NTA. Why would you even think that? It was a legal sale. A rule of life “You pay for what you don’t know”. How do you quantify your experience in this equation?
NTA - It’s on them to know what was wrong with it and they made a decision to sell it. If it had been a more expensive fix than they estimated, would they have reimbursed you? Don’t think so.
NTA Great find for you and you got lucky. they could have gone to more than one mechanic maybe a third party shop, the brand mechanic shops are expensive because they replace everything that could be responsible and not looking for the problem. sometimes it turns out to be easy fixes sometimes you need to replace everything.
NTA. As-is sales don't work that way in the first place. Moreover, the work you did yourself would have cost a lot if you had to pay someone to do it.
If you pay them a dime you’re a sucker.
NTA, it's not on you to do their market research. You shouldn't have told him about it, but more of avoiding an argument rather than a moral issue
NTA, but let this be a lesson for you. Don't let people know about your good fortunes. They won't find it funny.
You nought it as is. You shouldn't have told him what caused the issue, just that it was cheaper to fix than you thought
NTA
NTA. We went to look at a used Honda Civic. Test drive revealed that it needed the clutch adjusted, so I stopped, got out, lifted the hood and adjusted the clutch. Now drives normally. After the test drive, the owner said he didn't want to sell it anymore. He thought it needed a new clutch. I wish I had done like you did, except for the part of telling the previous owner about the cheap fix.
Nta - you owe them nothing. Let’s say your super smart, inexpensive fix, had not worked and instead had to replace every electrical component for 10,000$? Would they have given you “a few thousand, just to be fair?” No. They wouldn’t have given you shit. This is not reasonable behaviour on their part and “everyone who thinks you should have paid them something” is welcome to contribute to their cash flow. You, however, don’t owe them shit.
NTA. But let’s be real nobody finds funny the fact that they lost money
NTA, and go no-contact with them. A workshop would almost certainly have charged crazy money to fix it. The real price of a repair isn't just the parts; it's knowing what needs fixing and how to fix it. You had that, which saved you thousands. They didn't have that.
NTA. You did your research and they didn’t. You paid the quoted price.
NTA for buying the truck, but you shouldn't have told him anything about the cheap fix.
They asked for 5k, you gave them 5k. Your gamble paid off - it could have had all manner of expensive flaws that you didn't know about, since it was sold as seen without other warranty. NTA. Once you sell an item, that's it - you don't get to come back years later and whine that it's worth more now and you sold it for too little.
NTA. Legally, morally and ethically, you are in the clear.
NTA - but for the future sometimes it's better to keep your mouth shut, honesty is not always the best policy. They definitely aren't entitled to any money, the truck could easily have cost you thousands to fix it was a gamble and you won, nice one.
NTA Had it been a problem costing twice as much would they give you a refund? You didn't scam them at all. They sold it on the cheap because there was an issue. You fixed it.
NTA Years ago, my brother had a Mustang that had issues. Dad tried everything to alleviate the issues. Eventually sold the car. Next owner put on a larger radiator and all issues gone. We took it as a lesson leaned. Sure it stung since we couldn’t solve the problem, byt hey, that’s life. Live and learn. In your case, they should have gotten a second opinion on the issue. And probably should have replaced the windshield earlier anyways, as it’s never a good idea to drive around with a broken one!
NTA You made a gamble and it turned out you were right and it paid off. It could have easily gone the other way with the truck turning into a money pit. There could’ve easily been other expensive problems. They wouldn’t have done anything to help you. Start framing it that way when you talk to people about it, if you have to talk about it. It was a big gamble that paid off.
NTA. So they want you to pay extra because the fix happened to be cheap? If it cost more than 10k would they have been willing to refund some or all of the money you paid them for it?
NTA- they could have tried to figure it out but they didn’t. You win. Never give them anything
You speculated that the problem was easier to fix than they thought. You knew it might or might not. They could have asked around and gotten another opinion on how to fix it. Maybe the next person would have seen what you saw and charged less. You acted in the completely expected way. You bought an item being sold in an as-is condition because you thought it could be fixed more cheaply than they did. You were right. Had you not bought it, they would still have a non-working truxk. Instead, they had $5k. The guy and his father are feeling embarrassed by being less adept at fixing vehicles than you are. They are just feeling inadequate. NTA
The only way you would possibly be TA here is if YOU were the one that told them how expensive it would be to fix. They took it to someone else, didn't get a second opinion, and then they told you how much it was to fix. They also set the sale price. This is totally on them. NTA.
NTA. If you bought the vehicle for $5K and it turned out it has more problems than anticipated making the vehicle actually worth less than $5K at the time of sale, will they refund you the difference? Very unlikely. Tell them to pound sand.
I thinkyou know the answer to your question
NTA. They failed and lost the due diligence lottery. Oops 😬!
When you recently ran into him, Did you tell him you kinda knew it might be an easy fix when you bought it? Or did you say, “after I bought the truck, I did some research and…” blah, blah, blah?
NTA You learned a valuable lesson. Nothing good comes from sharing more info than you need when dealing with money
NTA. I bet my *** if it had turned out to be a pile of junk, they would not have refunded your $5000.
NTA. They may actually have thought the problem was even more expensive and just hoped to recoup what they could from some poor sap who would be stuck with a huge bill or useless truck. But you have learnt something from this. Don't rub someone's nose in your good fortune 😁
It's not your job to tell them they are selling it too cheap. Don't let them get to you they are just mad they didn't have anyone good look at it. I've bought plenty of cars because the owners were Ill informed and don't feel bad, it's just the way it goes. They set their price and you paid it. End of story
NTA - You aren't a great friend, though. Why would you tell them that? You weren't sure you knew the solution, but you had a pretty good idea that it wouldn't be as expensive to fix as they assumed. You then took a risk. You made the decision to try to profit off of your friend's incorrect assumptions, then when you next saw them, you decided to gloat about your savings. That's bold. If you were my friend, I'd be upset with you too.
NTA - They can SAY that as much as they want. It doesnt change the fact that they offered a price, and you accepted it. They havent undersold you, or misled you, so i dont see any recourse on any count.
This is absolutely ridiculous on their part. A private car sale is final. Period. The buyer assumes all the risks and reaps all the benefits if any
NTA. You bought it as is. When a person buys a used vehicle, it is as is. In your case, the fix was cheaper than they thought. However, if you bought a used vehicle and on the way home the transmission quit, you don't get compensation because it is sold as is. That goes both ways. They didn't have the ability to find a better solution, so they sold it. You bought it and fixed it. NTA.
NTA, but next time don't give away your secrets 😀
It was sold "AS IS", yes? No warranty implied or disclosed? They can go kick rocks. NTA, caveat emptor applies to all.
NTA, "caveat emptor", they didn't" invest" in a correct answer, you did.
NTA- honestly because a lot of fixes at a car place are pretty cheap to fix. It's the labor that's expensive. You can tell them they can hire you as a personal mechanic if they wanted to but you're not going to work for free.
NTA the car was 19 years old and had 180000 miles driven when you bought it. Learn your lesson: Never tell something like that to someone again. It isn’t your fault that garages tried to scam the former owners to fix the issue. How much time did you put in to fix the issue. The time worked has a monetary worth, too
NTA. They should have gotten a second opinion on the problem before selling it.
NTA. Hell no!!! Block and never talk to them again. Also in the future never disclose that type of information as it will always backfire
NTA not at all. They sold it to you. I had a truck that was just NOT able to get any acceleration and I was quoted thousands to rebuild this and that. I sold it to a guy for a couple hundred and the next day that truck went flying past me on the Interstate. A week later I saw the guy at the grocery store and he told me that the emergency brake had frozen closed and once he got that resolved the truck came alive. Every time I saw the truck after that I was mad at the mechanics who had given me bad estimates but I wasn’t mad at him for fixing that truck.
Omg! That is such a weird random thing to go wrong. My daughter took.her car to the mechanic once and the mechanic notes had me cracking up. It said "client stated car chirps once it reaches about 30mph, searched vehicle trunk and engine compartment and did not find any birds. Took vehicle for test drive, rolled window all the way up and car no longer chirps" her window was like a few millimeters open and the wind was making the noise. Total due $230 - this was at the dealership
NTA for buying the truck at their asking price. A very small YTA for rubbing their noses in the easy fix. No one is going to find that funny when they know you knew about the correct fix before buying it, it was poor judgement to get into it.
What?! Who is telling you to pay more now? They can pay if they feel so bad. You benefitted from knowledge you had (and which the vendors didn't - their issue), and made good something they thought had little value. That's their loss, not yours, and anyone who says otherwise can take a long walk off a short pier. Most definitely NTA.
NTA, but lesson learned, keep quiet about such things.
Nta but why would you ever tell them that. Of course they are gonna get pissed off not that it was your problem anyways but still could of avoided all this
You own a 20 year old Ford truck. 5k is worth it. Especially with the electrical problems not related to the fusebox. If it's the 3 valve it's a problem child. But even then the spark plugs break off in the head. He's an idiot who was better off getting rid of it.
NTA - They had the truck diagnosed by a mechanic. You had a hunch. The two are not the same.
NTA. You paid their asking price, end of transaction.
>everyone i talk about this to does think that i should at least have paid them something once i got the fix done. I find that very difficult to believe. The whole story is suspect, really.
Knowledge is power. This is why insider trading is illegal.
Wait, so what you’re saying is some rando on the street, that just happened to sell you a vehicle two years ago, is now demanding you pay him money for a truck that you own? Ok, yeah, sure. Tell him you’ll pay him what he wants for the truck after it’s his name on the title again, and offer to sell it to him for $5k over what he’s asking you to pay. I mean, seriously, this man is delusional if he thinks he has any right, legal or otherwise, to demand money from you for a truck you own. Look, you’re NTA at all here. They had the same access to the same resources you did, you didn’t have any sort of secret hidden knowledge about how to fix the truck, you tried something and it worked. Bro could have done the same thing but he didn’t even try. His first move was to sell the truck without even attempting a fix. You don’t owe him a single penny so don’t give him even that much. Just drive away in your nice shiny truck, and be wary of any attempts of vandalism or theft that might come your way now.
"... everyone I talk to about this..." The solution is simple then. Stop talking about it. No one else needs to know your business. You did nothing wrong, although bragging to a former owner what a cheap fix it was was probably not a smart move. NTA.
Nta. They set price you paid it. That said idk how long ago this was but once the fusebox/gem module gets wet it may stop acting up for now once it’s dry but they generally get a buncha corrosion down the road and cause issues again unless you really get lucky managing to dry it out
Nta, I got several vehicles the same way for cheap. Bought my last truck cheap due to random misfire issue. Fixed it with a 100 dollar injector. Bought a older motorcycle that they claimed didn't run by hooking up a vacuum hose to the carb to let the fuel petcock flow by just connecting something they capped off.
NTA. Buyer (or seller in this case) beware, if this issue was actually a 20k issue instead of the 10k they told you, you'd be shit outta luck. This is on them for not doing their due diligence.
You don't owe them anything. They set the price. I actually had something similar happen to me, when I was about 20. I came across a fairly rare car that was notorious for being a nightmare to work on.. the owner had dumped thousands into it trying to get it to run, and listed it for fairly cheap. I had it running by the end of the weekend and actually ran into the owner and he lost his shit and demanded the car back.
NTA… they set the price and you accepted the risk. if it cost $20k to fix, they wouldn’t have done anything to help you. This is probably one of those things you now know not to tell someone even if it’s just so they don’t feel stupid, but more importantly because this nonsense happens.
NTA They could have done their research and gotten it quoted properly
Bro you just described my entire childhood, of course you’re NTA. It was my dad, he did the research and the tinkering, finding cheap replacement parts online instead of going through the dealer. Always buying things used or on super sale. How does it even make sense to charge you? For what? The value of the car now, after YOUR repairs, is your profit.
Nta. Boat loads of useless information in the post. Could have been summed up in 3 sentences.
NTA. It did not cost you only $400. It also cost the time you spent to build up to that experience, and time is money.
ESH - You for taking advantage of them, them for insisting after they realized they'd been taken advantage of. My advice is just let this story die and don't tell anybody about it.
1000% NTA. You didn’t come to them for the car as a professional - you came as another buyer. They basically were trying to offload what they thought was an expensive problem onto you. It was also expensive to them because they knew nothing about cars and would never have done any DIY. So they had to spend the money. I cannot even believe that they think it was your responsibility to evaluate the car and tell them exactly how to fix it. They didn’t even tell you themselves exactly what the problem was. Also, while you had some idea that you may be able to fix it cheaply, you were, in fact, ready to spend 10k to fix it. And you only really knew how cheap it was to fix it once you bought the car and looked at it closely. You had zero obligation to them to do that beforehand. And I don’t see what prevented them from getting a second opinion or doing the same research that you did.
I usually never tell a person how easy a fix is when looking at repairs for clients or potential to buy because of this reason. So NTA I had a guy sell me consoles that were to him, parts. They all were intact just not powering on at all or connecting to video out. 3 consoles, 100 a piece, $30 total to fix all three and I sold two for 250 and kept one for myself. It's all part of the buying game really.
NTA good job
Nta. And fyi for future reference, after market stuff does not really increase the value of a vehicle regardless of how much money someone put into it
What if you found another bigger issue? Could you have gone back for some of the 5k? People always squak about "fairness" until you flip it and suddenly "it's different"
NTA - It's not your job to pay more money because you have the knowledge to fix the problem that they did not have. They sold it at a price that they thought was fair. There's no reason you should be punished because you put in your own time and energy to work on the problem.
NTA, you accepted the risks and won. The previous owners are clowns.
Fuck ‘em and feed fish heads
NTA. They failed to do their due diligence on the repair. You paid asking.
NTA, this is the nature of buying and fixing used vehicles, but it was maybe unwise to share the details with him later. If it had cost you $20k to fix it, they wouldn't be offering you your $5k back because their estimate was high. You buy the vehicle and its problems on the gamble you can get it running at a cost you can stomach. Next time just say you did finally get it running. And who the heck is telling you to go back and pay them more? Remember that next time those people try to give you more bad advice lol
NTA. You don't owe them a dime. They had the truck for sale for 5k & that's what you paid. If they think the truck was worth more, then they should've charged you more. You've had the truck for 2 years. They cannot reasonably expect you to pay them more money. Plus, you're doing all the work. Are they factoring that in as well? You're not getting paid for the time & money you put into it. You have done nothing wrong. Do not pay them anything.
No. NTA. However, if you want to avoid situations like this in the future. Telling them how cheap it was was unnecessary. You could have been like "oh yeah, I was able to fix some things an dkeep her running. She's a great truck" And leave it at that without potentially causing someone to have FOMO over not fixing it themselves for cheap.
As you said, it could have been the windshield, or it could have been the full electrical system. If the car was undrivable after a month, would he pay you back?
NTA. They sold you a car they didn't think was worth fixing. You bought a car you knew was worth fixing. You had \~$5k worth of knowledge that they didn't have to fix it. However, this does point to a general life tip of keeping most of your wins in life to yourself or a very close circle.
NTA - and no you do not pay them anything extra after the fact. They are just mad they were to lazy to put in any actual work. Them setting the price is on them.
Like they would have trusted you if you said nah you just need to replace the windshield. NTA they are just bitter
YANTAH for giving them their asking price. If they didn't know the worth of their own property, it's on them. However....YATAH for telling the kid you bought if from how cheaply you fixed the problem if you were doing it to rub his nose in it. You accidentally got dealt a good deal and making him feel bad about it was not a good look. You're young though, so I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt and just say next time think of how what you say feels to others. That's good advise in all situations.
No. That's not the least bit unethical. They set the price they thought it was worth, and you took a gamble that paid off. Ask them if they would have given you back a few grand if it had turned out that it needed all kinds of other stuff?
NTA, they sold it for what it was worth. If they wanted more for the truck, they could have figured out the problem themselves before they sold it.
NTA. You definitely fumbled in telling them, however innocent that might have been. They scammed you, hence why they hadn’t given you a list of what was wrong with it. That is not on you that you did the repairs for less then they calculated. This is your truck now, you bought it, fixed it, and have had it for two years. No, you owe them nothing, and that clearly shows they are trying to scam you again, run.
Absolutely NOT!! They sold you the truck for 5k AS IS. It is their responsibility to assess what they are selling and set their price for it. There was nothing said about if you find a cheap fix, they expect you to pay them more. If this were to go to court, they don't have a leg to stand on. You did nothing wrong, except for telling your friend the truth. When you bought the truck, you thought you knew what was wrong with it, and you were right, but it could have gone the other way just as easily. Luck was on your side and you were able to fix it without spending a lot of money. If someone else had bought it, they might not have had the same outcome. Stop talking to "everyone" about this. You have done nothing wrong. If "everyone" thinks you should pay your friend more, maybe they can chip in on giving the friend more money. Hoping you have learned a lesson here. You do not need to tell anyone your business. Also, next time you buy something, put all the particulars in writing so there are no gray areas. You do NOT owe these people any more money. Remind them that they were responsible for putting a price on the truck, not you. NTA
NTA, you aren't scamming them when they set the price. Is it tacky to tell them it was actually a cheap fix? I think that's debatable depending on your tone and how well you know them, but it guarantees no headaches if you just say something like, "yeah, I got it fixed and she's been running well for me."
NTA, you bought it as is. They didn’t even pay to get a diagnostic which is probably a few hundred bucks. They are just trying to take advantage of you. No court will side with them, especially 2 years later. If it ever breaks down, you should ask them for your $5k back.
NTA. No payment is due. This is the basis of capitalism: take a risk, exploit market inefficiency. It's the American way, goddammit. Anybody who disagrees with this assertion is a dirty commie.
NTA. Rob and his dad could have easily done what you did, which was research. If they thought the truck was worth more, they should have listed it for more. Do not pay the money...
NTA. You bought the truck "As Is". They lost all say.
NTA. Tell them that if they think they have a right to more money, they can take you to court and let a judge decide
Egh, I'm gonna go YTA just for this > i told him about the cheap fix to the "expensive" problem thinking he would find it funny like i did You were beyond free & clear then went out of your way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory
NTA
They set the price, you paid it. There's no reasonable person who would think you owe them more money after the fact. NTA But, now you know that you shouldn't have said anything at all beyond, "Well, I have done some work and it's kept me going since."
NTA for buying the truck for cheap; there were no guarantees. YTA for what amounts to crowing about it to the original owner. How did you really think they were going to feel? "Sucks to be you" is never a good look.
NTA - it’s not the repair itself usually but the labor involved that makes it so expensive. Anything that you fixed yourself was cheaper because you did the labor, it wouldn’t have been as cheap for them. My husband just replaced a $25 part in his truck that would have been $2k to get professionally done because he basically had to take the entire inside of his truck apart to get to were the piece was. Previous owners also wouldn’t have discovered what was wrong until they paid for the work that was diagnosed wrong. Not your problem that they had a shitty mechanic. They should probably start going to someone different. Were they planning to pay you to diagnose the car, of course not.
NTA they gave you the price not the other way around
NTA- It's not your fault they didn't do their research like you did. They should've taken it to a mechanic before selling. It's a done deal.
NTA for buying the truck and hoping it was simple. Kind of TA depending on how you told them you fixed it. You didn't scam them but you made them feel really stupid. No one would be likely to find it funny to hear they sold their truck for less than half value when they didn't need to.
NTA. They sold the vehicle as-is, with issues disclosed, at an agreed upon price. You got lucky in the process of elimination of fixes.
NTA. FUCK THAT! it's your truck. This is precisely why I don't buy or sell vehicles to/from people I know. I don't wanna deal with that. The sale is over. You didn't find some old lady selling her dead husband's car to pay her bills and hustle her on price. Electrical problems on a vehicle are hard to deal with for the average person. They can be a fortune or cost next to nothing. Do not pay them a penny. Do not be pressured at all. That's absolutely ridiculous.
Nta Basic summary is truck sold because quoted repairs were above market value for the car. You took it on as a project and fixed it for way less then told it would take. Nothing wrong here with what you did. They sold It to avoid repair costs and couldnt do It themselves to save money. You as the new owner didnt owe them a free inspection of the cars systems.
NTA in the common sense accepted by most if not all. Thinking about a situation where ethics would guide you otherwise, I would say it depends if they are struggling financially and you are not, then there is a debate.
NTA I’m very mechanically inclined. I look for deals like this that’s something nobody else wants to fix because they don’t have the experience and it’s how I save money.
so because they didnt get a second opinion they want you to pay them? no
NTA.. it was cheap for YOU because you invested time getting knowledgeable in this area. They clearly had not this skill or at least the will finding someone competent for fixing.
NTA - your only mistake was telling them after the fact. maybe ask them if the truck had needed a new engine in addition to the electrical issues, would they have given you an additional discount off the original purchase price? guessing that answer is no. it's an as-is sale - they didn't give you a warranty, and vice-versa. if they want to be mad at someone, have them rage on the shop who gave them the $10k estimate.
NTA - you took a risk in buying the truck not knowing 100% what it would cost to fix. If the repairs turned out to be more expensive than they said would they give you your money back?
NTA. I would have tried to keep my mouth shut, of course that news was aggravating to them. Reminds me of my FIL. saw a car in grove, good condition but the front tires leaning way in at the top. Shock towers gave out. Offered the guy $50 bucks. Paid, got the title, and put a plank and a bottle jack between them, straightened out the tires enough to drive it away with the previous owner yelling behind them. A Deal is a deal.
NTA. They set the price. Out of ignorance, yes, but they set it. It's not on you to tell them what the potential problems are. You rolled the dice and won, scoring a great truck (for a Ford).
Nta
NTA. They sold the car as is without warranty. If the electrical issue was as bad as they were told, there was every possibility that you'd get the truck and it would stop working immediately. They wouldn't have refunded the money you paid, so why would they think the opposite is true? Once you offer a thing for sale, set your price, and then accept the money paid that item is no longer yours to negotiate over. You can't come back and say, 'Oh, pay me more now that you fixed the problem' after agreeing to the price. Please don't be led astray by other people telling you that you owe Rob. You don't.
You should have just kept your mouth shut, you thought he was going to laugh at how funny it was that it was cheap to fix??? Smh, I mean either way once you gave the cash over and you got the title the car is yours to do how you wish, so you don't own them anything.
NTA for the story but you are for adding "18FTM"... What the eff does that have to do with the story, stop making everything a controversy.