What are the options in CA to get rid of a parts car?

[Fastguy]

Long story short.
1. My nephew moved to LA, not a car guy.
2. My brother and I found him a decent 2005 Altima here, installed a brand new Nissan CA emissions compliant exhaust from engine to bumper, shipped the car there.
3. Car broke down, four incompetent dealers worked on it and eventually smoked the wiring harness.

Car isn't worth paying a dealer to fix and my brother just wants to cut his losses. Does CA have lemon laws or can you sell a car for parts?

[Bill]

If he is not a "car guy", or even if he is, I doubt he will want to put the car up on blocks in front of his house and sell parts off of it on Craigslist over then next year and a half. Maybe he does? If not, the options are: sell the car as is for whatever it will bring, or sell it as scrap.

I helped my business partner sell his daughter's POS Cavalier that had big time electrical gremlins by writing and posting an ad for it in the parts section of Craigslist as a complete car for parts, or to fix if the buyer was electrically inclined. A guy bought it for his own daughter, and I assume he got it going. Either way, we got rid of the car which was hogging space at our shop.

I seriously doubt there is a Lemon Law solution for a ten year old used car.


Edit: either way, note the car is being sold "as is, where is, no warranty expressed or implied," in writing, prominently, on the bill of sale.

[Jobaka]

Car isn't worth paying a dealer to fix and my brother just wants to cut his losses. Does CA have lemon laws or can you sell a car for parts?

Yes. (http://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/dmv/?1dmy&urile=wcm:path:/dmv_content_en/dmv/vr/checklists/junk)

[Fastguy]

Thanks, the car is at the dealer and they want it out, so I was thinking of just throwing it on Craigslist. In MA, there is a lemon law where people can scheme to screw you over a car that won't pass inspection. Just want to make sure CA doesn't have the same thing.
Basically, the battery cable corroded and broke, which caused the computer to burn up. Very common in this car, it takes the coils out, and then the ECU.
Even after asking the techs repeatedly if they checked the ground cable, they all said,
"DERP!, yes, we checked, DERP!"
After they burned up three computers, my nephew had it towed home, pulled the battery tray and found the main ground cable was completely corroded in half. When presented with this info, the dealer said,

"HERP A DERP, obviously you cut cable, DERP!"

So, after they tried to start the car a bazillion times with no ground, the wiring harness overheated and shorted somewhere.


This is the pic he sent me of what he found after removing the battery tray.

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b71/saltysearay/IMG_0166.JPG_zpsblbbmaxk.jpg

[Jobaka]

Looks like the CA version of the Lemon Law deals primarily with new cars and their manufacturers.

Definition of the Lemon Law.

The Department of Consumer Affairs Arbitration Certification Program is responsible for certifying and monitoring the arbitration processes used by participating manufacturers to resolve warranty disputes under California's Lemon Law. California's Lemon Law allows a consumer to obtain a replacement or repurchase of their vehicle, where the manufacturer is not able to conform the vehicle to its expressed warranty after a reasonable number of attempts while the vehicle is under the manufacturer's original warranty.

Consumers can receive a copy of "Lemon-Aid for New Car Buyers" in English or Spanish by calling (916) 323-7239 or the toll-free number at 1-800-952-5210, or writing to the Department of Consumer Affairs at:

DCA Publications
1625 N. Market Blvd., Suite N 112,
Sacramento, CA 95834.

Also looks like you can get a salvage title. That should prevent the buyer from making claims later.

Definition of a salvage vehicle.

A salvage vehicle is a vehicle that has been wrecked, destroyed, or damaged to such extent that the insurance company considers it uneconomical to make repairs to the vehicle and the vehicle is not repaired by or for the person who owned the vehicle when the damage occurred.

The California title will contain a notation identifying this vehicle as a salvage vehicle.

Source (http://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/dmv/?1dmy&urile=wcm:path:/dmv_content_en/dmv/vr/vr_info#BM2532)

[Madmikeee]

Just drop it off in east L.A. and walk away.

[Jobaka]

Just drop it off in east L.A. and walk away.

*run

[Fastguy]

$700 at the junkyard, what a waste. Gross incompetence of Nissan Techs, makes me shake my head.