I shipped my car to it's new owner out of state only to hear that he is having problems with it now. The car was in perfect mechanical order when it left my driveway.

From what he has told me:

He took itout to get it smogged, lot of vibration and noise, drove for a couple of minutes, check engine light came on, engine cut out and died. Waited 30mins, restarted, would not go ino gear properly, loud clunking nosie, made it home slowly. There is now a fluid leak (not sure of location yet, but seems that it's at the rear...also no sure if the fluid leak was discovered before or after this mess)

He got the car on the 4th, so the shops he tried to get to were closed. He has not attempted to drive it since.

Obviously I'm going to try to work with him in getting the car properly checked out, but does anyone have an idea what the hell happened? The car was transported on an open trailer...could something have happened on the way?

I'm hoping all of this will resolve ok...he thinks I shipped the car to him already in this state. Definately not the case. I drove it onto the trailer myself and she ran fine.

 

Some photos he sent me:

 

That's the Diff. Look like it went out on him. As far as why the engine died....that i don't know. But the diff should be an easy fix.

 

So, you claim that you loaded the car yourself with a running engine, no CEL, and a good differential. He gets the car with a CEL, an idle problem, and a broken differential. Something isn't matching up here.

Either he got it on the 4th and decided to celebrate with some burnouts OR someone else drove the car before he was able to get to it.

How long did it take to ship to him? Were the miles on the car the same when he received it as when you dropped it off?

I had a car shipped to me once but it wasn't shipped straight to my door. When it arrived it was in a holding lot with a bunch of other cars, I had to go out and pick it up. The shipper obviously has the keys to the car and it could be days before they call you to tell you that it has arrived. Someone could have used that car for a couple days worth of joy riding. This is less likely if he had the car shipped straight to his door.

 

It left MO Monday morning and arrived in LV Wednesday morning. It was shipped from door to door. This all happened on he 4th. I'm not sure when during that day these probles occured...whether it was acting up when taking it off the trailer of if the car had been driven before the same day, hen went out again to get it smogged. He was buying he car for a graduation gift for his son (I think HS). I don't know all the details yet....it doesn't seem like he wants to talk on the phone. The car was definately fine when it left...why would I send a broken car 1500 miles and expect to get paid? That would be rediculous.

But back to the point: The clunking and fluid leak poin towards a broken diff. What about the CEL light and the car cuting out? Is that something that would go in hand with a blown diff or is it something else entirely?

 

I could be wrong but i don't think a broken diff will had any effect on the engine dying. My guess is that the father and son took the car out for a congratulation joy ride ....do some burn-out and raced the car from the dig(pretty much a regular symptom of a blown diff) and blew the diff(lead to clunking sound and leak)...and somehow acciddently mis-shift and over rev the engine badly(lead to cel and engine cut off and died). But then again...it could be you with all that symptom and you didn't know it before selling the car.....an honest mistake. That's just my guessing and not accusing on you or the father&son. Goodluck on settling the different between you and the buyer.

 

something sounds fishy here... it sounds like the owner was a little excited to get the car, F&*KED it up and now is trying to point the blame towards you.

it will be hard to fight this argument, because its not like he would have rack up 80+ miles on it. it only takes less than 5 miles to do that kind of damage.

GL bud.

 

The circumstances definitely lead me to believe that they messed with it.

This all suposedly happened on the 4th - Wednesday. I never recevied a call or email informing me of the problems until Friday. Even the first notification of a problem was from the escrow company we used informing me that the car had been rejected...this was on Friday. I had to contact the buyer to find out why only to have him tell me "I know why." On Saturday, he told me that "the car had major mechanical problems" and is going to be shipped back. Later in the day Saturday he described what happened (posted in my OP) and sent the photos I posted above. Why such a delay in talking with me about a problem? Did I mention that he won't pickup the phone to return my calls and my request to call? If it was an honest problem he encountered while driving, why wouldn't he call me right away? If he was responsible, I can definitely see why he would not want to disclose what happened until he figured out an excuse or cover up....play it of like it was sent that way.

The guy who drove the truck/trailer that transported the car was by himself...I had to drive the car up onto it because he had to spot it due to the car being so low. Thus, I don't think he would be able to pull the car off himself and take it for a joy ride and put it back on without making a mess of the front bumper.

I only have a $1000 deposit from the buyer...with the escrow company, the funds were to be released to me within 2 days of the delivery upon the buyers acceptance. Now that he has rejected it, it's up to him to pay to have it shipped back....he gets his ful payment back minus the deposit. It's not like I'm tring to run off with his money.

It definitel sounds like they took the car out, launched it hard enough to break the diff., and did something else in the same motion to cause the CEL (over-rev?). There's no way to prove he did it. The only way to prove I didn't send the car like this is a testament from the transport driver that the car drove fine when coming dpwn my driveway and onto the truck.

Right now, he wants to have the car shipped back and wants his deposit. I'll take it back, but there's no way he's getting his deposit back as far as I'm concerned. He has yet to have it looked at or make an attempt to do anything...besides getting rid of it.

 

What is a ballpark figure for a new rear differential and install?

Merged with existing thread

 

I read your other thread. What a jerk! They totally f'd it up! That really stinks.

A new diff and installation costs $3000 at a dealer.

If you buy a used one off ebay or from a "wrecking" company for ~$300-600, the dealer will install it for $300-400 or you can do it yourself in a day (there's an XViper DIY with pictures).