Guys,

Just got a question about something that happened to me here in LC. I HAD a 94 Explorer, but sorta got sandwiched into having to let it go. Basically, I had some caliper issues with the right front wheel and had to pull into a local tranny shop. My mom was in the hospital here from Georgia with a heart attack and I couldn't do a whole lot. The guy said to replace the calipers, turn rotors, replace master cylinder, and possibly some kind of switch would run me about $500.00. Long story short, he asked if I wanted to sell my Exploder when I didn't want to spend this and I said sure for $600.00. Well, I know I should have said let me think about it. When I said yes, although I told him not to do work on it, he went ahead and did $700.00 of work and put a for sale sign on it for $2500.00. When I called and told him that I didn't want to sell, he basically told me that the truck is his even though we hadn't signed the title over to him and that he would win in court if necessary. I checked with the police and found that I either had to sell him the truck or pay him for the work even though I said I didn't want the work done.

Seems to me that this guy is using the law to his advantage. I realize that I should have not said yeah I'll sale it for this amount, but it seems to me that there should not be a law that allows someone to take advantage especially when the title has not been signed. This is just plain taking advantage of people in my view, and I'm sure it's possible he has pulled this tactic on others.

Let me know what you think.

micklskot

 

Report the truck stolen. You have the title, it's registered to you, he has no proof that you wanted to sell it to him... Unless he gave you the money and there is a bill of sale or somethin...

IDK... I'm just talkin...

 

Thanks for the reply. Unfortunately, I've already sold the truck to him. I take responsibility on my part for saying that I would sale it to him for $600.00, so from that standpoint, I went ahead and kept my word, however, I do feel that, morally, he was wrong to put me in that situation even if the letter of the law was on his side. I believe in grace for people as God does, but sometimes people are hard to find grace for their fellow man especially when they want something bad. I do feel that it is possible that he has done this to other people because of how quickly he put a for sale sign on my vehicle and fixed it against my request, but he was from the standpoint that once I said I would sale it, it was his and he could go ahead and fix it. He said the law sees it this way, too, which seems to me to be wrong as far as the law goes, and I believe that not all laws are just and should be fought when they are unjust.

Thanks for listening. I just wanted to warn others that there are people here in town that will do this type of thing. I will say one thing to his credit that he gave me an extra $200.00 which helped take away some of the bitterness I was feeling against him.

micklskot

 

I think he should have waited on fixing the Explorer until he had the signed title in hand. That way this mess would have been avoided. However, he is right. A verbal contract is still a contract. However, if there is no proof of said contract, his claim would hold no water in court. And, in order for him to perform work on your vehicle, you should have signed in writing an agreement to pay for the work performed. If you never signed the contract allowing him to do the work, once again, he has no leg to stand on. If you did sign it, you either pay for the repairs or he can legally put a lean on your title and eventually get a transferred title to the company name from the DMV.

At any rate. You did the right thing by manning up to your verbal contract and selling the rig and not causing a fuss over it. As you stated, you believe in Grace of God. That also tells me you believe in you reap what you sew (prolly spelled it wrong). So, don't fuss too much over it. Just sit back and let things unwind as they will and you will see what your reap is.

Good luck...

 

I learned in business law class that a verbal contract is invalid over a certain amount. In Virginia at the time the limit was $500. So even legally you might have been in the right. At least you got a fair price but did you really want to sell it originally? Since he fixed it without your permission and you had not sold it yet, I would have called the cops. So who did this to you?

 

I should have just said, "I'll think about it". That's where I went wrong. What I believe he did was morally wrong even if the letter of the law was on his side. If he was a man of integrity and uprightness, he would have said no problem, I understand, keep your truck. Hope you can fix it in time, but obviously, I had something he coveted or desired for his own personal gain.

I understand that people have desires and hopes for honest gain as I do, but his method of attaining something he wanted at my expense was not right, especially in the way he did to get it. I'm not ranting because I'm bitter about it because I carried through with my word by selling him the truck even though it pained me to do it. I wanted to do what was right even knowing that he was wrong morally and trapping me to take it from me by doing work I told him not to do. God is my judge and nothing escapes His eyes or knowledge. I don't wish bad for the guy. I really don't. I hope his conscience does get the best of him and that it drives him to ask forgiveness for what he did, and I told him this when I did the transaction. I told him that he was wrong to do work on the truck against my wishes, and that he should not ever again do work on someone's vehicle until he has the title signed over to him.

I'll not say the name of the tranny shop, but it is located in the vicinity west of New Mexico State University.

 

I don't know about all of the judgement and moral issues, but I have a spare set of keys to all of my vehicles and the minute he started making threats I'd a driven it off the lot in the middle of the night. (but us Navy guys are like that...)

 

Well, I'm an ex-squid myself and did 3 years with Uncle Sam's Misguided Children. No offense to you Devil Dogs.....

When I got to his 'place of business', he was in the process of taking the lock out of the door and replacing it. I actually stopped the locksmith from doing any further work on the truck. So, you can understand how I felt that he was changing the lock on the truck and didn't even have the title, yet. Bottom line is that he KNEW what he was doing, and he was up to no good. Figured he would make a quick amount of money. Since he knew the laws in his favor, he had me where he wanted me. Maybe I could have gone to court against him and won, but the bottom line is that I said I'd sell the truck to him for a certain price. That is where I made my mistake. My objective here is to warn other people on this site that live in Las Cruces that there are some people in this town that are NOT honest and willing to take advantage of a person, so beware. This is a transmission shop located off of main street located close to the university. That should give you an idea.

Also, his place has a fence around it which made it difficult to just get in the truck and drive off.

 

Bleh! I hate dishonest people. He knew he had you over a barrel and took advantage of the situation. Sorry that it happened.

How did you end up with a bunch of jar-heads?
Were you a medic?


If you ever decide that revenge is better than turning the other cheek... I would bet that there are one or two guys here that would take a road trip.... Just kidding.

BTW... How Did your Mom do? Is she OK?

 

Well, I was a RP3 (religious program specialist) for the US Navy Chaplain Corp. The USMC doesn't have it's own chaplains, so the Navy provides this and a bodyguard for chaplains (me), and in all reality although the Marines won't admit it, they really need the Navy.

A buddy of mine that I went through Navy basic with in Orlando was also an RP. While we were both in A school, we both agreed to volunteer to serve with the Marines, so off we went to Camp Geiger, Camp Lejeune for our 0311 MOS (Grunt) training. After we finished our training (both were in the same company, but different platoons), he stayed at LeJeune and I headed off for Okinawa to 1st MAW. I liked it so much I extended for two more years for a total of 3 years with MACG-18. Have really good memories and good friends although living in the Marine barracks and tripping over constant beer cans on the floor drove me crazy at times also the constant thumping of stereo systems. Those were good times and good memories.

Thanks for asking about my mom. She is really doing well considering the heart attack. She's back in Georgia, and has actually given up smoking now along with my stepdad.

Believe me, I'm an easy going guy, but I was really upset with that guy, and if anyone would have been justified dropping him on his head, I would have been, however I like my freedom.

I have an understanding about why people do what they do, and I've made my mistakes, too. Some people just have a more natural tendency to gravitate towards doing wrong than others do, or the weight of what they do wrong is far greater than the wrongs that others do. Ultimately, I believe that God is the judge and will judge us accordingly and justly. In his timing, he'll deal with wrongs as he see fits, so this is what keeps me sane in this sometimes crazy world we live in.

Take care and look me up if you're down this way. I'll buy you a beer.

Mike

 

After reading your post I dont see where there was a verbal contract. Did you say I so and so will sell you so and so this vehicle for x amount at a later time. You mearly implied that it could be sold to him. And did you sign a work order? If not he can not hold you to the repairs as a signed work order is all that permits him to disturb you property and seek payment after said repairs. he simply bullied you into a ssale because you were miss informed about the laws, and under added stress with your mother.

All that being said, Bless you for your service to our country and it's fine soldiers.
And good job not rearanging this guys face.

 

Bigunred,

Thanks for your comments. Yep, I was under some stress at the time, but I did in fact say that I would sale him the truck for $600.00 - no doubt about this. This is where I should have said, "I'll think about it". I did speak with a police officer on the phone here in Las Cruces, and although I know the police officer is not a lawyer, she did say that I made a verbal contract, so knowing in my mind that I said yeah, and knowing that our yes should be yes, and our no should be no, I felt I needed to keep my word despite the fact I knew he was doin' me wrong. I've learned something from this, and believe I'll receive a greater blessing later. I happen to believe that verbal contracts are what made our country great from the start, and although I understand the importance of a written contract, it just makes things better when people keep their words. Just have to keep the mouth shut until I know exactly what I want to do. Even though I wanted to just walk away and say, kiss my @ss, I knew I'd be doing wrong.

Thanks again for your comments about service to the country which I enjoyed as well as a bunch of other guys here on this site, but I know others had really hard times that they don't want to remember. I also thank them for their sacrifices. I just wish we would really return to being the Republic that we once were by following the Constitution of the United States and letting the states handle the majority of government.

I don't like the fact that our service members are sent to fight battles when we haven't even declared war, or the fact that they serve at times under foreign officers, and then they come back home and the federal government doesn't take care of their medical needs the way they should. This isn't right as we all know, but that's the way it is now in our upside down way of not following the Constitution. I just read the other day about a service member who came back home, and developed an infection after a VA operation. Instead of waiting the red tape and possibly losing his leg, he went outside of the VA and got a doctor in Tennessee to take care of him. The VA didn't want to cover the service members medical bills, so it took a state senator to get involved and 'influence' the VA to cover it. Unbelievable...but my grandfather faced the same stuff when he came back from WWII. They'll make you go, but then they don't want to give you adequate support after sacrifices. Priorities are wrong with the people in Washington DC.

 

I second those feelings about capitol hill.