Frame rust

3605debra

New Member
Joined
Oct 20, 2020
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4
Location
Mount Laurel, NJ
Hello! My son recently purchased a 1999 Wrangler TJ for $6,000. He was told at the time of purchase as well as in the ad that it didn’t have any frame rust. It was undercoated. However, now 2 weeks later he noticed that the undercoating was peeling and when he looked closer and peeled more of the undercoating off it was very bad. I’ve included pictures of a portion of the frame. Is there anything he can do to get any money from seller? It was taken to a Jeep frame repair shop and got a quote of $3,900.

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I wouldn't hold my breath. Private seller or dealer? What did the sale contract have for description.
It was a private seller and this was the ad description.

1999 Jeep Wrangler · Suv
100k+ miles
5 speed stick shift
3 roofs included, one brand new
Second owner
Many new parts including tires/upgrades
Winch
Off road jack
Cloth interior
6k firm
Call Sharon/Donny [hidden information]
Located in Wantage
Serious inquiries only
 
I'm no legal expert, but unless it was advertised as rust free, I don't think you have a chance. For the price paid, and the price of repair, it may be worth consulting an attorney.

I hate when people misrepresent things for sale. I got burned, back in the 80's, when I bought a car with a cracked cylinder head, and faced an expensive repair.
 
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Since it's a private seller, you are pretty much SOL, but you can still try and see if they have a heart. They probably put the under-coating on just for a sell.

I see you are pretty far from Linden, NJ. But Ozkar Garage is there, and he would do the repair for half that, everybody in NJ goes there so you need to book something at least a month in advance.
 
Wow, yeah that sucks....Looks like they tried to hide and push this off on someone. Hate to see this.
 
I'm no legal expert, but unless it was advertised as rust free, I don't think you have a chance. For the price paid, and the price of repair, it may be worth consulting an attorney.

I hate when people misrepresent things for sale. I got burned, back in the 80's, when I bought a car with a cracked cylinder head, and faced an expensive repair.
Thank you. I’m so sad for him. It really upsets me that he not only took advantage of him but put his life in jeopardy.
 
Thank you. I’m so sad for him. It really upsets me that he not only took advantage of him but put his life in jeopardy.
Agree, I would have to at least say something to the seller I think. You might get lucky so start nice, then if going no where state how you really feel. Was the sale at there house, that takes balls if you ask me? I could not do that but all kinds of people out there.

As you implied not safe to drive from what I see but get a couple professional opinions.
 
I’m going to draft a letter to send him. It was at his house. My husband, son and I all went since it was a 3 hour drive and he seemed like a really nice man....
 
Ouch, I hate to see this. People can be such scumbags!! I would try the nice approach first like they mentioned and go from there. Legal fees for an attorney could add up pretty quickly.
 
I’m going to draft a letter to send him. It was at his house. My husband, son and I all went since it was a 3 hour drive and he seemed like a really nice man....

There are so many ways that this sucks and the fake "nice" person is who usually ends up sucking the most.

Hopefully you can get some money back to get it fixed. I'd probably start with a direct phone call and if he doesn't answer the first couple times I'd try using *67. I wouldn't leave any message at first and never regarding the issue at hand but you can give him some reason to call you back if needed. Both a specific message or the letter will probably put him on major defense right off the bat but it may end up being what's needed to get this going the right way. Sometimes a letter from a lawyer may help even if there's no legal action available but that should probably be one of the last things you try. If nothing gets resolved after all that, you should have his full name and maybe his address on your current title and you could share that info along with the whole story with anyone and everyone near them and you.

Regardless of the outcome, don't let this this turn your son, or you, away from the Jeep TJ, or any vehicle. Just take it as a well learned but hard lesson about making sure you know what you're getting before you lay down your $$$.
 
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The ad said noting about the frame etc. Am I reading it right that you and your son looked at it? While this sucks, as is usually means as is Right? If you live in a ”salt state“ shouldn’t you have looked the body and frame over? I live In the desert and I still crawl under every car truck I buy And look for rust.
 
Do NOT let your son drive that until it is properly repaired. It is dangerous to him and others on the road in it's current condition. I would at least consult an attorney to get professional advice before I contacted anyone.
 
I’m going to draft a letter to send him. It was at his house. My husband, son and I all went since it was a 3 hour drive and he seemed like a really nice man....
They knew when they sold it to you. Other jeeps in that same frame rot condition are parted out on sites like this instead of sold because we all know they're a danger to drive.

IANAL, but I would be making copies of that letter and dropping one off at every house on the street with a preface which tells them exactly the kind of lying, cheating, teen-endangering neighbor they have.

Public shaming for crooks is a lost art, but maybe it would cause them to give you some money back to offset the repair.
 
Before being a complete asshole like the above post suggests you should, just talk to the guy. Most TJ owners have no idea that their frames are susceptible to rust or how to check for it. The odds are the seller didn't know. Honestly, he has every right to tell you to pound sand, but I would say most reasonable humans wouldn't be opposed to working out some sort of deal.

At the end of the day, you checked out the vehicle and bought it. If he says jump in the lake, you just have to bite the bullet accept that you didn't do your due diligence on the vehicle you purchased.
 
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Before being a complete asshole
No, dude, I said I'm NOT a lawyer...ha!

But seriously, I wasn't the first person to suggest it in this thread, fyi. You want to give the seller the benefit of the doubt, and I agree that it's the best initial course of action. My suggestion was for when the normal paths to restitution are exhausted. If someone sold my son a death trap, you'd best believe I'd do whatever I could within the law to claw back some of the money if my attempts to do it nicely failed. Just because you wouldn't do that doesn't make those who would assholes.
 
I'm going to go ahead and play Devil's advocate, here. The sellers were the second owners. There is every possibility that they were not the ones who had the undercoating applied to the frame. In fact, undercoating has to be fairly old, if I'm not mistaken, to become brittle enough to actually fracture and chip off of what it's adhered to. Fresh stuff (as-in, just applied to help sell the vehicle) will typically still be softer and pliable, and will adhere to itself. Even if the rust underneath is flaking, the gummy properties of the undercoating will help it adhere to itself, and not result in the clean breaks that I'm seeing in the pictures.

This is all just conjecture on my part. I am in no way defending a dishonorable act by a dishonorable seller. I am only trying to propose that there is the possibility that they truly had no knowledge of the damage. Where it goes from there is anybody's guess.

Best of luck to you and your son. I hope it all works out for you in the end.
 
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