Dear Editor,
I have noticed a growing concern around used vehicles. We recently purchased a used vehicle on Facebook Marketplace. While we would love to buy a new car for our family, we aren't in a financial position to do so. Nearly all sellers on Marketplace and Craigslist are sketchy car flippers and dealers. Hardly anyone is an individual selling their personal car anymore.
Sellers would do things like show up with a vehicle that had just been in an accident which they failed to mention. Our family finally found what we thought was a great vehicle from someone who seemed honest. Within weeks of purchase the problems started. We have had to deal with issue after issue and are now looking at whether this vehicle is a write off. We have no recourse with the sellers and they claim they didn't know about the problems. Our family now has a dilemma, do we walk away from the thousands of dollars spent? We don't want to sell the car and pass along the issue to someone else. Our family of five is now left with an unusable vehicle and a rising list of bills.
Please, if you have a vehicle with issues, don't try to scam someone else and pass off your problems to them. The sleepless nights and long hours of dealing with mechanics have been awful. I just wish we had some recourse and could get our money back. If anyone has a source for reliable used vehicles that are affordable I would love to know.
I have emailed everyone I can think of. While I cannot be sure the sellers knew they were selling us a vehicle with issues, given that a mechanic was involved in the sale I find it difficult to believe they didn't know anything. In the two months since we have bought this used vehicle, the stress has completely over taken our life. I have been to more mechanics than I can count, sleepless nights, financial stress. If you know of anyone in the community who could help us, we would be very, very grateful.
Christiana Thiessen, Brookswood
