Submitted by Samah on Fri, 08/26/2011 - 09:54
Posted in
Hi. I purchased a car last week from a private party. When I went to look at the car he had the windows down. The car does not have air conditioning so when I drove it the windows were down and everything seemed fine. But I noticed in the morning after I brought it home that the there's a strange smell in the car that is stronger in the back like sour milk. Maybe his kids spilled mild or something? And the car really smells when the windows are up. So in the winter I worry about driving it with that stink. I washed the carpet and tried spraying with febreze but it still smells. So can I return the car using the lemon aid law or some other Massachusetts law? Thanks.
Return car with lemon aid law
You can follow this link to a group of posts dealing with the MA lemon aid law and lemon law. The lemon aid law deals with used cars but only applies to defects in the car that impact its ability to pass the safety and emissions test. Massachusetts law also allows buyers to return cars to a private seller in cases where the vehicle has some defect that substantially impairs the use or the safety of the vehicle and the buyer can prove that the seller knew about the defect prior to the sale. Unfortunately, I don't think your bad smell issue is covered by this provision either.