Advice/Rant

[Kwala]

We are trying to sell our old car but are having problems, mostly people on Kijiji not showing up after making an appointment and other things like already mentioned by many members under Kijiji rants (but that is another problem). The car is e-tested but not certified and we are telling that upfront but people want them certified. Last year when my husband was out of town, I took it to a mechanic because it was making some rattling noise. We had been to this garage many times and I needed the car done quickly. He fixed the noise quickly and when I left I asked him what was the problem and he said the parking break cables had come loose and he cut them up. He didn't tell me he was going to do that, he just did that. Now we can't sell the car because the car can't be certified until the parking break is working. We got different estimates from garages and it is from somewhere between $360 - $500 to fix it. We went back to the garage who destroyed all the cables and asked if he can make a deal with us and charge us less but he just told us off and started swearing so obviously we are not going back to him again. My question here is does anybody know what can we do to sell the car. We have reduced the price by about $500.00 but is there anything else we can do.

Thanks.

[cath007]

I dont know ...I dont own a car but maybe insisted on the add you have reduced the price for the new owners to cover this repair?And show estimates to prove it

[Ciel]

I understood in Ontario that all repairs to be done had to be written on service order and signed by customer before repairs can be done. And if mechanic found other issues and called customer for approval, those items and time/date of call-approval had to be noted.

Am assuming that mechanic did not bother with the above so short of taking him to small claims court, here are your options:
-be clear in your ad about the car issues and certification will be buyer's to take on
-look into charities that scrap cars and give you a tax receipt and tow the car away at no charge
-find a high school auto shop teacher willing to take your car for a song (because teachers are looking for cars to buy for class use)

[Lyssia510]

How old is the car and what are you asking for? If it's an older car(late 90"s or earlier) you might be better off trying to selling it for parts. Or try Autotrader instead of kijiji, on Kijiji people want everything for nothing, at least Autotrader normally has people who know a thing or two about cars.

[Kwala]

Car is ten years old but has been well maintained since we bought it new. It was recently checked by a Garage and everything seems to be fine and would be certified if there was not an issue of parking break cables.

[Lucky777s]

Most of my sons friends do work like that for a case of beer. (Yes we love our red neck ways!) Anyway, perhaps a quick phone call to the shop teacher at your local high school to see if he can fit your car in for a class lesson or give you the names of reliable young men that won't charge you an arm and a leg.