Final Weird Alfa GTV6 Chapter

The transporter to pick up the GTV 6 arrived Friday. started the car up warming it up first and all was good. The transporter driver pulled it into the trailer and the second it was in the trailer it blew a head gasket. I am not making this up.

I told the new owner I would pay for the gasket set and 1/2 of the 6 hours of labor according to the book, to replace it. Is that fair? He did buy it on my description that it was fine and had few if any needs. I sent him the cars service history since it was new so he know the care the car had. I let him know that it needs the driveshaft doughnuts replaced and I included a full set of all three guibos(?) with the car as well.

I felt bad about it so I thought the offering to buy the gasket set and split the labor was fair. On the other side it is a complex 25 year old Italian car. I also sold the car to him for only $6,500 dollars which is a pretty nice deal for the car.

Opinions? Should I cover all of the fix. should i have said tough luck, deal with it yourself? I wanted him to have a good experience, better than when after I bought the car and immediately had to sink $1,600 into it for belts, tensioner and a valve adjust. I did know that when buying it but it still was a painful check to write.

I think that if you sold the car without a blown head gasket, it shouldnt cost the new owner any money. If it happens leaving your house, its your responsibility, once the new owner drives it its their problem as long as there were no previous symptoms. If i was the one buying the car, i would expect a choice of a full refund, or for the car to be fixed before it was delievered. It really cost $1600 for a timing belt and valve adjustment? I did that on mine (a milano but everything would be the same) and even buying a bunch of tools it wasnt even 1/3 that much. It was only $300 for just the parts.

We did a full service on the car, not just the timing belt. All fluids, FI adjustment, all new filters, some new hoses. The car had not driven many miles in about a year or so. We also went back to an oil fed tensioner as well.

I am more than happy to do whatever he wants short of taking the car back. Since he lives in Texas it would likely not be cost effective for him to ship it back and the car is super nice, likely one of the nicest around and all original.

If he needs me to eat the whole labor charge I am open to discuss that too. It is in reality about 4-5 hours max to do. If it had blown in my garage I could have done it in 1/2 a day myself.

I would have a bit more sympathy but he beat me up over and over again about the price. I knowingly sold the car way under the money as I knew he really wanted it and I was tired of it. after that he told me what a great deal he was giving me on the price and asked if I was that in touch with classic car markets. I don't think he paid any attention to what I do for work. :)

$6,500 for the car was a steal. I paid more when I bought it before the work I had done. The Guibos alone cost over $400 dollars and they had just started to go bad but he insisted that I include them with the car to make the deal work which I did.

Hard to say - I can see it from both the buyers and the seller's side. I think your offer is pretty fair - it is an old car after all. Most Alfa owners are pretty mechanically minded so it might well be a good deal for everybody involved.

OTOH there's the "you sold him a car that was supposedly all working" angle...

It's a tough one, I think your offer is a good one in the "treat others like you would want to be treated yourself" school. I've been known to refund 1/2 the purchase price of a car that ate its turbo on the way to the buyer so I know what it's like. Time to wait and see, I'd think.

I spoke with him a few minutes ago and am going to cover the cost of the head gasket replacement including parts(gaskets). He said he may decide to do both, not a bad idea and would let cover the cost of the second for labor.

It just had its H2O pump, belt and tensioner replaced so that is not necessary and will cut down onthe costs dramatically. I see a lot of Alfa mechanics throw those jobs in, not a bad idea if you don't have the history but happily I had them done myself.

I like cars I sell to be issue free unless otherwise described. I have a reputation of selling nice cars with no hidden issues and want to keep it. This is what I would want someone to do for me that they probably never will but I am still surprisable. :)

Cool new word huh.

This is an awesome contracts exam question.

If you haven't made an agreement on the risk of loss, and delivery is by a common carrier (transport company) then the risk of loss shifts when you complete your delivery obligation -- i.e., when you turn the car over to the trucking company. At that point, it ceases to be your problem.

Legally, you could probably have told the guy to have a nice day. Offering to go for half the cost of labor is a good offer; offering to pay the complete cost of the head gasket job... well, you're being pretty nice. Especially if the guy had been unpleasant previously. And, not to be cynical, but if the guy doesn't know that you're in the business, his ability to hurt your business reputation might not be all that great.

(This is not legal advice.)

Don't take this personally but If I were the buyer, I'd be trying to cancel the deal. Given the timing of the failure, I would find it difficult to believe anything about the car.

If I were you, I would refund the purchase, fix the car and sell it to the next person. There is nothing but trouble waiting down the road if you force a deal with the current buyer.

Actually he really wants the car and realizes that there is a line of people behind him who want it and anyone who has seen the car has been blown away at how nice it is. If he decides to ship itback I am happy to take it and dell it at auction in Monterrey for considerably more money The new owner is happy and that is what counts

Oh and he wasn't really unpleasant just a tough negotiator who did not do all of his homework. I like the guy and am happy the car is going to a good home.

I think you were fair. If it failed a week earlier you would have fixed it.

OTOH he is buying an old Alfa and it is not a Honda..........He should have agreed to split the cost with you. I would have.

Thanks for the support. He is happy, it made for good content on my next column and now he has to deal with the next repair when it comes up, and we all know it will.

I am hoping Volvo 1800S ownership is less expensive than Alfa GTV 6 ownership.

Andy Reid wrote: I am hoping Volvo 1800S ownership is less expensive than Alfa GTV 6 ownership.

It is when everything's working right ;)

Seriously, if you have any problems, let me know and I'm sure I can get you headed in the right direction.

Thanks. It will be first Volvo since my 240 classic.