I need some lawyerish advice here, on a car situation I feel I am being screwed on.
It goes like this- a year ago, my buddy takes off for afganistan, leaves me his 1991 sunbird to have, to drive, to use for utility as needed. He signed me over a power of attorney in case of accident, the whole 9. All he said was to get use out of the vehicle, no real specifics. He said he didn't want to come back and have the car having sat around for a year, flat tires dead battery et al.
So I got a few months use out of it, driving to school and home, when the head gasket randomly blew. I was on the freeway, suddenly the car lost power, that's all she wrote. The car sat from there for nearly 4 months before I had a a chance/time to fix it. During this time I attempted to make sure the car was FIXED, and in kind I replaced spark plugs wires cap rotor, flushed cooling system, attempted to diagnose the original reason it overheated which I determined to be a faulty thermostat. Replaced the thermostat (it was rusted shut) as well as the O2 sensor on the exhaust manifold, at the same time the starter went out on me, so at my own expense I replaced that at the same time I did the head gasket job.
Car, from there, seemed to run ok, and at the time my buddy agreed to pay half for any repairs I made. I conservatively estimated the head gasket job at around $300, he cut me a check for $150, nothing for the starter but I am stupidly respectful and dropped the whole thing as I didn't really need the money. I also put new tires on the car around two months ago to the tune of $150.
Anyway, a month or two goes by, car runs fine, he rides in it a few times as I was taking him to/from the airport (he's in the military) and he's fine with the car, annoyed it's making a noise (there was a bolt loose from when I put the engine back together, essentially it's just an outer bolt that inserts into the timing chain cover, it's not vital or has anything to do with performance, it just rattled at low speeds) but overall he's happy.
Suddenly, out of the blue, the car died on me on the road. No idea why, it just WOULDN'T FUCKING START. I spent weeks diagnosing here, I went down the list of possibles starting with the basics (air fuel spark) and replaced parts as I found bad ones. Egr valve was bad, replaced it, fuel filter was bad, map sensor, ignition module etc. I replaced (again) the distributer cap, I just couldn't figure out what the fuck was wrong.
Finally, when my emotions got the better of me, I asked him to step in and help. so he tows the vehicle, and without telling me, has the vital repair done (it was a $12 distributer rotor that had cracked, a fucking $12 part was really it) and then spends hundreds to have the rattle in the motor fixed, and suddenly decides to fix all the little things that were wrong with the car before I took ownership of it. A broken steering column (the left turn signal didn't work) the trunk wouldn't open, little shit that was never my resp in the first place.
So then he takes the car back without telling me, and basically tells me "it was dirty" so I must not have taken care of it and thus he feels justified taking "HIS CAR" back. He's giving me a great big fuck you to the $800 in parts I spent (conservatively) and NOTHIGN for my time and labor, and I got no utility whatsoever for the money I put in. He essentially has a rebuilt motor now, for next to nothing, new tires and starter, the whole 9. I did not damage the car in ANY way, the interior just needed to be vacuumed, the exterior needed to be washed but it had rained a few days prior to him seeing the vehicle. Understandably it was dirty!
I keep bugging him, and I'm getting nothing. I am sitting on light rail NOW typing this, it's fucking hot out and he's leaving out in the fucking heat with no car no money NOTHING, not even a fucking thank you. It hurts because this is supposed to be one of my best friends, and I want to know how you all come out here, what's my play, I am considering suing the bastard., that's how bad this is. I am TIRED OF GETTING SHIT ON my entire life, and I can't see this situation being anything but more of what I always seem to get. SHIT.
love to hear opinions/advice here, what do you guys think, what would you do etc. I've got nothin, no money no savings, in a few weeks I'll be homeless, so my situation is as bad as they come. Any advice helps.
car situation, legal advice needed
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