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After signing paperwork to buy a used car from the owner, is there a way to return it if its not as advertised?

My husband and I bought a used car from the original owner, he was not allowed to test drive it but was taken on a ride in the passenger seat and everything seemed fine. We signed the bill of sale and gave him the cash. As we were driving away, he called my husband saying it sounds like there's something wrong with the motor. We pulled over, and the previous owner met us to look at it. We couldn't figure out what the problem was, and they refuse to take the car back and return our money. Legally, is there anything that can be done about this? It's bait and switch!

Public Comments

1. find some free lawyer advice online and ask them. Im sure there is, specially if you met the owner right down the street and told him you want to return it. I would fight it. People that do this sh*t to other people need to be straitened out
2. If you signed a bill of sale that included "AS-IS" in any of the text then you're pretty much out of luck. If the bill of sale didn't say "AS-IS" then you may have some wiggle room. Granted, if he knew the car had an issue then he should have told you...but you also should have had the car taken somewhere and inspected if you don't know enough about cars to make an accurate analysis of it yourself.
3. Unfortunately, you're stuck. Used car private party sales are always "As-is" unless stated in writing. You can try to work something out with the guy, but the law is on his side. He wouldn't let you or hubby drive it? I would've told him to go fly a kite. That's a HUGE red flag. Always take a used vehicle to a mechanic to check over. Might cost you $100 or so, but it'll save you $$$ in the long run. You could take him to small claims court, but your chances of winning are slim. You'd have to prove he knew about the issues beforehand and misrepresented the car. The key word there is "prove". If you get into a battle of "he-said, she-said" (called "hearsay"), you'll lose.
4. you have no course of action really, when buying a car from an individual its as-is and buyer beware.
5. You bought a car as is without driving it. You OWN it and the seller owes you nothing. You can throw good money after bad and sue them but you will lose because without a written warranty the car is presumed to be as-is.