{"id":514,"date":"2007-02-11T14:37:24","date_gmt":"2007-02-11T18:37:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/shlep\/2007\/02\/11\/getting-wheels\/"},"modified":"2007-02-11T22:27:02","modified_gmt":"2007-02-12T02:27:02","slug":"getting-wheels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/shlep\/2007\/02\/11\/getting-wheels\/","title":{"rendered":"Getting Wheels"},"content":{"rendered":"

My local paper recently ran a story about some salespeople at a car dealership who fleeced a mentally ill man who came to the dealership with $30,000 in cash. They sold him a truck (worth much less), went to his apartment to steal the rest of his money, and then one bought the truck back at a big profit. Needless to say, they are being prosecuted. How drugs and greed tainted auto dealership<\/a>, Seattle Times, Feb. 9, 2007.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s a horrible story, but what\u2019s link to self-help law? What caught my eye was a sidebar: Legal recourse limited in state for remorseful buyers of autos<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"RoadsterI thought that, since a car is one of the biggest purchases most people make (second only to a house, and many people never buy a house!), it might be worth listing some resources about buying cars.<\/p>\n

Automobiles: An FTC Guide for Consumers<\/a> has a range of information about buying cars (used and new), having cars repaired, and so on. See Tips for Buying a Used Car<\/a> for the basics on that topic. Understanding Vehicle Financing<\/a> walks you through the mysteries of credit. And there\u2019s Vehicle Repossession<\/a> to explain the unfortunate end of some car deals. The Federal Trade Commission\u2019s regulations are in 16 CFR<\/a> (if you want to get into the hard-core legalese). Cars come up a lot:<\/p>\n