IHateThisLemon.com Blog

At my law office, I get phone calls every day with people telling me that they bought a lemon. After expressing my sympathy, I begin my questioning process to see if there is merit to the potential client’s case. I ask the person to explain the situation with the vehicle, that is, what make, model, and year the car is, whether there is a warranty, and what problems the vehicle is  having.  

If the person explains that the vehicle was purchased AS IS, with no warranty, it is at that point that I typically tell the person on the other end of the phone that there is nothing that I can do for them. AS IS is a legal term that means that you are making a purchase of “something”, and that “something” offers no warranties whatsoever as to quality, fitness, usefulness or value. What you see is what you get. You are accepting that “something” exactly as it sits before you with all of its defects, undisclosed problems and deficiencies. You are agreeing that you will not seek recourse from the seller if that “something” does not work correctly or it does not operate as you would expect it to.

The only potential for recourse on an AS IS purchase is where the seller blatantly and/or fraudulently lies about a characteristic of that “something”, such as making a statement that “The odometer on this vehicle is accurate, I have been the only owner and I know it to be true.”, when the seller knows that the odometer was tampered with. In that instance, you may be able to pursue a fraud claim. 

Where the purchase of a football is made AS IS, your potential loss/risk is very little because of the low price of the football. If there is a problem with the football, then its no big deal, you can simply cut your losses and buy another one. Unfortunately, vehicles typically cost a lot more than footballs, so there is a much greater risk in purchasing one AS IS. You can spend up to several thousand dollars on an AS IS vehicle, and are doing so at great risk.

Before making a vehicle purchase AS IS, strongly consider the risks and benefits of doing so. I understand that there are financial circumstances where you may have no other choice but to purchase a vehicle AS IS, but if you can avoid doing so, your wallet will eventually thank you.