My husband and I were preparing for a move and expecting a baby when his cousin mentioned desperately needing a vehicle. We happened to be selling one of ours, so we offered to sell it to him for $900.

We had purchased the vehicle just a few months earlier for $2,000 and put another $500–$800 into cosmetic improvements. It was over 20 years old, but it ran fine. We were upfront about its condition, including the fact that the brakes needed to be replaced, and specifically advised him not to drive it long distances until that was taken care of.

He repeatedly asked if we would let him make payments, but we declined. We were moving and needed the money, so we explained that the sale would need to be paid in full. Eventually, we agreed on a Saturday for him to come with the cash so we could handle the necessary paperwork and transfer everything properly.

He had also discussed bringing three other people with him and making a beach trip out of the day. We gave him specific instructions about when to arrive and when we needed to be at the title office.

Despite repeatedly confirming the arrangements, he completely disregarded what we had told him. He arrived approximately four and a half hours late, around 1:45 PM, with three other people, and without the money.

At this point, I had already told him repeatedly that we were not going to do a payment arrangement and that we needed the transaction handled as agreed. He also started making claims about the tires and suggesting that he would make payments anyway, despite that never being the agreement.

I was frustrated and felt that he was taking advantage of our willingness to help him. I ultimately revoked the offer.

However, my husband decided to continue with the sale.

He accounted for the $300 title fees/shipping charges and $100 in gas to take care of all of this for him. $900+$400

He paid half that day and the remaining half the following day. The title transfer was completed the following week.

At that point, I considered the situation over. We had sold him the vehicle, he had received the vehicle, and the paperwork was taken care of.

For approximately a month, there was no contact.

Then, completely out of the blue, he started contacting us and accusing us of selling him a vehicle with undisclosed problems. He claimed he had spent thousands of dollars on repairs and was essentially blaming us for the condition of a vehicle that was over 20 years old and had been sold for $900.

We had disclosed the brake issue from the beginning. We had never represented this vehicle as being new or mechanically perfect, and he had inspected and purchased it voluntarily.

What followed was an increasingly hostile exchange. He continued making accusations, personal attacks, and bringing up things that had absolutely nothing to do with the vehicle.

My husband eventually confronted him about the way he was speaking to me.

The cousin then made it clear that he had apparently been waiting until the title was transferred before saying what he really wanted to say. He referred to me as his target and continued directing increasingly disturbing comments toward me.

For context, I am pregnant after five years of trying to conceive. He knew this.

During the exchange, he told me that nobody cared that I was pregnant, called me a bitch, made comments about me being hormonal, and ultimately said that he hoped my unborn baby died.

I genuinely cannot understand how a situation involving a $900 used car escalated to someone wishing death on an unborn child.

What bothers me most is that we initially offered to help him because he supposedly desperately needed transportation. We gave him an opportunity to purchase a running vehicle at a fraction of what we had invested in it, disclosed the issues we knew about, and tried to accommodate him despite his repeated attempts to change the terms of the agreement.

Instead, I feel like our willingness to help was taken advantage of, and now I’m being treated as though we somehow owed him a perfect vehicle and are responsible for every problem he’s encountered since purchasing it.

I also recognize that my husband ultimately decided to go through with the sale after I had revoked the offer, which is another source of frustration for me. I had been clear about my reservations, but the transaction went ahead anyway.

I don’t see how this was us “screwing him over”????

Are we the assholes?

Stories in the same category