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Texas | I recently bought a dozer from a guy out of state. It was was advertised as being ready to go to work with nothing wrong with it. I made the drive, looked it over for about a half hour including operating it for maybe 10 minutes and brought it home. I told the seller I was looking for a machine to do a few hundred hours work on my place and then sell it and I just wanted something sound that would likely do that without needing any major repairs. He assured me it was good and no issues.
I get home unload the machine and before I can run it thirty minutes just tracking to where I want to work it overheats. It can idle all day long but any movement at all working or just tracking would cause it to overheat quickly. I immediately notify the seller and he said maybe it is the water pump as he hasn’t ever changed it and it all we could think of. He said check it out and if it is a water pump he will pay for it.
I take the machine to the mechanic and they test the water pump as good, thermostat as good, etc and eventually find that the hydraulic cooling fan, the pump for the fan, and the fan controller are all shot. They say the pump likely went bad first and sent trash down the line and ruined the controller and fan motor. Parts and labor to fix all three including also removing and testing the water pump and thermostat add up to 12k. The machine was in the shop 25 days with delays on parts due to Covid, etc.
The seller stands by it worked fine with no issues. I fully get when something is bought used it is as is with no warranty but at the same time if the seller represents something as good and you get it home and can’t use it at all due to an issue that doesn’t sit too well.
Now if I got it home, used it a couple days, and then this happened I would just think well it was good when I got it and then it broke.
The seller seems like an honest guy and I really want to believe him but either this cooling fan pump, motor, controller crapped out loading and unloading it on the trailer or it was like this before hand. Which is more likely?
How would you feel about this situation? As the buyer I certainly am not happy about the unexpected expense before I was even able to use it. If I were the seller I sure wouldn’t be happy paying for it either but I would definitely feel guilty and obligated to at least help in someway.
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Buyer beware or ?
