Can A Private Party Car Buyer Sue Me For Failed Smog?

[Macramemama0920]

For preface, I am in CA and I am aware that the law here is that a car must be smogged before being sold to the new buyer. Also, this is a private party sale. On January 31st of this year, I sold a car to a couple. I was asking $3800. After them constantly messaging me one night very eager to see the car, I agreed to meet up with them down the street at approximately 7:30 PM they came and looked at the car and even brought their own mechanic to look it over. The buyer even test drove it, and her mechanic gave her the greenlight to purchase it. They asked if I thought it would pass smog. I told them I don’t see any reason why it wouldn’t pass smog. It was a great little car, and had no check engine lights on at all. I could take that thing anywhere. It never gave me any issues. I told her we could wait and I would sell it to them tomorrow after I got a full tuneup done and a smog certification done on it. She declined because she wanted to get it for the cheaper price of $3000 that we negotiated instead of my full asking price of $3800 if I got a full tune up and smog done on it. They immediately declined and said no that’s fine they would do it themselves. Looking back I wish I would have gotten that statement in writing and had them sign it but unfortunately I did not. A couple days after purchasing the car, she texted me and was wanting a refund stating she could not get it to pass smog after taking it to a few smog places. That immediately gave me a red flag because if it doesn’t pass at one smog shop, it’s not going to pass at a different one, so why would you take it to a few different smog shops. That was one of the many red flags and I think this is a scam of sorts to try and get me for some money. Anyways , so she texted me wanting her money back and I declined because at that point I don’t know what her and their “mechanic” have already done to the car. A couple weeks later I get papers stating that she’s taking me to small claims court and suing me for the cost of the car plus $1500 for her “wasted time“. I reached out to her and offered to get it smogged for her and to try and work this out. She again declined and is just wanting money. I can’t find a lawyer that will call me back in my area to get some legal advice on this matter. I know it’s sort of a fine line because of the California smog law that we as sellers have to provide a past smog certificate before we sell it. But I have also seen people win cases when they sell a car and the buyer knows that it is not coming with a smog certification. So I guess I’m just trying to look for some professional legal advice from an attorney or lawyer as to if they think I have a winning case on my behalf or not. In my county, we are not allowed to have an attorney, or a lawyer present inside the court room for a small claims case. I would appreciate any feedback, and please no negative responses. Thank you very much.

[scorpiojo]

Hi, this is a UK website, so you may be better asking on a different forum.

[bobbinwales]

Hi ...the only advice I can give is to try to summarise the issue in alot less words for any lawyer or advisor. I doubt a claim for wasted time of 1200$ would succeed in uk or EU but who knows in usa.
If your supposed to include a smog cert your on dodgy ground...there's a lesson here for getting things agred in writing and making sure your complying with the law

[TheWinner]

https://www.samsara.com/guides/the-complete-guide-to-california-smog-check-requirements/