Woman Sues Over Stinky Car

Margarita Salais bought a 2006 Ford Expedition in March, 2011, from a Detroit Ford dealership. Once spring brought warmer temperatures, she noticed a bad smell inside the vehicle. The heat of summer, according to Salais, turned the bad smell into a foul odor. She brought the car back to the dealership, who told her that the smell had come from a dead animal. A letter from her insurance company claims that Elite Trauma Clean-up Inc. determined that the smell was human in origin. Salais is suing the dealership, who won't let her return the Expedition, for $25,000 plus court fees, claiming they failed to notify her that the vehicle had been stolen three times and had once held a corpse.

Most places havd 'lemon laws' concerning cars. That dealership should have taken the car back. I know it is a real problem when bodies decomp in cars. I thot they just trashed it as a total wreck. So that dealership was trying to pull a scam on that customer. Hope she wins her suit. Unless it is a fly-by-nite dealership Ford may not like all the negative press that is already unfolding.

You know, my mother and I saw an Urban Legends show about something like this...but for a DEALERSHIP of all places to try unloading a corpse car on a person, hell yeah I hope she wins her suit.

Well, I don't know....this is a wacky story.....but are dealerships barred from selling previously stolen vehicles If it came from an auction or someplace where they legally bought the car? I think they can. Can she prove that they absolutely KNEW that the car was a makeshift coffin and they sold it to her under malicious intent? I don't think she can. If they cleaned up the vehicle, there aren't any mechanical defects wrong with the car, I don't think she has much of a case. She didn't even notice the smell under the summertime....which meant she drove for a few months and didn't suspect a thing. They should do the right thing and perhaps trade it for another one, but I don't think they can legally be held liable.

Shale wrote:

Most places havd 'lemon laws' concerning cars. That dealership should have taken the car back.

in the state of NJ to qualify as a lemon law, the car has to be in the shop 3 times to fix the same problem, and/or be in the shop a specific number of days per year to qualify.

i don't know if a smell would qualify under the lemon law.

as far as the car being a recovered theft, I bought a mustang from a dealership that did not tell me it was a recovered theft. carfax did not show that it was. Once I brought it to the shop for an oil change and a mechanic asked, "wasnt this the recovered theft? I installed the cold air induction on it." That is how i found out, but i should have suspected cause the 6 yr old car looked brand new and the engine was impeccable. It was one of the best vehicles i ever owned, so i have no problem buying a stolen car.

I am tending to agree with NY on this one. I don't think she will be able to prove they knowingly sold her a car that would develop this odor. They may not have known the history of it.