Jim Farnham, owner and salesman at Car Corner of Cabot, sold me a 1995 Mitsubishi Montero with a 5-speed manual transmission in November. Within a few days, I noticed something wrong with the clutch; it would stay on the floor and I had to pull it up with my toe.
As time passed, it got worse. I had owned the vehicle for less than 3 months, when one day it wouldn't shift at all. I took it to a local mechanic, who inspected it and told me what I could hardly believe to be true, but apparently was. The rod on the slave cylinder on the clutch had broken at some time in the past, and someone (I'm guessing one of Jim Farnham's mechanics) had inserted a threaded bolt with a nut through the hole where the rod was supposed to go.in other words, it was 'rigged'. The bolt had bent and was about to break. The mechanic said he was surprised it had lasted 3 months.
The mechanic assured me that there was no way the car lot didn't know about this. I had spoken with Jim Farnham myself at the time I purchased the vehicle and thought he was a nice guy, and has a lovely wife. I could hardly believe he was the type to do this kind of thing. But obviously he is. Even then, I gave him the benefit of the doubt. I wrote him a letter and sent it by certified mail, stating the problem and invited him to make good on the repairs, or else pick up the vehicle and pay the $275 mechanic's fee for checking it out. He chose to do neither, which is a good indication to me that he's guilty as charged. A decent, honest person would be apologetic and try to work things out, especially since I had never been late on a payment.
The mechanic who checked out my vehicle told me I should sue Jim Farnham, as this was a huge safety issue involving this vehicle. He said if the bolt had broken while I was driving at high speed down the highway, I almost certainly would have wrecked the vehicle.
Nearly a month passed. Eventually Jim Farnham sent a tow truck to pick up the vehicle, but since they weren't prepared to pay the mechanic's bill, they weren't allowed to take it. Jim Farnham then called me, threatening to sue me. I told him, "You're lucky I haven't sued YOU!" He's such a loser, he actually thinks he might win a lawsuit against me.
What's irritating about this is that I traded in a perfectly good vehicle on this lemon.By rights, Mr. Farnham should give me the money back that he paid me as a trade-in on my car ($500) but of course he isn't going to do that, anymore than he wants to fix the vehicle. He's really something!
I filed a complaint with the Arkansas State Attorney General's office and am currently waiting to hear back from them. I have also contacted a legal service called the "Arkansas Legal Services Partnership" and am hopeful they can provide me with legal help in this matter. Any other advice from anyone on how I should proceed would be helpful. My email is [email protected]. Thanks in advance if anyone can help.
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