02 buick century - check engine light

SDE

Well-known Member
I bought a car at an on-line auction. The Buyers Guide in the window disclosed that the windshield is cracked and that the drivers side window does not work. And of course they write "AS IS", instead of any warranty. They have a service charge of $39.50, which I believe is for the inspection that they are required to do. They are a licensed dealership, because they auction off cars each month.

When I turn the ign. key to the on position, the Service Vehicle soon and the Service engine soon lights do not come on.
So, tonight I stopped at O'Rielly's and the scan tool showed seven codes. Three are for wheel sensors and one was for the service lights not working.
Did they screw up by not checking to see if the service lights worked? Was it legal for them to sell this car with out disclosing these problems? Also twice, when I started it, The gauges pegged out to the right and then immediately dropped back it their correct readings.( cold to hot to cold, zero to 120 to 0, and full and then back to the correct fuel reading).
Thank you
 
I don't know about all the warning lights, but the instrument cluster is a typical gm dash from that era. My wife's 04 Impala pegs to the right every time it's started, and then it goes right back to normal settings. Don't seem to hurt anything. Never has gotten any worse.
 
I worked for a GM dealer for 40 years. They inspected and reconditioned all the late model cleaner more popular trade-ins and the dogs got parked out back with the buyers guide marked AS IS. If they didn't sell within a couple of months they went to the auction. In less something changed since I retired 3 years ago I don't think they had to inspect anything, in Illinois anyway. And the service charge is probably just for printing the sticker and putting it on the window.
 
My 02 f250 started swinging the tach & speedo and erasing the trip odometer on startup when the original battery was on its way out. New battery and everything stays still until running like normal.
 
You forgot tom post at least two important details... 1. What did you pay for the car vs. book value of a functional car? 2. Did you learn anything from this experience?

That being said, if you bought the car "right", fix the ABS codes and replace the missing warning lights, and you still may be able to turn a sow's ear into a silk purse!
 
"Was it legal for them to sell this car...?" Well that depends on what the law is in your state. In general "as is" pretty much absolves the seller of responsibility, but there are exceptions. If the Service Engine light was disabled and your state has strict emissions testing requirements, that could be an issue.

The 39.50 "service charge" just means they tacked on another forty bucks for the privilege of buying the vehicle. Most likely the only service performed was on your wallet.

I wouldn't worry too much about the gauges, as long as they settle down to correct values after startup.

If you get by with just replacing the wheel sensors and service indicators, consider yourself lucky and move on.
 
I wondered about the battery too. The starter seems slow for the first second of engagement and then it turns at a more normal speed.
TY SDE
 
I paid a thousand dollars for it. It has 131K miles and runs and drives smoothly. I find it to be a more comfortable car to sit in than the one I drove for the last six years, but I want to call up this guy and give him my 2 cents about this IF he isn't do his job properly. If you get what you pay for, that is great, but if they are pencil whipping the forms, someone should take them to task for it. I am not very happy with this organization and I am about to quit dealing with them.
TY
SDE
 
I have had both an 02 and 04 Grand Prix. They both pegged gauges to the right on start up. Both also had wheel sensor issues as well. Atleast on a Pontiac, and I would assume the Buick would be the same, the wiring between the ABS module and the hub could be at fault.

Something else to keep in mind is, if the intake manifold gaskets have not been replaced already, sooner or later they will.
 
The gauges all do that, you bought it As Is. If they tampered with the car so the lights wouldn't come on then you have a violation of the law, at least in this state. If those lights did not come on they may have not known there was anything wrong. Before you get in an uproar with anyone--Take it to a mechanic that understands and knows how to read codes. Anybody at the parts store can hook up a code reader, most of them can tell you the symtoms but are unable to deduce the correct repair. Example-- ours told a lady she needed $461.00 in parts for fix her car when all it took was a $19.65 sensor.
 
I drove a 2000 Buick Regal for 8 years with the check engine light on..It started good,ran good,and was getting 26-27 mpg on trips when I sold it a year ago..
 
Someone probably pulled the light because it was on, would be hard to tell who did it.

The gauges are supposed to peg, they are servos and are checking the calibration on startup.
 
As I read below, you only paid $1000 for the car, so there would be some problems to be expected.

Do you live in an emissions inspection county? If so, and the $39.50 was for a state inspection, and they inspected and passed the car, then they are clearly and seriously in violation providing a fraudulent inspection! If the fee was for an in house inspection, their ethics would be in question, would be difficult to do much about it other than make a complaint.

As for the gauges going full swing, that is normal. It is a self test, if you watch them and see one that does not make the full travel, then you know something is wrong with that gauge. It should do it every time it is started.

As for the check engine light, probably someone removed the lamp. Replace the lamp, it should come on with the ignition on, engine not running. Then take it to Orileys, get them to "clear all codes". Then drive it a few days. If/when the light comes on, take it back and check the codes again. Then address those issues in order of importance.

As for the brake sensors, if that code come up again, check the front wheel bearings for looseness or roughness, check the sensor for metal filings. Try cleaning the sensors, inspect the wiring, cneck the connections at the ABS module.
 
As you said - if they inspected and PASSED the car there might be an issue. Given the post it doesn't sound like he got anything like an emissions certificate.

Otherwise I would do exactly like Steve says in his post. If I recall correctly in those years the Century was a fleet only car and individuals couldn't buy them new off the lot - basically a pretty cheap car with limited options.
 
OK, you bought a car at an online auction. You also paid a reasonably low price. You also bought it AS-IS.
Regardless of anything else, you bought a car SIGHT UNSEEN. You also bought it AS-IS.
That means that the seller is absolved of any responsibility. He could say that he was selling it for scrap, and whatever you choose to do with it is your decision only.
At ANY auction, you are buying an unknown item. You should have been able to inspect the vehicle prior to the sale to decide if and how much you wanted to bid on it.

It is sad that people get cheated in this way. Unfortunately, there are more thieves and robbers in the automotive business than in any other business. Salesman will lie to you to a greater extent than even politicians. They will misrepresent anything they are trying to sell within the limits of the law.
 
I live in an emissions inspection county and we don't pay a $39.50 inspection fee. The emissions tests are done at no cost. The $39.50 may be a doc fee.
 
Steve, I really do appreciate your input. I really do. I only paid a little more than what someone else was willing to pay. After all, it was an auction. I like the car and I think it is a good car. Even with the hail damage and the rusted out rocker panels. But no one likes to get Conned/hoodwinked. I want to know if they screwed up and then let them know about it, if they did. Do I expect to be reimbursed? No.

Gauges. They don't peg out every time. Why? Is it only done once a day, like the first start of the day? Is it normal for the trip meter to reset also?
Some time this weekend I will try to reset the codes and check the sensors and see if I can find a bad or missing fuse for those lights.. Between the rain showers.
With my Bonneville, I could have sworn I was 28.5 miles from work, but with this car I am now 31 miles away. I have to check for a new address.
Thank you Steve
 
I worked at a large Lincoln-Mercury point for about a year and a half when I got out of the Air Force. Often the dealer isn't the only one who is "ethically challenged" and the people sitting on the other side if the desk can lie cheat and steal to. Has anyone considered the previous owner of this vehicle may of started the fraud by disabling the CEL? Understand the process in selling low end used cars, if it's a trade in the seller wants the most they can get for it, the dealer wants to buy it as cheap as they can BUT also wants to sell the car they have. The dealer makes a quick appraisal, at our store the GM/AGM walked around the car, made a quick look at the tires got in it started it up, looked for a CEL and tried the Air Conditioning. Since we really don't know if we're able to make a deal we're kinda of hesitant to invest much time in the trade in. If we get he trade for fair money and the appraiser misses something or the previous owner hid something (like a CEL light) it could end up if we repair and retail we loose money, so what happens? Often they go off to auction and the next dealer has to deal with it. Do we have any recourse against the previous owner who maybe deliberately hid relevant facts of the vehicle's condition to us the purchaser? No as we're so called professionals. It's back to the same argument of anti-trust actions or collusion among businesses. It's wrong for businesses to act together to fix prices but it's okay for employees to form unions to collude to fix prices for their labor? A saying the new car salesman learns early is "if they ain't lying they ain't buying", and it's more prevalent in big stores and big cities were the buyer and seller don't have a level of knowledge about each other.

Again the purchase was "as is where is" and the buyer agreed to that. with low end vehicles it's to easy to spend what the car is worth between purchase and repairs. Cars have become more complex, labor costs more both because of general economic factors AND the fact that more complex cars require a higher skill level to diagnose and repair and more costly tools to do so. Heck some of the scanners and readers have fees associated with them for each use or each data base downloaded or accessed.

Last factor to deal with is car owners often get the out of sight out of mind mindset. Thing go wrong and are "fixed" in an unapproved manner or even ignored. AS other posters have mentioned you can drive a car with a CEL light on for years, a steady CEL light means something's wrong and the car is running on a default value or program and you should have it looked at.....sometime. However a FLASHING check engine light means something is wrong, it is wrong enough to cause damage to the car or it might even quit and you should have it looked at SOON. Could the scenario be some little old lady takes her Buick down to the corner repair shop for a check engine light and Mike the Mechanic find it's an evaporation emission fault meaning there is a leak in the fuel vapor recovery system. The little old lady doesn't want/cant afford the $100s or even $1,000s of dollars to diagnose and repair the car because of a leaking vacuum tube buried up under the gas tank or deep in the engine compartment. The car is running fine but there is the potential for gasoline vapors to leak into the atmosphere. Mike the mechanic pulls the CEL bulb and Granny has her Buick back and is happy. Or the older gentleman with a Caprice wagon, nice clean car but for what ever reason he had a car/garage incident and the left front fender isn't like it came from the factory. Two-Three years later he stops buy a Lincoln Mercury dealer with his son because he sees a Sable Wagon he like. The Caprice isn't present but he works a deal with he trade sight unseen. When he comes to pick up his new Sable wagon the damage is noted, he told us the car was clean, and except for the left front fender it is. Did he lie? Or did he accept the damage to his car and it's been there so long he's actually forgotten about it, if he dwelled on it he would of gotten it fixed or traded much earlier. What happened? It was a clean car, except for the left front fender and we were in it heavy enough that if it went to the auction we would loose money. It went on the used car lot at a discounted price, it was a good car for someone who needed cheap reliable transportation or for some one who was willing to take a day and hit the salvage yards for a new used fender and if they couldn't find one the right color hit it with rattle can touch up paint. It was on our lot for about a week and was gone, think one of the used car sharks put a friend of his who did handy man work into it.
 

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