Am I Wasting My Time? Dealer Sold Me A Car With A Wiped Computer Hiding A Dead Transmission (texas Dtpa Case)

Location: Dallas, Texas

Hey everyone, looking for some reassurance/advice here. I bought a 2016 Nissan Murano cash for $5,800 on July 25th from a licensed used car dealership in Texas.

Roughly 3 weeks later (at 158k miles, only 4k miles after buying it), the CVT transmission completely crapped out and started throwing severe codes and juddering heavily under acceleration.

The dealer immediately tried to hit me with the typical "You bought it AS-IS and you refused our warranty, nothing we can do" speech through their sales representative.

I didn't take that as an answer, so I drove to a franchised dealership of the vehicle's brand to pull the vehicle's historical internal service logs. I found the absolute smoking gun. The physical printout clearly shows that before the selling dealer bought the car, a certified technician formally diagnosed it with a catastrophic transmission failure, explicitly noting it juddered on acceleration and that the previous customer refused the repair.

Someone (either the dealer or the previous owner right before trading it in) cleared the computer codes right before I took possession to turn off the Check Engine Light and suppress the warning signs just long enough to lock in the sale.

A lot of casual friends keep telling me I have "no case" because Texas is an As-Is state and I can't definitively prove who physically pressed the button on the scanner to wipe the codes. But from what I've read about Texas consumer law, the "As-Is" clause is completely voided if a material defect was hidden from the buyer, and a professional dealer is legally liable for deceptive omissions/negligence whether they claim ignorance or not.

Here is my exact game plan right now:

1. The 60-Day DTPA Demand Letter: I am sending a formal pre-suit notice via Certified Mail tomorrow giving them 60 days to either take the car back for a full $5,800 refund (+ travel expenses) OR pay for the transmission replacement (roughly $4,200 + sales tax). I am framing it reasonably, leaving room for them to reach out to the previous owner if they truly didn't know, but making it clear that they are ultimately responsible to me as the buyer.
2. Texas DMV Complaint: Filing a formal enforcement complaint with the TxDMV portal for deceptive trade practices and electronic concealment, attaching the service invoice timeline and my bill of sale.
3. Small Claims Court: If they ignore the 60-day clock, I’ll be filing a lawsuit myself in my local Texas Justice Court for actual damages, court costs, and potentially triple damages under the DTPA since this involves a clearly documented, pre-existing issue.

Some people in my ear are making me second-guess myself. Has anyone fought a dealer in Texas over a wiped OBD computer / cleared check engine light? Am I actually wasting my time here, or do I have as strong of a case as I think I do?

Appreciate any advice or insight!