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Structurally Compromised Trade-in Car Was Sent To Auction Instead Of Scrap Yard Against My Request. Now Someone Else Bought It And Is Driving A Death Trap, What Can I Do?

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Location: Massachusetts, USA

For context this was a 2008 honda civic coupe with 260k miles that had been totaled four times, every frame rail was cut, bent or replaced, none of the airbags work and the body is so structurally deformed and compromised. I daily drove this car for 6 years and was using it as a way to teach myself body work. Anytime I got in an accident, id repair it myself and keep driving it. This car is a literal death trap hence why I decided it was time to get another, newer and safer car and scrap this one.

I went to a dealer who had the car I wanted to purchase and they gave me scrap value for the car due to the salvage title and it having 260k miles. The car ran and drove just fine, I maintained it myself meticulously and while it was a death trap it was still in fully working order.

The dealer assured me it would be scrapped due to the mileage and age and history which made me feel more at ease. I decided to check the vin number a few months later and found it was actually sent to auction, sold for 650 dollars and was currently with its fourth owner in somerville Massachusetts. From the outside the car looks fine and unless you'd know what to look for you'd have no idea how compromised it is or how unsafe it is. Whoever is driving it could very well die even from a minor accident and its weighing on my conscious however I dont know what to do.

Is there anything I CAN even do at this point ? I understand every auction car is an as is sale so I won't personally be in trouble for anything that happens, thats not what im concerned with. Its the person driving the car thinking its just a used civic that was repainted a couple times and trusting their life with it who doesn't know how dangerous the car really is.

submitted by /u/turbo_sc300
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