Guaranteed Auto, Inc. sold a car without a current passing emissions test in violation of state law Sandy Springs, Georgia

On 4/20/2013, my son and I travelled from our home in Gwinnett County, GA to Guaranteed Auto, Inc. located at 7295 ROSWELL RD., Sandy Springs, GA in Fulton County, GA.  On that date I purchased 1997 Ford Escort VIN #1FALP13P1VW135912.  Prior to signing the bill of sale, I was assured by salesman Gary Whitlow that the car had a valid emissions certificate.  While signing the bill of sale, I noticed that a copy of the emissions was not among the paperwork and requested to see a copy.  Mr. Whitlow pulled the emissions up on screen via internet and it showed that the emissions certificate expired in February 2013. 

I had to drive back to Gwinnett County to pickup my wife so that we could return to Guaranteed Auto to drive the car home.  Prior to leaving Guaranteed Auto to get my wife, Mr. Whitlow assured me that he would take the car and get an emissions test while I was away and he would have it when I returned.  I returned with my wife to get the car and drive it to my home approximately an hour later.  At that time I was told by Mr. Whitlow that he could not find an emissions testing station open that day (Saturday). 

He hooked up some kind of scanning device to the car and told me that the car had a new battery and that the car needed to be driven 100 miles or so for it to reset sensors to allow a test to be done.  He gave me $20 in cash and told me to take the car, drive it, and then use the $20 to have an emissions test done myself.  On 4/22/2013 I took the car to an emissions test location and was told it failed due to lack of readiness and that it needed to be driven more.  I eventually drove the vehicle 400 miles and could never get a result due to repeated failures for readiness. 

At that point I asked the emissions vendor Express Oil at 1858 Scenic Hwy., Snellville, GA to perform diagnostics on the vehicle to try to determine a reason the car’s failure to pass due to lack of readiness.  The result was they said that an oxygen sensor and the electric fan motor needed to be replaced.  As a result, I contacted Mr. Whitlow and he told me to return the car to Guaranteed Auto and they would have repairs done and return the car to me with a passing emissions result.  I heard nothing from them for two weeks so I contacted Mr. Whitlow again. 

At that time, I was told that the car sensors had not reset to allow testing and that he had discovered the vehicle had no thermostat.  It evidently had been removed by someone in the past and not replaced.  Again, he promised this would be repaired and the vehicle would be successfully emissions tested as a result.  This was on Friday, May 24, 2013.  I called and spoke to the owner Nick Hart on Tuesday, May 28, 2013.  He said he was unfamiliar with this situation but that he would investigate and call me back within the hour. 

I never received a call back from him.  On June 1^st we were finally able to pick up the car as it had passed emissions.  After driving it for 85 miles, the check engine light came on and the code was an emissions issue.  Now I have to fix that out of my pocket.  On June 7, 2013, the owner Nick Hart called me and proceeded to verbally berate me saying that filing complaints showed I was “unethical and not a good person.”  I suppose his violation of the law makes him more ethical.