You bought a used truck.
I drove it home and it started having serious issues.
No. He told us everything was perfectly fine.
Did you try to get your money back from her?
She blocked me instantly. No response.
She stated to me when I purchased the vehicle, tellin' me everything's good.
Why are you trusting a seller of a used car?
I mean, they really sold me.
Her mom said she'd been crying all day about selling the car
'cause she didn't want to sell it.
So, she was crying when you came there,
but she was laughing when you left.
[laughs]
[narrator] Now, on Tribunal Justice…
[theme music playing]
[narrator] Today's case was filed in McMinnville, Oregon.
Your Honor, this is case number 3040
in the matter of Robinson vs. Bogosian.
[Levy] Thank you, Cassandra.
[Cassandra] You may be seated.
Okay, Mr. Robinson. Looks like you bought a used truck
from the defendant, Miss Bogosian.
-Correct? -Correct.
-[Levy] How old are you? -Uh, I just turned 18.
Super. And Ms. Busser, you are who to…
-Her mother. -[Levy] Her mom. Okay, good.
So, you bought a used truck from the defendant
Miss Bogosian, and she described that truck
as running in top notch condition, and no significant problems.
Yes, Your Honor.
[Levy] Turns out though, that the truck had major problems
that made it unsafe to drive.
And while you bought that vehicle from the defendant for $15,000,
you're only suing for $10,000 here because that's our jurisdictional limit.
Yes, Your Honor.
[Levy] And Miss Bogosian, that truck that you sold,
you said was a gift from your dad?
Correct, Your Honor.
That you had it inspected, or your mom had it inspected
by a licensed mechanic prior to selling it.
And that mechanic fixed all of the issues with the engine.
-Correct. -[Levy] You say the lawsuit
should be dismissed because number one,
it was a used truck and therefore, it was sold in as-in condition.
Um, correct.
And also, it was in perfect running condition when I sold it.
[Levy] All right. Perfect running condition.
And therefore, any problems with the truck
after you sold it, must've been caused by the plaintiff.
Yes, correct.
[Levy] Got it. So, Mr. Robinson,
it's a used car, as-is.
Yeah. I understand what as-is means. Yes, Your Honor.
So, regardless of just about anything
that the defendant says, the seller says,
most buyers in your position have very little recourse.
So, how do you plan on overcoming that huge legal burden?
Well, Your Honor, for one, I did not sign anything that says it was sold as-is.
Doesn't have to. Used cars are all sold as-is.
Unless otherwise stated, or unless the sellers provide a warranty.
-Which you did not, correct? -Correct.
[Levy] Give me another one.
Yes. So, when I purchased the vehicle,
I drove it home and it started having serious issues.
She stated to me when I purchased the vehicle
that she just had about $6,000 worth of work
performed on it by a diesel mechanic.
So my thinking is the first thing to do is call the mechanic
since they told me that all the work that was just done was under warranty,
he's a super good mechanic, he knows the truck better than they do.
Um, it's all taken care of.
Her mom was patting me on the back the whole time,
telling me everything's good.
If you have any problems just call and he'll take care of you.
[Levy] Did you say that the work you had done was warrantied?
-No, sir. -[Levy] You did not. Okay.
Let's take a look at this truck, if we could.
That's one good-lookin' truck.
Nice, shiny. Looks like a shiny penny.
[Justin chuckles]
-[Levy] Ms. Bogosian? -[Aubrey] Yeah?
[Levy] That's a big truck. How old were you when your dad gave it to you?
I was 16 years old.
-[Levy] Sixteen years old? -Yes.
How do you even get into that truck? You're 16 years…
My whole life, my dad had massive trucks, so I kinda just learned.
Okay. You sold it when? What was the date that you sold it?
Uh, September 22nd, I believe.
-Of '24. -[Aubrey] Yes, correct.
And when did your dad buy it?
I am not sure. I would say approximately two years.
-He had it since about 2022. -[Aubrey] Before I… Yeah.
Maybe around there.
[Levy] Tell me about this ad right now please, sir.
Was it the defendant who was listing this on the Marketplace,
or was it someone else?
It was kind of interesting. I'm thinking I'm talking to somebody
named James Bogo, a man.
And I'm having a conversation with this James during the day
before I go and meet for the truck. And then I show up
and there's her standing in the driveway with her whole family outside.
And that man that's in the pictures for the ad is nowhere to be found.
And then, I showed up and it's actually her that's selling the truck,
using a different Facebook for whatever reason.
Let's take a look at 09, please. Was this the ad?
[Aubrey] This is my ad. Yes, correct.
[Levy] So, on the right, it says "James Bogo" on the bottom.
Who's James Bogo?
[Aubrey] That is my father.
As we know, I was 17, I wasn't old enough to have a Facebook Marketplace account.
Why not use your mom?
Uh, I don't know. I just used my father's.
[Levy] Okay. Where's your dad? How come he's not here?
Um, my dad is in prison.
[Levy] Oh, okay. I'm sorry.
So, you put down what you did as far as the condition
because that's what the mechanic told you, right?
Yes, correct.
[Levy] When you went there, sir, to see this vehicle,
you saw it on the ad. Did you communicate with who you believed to be James Bogo?
Yes, I was thinking I was talking to James Bogo
the whole time until I got there.
-[Levy] Were you on the phone? -[Justin] Just on Messenger.
So, what'd you do? You drove out to see the vehicle?
Yes, Your Honor. I went with my 73-year-old landlord.
He sat in his van the whole time. He had a big light in front of his van,
because we got there and it was about 9:00, 9:30 at night
when we got there, I believe.
So, he was kind of my light so I could check out the truck better.
[Levy] And you decided to make an offer on the truck?
Uh, we had already, me and Aubrey had already discussed an offer.
She wouldn't go lower than $15,000.
-Okay. So, it was listed for $17,000. -[Justin] Yeah.
-And she stuck to her guns at $15,000. -Yes.
[Levy] 'Cause you had a perfect running truck,
-and you knew what the value was. -Correct.
[dramatic music playing]
[narrator] Coming up on Tribunal Justice…
Saying it's a great truck and it runs great, that's puffery.
That's salesmanship. Sales people do that all the time.
Okay.
So, tell me something that was specifically untrue.
[theme music playing]
[narrator] Justin Robinson is suing Aubrey Bogosian
and her mom Alyssa Busser for $10,000.
Justin claims they sold him a truck that was too dangerous to drive.
But Aubrey and Alyssa say it was an as-is sale,
and they never misrepresented anything.
-It was listed for $17,000. -[Justin] Yeah.
And she stuck to her guns at $15,000.
-Yeah. -Yes.
[Levy] 'Cause you had a perfect running truck and you knew the value.
Correct.
-[Levy] You take it for a test drive. -[Justin] Correct, yes.
[Levy] And where'd you do that?
So, how the test drive worked. She drove the truck first.
She had her whole family in the car.
I'm in the passenger seat, she's in the driver's seat.
She drove us around a couple neighborhoods for like five, ten minutes,
and asked if I wanted to drive it when she got back.
I said sure. I have no idea where I am.
I have no idea what city I'm in. This is an hour and a half away from my house.
Everything seems fine on the test drive. Nothing seems weird.
She's taking me through all these little neighborhoods.
She doesn't take me on a highway or anything.
[Levy] Is that correct?
Um, I offered to go on the highway. He did not want to.
-Why would I not… -[Levy] Yeah.
Why would he not want to do that? He's paying $15,000 for a vehicle.
And he would want to see how it is when it gets up to speed.
Especially a 2005 truck.
I'm 100% sure he's lying. I offered to go on the highway
because it's right around the corner from my house.
And he said, "No, it feels good. Everything feels good."
-[Levy] You're sticking to your guns. -Yeah, I…
[Levy] Mom, is that right?
-Yeah, I… -[Levy] Okay, that's fine.
So, you decide to buy the truck. And now you give her the $15,000.
Does she give you a Bill of Sale or a receipt?
Uh, so, we just did like a DMV report for a Bill of Sale
once I purchased the truck.
Okay. Did she provide the title to the truck?
Yes, she did, Your Honor.
And what, if any, other paperwork did she provide?
Uh, just the receipt from the mechanic who just performed
all the work on the truck.
Can we see 04 please?
And total amount of money that was spent was $4,000.
[Justin] Yes, Your Honor.
-[Levy] Ms. Bogosian, is that accurate? -Yeah, correct.
And that's all the work that was done.
Yes, correct.
And there was no other work that was suggested
that be done by the mechanic? Nothing else?
He suggested, but the stuff that he suggested
is after-market. It's not necessary and costs about $10,000.
And what was it that he was recommending?
It's called bullet proofing.
Pretty much, you put studs in the head to make sure nothing ever goes wrong.
-Was something going wrong that… -[Aubrey] Um, no.
So, nothing was wrong with the head gaskets that you were aware of?
No. It just wasn't studded and it was getting high in miles,
and he was like, you guys can do it if you want,
but it was not something that was necessary.
Okay. So, you buy it, and then you're on the drive home.
-[Justin] Yes. -Tell us what happened.
When I initially went on the test drive and she was driving it first,
I noticed the check engine light was on.
I asked during the test drive, there's a check engine light.
Do you know what's going on with that? And she said, "Honestly, I don't know."
And then, her stepdad in the back seat's like, "I have a code reader
we can plug in real quick and check it out if you want before you buy it."
I was like, "That'd be super helpful."
So, we plug in the code reader. The code reader says
it's like a sensor for like an exhaust, or something like that.
And I'm thinking, okay, that's probably not a huge issue,
we can still go through with it. And then, I go home.
I'm driving home and the truck is what's called surging.
So, the RPMs are up and down, super loud.
It sounds like the turbo's kicking on and off,
the whole drive home, hour and a half.
I'm extremely worried the motor's gonna blow the whole way home.
First thing I did in the morning was call the mechanic.
He basically told me the truth about the truck.
Okay. So, I want to hear this, but I also want to make it clear
what someone else told you who's not in court to testify
is typically considered hearsay.
I am accepting your testimony, not for the truth of what the man said,
but simply for your state of mind as to what you did afterwards.
-Do you follow that? -Okay.
So, what did the mechanic tell you?
So, he told me that it needs new head gaskets.
He just did a bunch of work on it. And Aubrey and her mom
couldn't afford the work that needed to be done to it,
so they bargained on price. They had the truck towed over there.
They had a box full of used parts, Napa parts.
All kinds of parts that aren't supposed to go in that truck.
And he was very specific with them.
And they just basically had him patch up the truck,
so they could get it on to the next guy and sell it.
And it was running, don't get me wrong.
But is it running like it's supposed to safely? No, not at all.
[Levy] So, what you claim the mechanic said was
that when the defendant and her mom
brought the vehicle in, or one or both of them brought it in,
it was towed in because it was not running.
-Yes, Your Honor. -[Levy] And it needed a lot of work.
-Yes, Your Honor. -True or false?
-Um, true. -[Levy] Okay.
You said the mechanic provided them with a list of items
that needed to be fixed, including new head gaskets.
Not one of these bullet proofing stuff. New head gaskets.
-Yes, Your Honor. -[Aubrey] No.
He told us everything was perfectly fine.
I mean, if it needed head gaskets, we wouldn't have taken it back.
[Levy] You know something about cars.
Yeah, it's a big deal.
-[Levy] It's a big deal. -Yeah.
So, according to what the plaintiff is saying is that the mechanic told you
that it needed new head gaskets, and you ignored his recommendation,
fixed none of the head gasket problems, the engine problems,
and instead only authorized repairs like we saw
to get the truck running so it could be sold.
That's what he's saying the mechanic said. Is that true or false?
That is false.
False. I got it. According to what I heard you say a moment ago,
you said the mechanic also told you that that truck should not be driven
with a blown head gasket, it wasn't safe.
Yes. The motor could blow up, potentially.
Did the mechanic say he told the defendant the same thing,
-that it wasn't safe? -Yes, Your Honor.
[Levy] Do you admit that or deny that?
I deny that.
[dramatic music playing]
[narrator] Coming up on Tribunal Justice…
He's selling the truck. You can read right here, he says,
"Truck sounds like a jet and has plenty of power."
So, who is being dishonest here?
[theme music playing]
[narrator] Defendants Aubrey Bogosian and her mom Alyssa Busser
are being sued by Justin Robinson for $10,000.
Justin claims that the defendants lied about the condition of a truck
he bought from them. But Aubrey says,
Justin came, saw, and bought the truck as-is, so, they owe nothing.
Let's take a look at the video of the truck,
the 30 second video of the truck, please.
Sir, this is you taking this video?
Yes. If you look, you'll see the mileage
is pretty identical on all my documentation.
It never changed much throughout my ownership.
I didn't drive the truck anywhere except for to shops, so.
[Levy] And that was 152,000 miles.
-Yes, Your Honor. -[Levy] Let's play the video.
[truck ignition beeps]
[truck engine trying to turn over]
-Can I speak on that? -[Levy] Yes, please.
I, that was… No. I drove that truck every day to school,
to the store, to run errands.
Time out. You just said that the truck had to be towed to the mechanic's.
No, after the mechanic, is what I'm talking about.
But what was wrong with it?
So, when it first went in, we weren't sure what's wrong with it.
That's why we took it to the mechanic.
Because we have mechanic family friends, and they didn't know.
So, we took it to a shop. And pretty much
everything that was wrong is what is on the receipt,
that we couldn't figure out.
All right. Thank you so much. Judge Acker.
[Acker] Thank you, Judge.
Is this the first vehicle you've ever sold?
Uh, yes, ma'am.
See, to me, it absolutely made sense.
I didn't know the rules about Facebook Marketplace, I assumed,
-I've never sold anything on the market. -Yes.
Um, you're a minor, but there are all kinds of reasons
why a 17-year-old young woman isn't gonna advertise herself
-when she's trying to do a deal in public. -Yes.
[Acker] You could attract all kinds of nuts.
The world is crazy.
[Acker] True. True facts.
Uh, so, sir, it's 9:00 at night. Why were you in such a hurry?
It wasn't so much a hurry, it was just I wanted a truck.
I needed a truck for work, but it wasn't like I needed one right now.
I wanted one right now.
If that's the case, why are you buying a truck
that you don't test drive sufficiently?
Why are you taking it to the mechanic after the fact?
Why are you checking the codes after the fact?
These are all things that if you're buying a used car,
you should do before. How old are you?
-You're not a tiny 17-year-old. -You're right.
-Is this the first car you've purchased? -No.
So, you certainly know that when you buy a car from someone else,
there are things that one should reasonably do
to make sure it's in good working order.
And I did. We did go for a test drive. The only thing we didn't do was
go on a highway. Again, I had no idea where I was.
She says she lives by a highway, but as far as I know,
we were like half an hour from a highway. She lives in the country.
You know, you have to go back tomorrow.
You're about to give them a whole lot of money.
What do you do for a living?
I own two detailing businesses.
[Acker] So, you're in the business.
You know what's up with cars. I mean, frankly,
Aubrey, as you were answering Judge Levy, I wanted to say to you, "say less."
-Yes. -[Acker] The car wasn't perfect.
-Yeah. -[Acker] It's his job to make sure
the car is road worthy. It's your job not to commit any fraud.
Yeah.
So, Mr. Robinson, tell me where the fraud is.
Oh, there's a lot of it.
So, after talking to the mechanic,
he obviously told me the truth on everything.
Which was?
That it needs new head gaskets, and needs a lot of other work.
Did she say, "I promise you this car doesn't need new head gaskets"?
No, but I specifically asked her and her mother before I left…
This is funny. When I gave her all the money, and afterwards,
I asked her, "Now that I've bought this truck,
is there anything else I need to know that you could tell me right now?"
Dude, why are you trusting a seller of a used car?
-Why? -I showed up at their house.
They're literally in a nice neighborhood. Nicest people ever.
Promising me this. It's all under warranty.
"The mechanic knows this truck better than we do."
Uh, I mean, they really sold me.
[Acker] Right now, I just think that you didn't do your due diligence.
And tiny Aubrey got the better end of the deal.
Tell me why you were selling this car.
Um, so, I'm a senior in high school,
and my school requires a senior project.
And I don't have really, the funds myself
to do what I want to do for my senior project,
which was build my car that I have.
For your senior project you were going to build a car?
-I am currently. -[Acker] You're building a car.
-Yes. -What kind of car are you building?
Um, it's a Subaru WRX.
[Acker] So, how do you do that?
You just get a used car and you rebuild it?
Um, it's been in our family. My mom and my step dad drove it
for many years before it was mine.
What do you want to do?
When I graduate? I'm going to some sort of trade school.
I haven't decided yet.
So, you know, I'm not trying to take your concerns lightly, Mr. Robinson.
I just think that you did a whole lot of work after the fact
that more appropriately should've been done before the fact.
-Okay. -Saying it's a great truck
and it runs great, that's puffery. That's salesmanship.
-Sales people do that all the time. -Okay.
So, tell me something that was specifically untrue.
[dramatic music playing]
[narrator] Coming up on Tribunal Justice…
I'm thinking about how not to buy a car.
Don't do it at night. Don't… bring a mechanic with you.
And you negotiated the price before you even saw the car.
And so, you did nothing but play into her hand.
[theme music playing]
[narrator] Justin Robinson wants $10,000
from Aubrey Bogosian and her mom, Alyssa Busser,
after he bought their truck. Justin claims it was a mechanical mess.
But Aubrey claims there was nothing wrong after a mechanic fixed everything.
And Justin bought it as-is.
Saying it's a great truck and it runs great,
that's puffery, that's salesmanship. Sales people do that all the time.
Okay.
So, tell me something that was specifically untrue.
So, it says right here on her ad, for the post in general, it says, um,
"I planned on keeping the truck.
Truck runs top notch with plenty of power."
With the truck having the problems it has, it clearly doesn't run top notch or…
It might run top notch for a truck with, what, 150,000 miles
that's had a bunch of modifications.
Well, you saw the video.
Buyer beware, as-is.
That's the standard unless you can show fraud.
You know, it's like suggesting you could say like,
this is like the best gavel ever. You know what, you should buy this.
This is the best gavel ever. I've never had a gavel like this.
No one's got a gavel as good as this.
I do.
-Exactly! -[all laugh]
-Exactly. -I mean, I don't disagree with you.
I probably should've had it checked out by a mechanic first.
But as soon as I showed up, her mom said she'd been crying all day
about selling the car because it has so much sentimental value to her
and she didn't want to sell it.
I mean, there's so many things they really just…
I really fell for it all, you know.
I feel like you got played.
I really, really did.
I talked to the mechanic the next morning
and I felt like I had just gotten stabbed in the stomach.
-I was like, "Are you serious right now?" -Note
that you say she's crying. But by the same token,
when you're like, okay, can you sell, she's like, no, $15,000.
-She drove a hard bargain. -[Justin] Yeah.
-Were you gonna say something, mom? -[Alyssa] Yes.
Um, so, Mr. Robinson pointed out that the truck has no power,
but um, in Mr. Robinson's… um, he's selling the truck.
-He has the truck posted for sale. -Yes.
You can read right here, he says, "All work has been done in diesel shop.
Have receipts for work done.
Truck sounds like a jet and has plenty of power."
So, who is being dishonest here?
Because you're making representations to the public that it's got great power.
And that's not necessarily true. Because in the pictures of that ad,
I don't know if they posted the pictures of all those.
I had receipts from the mechanic that they gave me.
And I have receipts from my mechanic once I took it to my mechanic as well.
I also have messages from all kinds of different people
that I've provided you guys for evidence.
This shows me being very honest with people trying to buy the vehicle.
I am going to end where I started. Which is,
when you buy a used vehicle it is incumbent on the buyer
to do the due diligence and do the inspections
and ensure that the car is working properly.
I'm gonna further add that if you show up
and the seller is crying and in tears, maybe you should take a beat.
Maybe you should take a beat. Judge DiMango.
So, she was crying when you came there
but she was laughing when you left.
[Justin laughs] Yes.
Judge Levy said, it was like a shiny penny.
And you know what, it could've been worth that as well.
Yeah.
How many cars have you bought and sold in your young career?
Um, not any for my career, just in my life.
I'm 33, I've owned a lot of different vehicles in my life.
So, it's hard to put a number on it. Maybe 15 or so.
-[DiMango] Fifteen or so. -Yeah.
That might be pushin' it.
I'm thinking about all the things that you did
that would be textbook how not to buy a car.
-Yeah. -[DiMango] Don't do it at night.
-Yeah. -[DiMango] Bring a mechanic with you.
Call her mechanic ahead of time if she says,
"I have receipts from a mechanic who's gonna warranty."
And you negotiated the price before you even saw the car.
Well, it was posted for $17,000 and I didn't want to spend $17,000 on it.
She's also an hour and a half away. So, I wanted to make sure
that she was okay with the number I was willing to offer before I came out.
If I came over and had head gaskets or something like that,
I would've offered less or not bought it.
Most people expect that the price they put out for anything
is going to be cut down. I'll bet you all she wanted was $15,000 for the truck.
-Right? Am I right? -Yes.
[DiMango] And so, you did nothing but play into her hand.
Almost like a desperateness for you to want this truck.
Why? What is it?
I didn't feel like there was a desperateness for me.
I just really wanted a truck and…
You are… You know, we say in Italian, you're a gabadost, you're a thick head.
You are. You did all these things to make a purchase
in the middle of the night, and you did nothing, really,
that we'd say, this guy did his due diligence.
Now, I'm not sayin' that I like what went on here.
I don't know enough about cars or trucks to say that,
for instance, what her mechanic did.
Were any of those things not done?
Um, I really don't know.
I'm not a mechanic myself, so I can't…
[DiMango] But you must've had somebody look at it since then.
[Justin] I did provide documentation from my mechanic
as soon as I got her in there.
What did your mechanic say?
She said it had two failed injectors, have blown head gaskets.
I provided evidence for you.
Also, didn't she use like Honda parts in this truck?
[Justin] Yeah, there was all kinds of other stuff involved.
The suspension, that's a whole other case of shadiness.
[DiMango] Did you try to get your money back from her?
-Yes. -[DiMango] How'd you do that?
The very next morning, as soon as I talked to the mechanic,
the first thing I did is I messaged her and told her
I just found out the truth about the truck,
I really don't appreciate it. I don't want to get messed out of my money.
Gotcha. What'd she say?
She blocked me instantly, deleted the Facebook ad instantly.
I tried texting her because I did grab her phone number before I left.
So, I texted her and I was like, hey, I'm bringing this truck over at 7:00.
I'd appreciate it if you just worked with me.
No response. It said "read."
We have video of you ringing the doorbell.
He didn't seem threatening. Why didn't you open the door?
Um, first can I start where I didn't reply?
So, I didn't reply because I was scared. He seemed really mad.
-[DiMango] Well, he was mad. -Yeah.
I mean, I would be
-if I broke the truck too. -Yes.
None of my parents were gonna be home, um, that night.
She was home alone. Let's see his efforts.
[DiMango] And you were like what? Peepin' out the window to see if he…
[Aubrey] No, I was not home.
[DiMango] Nobody was home? -[Aubrey] Nope. Nobody was home.
When you saw him at the house,
what did you and your mother say to one another? Like, uh-oh.
No, we were just… We knew he was coming.
Why would he bring it back if it was workin' fine?
He was dying to have this car.
He was negotiating before he even saw it.
He really wanted this.
And you still haven't really given me an explanation why.
Because the Book value on this car is not $15,000.
-[Justin] Yeah. -It's like half of that.
Well, to be fair, they don't really go for what they Blue Book for, these trucks.
It's pretty fair for the market.
The biggest selling point on the truck for me was
that it just had $6,000 worth of work done.
[DiMango] Have you sold the truck?
Have I sold that truck? Yes, I did.
How much did you sell it for?
Six thousand dollars. Yeah.
[DiMango] You sold it for the Book value.
So, the bottom line is you now have $6,000
on a truck that you paid $15,000 for, and you're asking us to give you $10,000.
-Yeah. -[DiMango] So, you kinda want
to make a profit on this bad deal.
I just want to break even, to be fair.
[narrator] Next time, on Tribunal Justice…
You specifically told him that there were no engine problems.
Yeah.
I think we have a witness that we'd like to bring in.
-You recognize him? -The mechanic.
Did you tell 'em that the truck was not safe to drive?
Yes.
The truck needed a lot of work.
Is there anything about your testimony you want to change?
-No. -It all looks really, really bad.
[narrator] Are you being sued?
Let Tribunal Justice decide your case.
Find us on social media.
[theme music playing]