Business ProfileforKatana Motors, LLC

On 7/7/2023 I purchased a 2007 Prius from Katana Motors, from dealership owner ***** ****** (cell: ************) for $6000. I had owned the car three weeks and driven it 357 miles, when on 8/1/2023 it broke down as I was backing out of a parking spot. As I pulled out the car made a loud noise and the steering wheel ceased to control the tires, making it impossible to turn the car in any way. I had the car towed from the parking lot to my house, and the following day I had it towed to my mechanic. My mechanic examined the car and stated that the cause of the break-down was due to new tie rods that had recently been improperly installed. At the time of sale dealer ***** ****** did not disclose this recent repair. My mechanic said he has never seen this issue on any car before and definitively concluded that the tie rod replacement had not been done correctly and resulted in the breakage. My mechanic also told me that this is a major safety concern and that I was extremely lucky this happened in a parking lot and not on the freeway. It terrifies me to even think of what would have happened if I had been on the freeway suddenly losing control of the car, not able to follow lanes or curves of the road. This could have resulted in fatalities, my own and that of drivers and passengers in other cars. To sell a car without disclosing such repairs is highly irresponsible and reprehensible. I could literally have lost my life due to this neglect. I then called dealer ***** ****** to let him know about the situation and that I was seeking for him to either cover the cost of the repair or return the full purchase price to me in exchange for the car since this was clearly an issue that he purposely did not disclose or warn me about. His response was that the issue was mine as I had bought the car as-is. While this may in theory be accurate, I’d like to think that making misrepresentations in sales that have potential fatal outcomes does have consequences.