My son is being sued in small claims court
New York State
My 20 year old son is a car/truck guy. He buys old vehicles, fixes them, and sells them. Mostly he uses Facebook marketplace. He’s a super nice, honest kid. A couple of months ago he bought a trailer for $5,000 from his boss. He thought it would be good for hauling a full-size pick up truck. His boss told him it was rated for 14,000 lbs.
The trailer turned out to not be big enough for what he wanted. He sold it on fb marketplace for $4,500 cash. He told the guy who bought it everything he knew about it and why he was selling it. He sold it for a loss because it turned out to not be as good as he thought it was.
The guy who bought it is in Pennsylvania, where they do inspections on trailers. When the guy brought it in for an inspection the trailer turned out to be rated for only 10,000 lbs. He asked my son for the money back and he wanted to return the trailer.
My son didn’t think he did anything wrong. My husband and I both told him to give the guy his money back, but he didn’t want to. I think he was too proud and offended that the guy said he committed fraud. My son also said when you buy something like this, it’s sold as is, and you just deal with it if you don’t end up liking it.
We got a notice today that he is being taken to small claims court for $4,500 plus interest. I have never sued or been sued. Does anyone have any advice for us?