Yeah, buyers fault. He acts like someone cheated him. The builder is indeed giving him a gift by fixing it.

Probably will be back on the news when the builder refuses to do more than angle the curb. Looking at the picture I see little method of satisfying the buyer.

I feel bad for him but it is what it is and he bought and paid for it. I have two dear friends who have nightmare driveways. Glad I have an SUV.

What a wimp. Trade in that Nissan for a different car.

I see no way of fixing that driveway - you can't change the pitch without lengthening it.

If you look at the picture on the left there is a slight curb that could be flattened similar to a curb cut for wheelchairs. This is the only thing that could be done other than the buyer learning to drive over that small hump.

I'm sorry, but he didn't exercise due diligence. That's probably not the first time his car bottomed out and it should have dawned on him to check it out in advance. It's not like the builder was trying to hide something. In fact, it doesn't look that steep...he's just got a low slung car...his choice. My Maserati would probably bottom out, too, but I'd just suck it up ;-)

I can see how a first time home buyer would assume the driveway would accommodate all vehicles...

It should.

What a lazy, shady thing for the builder to do. I feel bad for the buyer and that no one mentioned the flaw. Clearly the builder was aware, and I think if the house was discounted they likely gave some other reason for it.

Sorry I disagree with all but melle.

The lawyer for the builder stated the house was discounted because of the driveway problem. When the reporter asked the lawyer if the steep driveway was disclosed to the buyer and was he was told that was why it was discounted, the lawyer said no.

I understand about due diligence but not all of us make it a habit to drive up and down a driveway we don't own.

Would you all say the same thing if you bought a previously owned house and the owners kept their cars in the driveway so you couldn't check how steep it is?

Probably I'd be on the lookout for that if I had a car that had problems with inclines. And, if the owner could keep vehicles in the driveway it would likely mean that it wasn't a problem for them. Not infrequently, buyers find faults with things that wouldn't be an issue for a lot of other folks.

If it was a new car no but if it was an older car people have eyes and should know what the clearance of their car is since they have been driving it for a while.

I'm a strong believer in consumer protection, but there are limits in how far we need to go in protecting people from there own lack of awareness. I've had cars before that were low enough that I could graze the road surface or parking curb in certain situations. But it only took it happening once to teach me what I had to be on the lookout for.

Had a Chrysler Concorde that would bottom out on a slight rise in the roadway. Who the heck doesn't drive up a driveway before they purchase a house?

Actually, when we were house hunting both times, we were in the realtor's car and we always parked out front. I would have had no idea.

Some people have their lawyer on speed dial so they are quick to shift blame the moment something goes wrong. That's fine. Takes all kinds etc etc.

It's frustrating to have this happen. I had it happen on my last house with my Mitsubishi. The drive was a little steep and I didn't think to check. In the broad scheme of things...nobody died! Yes it was embarrassing bottoming out the car twice a day for a few years! I did learn the best angle and speed eventually.

Just deal with it.

That's an unfortunate situation but not the builder's fault. I don't see an obvious answer to fixing the driveway and the buyer should be glad the builder will consider making changes. Good luck with finding a solution to the issue as if the answer was simple and obvious, the fix would have already been made.

Ha. I bought my house 2 years ago (not new construction) and the exact same thing happened to me. I never parked in the driveway when viewing the house. I recognized that the driveway wasn't level, but it never dawned on me that my car would bottom out. Been parking on street for 2 years. Getting ready to trade this car in and will get one with higher ground clearance. Live and learn. I cannot imagine why the house being new construction makes any difference. You bought it, you have to deal with it.

I can't help but wonder how any buyers from out of town have had this happen to them. They fly in, rent a car, usually go in the realtor's car to view houses, and then move a few months later only to discover a major design flaw...and it IS a flaw. I don't care if they discounted the house due to it - they didn't inform the buyer that was the reason for the discount.

When we moved to Los Angeles, we had a 1978 Ford Country Squire station wagon. We were so fully loaded, both inside that huge thing, and with the car top carrier on, loaded to the gills, that we had to be very careful at every motel and restaurant on the way or we'd bottom out getting into the parking lot. We laughed about it a lot on that VERY long trip from St Louis, but at least it was only for about 5 days. Our next car was a Suburban - it held a ton and no bottoming out when fully loaded!

I'm not entirely sympathetic to the buyer in this case. Low slung cars can bottom out coming out of supermarket parking lots or gas stations, so any driveway that looks problematic should be checked out. It's just common sense (and testing the driveway has definitely taken a couple of prospective house purchases off our list in the past).

Not the builder's fault.

It is a pretty common occurrence and they actually make products to deal with it. Neighbor down the street has one similar to this for his Porsche.
http://www.bridjit.com/

chispa-

Brilliant! Someone should pay you a commission on this... ;-)

Who knew? Great to know about something like this.

What a silly argument by the buyer! Should I sue if my pickup or SUV can't fit into my garage, or my extended cab pickup is too long to make a three point turn in my drive? It's the buyers car that is defective in this case. Maybe he should buy a Jeep!

Wait'll he finds his ice box won't fit in the allotted space in the kitchen.

Wow, people are dumb. It appears he was so dazzled by sales tactics that he couldn't even trust his own eyes that should have alerted him to the house being perched on top of a steep slope. Suck it up and buy a pickup with the savings, lol.

My sister bought a new construction home and all the homes in the neighborhood had a roadblock at the end of the driveway. You could not pull up the driveway of any home that was for sale. I see that with most new construction around here, so I wouldn't fault the buyer for not having tested it.

I'm not sure if I pulled into driveways of every home I have purchased, but I did this one. Once I pulled a flier from the box in front of the house and saw photos of rooms with no furniture, I pulled up in the driveway, parked and went to the front door, windows and side door to see what I could see. I think the chance of pulling into a driveway is greater with an existing home with a previous owner -- which, ironically, has also been tested by their vehicles.

Just because a home is discounted as compared to others, does not mean the seller has to disclose the possible multiple reasons why. The driveway is within code. Even if barriers were in place, which they were not in this instance, he would have had every chance to test the drive prior to making an offer.

Those rubber ramps may not be allowed because they impede storm water runoff. Usually, if you enter a steep drive at an angle, and not head on, a car will not drag. I bet the same holds true here.

Personally, I'd be embarrassed to draw media attention to a problem that I am blaming on someone else, when it was totally of my making.

When I've sold houses, I didn't try to conceal major flaws, or lie when asked questions, but I didn't go out of my way to point out everything that might or might not be a problem. A steep driveway is one feature that a buyer of average intelligence should be able to notice without prompting. I would also not feel obligated to explain to a buyer how I decided all the factors that went into my offering price.

I used to own a high value sports car. At the gas station I would pull horizontal, and get my right wheels on the entrance ramp, before turning in.

However, I don't understand why a builder couldn't grade the land differently.

geoffrey-

There are constraints with the angle(s) of inclination. If the grade had been shallower by the street, there would have to be a steeper angle further in. The builder probably tried to optimize by making the grade fairly uniform over the length of the driveway. But, when you have an elevation change from point A to point B in X feet, there is a limit on what can be done.

I've seen many houses with either the rubber ramps shown or metal ramps. Don't know about individual codes for them, they do have room for water to run under them. It seems many neighborhoods now don't have curbs with flat driveways from the street so these dips are a problem for low cars.

I guess that given the number of people driving around who have absolutely no clue where the corners of their car are in space (or for that matter, the front or rear bumper!) it should come as no surprise that people can't look at a slope and correctly judge whether or not their vehicle will make it.

I actually have the same problem with a new construction home I bought. Sadly the driveway was barricaded by the builder until after closing.