The advice I was given when young:
Them:"Are you a banker?"
Me: "no"
Them: "Do you want to become one?"
Me: "no"
Them: "Then why would you carry the note? Thats what banks are for!"
I don't take payments or cosigne nothin', I'm not a banker!
The advice I was given when young:
Them:"Are you a banker?"
Me: "no"
Them: "Do you want to become one?"
Me: "no"
Them: "Then why would you carry the note? Thats what banks are for!"
I don't take payments or cosigne nothin', I'm not a banker!
If you take the car, give all money back minus an amount held in earnest until the source of mechanical difficulties are found. If it is diagnosed as something he did, keep earnest. If not, send check back, minus handling fee. 
Write out a bill of sale that both parties can sign. NO warranties, written, expressed or implied. Vehicle sold AS IS.
That would have worked but he agreed to take half down and half later.
I trust MyMonkey's advice here... sounds sound.
If he hadn't paid for all of it, you probably didn't (and should not have) signed the title over to it yet. Do you realize if he drives it into a tree, it's your insurance that covers it (or doesn't if you don't have collision coverage). And if he gets drunk and runs into someone, that's on your liability insurance.
Once when I was 20 and another time when I was 23 or 24 I purchased cars from total strangers by putting money down, signing a contract and making payments. Both times it was about 75% down and the original owner, per the contract, wouldn't sign the title over until every [documented] dollar was paid. If the contract wasn't met due to my failure of payment, the contract stated the sellers would repo the car and issue no refund to me. Neither time were the sellers hosed on the deal. Good, honest buyers are out there, so don't give up hope on all of society!
I know that it is too late now, but always get ALL the money up front, disclose every problem that you know the vehicle has, and tell the buyer "as is, no warranty".
Many years ago, before we were married, my ex had an older Camaro. She wanted to buy a truck. A buyer came along, and in spite of everything I had told her, she sold the car to a lady who was buying it for her son, and got half the payment in cash and half in a check. Before I could get off work that day, they were already calling, that there was a problem with the car. When we went to check it out, the car was knocking badly, it clearly had thrown a rod. Now this car was older, but it was a daily driver. The mom, tried to claim that it had started knocking just a few miles from the house. I think that the 16 year old son, came home from school and either sat in the car revving the engine until it blew or took it out and wound it out to see what it would do and threw the rod. I thought that I was going to have to fight the dad, before it was all over with. We called an attorney friend, who said that on a car that age with that many miles there could be no warranty either expressed or implied. They wanted us to buy a new engine on a car that was sold for a thousand bucks or so. In the end, the fiance had to race to the buyers bank in the morning to cash the check, before they stopped payment on it.
Many years ago, before we were married, my ex had an older Camaro. She wanted to buy a truck. A buyer came along, and in spite of everything I had told her, she sold the car to a lady who was buying it for her son, and got half the payment in cash and half in a check. Before I could get off work that day, they were already calling, that there was a problem with the car. When we went to check it out, the car was knocking badly, it clearly had thrown a rod. Now this car was older, but it was a daily driver. The mom, tried to claim that it had started knocking just a few miles from the house. I think that the 16 year old son, came home from school and either sat in the car revving the engine until it blew or took it out and wound it out to see what it would do and threw the rod. I thought that I was going to have to fight the dad, before it was all over with. We called an attorney friend, who said that on a car that age with that many miles there could be no warranty either expressed or implied. They wanted us to buy a new engine on a car that was sold for a thousand bucks or so. In the end, the fiance had to race to the buyers bank in the morning to cash the check, before they stopped payment on it.
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