What would you do?

[hot_pastrami]

I am having a moral dilemma, so I am consulting the moral-o-matic.

Due to money concerns, I sold my beloved car just before Christmas. The fellow who bought it flew from his home in Kansas to Salt Lake City, then drove the car home. When he got home, he sent me an e-mail to let me know that he loved the car, that it ran great, and left me positive feedback on eBay. All was well.

In the auction, I had mentioned that the car had a supercharger-induced ping problem (detonation at high RPMs), and when speaking to him, I told him that the car should be driven very delicately until the problem is resolved, and suggested some possible rememdies which I had not yet tried. He got the car for a bargain due to this problem, and the bill of sale was very clear in stating that car is sold AS IS, with no warranty.

Well, several days later, he e-mailed me and told me that there's a problem... turns out he blew a hole in one of the cylinders, and now he may have some costly repairs in store for him. He didn't say so, but I suspect he redlined it a few times despite my warnings, because otherwise this kind of damage is unlikely. He's not asking for his money back, and he's not asking for help in paying for repairs... what he wants is for me to lie to help him.

I guess eBay automatically warranties every car sold through eBay Motors for the first 1000 miles. He had clocked well over 1000 miles by the time the cylinder blew, so he wants me to send a fax to the warranty place stating that the car's milage at the time of sale was much higher than it really was, by about 1000 miles. Besides the fact that I'm uneasy with lying in any capacity, there's also the legal aspect... the eBay listing, Odometer Disclosure Statement, and car title all show the correct milage, and he wants me to put my name to a document saying that the milage was higher. If I were to help him, and in the unlikely event that the lie were discovered, I could be barred from eBay, charged with perjury, fined, and possibly jailed. But the risk is low, and in doing it I could save him $5000-$7000 worth of engine work.

I am torn. I want to help him, but not at my own expense, especially because it looks like a problem he caused by irresponsibly acting against my advice. Of course, maybe it just happened on it's own, and I sold him a car on the verge of a blowout. Either way, he knew the risk, but I hate to abandon him under the circumstances. What do you guys think?

Edit: By the way, he isn't even sure the warranty place will cover the problem even if I were to send the fax, he's just hoping they will. But the supercharger may void the warranty entirely.