Advice

[jperls]

So I have hit a small snag. A couple of days ago I took my car in to the dealer for some warranty work. The trunk has been misaligned since the day I bought it and I figured now would be a good time to get it fixed. Much to my surprise the dealership pointed out that my passenger door was also misaligned. Upon opening the door much to my horror we discovered that the car had been previously worked on and I was not told about this previous damage when I bought the car.

It appears the door skin was replaced and was poorly misaligned. The body shop that I love and trust appear in Sacramento has quoted me over $3500 to do the repair correctly. Now the question is if I'm going to be able to get the dealership that sold me the car to pay for it.

When I bought the car, it had a clean Carfax and the salesman and I have known each other for years (since I was around 4) and he was stunned when I told him what we found. While I did buy the car used and there is an "as is" clause within the bill of sale, by law, dealerships have to do full disclosures to customers about used cars. The salesman that I worked with was not told about this previous repair done to the car before he sold it to me. So to say I am disappointed is an understatement...I feel more badly for my friend that what happened to my car.

Here's hoping I can resolve this quickly and the dealership that I bought this from will do the right thing and pay for the repairs. But any suggestions if the dealership tries to fight this? I bought the car in Utah but it is registered here in California. So Utah law will be a big factor here.

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[Mike's Mustang]

Doesn't Carfax have a we'll buy the car from you if our info isn't correct statement?

 

[jperls]

Doesn't Carfax have a we'll buy the car from you if our info isn't correct statement?

Not sure...problem is I have started my build and now have over 28k on the car...so that idea is pretty much toast. Plus I love this car too much.

 

[Semi]

I am probably uninformed. But the question is: how is a misaligned door repair worth $3500?

Car sold AS IS, sorry you're toast. You'd spend more in lawyer fees fighting it.

 

[scrubber3]

Is it the truck or the car?

 

[yomamma219]

I think he meant the TRUNK.

I am sorry but it doesn't seem like you have much recourse. I think the carfax buyback only applies if their records show clean title and its a "branded title" (rebuilt, etc). The as-is statements in sales documents are in there for this exact reason. The dealship can only disclose what they know so you would have to prove they knew about the issue which could be very tough. That may mean trying to contact the previous owner and seeing what they say about it. That is really shitty, I keep waiting to find out something like that about my used mustang.

On a lighter note. Instead of simply getting the door fixed this seems like a great opportunity to have a reputable shop install lambo doors

 

[scrubber3]

I think he meant the TRUNK.

I am sorry but it doesn't seem like you have much recourse. I think the carfax buyback only applies if their records show clean title and its a "branded title" (rebuilt, etc). The as-is statements in sales documents are in there for this exact reason. The dealship can only disclose what they know so you would have to prove they knew about the issue which could be very tough. That may mean trying to contact the previous owner and seeing what they say about it. That is really shitty, I keep waiting to find out something like that about my used mustang.

On a lighter note. Instead of simply getting the door fixed this seems like a great opportunity to have a reputable shop install lambo doors

Duh! It's early...

I second the Lambo doors BTW

 

[jperls]

Hi everyone...

So for those who are doing the "AS IS" argument.

The dealer knew about these repairs before selling me the car and NEVER TOLD ME ABOUT THEM (negligence on dealerships part). I even talked with Utah's consumer affairs division and they said I could have a case against them...but if the dealership wants to go the route of making me get an attorney, then I'll just forget the whole thing and write a very nasty yelp review.

For any used cars...full disclosure of all accidents and prior service history is required by law.

So I do have some recourse. If you are all wondering how the repair comes out to around $3,500, well it is because the door skin has to be replaced, paint has to be done and blended, alignment with front and rear quarter panels, etc.

And finally...thanks for the Lambo door idea, but I'll pass.

 

[BeauxXL1200]

Hi everyone...

So for those who are doing the "AS IS" argument.

The dealer knew about these repairs before selling me the car and NEVER TOLD ME ABOUT THEM (negligence on dealerships part). I even talked with Utah's consumer affairs division and they said I could have a case against them...but if the dealership wants to go the route of making me get an attorney, then I'll just forget the whole thing and write a very nasty yelp review.

For any used cars...full disclosure of all accidents and prior service history is required by law.

So I do have some recourse. If you are all wondering how the repair comes out to around $3,500, well it is because the door skin has to be replaced, paint has to be done and blended, alignment with front and rear quarter panels, etc.

And finally...thanks for the Lambo door idea, but I'll pass.

If they knew about the previous repair and didn't disclose that to you, that's not negligence. That's an intentional omission that likely constitutes fraud. :cheers:

 

[jperls]

If they knew about the previous repair and didn't disclose that to you, that's not negligence. That's an intentional omission that likely constitutes fraud. :cheers:

Technically this is not fraud. There has to be criminal intent for this to be defined as fraud.

Like I said, the salesman and I have known each other for a very long time and I know he was stunned when I told him about this. This was just an oversight...hence negligence. Yes part of this is my fault for not doing as thorough an inspection on the car when I bought it, but like I have already said, this was from a good friend of mine and I know he would not deceive me intentionally. I should have done a better job inspecting the car...but then again, an ordinary person probably does not inspect the door seams and hinges when buying a car for damage. You would have to be trained in body work to really notice the damage.

Besides, considering the car only had 4,000 miles on it when I bought it and the price was $24,500 with included $1,500 for installing leather on the interior), I had a great price.

 

[goldengooner]

Hi everyone...

So for those who are doing the "AS IS" argument.

The dealer knew about these repairs before selling me the car and NEVER TOLD ME ABOUT THEM (negligence on dealerships part). I even talked with Utah's consumer affairs division and they said I could have a case against them...but if the dealership wants to go the route of making me get an attorney, then I'll just forget the whole thing and write a very nasty yelp review.

For any used cars...full disclosure of all accidents and prior service history is required by law.

So I do have some recourse. If you are all wondering how the repair comes out to around $3,500, well it is because the door skin has to be replaced, paint has to be done and blended, alignment with front and rear quarter panels, etc.

And finally...thanks for the Lambo door idea, but I'll pass.

If you have proof they knew about the repairs then you have them bang to rights, and I very much doubt they would want to go to court, as it could ruin them for a few years, who would buy a car from them?
Why would you swallow it? he is 100% in the wrong, only problem you might have if he says I will give you your money back and take the car back. then what will you do?

 

[jperls]

If you have proof they knew about the repairs then you have them bang to rights, and I very much doubt they would want to go to court, as it could ruin them for a few years, who would buy a car from them?
Why would you swallow it? he is 100% in the wrong, only problem you might have if he says I will give you your money back and take the car back. then what will you do?

Well...the car was bought 2 years ago (talk about by the skin of the teeth in regards to making this claim)...and I now have almost 28,500 on the car. So don't think the dealership is going to buy back the car at this point. If they do want to do that, then I'll just say ok...let me buy a car out here in California so I don't have to deal with the crap about having a used car crossing state lines and having to have 7500 miles on the car before registering it here. And I'll just say, you all need to pay the difference. The total price I pad was 27,500 with taxes and everything. So that is fair.

 

[OKC S550]

Hi everyone...

So for those who are doing the "AS IS" argument.

The dealer knew about these repairs before selling me the car and NEVER TOLD ME ABOUT THEM (negligence on dealerships part). I even talked with Utah's consumer affairs division and they said I could have a case against them...but if the dealership wants to go the route of making me get an attorney, then I'll just forget the whole thing and write a very nasty yelp review.

For any used cars...full disclosure of all accidents and prior service history is required by law.

So I do have some recourse. If you are all wondering how the repair comes out to around $3,500, well it is because the door skin has to be replaced, paint has to be done and blended, alignment with front and rear quarter panels, etc.

And finally...thanks for the Lambo door idea, but I'll pass.

You have proof that the dealer knew of the repairs?

 

[jperls]

You have proof that the dealer knew of the repairs?

Talked to dealership...they were able to pull up a repair order for repairs done in June 2015 (bought the car in July 2016). I was never told about them. came with a "clean" CARFAX. Going to get a copy of the repair order from them (hopefully I don't have to subpoena it).

 

[NoVaGT]

CARFAX. It's horse shit, but people continue to believe in it, and pay for it.

Anyways....

OP, just have the dealership pay for the repairs and move on with life.

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