Used Car Buying - What if the dealer lied?

[Jetpilot3]

Guys,

I'm trying to help out a mate who bought a car from a very very reputable high end manufacturers dealership in Florida that apparently lied to him about the car sold. Most of you are quite knowledgeable and may be able to provide some comments here...

Prior to buying the car he had been presented with an Autocheck condition report which showed no accidents, loans, liens, etc. He tells me that since the car was "Certified" by the manufacturer and part of their pre-owned program that he felt comfortable proceeding with the purchase. He ran an Autocheck report again a few weeks ago and it still shows no prior history to be concerned with.

However, when he pulled a Carfax report it states an accident back in 2007. He proceeded to file a complaint with Carfax armed with the Autocheck report and asked for an explanation. He's got the traffic file number that Carfax presented but that doesn't help him as he now has to mail in a request for it without knowing where the so-called accident happened. He has the date and traffic file number.

Would he have any recourse with the dealer that sold him the vehicle? I have no idea how U.S. car sales go and specifically with Florida law. Would the dealer in Florida have been obligated to notify him of the prior accident? The interesting part is that dealer which sold him the car is playing point the finger at Carfax as they only use Autocheck...I also think the dealership is basically saying screw you as he lives here in Dubai (P.S. he's thinking of hiring a lawyer but first needs opinions or help).:wink:

Any advice?

 

[91 X]

Guys,


Any advice?

next time use Carfax first :redface:

 

[SilverStone05]

Very reputable and upscale, eh?

They sound pretty classless to me.

Either way, it's the buyer's fault. He should have checked the car out BEFORE he bought. It isn't the dealer's job to track down every and all accidents.

It is, however, probably their moral obligation to disclose these events if they are aware of them.

If they truly are reputable and upscale, they will take the car back if the customer is unsatisfied. Just lean on them a bit.

Good luck.

 

[Olyar15]

First off, it doesn't sound like the dealer lied. If they only depended on the Autocheck to check on previous accidents, and their inspection showed no signs of repair, then it is possible that they believed that the car didn't have a prior accident. It will be up to the buyer to prove that the dealer had the Carfax information in order the prove that they lied.

Also, it is still up to the buyer to confirm the condition of the car prior to sale.

 

[Motegi]

No matter what the dealer says it is always a good idea for a pre-owned vehicle to have an independent pre-purchase inspection by a mechanic familiar with that model. For my NSX search I think I paid for 8 or 9 PPIs before I found the right one. And for the car I ended up buying I had it go through two separate PPIs!!!

Also even though it is not perfect I check CarFax every time I even look at a pre-owned car. Most dealers will print one out for free if you ask.

As for the dealer "lying", one would have to have some sort of documentation from them proving this. Word of mouth is just not enough.

There are plenty of NSX owners in FL. I'm sure someone was familiar with the car or could've gone there to look at it for you.

Hopefully your friend can get this resolved with the dealer.

 

[passline]

No matter what the dealer says it is always a good idea for a pre-owned vehicle to have an independent pre-purchase inspection by a mechanic familiar with that model.

Also even though it is not perfect I check CarFax every time I look at a pre-owned car.

As for the dealer lying you would have to have some sort of documentation from them proving this.

There are plenty of NSX owners in FL. I'm sure someone was familiar with the car or could've gone there to look at it for you.

I hope your friend can get this resolved with the dealer.

+1
I don't trust any of these companies that claim to have damage records on vehicles, especially CarFax. If you can't look it over yourself and be sure, get a friend that can or another knowledgeable Prime member. I was fortunate to have OscarDriver look one over for me in Fla. and I didn't have to fly down. Car turned out fine. Reminds me, I still want to buy him dinner if ever down there.

 

[SUNEDAZ]

Sorry for the experience, I lived in S Florida for 5 years and there are a lot of "high end" dealers in that area. As with any used car sale it's "Buyer beware" I don't think there is any gain in lying to a potential customer in the "High end" market their name means more than any one sale. Solve it with the dealership if you can but don't hold a grudge if they don't do anything.

Remember in the end it's "Buyer Beware"

 

[Jetpilot3]

I've passed along this information to him and I've also advised him that basically it was his responsibility to have the vehicle checked.

He told me that he's lodged a complaint with the Manufacturer but I suppose it will probably go no where.

I highly doubt the dealership will buy back the car; unless of course he purchases another from that same dealership. The car in question doesn't appear to have been in an accident. If it did someone did an amazing repair!

Thanks Primers!

 

[steveny]

Used Car Buying - What if the dealer didn't lie?


Fixed if for ya.

 

[Cairo94507]

My only thoughts aside from the whole buyer beware issue are if you can determine if the dealership has a CarFax account and ran the car and also ran it with Autocheck and then disclosed ONLY the one that was clean to the buyer...

Regardless, CarFax is not a perfect system either. Good luck.

 

[Kyras]

I'm sorry your friend is disappointed even after he thought he did everything possible right. :frown:

Even Carfax isn't the answer. My boyfriend has an S2000 that had $13,000 worth of work done, after he rear ended an Acura. The Carfax doesn't show it and comes up clean.

I was lucky to have an NSX expert check out my '05 NSX with me, the day I bought it. Without him, I would have been ignorant.

 

[XYZ_NSX]

CarFax, AutoCheck, PPI...none of this matters. The ONLY document that matters is whats in/on the written contract for sale. And I highly doubt any dealer has a "CarFax clause" in their contracts.

P.S. - No matter how "high-end" a dealer appears to be, they're all used-car salesman when you strip away everything.