Damage/repair on new vehicle that dealership is trying to sell me?

nynla1970

I am at the end of my lease on my current car. I went to a dealership to test drive another car by the same maker. The salesman gave me an offer that seems good. I ran the numbers through the calculators online and was told it was good-excellent.

Here's where something smells off. The salesman gave me a print out that he said was "technically confidential". It is three pages and is a Warranty Vehicle Inquiry. On the last page he wrote the details of my offer. In the past, I've always been given a copy of the window sticker.

I was reading through all of the information and saw that the car had a dented front door that was repaired last November. The salesman never told me about this.

Also, the car is not listed online in their inventory (I checked all of the VINS of the models listed)

This is what I suspect: They are trying to unload this car on me because it is less desirable than a car that has not had a dented/repaired door. Legally they have to disclose the damage but they are trying to sneak it past me. If I buy it and come back in the future they can claim that I had the information all along with this print-out.

I fundamentally distrust this process (and car salesmen) so I might be being overly suspicious. Is this a common practice? Are many or most cars damaged and repaired before sale?

stever

Lots of cars are repaired before sale and in most states there's no requirement to disclose that information to the consumer. Other states may not require disclosure until the dollar amount of the repair reaches a certain threshold (that number is $6,000 in Ohio for example, iirc). It's not all that unusual for a car to be sold as new even though it was damaged in transit and repaired.

I think it's illegal to sell a new car without the Monroney sticker being available. If it's lost, there's a way for the dealer to obtain a new one without too much hassle.

I'd ask to see the Monroney sticker before going further and seeing an AutoCheck or Carfax report would be helpful too.

Mr_Shiftright

I think the legal requirement is 5% of the MSRP of the car in many states. In some states, it is less (like PA it's 3%), or in some cases a dollar amount. In CA, it's 3% of MSRP or $500, whichever is greater. In Illinois, it's 6%.

Anything below that, they don't have to tell you. Needless to say, a lot of $499 repairs are on record.

kyfdx

I would move on, and look for another car. You know, they sell 16 million cars per year. You don't have to take a dog.

isellhondas

When I was in the tool business I used to call on the port of L.A. I would watch as longshoremen unloaded the cargo ships from Japan. Some had a ball sliding the cars into tight parking spaces. I remember Nissan and others had a huge body shop right there to deal with the dents and scratches.