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Pretty sweet deal on car that was a planned auction. Am I walking into a scam?
Found a nice looking 2015 Altima with 14k miles priced at $15500 on Craigslist. Got in touch with the owner and told him it was out of my price range but if he's willing to come down to $13,500, we could talk. He got back to me and said he'd be willing. He provided me with the VIN and an autocheck. Everything looked clean. He said it was a Dealer Fleet Vehicle with no records of accident/damage. (he was not the owner)
He agreed to let me schedule an inspection from a 3rd party company. I scheduled it. It will be done today or tomorrow. However, I decided to double check on the VIN with another source. Carfax showed similiar records, but they reported the following 6 months ago: "Accident reported Involving front impact It hit an animal Estimated damage exceeds $1,000 Front airbag deployed"
Hmmmmm. Gave him a call back. Asked him again if there was history of damage. He said no. I told him about the carfax and he said "wow, I had no idea. I'll look into this and call you back." He then got back to me and said that a collision with a newer vehicle of $1000 of damage is "as minor as a small scratch", so AutoCheck may not have reported it because of how minor it was.
The Carfax did clarify that the car was not titled a rebuild, salvage, or junk of any kind, despite the accident.
The car will still be inspected, of course. If the inspector gives me the thumbs up can this still be a go? Or should I walk away?
He agreed to let me schedule an inspection from a 3rd party company. I scheduled it. It will be done today or tomorrow. However, I decided to double check on the VIN with another source. Carfax showed similiar records, but they reported the following 6 months ago: "Accident reported Involving front impact It hit an animal Estimated damage exceeds $1,000 Front airbag deployed"
Hmmmmm. Gave him a call back. Asked him again if there was history of damage. He said no. I told him about the carfax and he said "wow, I had no idea. I'll look into this and call you back." He then got back to me and said that a collision with a newer vehicle of $1000 of damage is "as minor as a small scratch", so AutoCheck may not have reported it because of how minor it was.
The Carfax did clarify that the car was not titled a rebuild, salvage, or junk of any kind, despite the accident.
The car will still be inspected, of course. If the inspector gives me the thumbs up can this still be a go? Or should I walk away?
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Is the seller an actual car dealer?
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If it was that one of a kind vehicle that they quit making 8 years ago, in that rare color that you are looking for... then, sure... look around the country. For a car that you can buy brand-new from the lot down the street? Not worth the chance.
Plus, you already found out that it shows front-end damage on CarFax. Might be a reason that it's cheap.
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