TL/DR: In my opinion these people are jackals who only want your money and are willing to go to any length to get it even if it means harming you and your family's financial or physical well being. Drug dealers have more honor and integrity
- Always have an independent mechanic do a thorough inspection, NEVER take a dealerships word for anything and make sure they put it on a lift. Also good idea to take it to a body shop and have them look at it from their perspective.
- NEVER sign anything until the mechanic you trust gives you a green light (ask them for their opinion on the value of the car too.)
- Carfax is worth barely more than the paper it's printed on, take everything with a grain of salt. Carafe & Autocheck are good to tell you what's been done but it won't show you the dogs that don't bark. Sheet metal doesn't lie, people do. Always get it checked by a reputable mechanic YOU trust. This is your money, your safety, your quality of life, treat yourself with the respect and care you deserve.
- Compare pricing from at least following sources KBB (what the dealer wants you to go by, it's published by the dealership's trade organization and incredibly biased with inflated prices), Edmunds (Your best friend, they give a rolling weighted average of what the car you're looking at is actually selling for in your area), NADA aka Black Book (used by a lot of insurance companies), and spend the $6.95 to subscribe to Consumer Reports online and get their opinion. They're going to give you a 'don't buy above this price' and let you know potential problems to look for as well as unbiased information. They crunch data. They're there to advocate for you the buyer.
Found an SUV I'd been looking for for a while. Listed as no accidents, clear carfax, excellent condition, low miles, hybrid.
First red flag: Lot is asking $3000 over book
Went up to take a look at i. I'm an insurance adjuster BTW so I like to think I know cars fairly well, especially damage. I give the car a thorough once over, tires are new and matching, all the glass is marked from the factory, no curb rash on wheels, no corrosion, wipers good, lights, gauges, switches, everything checks out. Take it for a quick test drive, so far so good, brakes are taut, car shifts wonderfully, no weird sounds.
Tell them I want it pending check out by a mechanic of my choosing. Start talking price.
2nd red flag: Ignoring or undermining credibility of the book values.
I send them information from the above mentioned sources saying their price doesn't reflect the value of the vehicle in question for this market. Even given the apparent good condition of the car it's still way overpriced. They come down to a more reasonable amount but still on the high end of book. Now remember, book value is on a car in good or excellent condition. Not a wrecked car. On the surface car looks immaculate other than a couple superficial scratches.
3rd Red Flag: Sales person starts undermining taking it to a shop to get checked out.
First they say their car has been checked by 132 point ASE inspection. For all i know they had guy named Ace point at the truck 132 times and after having done so everyone agreed that it was in fact, still a truck.
Next they didn't want to take the truck to the shop I found nearby to inspect the truck. BTW thank you to Doc's Automotive in Bothell for saving my bacon. Highest regards and I found them on Yelp. I live 60 miles away. If you want me to buy your car, you're gonna take it to a shop I picked out that was 10 mins away from them. Then the guy balks about he's not sure if they can legally do it, why don't I use his shop. Nope, my shop or no sale.
Then they say they're going to sell the car to another buyer if I don't take it or at least put money down. Fine, I put 1/2 the down payment down on my card and they take it over to the shop.
Lo and behold the mechanic finds a laundry list of problems including:
- leak where water can and has gotten into battery compartment
- car had been in a serious rear end collision also in and around hybrid area, they found damage underneath car that instead of being fixed had been freshly painted over to hide corrosion from where it hadn't been properly repaired implying that the lot KNEW about the problems and were still advertising the car as otherwise but with just enough plausible deniability to get away with it legally.
- Host of other issues, shop said don't buy it. No problem, pulled the deal.
So, if the car had been inspected why wasn't the damage noted, actually repaired and the price reflective of that? Since someone had taken the time to cover up the damage instead of properly fix it, someone had to have known. And if you really didn't know, you lied about the inspection. So either way shame on you and your whole organization. I hope everyone reading this boycotts you. Predatory organization like you can go to hell.
Btw, still haven't gotten refund of deposit because excuses. read more