I purchased a car from Thrifty that had previously been in their rental fleet. I inspected the vehicle prior to purchase and it's condition seemed to be in order. This included making at least two full circles of the car looking for any defects in the paint or body. After making the deal and signing the papers which included a Carfax which showed no previous accidents and nothing else unusual I left the new car overnight in order to deliver my trade-in and take delivery the next day. The next day I drove the new car to my insurance agent. When I got out of the car I noticed the right front quarter panel and bumper had come loose from the frame. I returned to Thrifty. The sales person inspected it and said he had not noticed the defect either. I told him yhis was unacceptable andI would take it to a body repair shop to get an estimate to fix it. He seemed assuring that Thrifty would participate in the cost of the repair. I took the car to a reputable shop who had repaired another car for me several years earlier. Their review of the situation was that the car had been in a minor accident and it had been repaired improperly and on the cheap. The shop foreman showed me how the parts had been partitially cut and reattached to the frame. Their estimate for properly repairing it was about $2,000.00. I returned to Thrifty with the estimate. Thrifty refused to contribute anything to the cost of the repair.
Thrifty clearly had knowledge of this defect but did not disclose it it me.
Apparently because there was no accident report or insurance claim the accident did not show up on the Carfax.
Unless I had actually crawled under the car and inspected how the bumper and quarter panel were attached the defect was invisible until the bracket came loose.
Although i am quite happy with the new car, i feel very taken advantage of by Thrifty and would never purchase anything from them again. read more