Found accident damage post purchase - Need Advice
10-24-2018, 04:47 PM
#17
Rennlist Member
I purchased my '13 CTT over internet/phone from a Mercedes dealer. When talking to the original salesperson I asked for detailed pictures of the entire exterior, and to please include any visible damage to the car (in email). She sent me probably 5 pictures, and 3 of them she used a dime as comparison to show the size of each scratch. Upon delivery, I noticed some rather large scratches on the rear bumper and by the rear hatch emblems that had been "nail polish" touched up. If she's sending me scratches as small as a dime, there's no excuse to missing an 8"x6" group of scratches on the rear corner of the bumper.
Called the dealer, talked about "truth in advertising", and supplied the email chain & pictures of the very obvious scratches. The salesperson I dealt with had her used car manager call me, I was as nice as possible and asked him if he would split the cost with me, as this devalued the car and would've affected my offer. I got a quote for roughly $1200 to fix, emailed it over, within a week I had a $600 check in my hands.
Also, sometimes insurance companies only send their repair reports to Carfax twice a year!
If you talk to the dealer and mention the devalue of the vehicle, chalk it up to an honest mistake and try to work out a deal with them in terms of reimbursement or small refund of sorts. I've learned that being as nice as possible and trying to work with them to make you whole on the matter yields much better results than trying to threaten them with social media or legal action. Most of the time these dealers want to make things right, when you start things off on a bad note they can shut down pretty quickly (Had a botched $9k pano roof replacement in my 955 CTT and it totaled the vehicle out due to water damage, I threatened lots of legal action and I was left without a vehicle for a considerable amount of time, just because Porsche's GM wasn't motivated to work with me in any way).
If you really don't want the vehicle anymore, don't you have some sort of 14 day or 30 day guarantee to return the vehicle for any reason?
Called the dealer, talked about "truth in advertising", and supplied the email chain & pictures of the very obvious scratches. The salesperson I dealt with had her used car manager call me, I was as nice as possible and asked him if he would split the cost with me, as this devalued the car and would've affected my offer. I got a quote for roughly $1200 to fix, emailed it over, within a week I had a $600 check in my hands.
Also, sometimes insurance companies only send their repair reports to Carfax twice a year!
If you talk to the dealer and mention the devalue of the vehicle, chalk it up to an honest mistake and try to work out a deal with them in terms of reimbursement or small refund of sorts. I've learned that being as nice as possible and trying to work with them to make you whole on the matter yields much better results than trying to threaten them with social media or legal action. Most of the time these dealers want to make things right, when you start things off on a bad note they can shut down pretty quickly (Had a botched $9k pano roof replacement in my 955 CTT and it totaled the vehicle out due to water damage, I threatened lots of legal action and I was left without a vehicle for a considerable amount of time, just because Porsche's GM wasn't motivated to work with me in any way).
If you really don't want the vehicle anymore, don't you have some sort of 14 day or 30 day guarantee to return the vehicle for any reason?
10-26-2018, 12:11 PM
#18
Fantastic Finishes appears to be a PACC. http://ffpalmbeach.com/certifications/
I think you're fine. It was repaired by an authorized facility, and it was repaired years ago. Any issues would have cropped up by now.
Just enjoy your vehicle.
I think you're fine. It was repaired by an authorized facility, and it was repaired years ago. Any issues would have cropped up by now.
Just enjoy your vehicle.
11-05-2018, 09:13 AM
#21
Sorry for your problem. I guess it may pay off to run both title checks?
Body shops these days can do pretty amazing things. Someone pulled out in front of my wife’s Lexus a few years back. Ione half the car pretty much destroyed. Took it to body shop one and really pushed them to try to get them to total it. They said not enough damage to total. I pointed out how particular my wife is and how their shop is literally one hundred yards from my office and, if my wife was unhappy, it would not be inconvenient for me to make them very unhappy.
They stripped it down to chassis and showed me what needed to be done done and did the repair. The match ed the silver paint perfectly and, two year later, perfecr panel gaps, no squeaks or rattles.
If all the inspections failed to reveal damage, likely you will be ok. The bummer is the stain on the title and the feeling that you were burned. If you keep the car for the long term, the stain diminishes annually. A relatively new car that goes to auction likely has an unpleasant history.
Body shops these days can do pretty amazing things. Someone pulled out in front of my wife’s Lexus a few years back. Ione half the car pretty much destroyed. Took it to body shop one and really pushed them to try to get them to total it. They said not enough damage to total. I pointed out how particular my wife is and how their shop is literally one hundred yards from my office and, if my wife was unhappy, it would not be inconvenient for me to make them very unhappy.
They stripped it down to chassis and showed me what needed to be done done and did the repair. The match ed the silver paint perfectly and, two year later, perfecr panel gaps, no squeaks or rattles.
If all the inspections failed to reveal damage, likely you will be ok. The bummer is the stain on the title and the feeling that you were burned. If you keep the car for the long term, the stain diminishes annually. A relatively new car that goes to auction likely has an unpleasant history.
