back in the fold/need advice

Inspector71

I posted last May through December, a constant csc problem with my red 2009
base model Z. I loved the car but the dealer fix was cleaning and refilling the reservoir at my expense and then going to DOT 4. I got angry, impatient, and traded it for a 2010 Dodge Challenger RT.

Dodge highs: power and torque off the line

lows: huge car, felt like I was driving an SUV, no steering feedback,
terrible gas mileage, no handling, and did I mention huge?

On Wednesday, I traded it this past Wednesday for a 2015 "used" base model
Z. It is white pearl with a black interior and a six speed manual. This was what I had and wanted. NO frills just fun. I paid $25K with 3K miles on the Z.

Now the bad part. The place where I bought the Z does not use CarFax. I don't recall what they use, but, it showed my Challenger had been in a front end collision (no wonder the hood looked a little off) and had been fixed by insurance at 11K miles (when I bought the car in December of 2014, it had 19K miles, no wonder). I felt sick. The Dodge dealer here in Lee's Summit Missouri showed me a car fax and said the car had never had any work done on it or any problems. They did NOT disclose it had been crashed and said it had been in no accidents. My problem is, I bought it as is. But they lied to me and this cost me big time for a trade in. I don't plan to let this rest. Do I start with Better Business Bureau? I am going to contact the dealer. I am sure they will say to bug off. I am going to ask them if the money I lost on the trade will be worth the bad publicity I am going to make sure they get from coast to coast. Any suggestions?
As to the car being noisy, blind spots, and so forth, I bought a fun sports car and that is part of the fun.

SouthArk370Z

If they didn't know about the damage, how can they tell you about it? But I'm no lawyer.

Do NOT depend on CarFax or any other of the reporting companies. They are only as good as the info they receive. When I had a 370Z, I had a wreck ($20K worth of repairs) that didn't show up on CarFax. That doesn't mean that the reports aren't valuable, just not infallible.

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Inspector71

When I traded it to another Dodge dealer, they found the report in seconds. I also wondered why there were identical cuts on both sides of the car, kick panel area, and it looked pinched. I thought something heavy had scraped (bent?) the metal. As someone who has done some body work, I should have known better, probably buckled. I do believe the dealership knew.

The Z I bought came with no front license plate bracket (my 2009 did have one). Is that normal? I'll check with the dealer and see how much.

ssmoked

Did they offer you a GREAT price when you bought the dodge? That's a very good sign something fishy is going on.
Unfortunately you have to prove the dealer knowingly lied to you when you bought the car. I always pay and do my own confirmations before buying used. It also gets sticky when you already traded the car in.
Good luck with the outcome!

Inspector71

Thanks for your reply.

The red flag was low mileage, a beautiful car, and one that sat for so long. No, they did not offer me a great price. Pretty much market value. Because I was so upset about being stranded by the Z (CSC) and dealer refusal to address the problem, I rushed into this car only to get screwed. They bragged about how nice the car was. I asked why it had so few miles and they told me the guy that owned it before bought it with money from an on the job injury settlement but his back proved to bad to drive the car. It is like sitting up in a truck and the leather seats are like a couch. I found that hard to believe. I am going to ask them to make it right and, if they do not reply in a positive way, I am going into the advertising business and tell everyone I can about that place.

kenchan

wow, bad luck one after the other. scared to say wat the 15's csc is going to be like for u

how much of a 'hit' are you taking on the trade-in? if it's only a couple of thousand i'd just brush it off and enjoy the new car. time is money. i dont feel like wasting either.

remember that buying a used car = buying the previous owner's problems
this is why i dont buy used cars.

Inspector71

Thanks and great advice. I took a 2 thousand dollar hit. I realized, if I tried to sell the car outright, either it would be worse or it would not sell. I couldn't deceive someone that way. I am way upside down but am selling some other toys and hope to refinance in six months to close that gap. I am sorry I sold my first Z. I should have explored an after market fix and saved the car. Thanks to this forum, I have already researched a csc fix. Once the warranty on my 15 is expired, I go straight to the fix and I should be good to go.

Zbrah

I've heard of that story before! the guy probably bought my sister's honda too!

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EzDz

Did you go to a big dodge dealer? One that moves at least a 100 cars a month? If you did walk in and ask for the GM. Tell him what happened and ask for some money back because of the trade loss. If he doesnt then tell him what you plan to do. My mom has been in the corporate car business for 40 years and I never bother with anyone but a GM. Its your best chance.

kenchan

2 grand isn't too bad honestly. i would just take it as lessons learned and move on. be a waste to be focusing on the negatives while you should be out enjoying your new ride.

ur dealer may honestly not have known about the accident when they sold u the RT....carfax reports take some time to get processed from wat ive seen.

Inspector71

Yes, big dealer and they really pushed that car hard. It was there for some time too. I am going to contact them by letter first, tell them what I lost on the trade, and ask what they will do to fix what happened. I am giving them a chance first before I respond.

Array

Snail-Mail?

Try an E-mail and CC a few important people from the dealer an issue with something thousands of dollars should have action taken

Sorry about the loss, I've been in the same situation with a previous Altima, Dealer sold it as is with clean Carfax, the day I went to trade it in for the Z It had a front end collision about a year before I bought it (Explains the massive problems with alignment I had + paint issues)

Live and Learn My loss would have been minimal but still a load of BS, something like yours should have a restitution

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Inspector71

I now have a copy of the read out with the accident. You all have been a big help.

Ghostvette

Now you see why MOPAR stands for Mostly Old Parts And Rust....


Sorry to hear about this. I've heard that Carfax runs 6 months behind in posting information and I don't know how long it takes Autocheck (? run by Experian) to update. Since I'm in KC, what dealer so I can steer people away from them and over to Carmax

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Inspector71

It is Lee's Summit Chrysler Dodge. I am in the process of filing the paperwork to retrieve my GAP insurance from them and then I am asking them to rectify the situation. I went in yesterday and no one from December 2014, when I bought the car, remains. Wow.

My neighbors despise Japanese cars and can't understand why I would trade a 2010 Challenger RT for a Z. No offense to Challenger people, but, after driving sports cars for so many years, since 79', it was like driving two cars. Too big.