Bought New Z -undisclosed damage

Tejas Z

Not the first post I had hoped to write......So after growing up with a 260Z in the family and loving it, I decided it was time to buy a Z of my own as a weekend car. Something I had put off for years while kids were young and we had more important priorities. Shopped for months to find the right car and deal.....a brand new Gun Metallic Sport/Tech 6sp. at a dealer 2.5 hours away. Awesome! $38k sticker, negotiated a $9k discount. Went to pick up the car, and upon getting in to leave the shipping fuse warning light was on, but all gauges, etc. functioned. Their service department was closed (Saturday), so called my local dealer and they said no problem, drive it back to a Houston and we’ll address it. Drive it home and love every minute of it! Took it to local dealer the next day, at which point we also noticed driving light wasn’t working. Service tech called my attention to fact that the fender liner had OEM replacement sticker on it, which doesn’t come from the factory that way. Bumper cover had no overspray on inside, which he said is always present if painted at factory. Wiring harness for driving light was unplugged, hence it not working. Harness had a random wire coming off it that he couldn’t identify, with electrical tape affixed. Upon closer inspection of paint, it had indeed been resprayed.

Service writer did me a favor and called the dealer that sold it to me and was able to get them to give him confirmation of a body shop repair order on the car and the order number. A copy of the order was then requested but never sent. Body shop stonewalled at that point. I contacted the salesman and informed him of what was discovered, and that I was aware it had previous damage that was NOT disclosed. He played dumb and said he knew nothing about it but would look into it. Ten minutes later he called back to tell me that it had indeed been repaired due to “ lot damage”, his story was that juveniles backed another car into my 370Z after hours upon gaining access to another vehicle, and a police report was filed. Requested a copy of the damage report and work order, which never came. Had my body shop confirm the front bumper had been repainted, along with the entire driver’s side of the car. I hadn’t really spent much time with the car yet due to work and family commitments, so assuming I was buying a factory fresh car I didn’t do a close inspection of the car and paint. It’s a new car after all, and we were on a tight timeline to get back home to make a bday party for a friend. Not a pleasant surprise.

Told my salesman that I would like a check to cover the cost of my body shop to repaint the same panels they had sprayed, or they could unwind the deal and take the car back. After all, the dealership committed fraud via non-disclosure. Legal precedent is in place, and I noted that it could get expensive for them if I needed to pursue legal action.p to get this resolved. I provided the figure my body shop would charge to make it right again, which was $6500. Salesman said they refused that sum and offered a lifetime warranty on the paint. I’m not happy with that offer on what was suppposed to be a brand new car....so I declined. Salesman said they would unwind the deal, and offered to pick up the car in Houston since my schedule wouldn’t allow for me to burn another nearly full day round trip driving it back. Two weeks go by, and after multiple calls to obtain a pick-up date, no dice. More excuses. I left 2 messages for dealer GM, and one for the dealership owner. No return calls.

I contact Nissan Consumer Affairs and explained the situation, and they said they would contact the dealer to help seek resolution. A couple days go by, still no call from anyone, then a response from the salesman saying “I’ve been busy helping other customers”. Another call to Nissan CA, at which time I’m told my case has been closed, as dealer responded to her email saying they would contact me. Not exactly a resolution. They reopened the case after I explained that resolution had not been found. Got a call from them today to follow up and see if dealer had called. Yes, I had just gotten of a call with both the salesman and dealership owner. Owner offers lifetime paint warranty and lifetime bumper to bumper mechanical warranty outside of normal wear items. Not interested, as I’m 2.5 hours away from their dealership and want the paint corrected, not a warranty. I’m not going to pay to have the car driven on a flatbed to their dealership for mechanical repairs. New offer was made to respray the entire car using their body shop. No thanks, at present only half the car has bass boat Metallic when in the sun (bought on cloudy day), and I’m not interested in having the entire car look that way. Either my body shop I’ve used for 20 years repaints it, or we can unwind the deal. He asks what the quote from my body shop was (he already knew the figure). Gave him the figure and he requested the quote in writing so he could talk with his dealer body shop about it. I then requested (again) a copy of the repair work that had been done by them. He proceeds to tell me how the damage occurred....that a drunk driver had plowed into a half dozen cars on his one night after hours, doing $6k in damage to the Z. I noted that the salesman told me a different story, and he said that was a different episode. So, if you are still reading after I’ve written a novel, I’m seeking opinions on whether to keep the car and accept compensation (and possibly gets paid it repainted), or send the car back and unwind the deal? I’m truly conflicted as the only other exact car I've located (via Nissan Car Locator) is in California. I considered many other cars during my search, but in the end I kept going back to the Z. Not really motivated to buy another make/model.

Rusty

I would lawyer up. Undo the deal. Because you don't know if there is other damage under the car that may show up later. They sold you a damage vehicle and didn't tell you.

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Raidernation

OP that sucks. If it were me, I would get my money back.

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echoshotz

Make them take it back... Not worth the trouble. Another car will pop up

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nis350

i would return the car and just find another new one. Z isn't really selling like hot cakes... I am sure you will find one you like.

gbhrps

Tejas Z,

Have them take the car back and return your money.

You've been lied to and stonewalled every direction except inside out by this dealership, hoping to frustrate you to the point where you will give up and accept a less than reasonable compensation. Don't accept one from them. They obviously can't be expected to honour their word.

If you accept any resolution from them ... you'll regret it down the road, and end up enjoying that car far less. You may end up kicking yourself if you do.

There are lots of other "new" Z's out there, even if you have to drive 500 miles to get it.

God-Speed

Does not matter what the story is or how it was damaged!!!! They might want to get their story straight before court date. Hope the best of luck for you on this.

NISMO IX

Different states have different percentages worth of repaired damage that they do NOT legally have to disclose when it comes to brand new cars. Google it. My car had damage done to it as well. I don't know how much or extent of damage repaired, but the salesman actually stated in New Hampshire anyway, it can be up to 25%. If under 25% they don't have to disclose it, and is sold as a brand new car.

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Tejas Z

Thanks for all of the replies and advice. This helps move me off the fence and in the direction that my gut told me to go when I first found out. Amazing the depths some dealers will go to in order to move a car. Live and learn I guess. Would have never thought I’d experience this with a brand new car.

Tejas Z

From what I can tell, it’s 6% of MSRP in Louisiana.

NISMO IX

Yeah, it stinks. I questioned mine when I went to do my first oil change and realize the front fascia had been off and not reinstalled correctly. If I remember correctly, the fender liner and front fascia were bolted reverse of what it should've been. My hunch with mine is that it was test drove and drove over a curb.

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2017 Ford Focus RS Nitrous Blue "KB43VER"
2014 370z Mag Blk 6M "KOKURYU" (Black Dragon)

DYNAZOR

A nearly 25% discount on a fairly desirable car, in some parts of the country hard to get even 7% off, should have been your first clue that something was wrong.

GraphiteZ

Just take your money back and buy another new Z. There is no paint better than factory paint.

Luke370

didnt they have to disclose a carfax and have you sign that when you did your papers? I had to here in NC. I looked at the carfax beforehand as well. Not that a carfax has evertyhing, but just curious. If it were me i would shove the car back up there butts and move on. Resale will eventually show a glitch on a carfax - or now that it is posted here on the forum - everyone knows and you will get beat up if you ever go to sell it. Send it back...write a nice long review on yelp.

SouthArk370Z

Contact dealer and tell them they have 2-3 days to straighten things out or you are going to sue them. They have already jerked you around long enough.

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