“When I am the one spending all the money, why do I have to work so hard to make sure they are telling the whole truth?”
Well, actually, she doesn’t have to. She only needs to do this if she wants to avoid wasting her hard-earned money again on defective or misrepresented merchandise.
Hopefully, she has learned a lesson here about how each of us needs to protect ourselves from being cheated.
Like Mike, I am a natural-born skeptic, and like him I also approach large purchases from the perspective that someone may try to cheat me. As a result, I have not been cheated for several decades.
Both the two GM Dealers I worked at her in Tucson (Watson Chevrolet and Don Mackey GMC Cadillac) had dedicated used car reconditioning departments, getting a job in used cars was always a good move (for the mechanic) work was much steadier, less warranty. I don’t remember a GM CPO program, probably came after I left.
For BMW in Milwaukee (Concours Motors,sold all the high end German cars) we had Factory approved CPO programs,there was none of this ,dash of washer fluid and then on the lot stuff.
I know 4450 has seen the business but how many of you other guys are just repeating what you have been told? I do know the “certified” lable gets misused. BMW pioneered the real CPO programs,many others just carry the name,Mercedes was very good,comparable to BMW.
I was looking at the toyota dealership last week. i noticed the used cars with the certified sticker were higher than the non certified cars.
after asking the salesman (allowing for puffery) he mentioned that not all cars get the certified warranty. so i guess there is some difference at dealers.
i was under the understanding that a dealer had either ALL certified used, or none. i guess some have both.
Small claims court for the price of the engine, bring a print out of their web site, where they claim every vehicle is inspected, as well as the pictures you took and the mechanic, (you’ll have to pay him or her for their time). You stated the vin number didn’t match, was that on the buyers guide they gave you, or does the contract has a one vin number and the car has a different vin number? If it was the buyers guide and if you kept it, bring it to court along with a print out showing the vin on the car was restriction.
You can now show that the car probably didn’t have an inspection or if it did they didn’t disclose that it had failed, and with the buyers guide vin number being different then the one on the car you can show that you couldn’t have found out that the vin on the car was restricted. That with the mechanic telling the court that the filter had never been changed might get you a new engine.
That what I would do, for the cost of couple of hundred dollars, court fees, and to have the mechanic come in, you’d have a chance to at least get the thing fixed.
This entire mess could have been avoided by performing a simple pre-purchase inspection and by raising the hood and checking the fluid levels every few weeks.
When someone goes to purchase a home the mortgage company is going to require an inspection before making that loan so why should someone’s second biggest investment be any different.
No idea what state the OP is in but if they signed an “AS IS” disclaimer (they should have a copy) then this means the dealer is more than likely off the hook.
In OK a dealer can look someone directly in the eye while stating a car has a brand new engine which may blow up 30 minutes after leaving the lot and if the buyer signed that disclaimer (and they HAVE to) the dealer is free and clear even if they lied through their teeth.
About 4 years ago a dear relative of mine bought a car from a dealer in a small town and this car has to be one of the biggest POS ever inflicted on anybody. This dealer also lied through the teeth about half a dozen things and nearly got this relative killed because of those lies.
Legally, the relative could do nothing.
I agree with this. A friend of mine that works for a Chrysler dealership (Jeep) told me that if there a restriction on the VIN, it sometimes means there is some “issue” with the vehicle like a salvage title, flood car, etc. Maybe it depends on each state’s laws whether this information is required to be disclosed to a buyer?
This “certified” used car business has been going on at least as far back as the 1950’s. I remember the following dealer certification labels:
Chevrolet: “O.K.” used cars
Pontiac: “Good Will” used cars
Buick: “Owner Certified” used crs
Lincoln/Mercury: “Safe Buy” used cars
I’m surprised that DeSoto/Plymouth dealers didn’t have “Groucho Approved” used cars.
I think all this certification means is that the dealer is selling the cars on his own lot rather than taking them to the auction house.
When I am the one spending all the money, why do I have to work so hard to make sure they are telling the whole truth?
Because you are the one spending all the money. You are now the one out the money. The one who faces the biggest risk is the one who needs to be aware the most. And all purchases do work that way. As a matter of fact used cars are one of the few purchases you can make with a warranty. BTW if they charged you for GAP don’t complain make a claim.
Gap insurance covers the difference between what is owed on the vehicle and its actual worth. It comes into play when a vehicle is totaled or stolen and never recovered. If the vehicle is worth $5,000, and you owe $7,000, and the vehicle gets totaled, your automobile insurance will only pay you $5,000. Gap insurance covers the other $2,000 so you don’t still owe money on a car you can’t drive.
I don’t think circmand’s idea will work unless the automobile insurance policy covers the destruction of the car by driving it without oil. I have never seen an automobile insurance policy cover something like that.