Please help!

[jeffreyd]

John,

Take it to a local body shop, I did before I purchased my X5 just to double check. The first thing they'll look for is bolt replacement under the hood, or alignment of the bolts to the main frame. If those are original and have never been touched, the vehicle was never in a serious accident. That doesn't mean that something minor didn't occur, normally minor accidents aren't reported on nice cars because it would bring the value way down, therefore not on a carfax report. Also, check the alignment of all your doors by standing in front of the car in the sunlight and looking at the tops of the door frames (look to see if they all look even etc..). Again, check the the bolts in under the hood, or have a pro do it, if those have been touched, your car was in a serious wreck and that would constitute a refund even if the guy stated he had no prior knowledge. Sorry to ramble, just trying to help. GL.

JD

[john99g]

Thanks for the help guys. Yes I checked all the bolts under the hood. The hood was removed along with the bumper and the driver's side quarter panel. I must say they did a good job. Everything lines up good and the car drives great. But if i knew it was in an accident I would never have bought it. Just not sure what kind of action I can take. Return the vehicle? Have them pay for a warranty? Cash back? Obviously the car is not worth what I paid for it if it's been in an accident....

[Sudesh]

Seek legal advise and get an inspection done. I would also not be happy if I paid for a vehicle that was accident damaged and not told about it.

[jeffreyd]

John,

Unless the dealer kindly agrees to refunding part of your money, all your money, etc.. you will have to take legal action. The dealer is probably figuring you won't do that since attorney fees could get costly. So, tell him you will file a small claims notice against him if he doesn't do something to fix the problem. If he refuses even after that, file a claim in small claims court and start documenting evidence to support your claim. Have professionals write up something, pictures, etc.. Bottom line, if you were told the car was in no accidents, and you determined it was, you have a case. Good luck.

JD

[E61Silver]

Originally Posted by motordavid

I have the econo 3.0 budget model; no bulging V8.

My motor might have been suffering some "shrinkage"
as it's about 33 in the garage.

I think some people like the bulging V8 more power and the mpg

[ljnlaw]

If you know anyone in the insurance industry have them run an "index search" on the VIN # and see if any accidnts were reported...this will give you all the accident info. including the name of the person who owned it when the accident occurred. Then get a lawyer and sue the car dealer its very unlikely that they didn't know the car was in an accident. Depending on the laws in CA I would hope you would be able to get your $$ less any depreciation the X has from you driving it or at least get the difference back between the FMV at the time of the purchase (considering the accident) and the actual amount paid. Good Luck!