I took my car in today to get some TSB work done, including the hood rattle. It is very lose at highway speeds. When I called to check up on it, the guys said that he still needs to look at the hood. He said I have had some work done on it. He asked if it had been in an accident. I bought the car new, and I have not wrecked it or had any work done on it.

Obviously, this guy sees something. I want to know if it was wrecked prior to my purchase. I know that there are some shady laws allowing dealers to sell wrecked cars as new. What's the best way for me to find out if it has had some work done on it before I bought it?

 

if your car was damaged in shipment, it will be on a report that any dealer can print for you.

 

If the damage wasn't large enough to be a total or salvage, it won't show up on carfax. So it could have been in an accident and have a clean carfax. I don't know if a dealer would be so willing to give such a report out knowing that they sold a damaged car.

 

it's even possible that the car was damaged and repaired before leaving the factory. ask what evidence he sees of previous work. it could be that the dealer did the hood adhesive fix before delivery. broken glue joints between the hood outer skin and the stamped hood frame have been blamed for the hood shudder problem. in the TSB it says that regluing may result in visible glue ooze at the repair sights.

 

I am planning on asking him when I pick it up today. He did ask if I bought it from them, which I did. That being the case, he will probably lie to protect his employer. I wish I new a good body guy in town that would look over it for me.

 

Got HID's in the car??

Bet ya they were stolen from the dealers lot and the car was repaired.

 

I have no clue about other states, but it is true in NY and NJ that if the car has had less than $4000 worth of damage at the dealership lot (ie theft, test drive collision, etc..) they LEGALLY DO NOT have to disclose this info to you....

Yes it sux, but it's the law....

 

or maybe he was just asking... ask him and find out. My car has been to the dealer about 4 times and each time they ask "were you in an accident" when I drop it off.

 

I believe in that most states the damage can be less than 6% of the market value of the car before they have to disclose that it was damaged. The twist is that they get to come up with the estimate. Many documented cases show where the damage was extensive (i.e. >30 of the value), and the dealers low-ball to be under the 6% level.

 

exactly what are you worried about? Here's my take

a) there's nothing you can do about it
b) if it was in an accident you didn't notice
c) when you go to sell it the repair history will be clean (unless you get in an accident)
d) everything is warrantied
e) there's nothing you can do about it
f) if it was fixed you'll have a *very* hard time finding info on it

so, seeing a) and e) are the biggest factors in the list, why worry?

 

Because A & E are not correct. If the damage was obviously over 6%, I can and would sue them. I seriously doubt that the damage was anywhere near 6%, but it should be investigated.

Secondly, it would also help to know more about the the ethical standards of the dealer. I could avoid dealing with them in the future, and warn others as well.

The bright side is that they are doing all the requested TSB work for me without hassell. I do have some rotor/brake issues that they claim are normal. I'll deal with that later.

 

you're assuming the dealer even knew... there were a few hundred places the damage could have happened and then even the dealer who sold the car wouldn't know it was damaged.

there really is nothing you can do about it... I'd worry about things you can change rather than things you can't

 

2k2wannabe, no.. he's not warrantied for damage around that area. NNA and some other dealer, wont warranty undocumented damage.. Actually, his current dealer will probably also deny him even if they did it. He needs to find out what happened.

 

Once you find out what the evidence of damage is you could bring it up with Nissan directly. If you can't get details directly from the dealer it might be worth going to a local reputable body shop and paying them a few bucks to document the condition and prepare an estimate. If the damage occurred during shipment or before, they should be responsible for it. If it happened on the dealer's lot, the dealer should be responsible for it but Nissan can put some pressure on them.

If the damage has been repaired by replacing the hood and good quality painting they've done about what can be done to make it right. If the repair job is a hack job with bondo, etc. you would have a good case with Nissan (or pressuring the dealer through Nissan) to have all damaged parts replaced with OEM new parts. Depending on your local laws and dollars involved, with the independant shop write-up you could take the issue to small claims court. Simply filing a claim (usually runs $10-$20 for filing fee and certified mailings) may prod them into responding.

 

yeah, but pressuring nissan =

Ironically, I dont think they trust their dealers either.

 

Just picked it up. The service manager said that he thought there might have been work on it since the hood was not perfectly aligned and also there was wax residue in the seems. He said that it was fine. I just don't know. There is nothing apparently wrong with it.

I do have one unrelated question, but I'll start another thread for that.