Ok heres my situation:
I bought my 2001 Z24 in January 2005 from a private dealership near my house. Everything looked good at that time. Today I went to the car wash and gave it a good wash (i got the best one paid $8.99 for it undercoating, wax,etc). I drove home and noticed that it didn't get some the bugs and tar off the door panels and ground effects. So I started going it over with a damp rag (i used a pressure washer later to get the rest off), so while i was going over with the rag I noticed that someone had painted the passenger side door, i know this because i can see that someone painted silver over the stock door handle (black) underneath where the screws/rivets are. I think I can see some bondo too but i'm not too sure about it. Anyways is there a law that can save me? is there anything i can do???? I didn't get any reports from the dealer that the car was in an accident when i bought the car.
thanks i sent him an e-mail/pm i'll see what i get, hopefully i can get my problem solved.
Note that there's plenty of reasons to paint a door that have nothing to do with getting in a crash. They people who sold it to you may not have known it had been painted and the car may well have a clean title.
I know my door got repainted after the dealer scratched it while it was in for service.
Just something to keep in mind. Try taking off the inside panel to see if the door is silver on the inside. At least then it's likely still the original door.
how does carfax work?
they go threw insurance claims, police files?
in theory, if someone crashes your car then fixes it themselves at a dealer... no one would be the wiser?
***Thanks again to stargrrrl***
Exactly. If there's no official record of it, then there's no way for carfax to know about it.
I'm not sure if dealer service records are tied in to their service or not.
i just say that because people could easily be miss lead by carfax and stuff like that.. as well all know almost everyone stays away from insurance claims if possible.. so this carfax seems to be uselss
and a dealer who has a bodyshop, obviously will keep their damaging their own cars as low key as possible... they will fix it then not tell you.. which is actualy something i saw on tv.. on that consumer report or whatever... some lady bought a car as NEW and it had been repainted.. and according to the law (so the show said) dealers have to only tell you about big damage... and THEY get to decide whats big or not!
messed up!
***Thanks again to stargrrrl***
Update:
I got the carfax no problems, no accidents, but i found out my car was registered for commecial use, and for some reason the mileage does not match the mileage that was written on the recipt when i purchased the car, i got it with 86,243km (56,920miles) on the carfax record it says 53,605, anyways take a look guys:
06/22/2001 Ontario
Ministry of Transportation
Registration issued or renewed
Passed safety inspection
Vehicle color noted as Silver
05/31/2002 Ontario
Ministry of Transportation
Central Ontario
Registration issued or renewed
05/31/2003 Ontario
Ministry of Transportation
Central Ontario
Registration issued or renewed
05/12/2004 46,507 Ontario
Ministry of Transportation
Odometer reading reported for title
or registration
05/31/2004 Ontario
Ministry of Transportation
Central Ontario
Registration issued or renewed
06/01/2004 Ontario
Ministry of Transportation
Burlington, ON
Registration issued or renewed
Registered as commercial vehicle
01/11/2005 53,513 Auto Auction
Sold at auction in
Canada
Listed as a
fleet vehicle
with 086121 kilometers
01/24/2005 53,605 Ontario
Ministry of Transportation
Oshawa, ON
Registration issued or renewed
New owner reported
Registered as
personal vehicle
So i guess theres nothing i can do in terms of the body damage.
Note that at the end of the 2nd last entry, it says it had 86,121 km's on it. I think that last entry is somehow wrong.
As for the body damage... well... what body damage?? Like I said... just because the door was repainted doesn't really indicate anything catastrophic happened. Having a big scratch fixed is hardly something they should be expected to report, whether they knew about it or not.
ok i understand that about the accident thing/scratch. But they did a pretty crappy job painting it. Yes i saw how that was wrong, but the auction sale mileage is good and i don't think that the car was fixed or damaged by this dealer because of what i see on these dates.
Because a vehicle is purchased as certified does not mean that it is always in or has to be in showroom condition lol
fyi
unless there is structural or frame damage to the vehicle the dealer does not have to delcare anything when he sells the car to you
Phil Thacker
JCO North President
The only way the reports would show up would be if the person claimed it though insurance....for something like a door repair they probably just paid and got it fixed so the dealer would not know......unless of course they did the repair
I have one true love in my life...And my girlfriend sits next to me in it
