CJKCyclone, so what happened with the dealer?

 

Most CPO's do not go through the "stringent evaluation" that the marketing information will lead you to believe. Your best bet is to ask why this wasn't caught when the car was being certified, especially if these are obvious because most marketing materials will state "only the best will qualify for certified pre-owned" and this car is obviously poorly repaired and definitely not the "best".

I've seen plenty of cars with accident damage that have "Clean CarFax" and were "CarFax Certified". If this car was "CarFax Certified" and you don't have any luck with the dealer, you might have a bit of recourse through CarFax since they offer some sort of compensation if they're incorrect.

Hopefully the dealer will make this right and either offer you another car or offer you money back from the purchase price.

 

Buying used cars is such a hassle. Seems like all dealerships small and large are just trying to make the sale and hiding as much as they can.

The customer shouldn't have to go through the trouble of getting the car they are interested in moved to a trusted mechanic to get looked over. The customer shouldn't have to do their own checks into the vehicles history to see what really was going on.

When searching for my recently bought G I had to go to the MTO/DMV to run the vehicle VINs to see their real previous history cause many were being advertised as 1 owner or as lease returns when they were not.
Dealers showed Carproofs that never mentioned cars were previous rental vehicles.

My G was safetied and certified and less than 1,000kms down the road the brakes are squealing cause the pads are low.

The Fiat Abarth that I traded in is now being advertised as "1 owner" when it had 2 owners.

It truly is a buyer beware world.

 

I had a similar experience with my '10 G37x - but it took me three years to notice. There is a small rust spot underneath the rear window that is only visible when you open the trunk.

I asked the dealer about it last time the car was in for service, and they told me it was due to a problem with a previous collision repair. I went nuts, but basically it comes down to this:
- The dealer can CPO just about any car - the CPO check list is there to protect Infiniti financial services (under-writer of the extended warranty), NOT the customer
- Take any used car you are considering purchasing to a trusted, independent third party to evaluate.

I can't imagine what the back end of my car must have looked like for them to have had to do body work all the way up under the window. I'm guessing frame straightening was involved, and at this point, I don't even want to know about it. It drives straight as an arrow, handles beautifully, and tire wear is perfect, so whatever they had to do to fix it, at least they did it right.

Back to the OP's question(s) about recourse, I think the best possible outcome is to trade it in for a different car and hope that they will buy it back for what you paid. That seems completely fair and reasonable, especially since you caught it quickly.

 

OK...Here is an update...more to come.

The car is with the dealer as I write this. They agreed to take the car into their body shop and make it look right. There is no way to know if the damage was bad scratches or actual accident damage without taking all the paint off. The chrome window trim and the paint look terrible under close inspection, like the idiot repairing it did more damage than was already there. They were not going to trade me another car or reverse the deal, but they were willing to fix the trim pieces and painted areas that were done by an amateur.

I expect to get the car back in a couple more days and will report on how it looks. Basically, my goal is that the car is professionally fixed to the point where when I go to trade it in in a few years, the inspector doesn't look at it and KNOW that bad work is covering something up.

 

It's easy to blame the big, bad dealerships. Know that this stems from the ethics of individuals, also. It is just hard to find anyone selling their car and honestly disclosing all information about it.

I'll leave this here:
Not picking on you, OP. You're not alone. I'm just pointing out that both the pot and kettle are black.

 

did you try the autocheck?

 

My point is not to screw anyone, my point is to have a properly repaired car for me AND the next owner.

 

Yup. That's very true.

...it's less of a "Dealerships suck" and more of a "people in general suck".

 

Carfax/autocheck is a worthless gimmick IMO. Too many times damages don't show up on their reports. If you're buying used, check all the body panels for signs of repair and/or pay someone who's knowledgeable in the field to generate you an actual inspection report.

 

That might be true but its a good start, I only do autochecks or carfax if I am pretty damn sure I am going to purchase the car.

 

he only did a carfax not an autocheck