A little story about Valley Imports.
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LONG BUT WORTH THE READ!
In the beginning of this past July, my girlfriend, Megan, was looking for a new car. She happened to stumble upon a 2004 Lancer ES for a good price in the used lot at Valley Imports. We stopped in and talked to a salesman named Wally about the car, and then took it for a test drive. On the test drive we noticed that the car only had 18,000 miles, the interior was in perfect condition, and all of the radio presets were set to Grand Forks stations. After returning to Valley Imports we told Wally that we had to think about it and would get back to him tomorrow.
Well, Megan decided to get this car and so the next day we went in to deal with all of the paperwork. While we were there Megan asked Wally why this year and a half old car was already on the used lot with only 18,000 miles. Wally responded with "the car was originally leased by an elderly couple in Grand Forks." When she asked him if the car had ever been in any accidents he responded with a "nope, perfect condition."
Fast foreward 6 months.
Megan is cleaning her car last week and as she is wiping it dry the clear coat around the rear drivers side wheel flakes off. She goes into her glove compartment and looks at the Mitsubishi warranty. Yep, it covers paint.
A few days later we go into Valley Imports (who now that we have a complaint they are MUCH more condescending than when we were buying a car) and talk to the service manager about it. He tells us to pull the car inside because they will have to "take some pictures of the paint and send them off to the head of Mitsubishi to determine if it is a paint problem or if it is something that Megan did to the paint, because in all of my years of working here I've never seen a Mitsubishi paint claim." Honestly, unless she is using paint stripper to wash her car there is NO reason for the clear coat to be comming of in big (approx 1 inchX1 inch) flakes when the car only has 24,000 miles.
10 mintues later the service manager brings us back into the shop and tells us that the paint claim is denied due to the fact that the car has been hit and it is a body shop's paint and not Mitsubishi's. He opens the fuel door and shows us a faint paint line and then opens the rear driver door and shows us a faint paint line then tells us that the door has a new door skin on it. He starts the car, then gets out and opens the garage door and tells us to have a nice day. Megan looks at him and asks "why was I told when I bought this car that it had never been in an accident?" Which he replys with "you will have to take that up with your sales person, now have a nice day."
We drive over to Corwin Honda and Megan walks in all pissed off and telling a salesman this story and she just wants to get rid of the car (so we can get a free carfax). Well, the salesman jumps on this definate sale and goes and talks to his manager, a few minutes later the salesman and manager walk back over with a report in hand.
Megan's 2004 Mitsubishi Lancer ES was never a lease out of Grand Forks, and it has been in an accident. Better yet, Megan's car was originally a rental car in Atlanta, GA and after it was T-boned it was sent to an auto auction in Florida where Valley Imports picked it up and then had it shipped back to Fargo and fixed before putting it on their lot.
What does this all come down to? FRAUD! What can we do about it? NOTHING! Why? Because it would end up going to court and being our word against the attorneys for Valley Imports.
Moral of this story. FUCK VALLEY IMPORTS!
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Rule 1 is always run a car fax on anyvehicle you are going to buy. That information was available to you at the time of purchase.
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yeah thats pretty fucked up for being a high class car lot.
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You can't do anothing about it.. That's fraud like you said.. so your saying this guy will lie in court..?
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it would cost way to much money and take way to much time ...for anythign to happen in court.
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A853 wrote:
You can't do anothing about it.. That's fraud like you said.. so your saying this guy will lie in court..?
Valley Imports can spend a hell of a lot more money on an their attorney to make them look good and what not. Money does the works in court.Matt
92 Civic HB
JDM d15b w/14b@8psi
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97slowgsx wrote:
it would cost way to much money and take way to much time ...for anythign to happen in court.And that's exactly what the fuckhead salesman is counting on. Sorry to hear about that. I wont be buying there either. Wait, I could never afford to anyway. Well, you still have my support for what it's worth. Shitty deal no matter how you look at it.
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if its salvage it is fraud(the kind you can win) you cannot sell a salvage title car without damage disclosure. You should dig deeper into the amount and kind of damage. It is possible a salvage title car can magically come back clean when state to state transfers take place, especially from distances like florida. Ive seen it happen. If you can prove carfax wrong dont they buy you a car?
That is a pretty bad deal but I would keep after it. If you cause a big enough fuss and drag your feet you never know. A friend bought a van from ford and it blew up two days later. long story short he got the money back from ford for the van including sales tax and liscencing fees.
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from knowledge of working at a dealership, I would go back to the sales guy, regardless of you think it will help or not. Go to the sales manager with your proof and go higher yet. I work at Corwin Honda, and we take our shit seriously. If Valley is anything like Corwin, they care about a decent reputation. Make a fuss and cause a scene, and possibly talk to the right people, and things happen. Trust me! Not sure if it will work in your case, but anyhow, dont back down. Thats a shitty deal, hope it all works out for ya.
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green6767 wrote:
from knowledge of working at a dealership, I would go back to the sales guy, regardless of you think it will help or not. Go to the sales manager with your proof and go higher yet. I work at Corwin Honda, and we take our shit seriously. If Valley is anything like Corwin, they care about a decent reputation. Make a fuss and cause a scene, and possibly talk to the right people, and things happen. Trust me! Not sure if it will work in your case, but anyhow, dont back down. Thats a shitty deal, hope it all works out for ya.I was kinda thinking the same thing. Go in there when there busy and make a big fuss about how "WALLY" lied to you about the condition your car was in before you bought it, make sure you include the "How many other cars did you sell that were previously wrecked" line. At the very least you may lose them some customers and maybe high dollar ones at that. Also spread the word about your shitty experience. Remember, goo publicity travels fast but bad publicity travels faster.
You could also just drive the car right into there show room and tell them to keep the fucker. Just thought I'd give you another option.
Sterling Archer: Oh my god! You killed a hooker!
Cyril Figgis: Call girl!
Sterling Archer: No Cyril! When they're dead they're just hookers!
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92BlackTT wrote:
if its salvage it is fraud(the kind you can win) you cannot sell a salvage title car without damage disclosure. You should dig deeper into the amount and kind of damage. It is possible a salvage title car can magically come back clean when state to state transfers take place, especially from distances like florida. Ive seen it happen. If you can prove carfax wrong dont they buy you a car?That is a pretty bad deal but I would keep after it. If you cause a big enough fuss and drag your feet you never know. A friend bought a van from ford and it blew up two days later. long story short he got the money back from ford for the van including sales tax and liscencing fees.
He's absolutely right - do some digging on the car.
On a side note - you can take VI to small claims court for very little money, but there's a max you can sue them for. I would first talk to the salesman and if he somewhat admits he had false information or he misled you, let him know that he'll be in court. If you can get a judgement for the repair, it may set some groundwork for a larger suit - having them buy the car back.
If Wally doesn't admit much, you may be fooked
Fvckin machine took my quarter
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Title is clear. Florida is a non-disclosure state (which means even if the car is totalled the DMV doesn't have to know about it or report it on the title) which is why MANY dealerships buy there and bring wrecked cars there to auction.
And even if I took them to small claims it is still our word against theirs.
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there's a similar case that happened in 1992 in florida. a bmw dealership sold cars as brand new, original paint and never in an accident. a regional sales manger of a medical supply firm happened to buy a car from them. he was later suprised to find out after a storm that his paint had been peeling. he went back they told him the same thing VI told you, just gave them the run around. he went and filed a claim, took his car to a body shop to get an estimate, and the dealership lost in court, had to buy his car back, and pay for lost time at work, court costs and were now held liable for every car they sold. needless to say, they closed. so i agree with everyone else, simply drag your feet, they may not talk to you, but their hopeful customers will, and that could be the biggest affect it takes to get your money back.
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