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So it turns out it is some kind of over spray not chips. Bizarre. ... Will get it fixed and move on. Shouldnt be more than a few hundred bucks to buff out. Looks like the car was all buffed out except the top of car...
bottom line, I love this car and im keeping it. 10K miles now and it prob wont get over 6K per year. Car is fast as hell for stock. Amazing for a 4 door sedan. Lot more body roll than a Vette or even my AMG but should be easy enough to fix.
So I just picked up my 2009 CTS-V to replace my E55 AMG on Wed this week right before Thanksgiving with only 9800 miles from a dealer 2 hours away. Reputable dealer. Shopped hard for a week before pulling the trigger. Pictures online looked super clean. Two different sale people told me the car was immaculate. Old guy owned it and drove 1500 miles average per year. Paid about 10K over some cheaper ones I could have gotten but that had a lot higher mileage. I figured this would essentially be like getting a new car but at half the original price. There was one other 2009 with 11K miles from an individual for $500 more. I opted for the dealer mainly because it would be easier in a lot of ways.
So it took me 4 hours to get there with holiday traffic. Just getting dark. Took car for a quick drive. Was a little dirty but they said they would wash it for me no problem. Wrapped up the sale and closed the deal with no loan. Went out to get the car. As he handed me the keys I kind of noticed what I thought was fibers on the top of the car from a towel to dry. Didnt think much of it and drove 2 hours home happy as a clam.
Thanks Giving morning I get up and take car out of garage. Look at the car in the sunlight and can see literally thousands of tiny chips in the paint. It was only on the roof, trunk and hood. Nothing on sides or the front air dam area. Only thing that makes sense is it was parked under a tree dropping sap for years and they took the sap off to sell it along with a lot of tiny amounts of paint. I was super bummed especially considering holiday. I was so excited then I see this. I am not picky about my cars and how they look either. This is bad. You can feel most of them with your hand and with your finger nail.
closed on Thursday so I call first thing today. Manager tells me to bring it to him and show him. I told him I am hours away and send him some good pictures. He calls me back saying they would never have a car like that on their lot. Asked how he could sell a car like that. I simply told him that they did. all I did was drive the car home and put into garage. He insisted it had to have happened after it was driven off the lot and they don't do business like that.
He later emailed me back saying they looked at the photos of when they got the car and it proves that car was fine when they bought it. Of course they did not send them to me to see. Later I looked online at the ad pictures. If you save them and zoom you can kind of make them out. Low resolution. Said I am certain that their high res photos originals would surely show this. I informed him of this via Email. I told them I dont want to return the car I simply want it fixed. Oh and there were a few options listed in ad that were not on the car like back up camera and ventilated seats.
He came back with I must have raced the car and that would cause this kind of damage LOL. Said to take him to court and there is nothing more they can do for me and I signed it as "sold as is". Well I responded back outlining exactly where I felt he was wrong. Two sales people told me it was perfect. The price was for a outstanding quality vehicle not poor. I picked it up at night and couldn't really see the imperfections. I would have seen right away in the day time.
Told them I would be contacted their DA first thing Monday if the owner feels the same way he does.
So then I get a phone call from the actual owner of this dealership. Nice enough I guess. Tells me what he can do is get a bottle of touch up paint for the car and send it to me. He even asked me why they should paint it to fix it and that if he pays to paint it they will resell the car for $5K more than I got it for. He offered to let me return it for full refund. I doubt they will give me it all back. Probably wont give back DMV fees or something. Didn't expect them to even offer that. Tells me he knew about the damage and just thought he gave such a good deal that a buyer should have to deal with it. Then he said he would pay up to
$150 to have Someone near me fix it. What a freaking joke ! I said I wanted to take it to someone and get an estimate and go from there. Said I didn't want to return it but wanted them to do the right thing and fix it. It wasnt easy but I stayed cool and collected with all of these calls. I told him they misrepresented the car. He totally disagreed. He even said I should have verified the options that were missing while I was there. Maybe he is right but WTF am I supposed to go through a checklist to verify what they put in black and white is actually there ? Sorry if I expected you guys to be honest.
Yeah I blew it by not looking more carefully but they also blatantly lied about its condition. Put up low res photos that you cant really see any of it. Give it to me at night and didn't disclose any of this.
Called a few shops but no time to go in. Sent pictures to one. He thought it might be mostly in the clear coat. $1500 to color sand the entire top of car, polish it and put new clear coat on. If they are too deep he told me it would be about $2000 to take it down to primer , repaint and new clear coat.
They only gave me until closing Sat to return it. That other lady might still have the one with 11K miles is $500 more than dealer. So if I keep this one it will cost me either $850 or $1350 more than hers. If I get hers it will be a royal PITA to return it, get my money back from them and then pick hers up. She is also about 2 hours away. This car wasnt in an accident and is virtually new mechanically and the interior is flawless. I'm leaning towards keeping it and fixing it. I still feel like they should pay for the entire repair or offer to do it themselves for free. I would even settle with them meeting me in the middle on the cost. I doubt they will though. Dishonest people make me sick. So many of them in the world too especially when money is involved.
it's a 6 year old car. having some chips and dings is to be expected. I'd probably just accept it for what it is and drive it and enjoy it.
you could always try to take the repair quotes to the owner and let them know that you'd like to meet somewhere in the middle between the 150$ offered and the quotes given else you'd like to return the vehicle. there is a certain cut off point where it hurts them more to take the car back then it is to just give you back some of their profits, you have to figure out where that line is. at the end of the day though, accept their cash offering if nothing else, and put it towards whatever you end up wanting to do.... or return the car if you really arent happy. shrug, you have options, that's good at least.
it's a 6 year old car. having some chips and dings is to be expected. I'd probably just accept it for what it is and drive it and enjoy it.
you could always try to take the repair quotes to the owner and let them know that you'd like to meet somewhere in the middle between the 150$ offered and the quotes given else you'd like to return the vehicle. there is a certain cut off point where it hurts them more to take the car back then it is to just give you back some of their profits, you have to figure out where that line is. at the end of the day though, accept their cash offering if nothing else, and put it towards whatever you end up wanting to do.... or return the car if you really arent happy. shrug, you have options, that's good at least.
Yes chips and dings are expected but this has literally thousands of chips on the entire top surface of car. Yes at least I have options. Most likely I will keep it and repair it even if I have to spend $2000 to do so. It isnt right though.
Yes chips and dings are expected but this has literally thousands of chips on the entire top surface of car. Yes at least I have options. Most likely I will keep it and repair it even if I have to spend $2000 to do so. It isnt right though.
It's completely on you. You had every opportunity to see it under the lights in their shop or in the daytime. You chose not to. You also had every opportunity and obligation (it's your money) to verify it had every item as advertised before you bought it. You chose not to. The dealer is being more than generous to offer a full refund.
It's completely on you. You had every opportunity to see it under the lights in their shop or in the daytime. You chose not to. You also had every opportunity and obligation (it's your money) to verify it had every item as advertised before you bought it. You chose not to. The dealer is being more than generous to offer a full refund.
Well I totally disagree with your opinion. As I said It took two more hours to get there because of traffic and I missed daylight by 30 minutes.
Yeah its my fault for believing what they told me on the phone twice and what they advertised it as being. They continued the lie by saying it wasn't like that on their lot and it had to have happened after I drove it away.
Yes I should have known not to trust a dealer. Took 4 hours to get there and had a two hour drive home. Was in more of a hurry and didn't suspect them of pulling a fast one on me. A reasonable person would assume with such low miles and an ad stating how immaculate it was that it did not need $2000 in repairs to the paint.
Yup they are being so "generous" its painful clear misrepresentation. Bet they were sup[er glad I got there after it was dark. I am also betting it had wax on it that covered a lot of imperfections but showed more after they washed it right before handing me keys.
Freaking scum bag dealers like that give good ones a bad name.
Take it back and get your refund. Take the loss from registration fees. I agree with TerryL.
Maybe when you take it back they will negotiate to refund the difference that you are willing to split half with the fix with. Once you bring it back and make the attempt to return it they will do something.
They don't want this car back. If you show up today with this car, then they know you are serious!! Good Luck!
Trust your instincts! The worse thing in the world is one when feels uncomfortable about situations like this. Every time you look and get in this car you're always thinking about what you should have done.
Yes chips and dings are expected but this has literally thousands of chips on the entire top surface of car. Yes at least I have options. Most likely I will keep it and repair it even if I have to spend $2000 to do so. It isnt right though.
$2000? If you think you can correct it for that, keep it. Me, I would take the owner of the dealership up on his offer. And I wouldn't do it over the phone; I'd call and tell him I'm bringing the car when he is there and for him to have a check ready. You did the deal at night; sorry, but that's a big no-no for buying a used car (and sometimes even a new car!). Let him/manager earn their $5K more on the car!
IMO you will be out less money than what you think will correct the paint, at retail, unless you have an auto body painter in your family. I doubt if there is a serious person who will take a bottle of paint and touch up all those spots on the three horizontal locations AND have it looking good. All just my opinion---you sound like you're going to keep the car and fume about it all the years you own it. Just remember the hit you're going to take when you eventually trade/sell it.
Lesson learned, OP. You accepted it. It isn't on the dealer's head that you arrived at dark. Sad story but I agree with the consensus here. Take your loss and move on.
This picture looks like the sunroof has the problem too. looks like some kind of over spray or contaminant on top of the paint. When you rub your hand across it does it fill like a chip or something on top of the paint?
Agreed, take it back. If the paint is that bad, previous owners abused that car, and I bet there are a lot more problems lurking with that car. How do the rotors look, condition of interior. Surprisingly, dealers can hide a lot of problems, give it back.
I kind of agree with everyone else. If you are unhappy, take the refund. That is almost unheard of in the used car game. Usually used cars are sold as is where is.
They are under zero obligation to take it back, but they are. It is hard to tell on those pics. It almost looks like water spots. If you love the car pay the 2K to get it repainted, I am surprised it is that cheap to be honest.
This. First thing that came to mind when I was reading your description of the damage.
In all honesty, I would just take it back. You were only shopping for one week before pulling the trigger. I think that you need to spend a little more time and you'll be sure to come across a much better deal.
Maybe when you take it back they will negotiate to refund the difference that you are willing to split half with the fix with. Once you bring it back and make the attempt to return it they will do something.
They don't want this car back. If you show up today with this car, then they know you are serious!! Good Luck!
Trust your instincts! The worse thing in the world is one when feels uncomfortable about situations like this. Every time you look and get in this car you're always thinking about what you should have done.
Just my $0.02.
If their going to take it back, i would drive it there and call their bluff,it seems to me you may have legal recourse on them if there willing to take the car back, maybe not for the condition of the car, as you agreed to a, as is clause but if they put in print options which are not in the car, i would view that as a misrepresentation of the vehicle which is not part of an as is clause, you could end up walking out of there with a check to get it fixed, but go early.
Last edited by RoadkingC6; 11-28-2015 at 09:31 AM.
Lesson learned, OP. You accepted it. It isn't on the dealer's head that you arrived at dark. Sad story but I agree with the consensus here. Take your loss and move on.
Not there fault at all you didn't look at it better, if you were going at night take an led flash light.
Maybe try clay bar on the car, if not just return it...
Have you checked and compared every other items listed on the ad? how about the vin number? was that listed and does it match? i once had a similar problem ( options listed ) on a new 97 Tahoe, only to find the vin number in the ad was different than the car i was about to pick up. they had sold the one in the ad and were pushing this other one on me without disclosing it. the tahoe they were selling me was fine, but I didnt like the dishonesty and walked away, another dealer 3 mile down had plenty to chose from.
take it back, call their bluff. you won't be happy with it. Good Luck
11-28-2015, 12:49 AM
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clear misrepresentation. Bet they were sup[er glad I got there after it was dark. I am also betting it had wax on it that covered a lot of imperfections but showed more after they washed it right before handing me keys. 
