Used Cars: Paint work not disclosed, franchise dealer, paint work

Question
Hi Roger,

I have a quick question regarding a car dealership's responsibility to disclose information. About 4 months ago I purchased a high end luxury vehicle. It had low miles and the price was great. I did not trade my vehicle in because of the low trade in value the dealership was giving. After a couple months of not being able to sell my vehicle I went in to get the new car traded in because the price I got was below it's trade in value so I figured I'd pay off the loan and walk away with my old car. To my surprise I was told that the vehicle was painted from the front passenger door all the way to the driver side passenger door. This was not disclosed to me and yesterday I found out that the vehicle was keyed at the car dealership's lot and they did a quick paint job on it to cover it up. Had I known this I would have definitely not purchased the vehicle and I want to know if I have any grounds to go back to the dealership with? I live in Southern California, not sure if the laws are different here or not. Thanks in advance for your time and expertise.

Answer
Wow ... Sorry to hear about your experience so far …fortunately this type of issue can almost always be resolved in the customers favor… Couple of quick questions: have you had the opportunity to go back to the originating dealer with the vehicle and ask him what the deal is? Paintwork of any kind that we perform, or are aware of, on the vehicle from any prior damage MUST be disclosed in the state of Oregon and in the state of Washington. I'm assuming that it's also the case in the state of California, at least for licensed dealers. We actually require the customer to sign a disclosure acknowledgment any time that happens with one of our cars. The other thing to keep in mind is the value of a "Highline" vehicle such as you're describing takes a hit whenever any paint work is done to the vehicle for any reason. I would be very surprised if when you contact the originating dealer (hopefully a franchise dealer) and stomp your feet a few times and appear to be reasonable and not a hot head and explain the situation, tell the dealer that it has made it very problematic for you to sell or trade the car in and ask him how he would like to handle it. Don't be discouraged if he tries to lowball you at first by saying something as ridiculous as even "what if I fill your gas tank" because he's just shopping for where you are at. If you want them to buy the car back and unwind the deal he may try to get you to pay for any mileage on the car.  Provided it's not excessive I would reject that also. Make sure when you go in to the dealer that the car is washed and vacuumed and looks good. Threatening to report him to the Atty. Gen. will not have anywhere near the impact that threatening to report him to the Department of Motor Vehicles will have. DMV scares dealers and the Atty. Gen. writes letters. Let me know how it comes out, I'm curious to hear how the dealer chooses to handle this. How did you discover that the car had been keyed and repainted? Did someone at the dealership tell you? Most franchised dealers would rather avoid anything resembling heat from a customer and has the nearly limitless ability to take himself out of a bind ... like taking the car back. If I were him I would be actively trying to do two things: #1 I wouldn't be trying to keep you as a customer and would be asking you if there was a different vehicle you may want to swap it for )like an exchange) DON'T DO IT! Even if there is one you like make sure you keep the two deals separate which means unwinding the first deal and getting your oney back and then look at other cars ... no swaps! You will come out further down than you already are ... seriously.and #2 I would be trying to make you happy somehow. Realize in all of your dealings with the dealer he will be willing to do what it takes to make you happy as long as he thinks there is a way to do it... the minute he concludes there is no way to make you happy then the conversation will be over. When you get in make sure you talk to somebody whose title is general manager, or dealer principal of the store. I would not go to the sales manager for the salesman or the closer you made the deal with because they do not have the authority to say yes, but only to say no and maybe. Taking the car back will also affect their paycheck and they will be less motivated to go to bat for you no matter what they say. Trust me on this one.

My private e-mail is  roadloans@Gmail.com if you have any follow-up questions feel free to ask them and going direct to this e-mail will get a much faster as I check it constantly throughout the day. Good luck.

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