Dealership did not disclose accident - what can I do now?

[imhungry]

Hi Beyond community,

I'm sharing my story of my experience buying a car - with expectations that it was like new, dealer demo with NO accidents, only to find out 3.5 years later when that the car does in deed have a accident claim for $13k. Looking for the guidance/feedback of the car community and similar stories and how it was resolved if at all.

June 2017 - Edmonton AB
I was in the market for a new car and found a dealer demo with very low KMs for a good price. I had reservations about purchasing a demo but was assured the car was only used as an 'Executive Demo' for their dealership. With the discounts I was getting + factory warranty I thought it was a no brainer. I was assured the car was like new with a clean record and no accidents. I was provided a Car Proof (which I still have filed away) with my initials on each page, that had the 'Accident Free' badge and was clean! I would have never purchased the car if I had known of any accidents.

Fast forward Nov 2020 - Calgary AB
I'm in the market for a new car and thought 'hey might as well see what the trade in value is'. The dealership where I was checking out a new car provided me a huge shock when they showed me a Car Proof of my car with 13k in damages. Due to which the trade-in value which they could provide me was 12k under Black Book value.

Car Proof provided June 23 2017
- Report date: 3/28/2017 (I did not even notice at time of purchase that this was not a recent Car Proof)
- No damage records found
- Car purchased 6/23/2017 with 5278 KM

Car Proof obtained Nov 7 2020
- Report date: 11/07/2020
- Damage record: Incident date 03/18/2017, Estimate date 04/28/2017, 5265 KM - left front corner $13k
- 05/17/2017: Vehicle serviced at Dealer (where I purchased car) "Engine Wiring Repaired" 5269 KM

Here are my thoughts - the dealership (large named dealer, not some random used car lot) knowingly sold me a car without disclosing the accident and even went as far as covering it up at point of sale, by providing an old Car Proof report. The paper work seems to point in this direction:

1) Why was a non-recent Car Proof provided at time of sale? - 3 months outdated
2) The recent Nov 2020 Car Proof shows that the car was serviced at said dealership only 4 KM after the accident
3) Sales person claimed that the car was a Dealer Demo and only used at the dealer

At this point - I have not disclosed the name of the dealership yet as but am looking for the guidance and thoughts from the Beyond community. I do plan to file a complaint with AMVIC and email/contact the GM of the dealership. At this point I am very upset and frustrated at the situation. I'm not what what recuperations there could be and expect the GM to just reply back with the offer of a free mug or something... I get it... I've driven the car for 3 years with no major issues, but I am still cheesed that my resale value now is not what I expected.

What would you do or how would you feel?

[FraserB]

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Hi Beyond community,

I'm sharing my story of my experience buying a car - with expectations that it was like new, dealer demo with NO accidents, only to find out 3.5 years later when that the car does in deed have a accident claim for $13k. Looking for the guidance/feedback of the car community and similar stories and how it was resolved if at all.

June 2017 - Edmonton AB
I was in the market for a new car and found a dealer demo with very low KMs for a good price. I had reservations about purchasing a demo but was assured the car was only used as an 'Executive Demo' for their dealership. With the discounts I was getting + factory warranty I thought it was a no brainer. I was assured the car was like new with a clean record and no accidents. I was provided a Car Proof (which I still have filed away) with my initials on each page, that had the 'Accident Free' badge and was clean! I would have never purchased the car if I had known of any accidents.

Fast forward Nov 2020 - Calgary AB
I'm in the market for a new car and thought 'hey might as well see what the trade in value is'. The dealership where I was checking out a new car provided me a huge shock when they showed me a Car Proof of my car with 13k in damages. Due to which the trade-in value which they could provide me was 12k under Black Book value.

Car Proof provided June 23 2017
- Report date: 3/28/2017 (I did not even notice at time of purchase that this was not a recent Car Proof)
- No damage records found
- Car purchased 6/23/2017 with 5278 KM

Car Proof obtained Nov 7 2020
- Report date: 11/07/2020
- Damage record: Incident date 03/18/2017, Estimate date 04/28/2017, 5265 KM - left front corner $13k
- 05/17/2017: Vehicle serviced at Dealer (where I purchased car) "Engine Wiring Repaired" 5269 KM

Here are my thoughts - the dealership (large named dealer, not some random used car lot) knowingly sold me a car without disclosing the accident and even went as far as covering it up at point of sale. The paper work seems to point in this direction:

1) Why was a non-recent Car Proof provided at time of sale? - 3 months outdated
2) The recent Nov 2020 Car Proof shows that the car was serviced at said dealership only 4 KM after the accident
3) Sales person claimed that the car was a Dealer Demo and only used at the dealer

At this point - I have not disclosed the name of the dealership yet as but am looking for the guidance and thoughts from the Beyond community. I do plan to file a complaint with AMVIC and email/contact the GM of the dealership. At this point I am very upset and frustrated at the situation. I'm not what what recuperations there could be and expect the GM to just reply back with the offer of a free mug or something... I get it... I've driven the car for 3 years with no major issues, but I am still cheesed that my resale value now is not what I expected.

Just going to quote this since they have a nasty habit of being deleted or edited.

[Disoblige]

Why don't you talk to the dealership first and explain calmly and in great detail on what happened? 3 years is a long time and it could be a 1-off incident. Not saying they didn't screw you but you're making a lot of assumptions right now. Maybe there was a mix-up and a mistake happened.

Give the dealer a chance to make it right first.
Now go and report back once you do.

[The_Rural_Juror]

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Why don't you talk to the dealership first and explain calmly and in great detail on what happened?

No time for that. He hungry.

[imhungry]

Ha! exactly... understood. 1st step raising awareness to the Dealer and will give them some time to investigate. Again just cheesed by this unexpected surprise.

[Disoblige]

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Ha! exactly... understood. 1st step raising awareness to the Dealer and will give them some time to investigate. Again just cheesed by this unexpected surprise.

Yes agreed. It does suck but I would save the effort to go guns ablazing on every other option for now. There is a high chance you may need to anyways but maybe they will surprise you and it will work out.

Your case is strong and a GM with a brain will try to offer a fair solution. Essentially you would have never paid the price you would have back in 2017 if you knew there was a $13k accident. Think of how much you may want back as a "refund" and see if they play ball. Or try to get the black book value back out of the car somehow.

Anyways, good luck and remember to be professional about it at first and let them know you are trying to give them an opportunity to fix their mistake.

[revelations]

If you dont have the 'no accidents' in writing at the time of the purchase, its their word against your word. Also likely the characters involved are long gone by now.

The sellers dont run carproofs every week nilly willy, but in this case its obvious they wanted it out before the repair showed up on it. Lot boys crash new cars and 'exec demo' - depending on the vehicle model, means its the car they beat on.

[KLCC]

Sorry to hear this; you are not going to pry anything out of this dealership/stealership.

They have plausible deniability on this matter, and going through AMVIC will not help your cause either, unless you are willing to take it to court over this; there is minimal action at your disposal.

It would help if you released their name, so we can make our informal decision to give them our business or not.

[spikerS]

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If you dont have the 'no accidents' in writing at the time of the purchase, its their word against your word. Also likely the characters involved are long gone by now.

The sellers dont run carproofs every week nilly willy, but in this case its obvious they wanted it out before the repair showed up on it. Lot boys crash new cars and 'exec demo' - depending on the vehicle model, means its the car they beat on.

There is so much wrong in this statement.

1, You won't need that in writing. It wasn't disclosed, and was even hidden by providing a clean carproof. They 100% knew of the accident at the time of the sale as it was repaired before the OP purchased it, and by law, it must be disclosed by a dealer. With the dealer providing a carproof dated before the repairs, it is IMHO a case of fraud.

2, Dealers will typically provide an up to date carproof at the time of sale, or at least a recent one. Not typically on a new car though.

3, this is hardly a scenario of OP's word against the Dealerships word. I think that the OP has all the proof required to show the dealer fraud here.

Having said that, I agree with the other replies. Photocopy everything, and bring the copies with you to the dealership and present your case. Offer them a solution that is REASONABLE. If you try for any kind of a payday, this is going to go way wrong for you and it is going to become a much bigger headache than you want to deal with. If the dealer refuses to work with you, goto AMVIC, and should an outcome not present itself in a fair way, then a civil claim in court asking for the difference in value between if the vehicle had a clean carproof and costs would be appropritate.

[FraserB]

I think that the law requiring disclosure of repairs over a certain value changed in 2018, OP bought in 2017.

[revelations]

The dealer will say that the accident was disclosed in person verbally, at the time of sale, and then hang up on you.

Whats next? Where is your proof otherwise?

AMVIC is a joke and only there to protect dealers, not buyers. Surprised you even bothered to mention this.

[FraserB]

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The dealer will say that the accident was disclosed in person verbally, at the time of sale, and then hang up on you.

Whats next? Where is your proof otherwise?

AMVIC is a joke and only there to protect dealers, not buyers. Surprised you even bothered to mention this.

They’d probably also use the signed CarProof to bolster this. “The customer knew the report was out of date, we disclosed the fixes we made and they signed off”

[Disoblige]

It's no wonder dealers have such a shit wrap, when customers just assume and don't even bother, perpetuating the stereotype.

Even if they are legally not obligated to do anything, it doesn't hurt to try and present the facts to see what they'll do. There is a balance out there between getting bumfucked and being a Karen. I know some small town dealers who are very reasonable.

[ExtraSlow]

If it was me, I'd give the dealer the opportunity to take your car at full trade-in value, and then when they don't (and they won't) I'd shit-talk them until I got bored and move on with my life.

Not a ton you can do that will make an positive impact to this situation.

[revelations]

The dealership can literally make up any bs excuse - like "we gave you an updated carproof (which you lost)". An older CP is just proof they gave you THAT copy (and not one from june 2017).

Its sad than in AB, that one has to do due diligence even at major dealers. The province is really behind in the vehicle licensing and selling regs. No doubt in places like Ont or QC this would have hit the fan.

AMVIC is a complete joke and its also sad that buyers think they are protected by them - dealers even advertise this heavily 'protected by AMVIC' bs.

[Buster]

Back when some family worked for one of the Big3 in a corporate position, I regularly had access to "executive demos". More like executive "how fast can we use up all the tires".

[ThePenIsMightier]

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Back when some family worked for one of the Big3 in a corporate position, I regularly had access to "executive demos". More like executive "how fast can we use up all the tires".

LoL! "Executive Neutral-Drop" vehicle.

[dirtsniffer]

Having that carproof is excellent evidence. Its better if youd ated when you signed it. Its even better again if they signed it. Conversations don't mean anything compared to that document they demonstrably told you it wasnt in an accident knowing full well it was as it was owned by them since being sent from the manufacturer.

1. Set up a call with a lawyer to discuss your options. I am not a lawyer.
2. Likely meet with the dealer GM to attempt to resolve.
3. Sell it for a loss. But you need to prove the accident damaged the value. You can't sue for damages or losses that haven't been incured typically, but in this case there may be fraudulent actions during the sale so you could have a case and keep the car, but it's not going to be easy.
4. Cover it in lemon stickers and park it at the dealer non stop and hassle them until they pay. Contact the media.

[ThePenIsMightier]

The fact that it was fixed at the same dealership is what would really piss me off.

I would try to avoid trading it in, to avoid so much of a hit.

[bjstare]

Paperwork wont mean squat here. Engaging a lawyer will likely not be worth your time/money. As mentioned, dealer will tell you to kick rocks. Best chance is going to social media/news/make as much noise as possible (after first giving the dealer the chance to help you out, assuming they elect not to).

Use this as a somewhat expensive learning experience to always pull your own carfax. Fwiw, no chance I’d trust a carfax pulled months earlier by the seller.

Shady dealers gonna be shady dealers.