Let's Make a Deal

Let’s Make a Deal

Last week, my wife and I went to a local car dealer to see about getting a used automobile. We’d already scouted one out and knew a lot of information about it from online resources like Edmunds, Kelley Blue Book, and Consumer Reports. We went to the dealer armed with information and ready to negotiate a fair price.

One piece of information that was the most illuminating came from the Carfax report. According to Carfax records we purchased, the car had received front-end damage in an accident and had been taken to a collision repair facility in Pennsylvania.

At the dealer’s showroom, we asked the salesman about the car and requested a copy of the Carfax report. He disappeared inside the manager’s office for a long time. When he emerged, he was smiling and apologizing for being gone so long. Then he handed us a Carfax report that showed the car had a clear title and had no issues. It also said that there were 18 other records, but those records weren’t included in the print out. He said we didn’t need to worry about them. Upon closer examination, we noticed that the three page print out was numbered “page 1,” “page 2,” and “page 5.” So we told the dealer about the accident record and shared our disappointment in him for not sharing the information about the accident with us.

Saturday, the dealer called us and told us that the car had been sold to someone else. I wonder if that buyer discovered the car had been in a wreck or did they make their purchase in ignorance.

PS See a companion piece on the SaveCountryside.blogspot.com blog. Oh yeah BTW... We bought another car from another dealer on Saturday. '99 Honda Civic. We like Honda's.