i bought my 2002 a year ago in august of 2005. it looked pretty good, and the dealership gave me a fair price. i asked if it had been in an accident, and they simply said (after i purchased it and came back to complain about a few things), that "it had some minor bodywork done but (and i QUOTE) 'nothing to effect the structural integrity of the car'". I'm being told that if rear quarters are welded onto a car, then structural integrity was comprimised.

after a few months of ownership, i noticed that my right rear quarter panel and trunk did not line up properly. also, i had a body shop look at the right rear quarter panel where there was a rough spot in the paint. they tried very carefully to smooth it out, and ended up going right through the clear. the clear had been very very thin there.

anyway, i took it upon myself to take the car to a body shop to just find out how much it would cost to fix it. he said that it looked like it had been rear ended, and the driver rear quarter had buckled and been replaced, and the pass. rear had been smoothed over. he also pointed out the clamp marks on the underside frame of the car that show that it had been put on a frame machine (dison or something as he said).

so, it's a year later. i'm kind of upset that the dealership that i bought this from lied to me. the very kind employee of the body shop (by the way, this body shop is really good and handles mostly luxury cars, ferrari, lambo...etc, so they know what they're talking about) said that i should give it a shot to go to the dealership that i bought it from and let them know that even though i asked about accidents, they basically lied to me. he said that they *might* offer to buy back the car, or pay to have it fixed.

what do you guys think? should i just let it go....or pursue?

 

You can try but I'd chalk this one up as a learning experience.

If you ever ask a question before buying something have them put it down in writing with their answer.

This simple step has saved me a lot of money and numerous headaches when dealing with companies over things they promise or state as fact during the presale discussions.

 

Any way to establish the fact the repaired damage occured prior to purchase?

 

What ^^^ said

 

other than the fact that they admitted it to my face...i'm not sure that there is.

 

Not necessarily for legal action, but the possibility, could encourage a buy back offer.

 

(i bought the car at an acura dealership), and they looked at the car.

when the service manager looked at it, he said that the car had been hit, but i shrugged it off my shoulders as not being that bad. I am certain that he would be able to attest to the fact that the damage i'm questioning happened BEFORE i purchased it. perhaps he could even put something in writing for me.

now, this body shop guy is telling me that it may have to be put on a rack or something, etc, and that it could be a lot of cash. when i go to trade or sell the car, i don't want to be held liable for that hit in value.

 

see above (audi dealership looked at car immediately after purchase)

 

also sucks because...i have put money into the car in the form of tires and some replacement parts

 

Then, in my opinion, you may have a viable claim.