How bad did I mess up?

[Cbray]

Hello all!
After months of back and forth I finally pulled the trigger on selling my S2000 and getting a FiST. After a couple weeks of searching there was only 2 real options within my range. The first was a 3 hour drive, upon seeing it though it had some issues. So I ended up going with the second option.
At first it was great, 2014 with 30,xxx miles pretty good price. I decided after a day of driving around it was looking like the best option. Now this is at one of the bigger ford dealerships in the Dallas/Ft.worth area in Texas. After getting a price I still have not seen the car fax. A manager comes in and "can't find it" they keep trying to get me to go into the financing to complete. I finally get it after 1.5hrs and its one of the buy back vehicles. 2 owners the second for less than a month. After another hour I finally get the reason for the buy back. Turned out to be the trans/motor noise I have seen on this forum. They show me all the work done and we test drive again. No noise no issue that I can tell. Right before we go to finish up they tell me it will have a "branded Ford title" and I sign some paper saying I have an additional 12,000 miles on the B2B warranty. Now that I have the car and am doing some research it looks like it is a lemon/salvage title from California. They assured me it wouldn't impact the value but I really have no clue. Has anyone had any luck with this? I love the car but I just don't want to lose a lot of the value because of that.

 

[D1JL]

Dave

 

[SoyFiesta]

Salvage titles can definitely impact the value of the car. If you were to look on NADA/Edmunds/KBB how is what you paid for your car in comparison to how they value it out?

 

[Cbray]

It is right in line with KBB very good condition. Car is in brand new condition minus just knowing about the work done. They still have not even given me if it is a salvage title. Just that it's a "Ford Branded Title". I'm wondering what my options are now.

 

[Thirty-Two]

Looks to have been to late but I wouldn't chance it. Looks like they got out of the car as soon as the warranty ended. And that it was most likely brought off an auction meaning it got passed around for cheap. Any title other than clean will always impact value of a car.
A branded title could mean a buyback, a supposed lemon. Usually there is a limit that will be spent on repairs or time it could sent in for the same issue until it considered a lemon. Or it could be a theft, flood, or collision.
If there is no way out of it, check that warranty for what it covers and take care and thoroughly check the car. On the bright side these are pretty resilient cars but it doesn't take much for it to get a branded title due to cost of parts and labour, so the title could have been because of something minor but time-consuming.

Also was this car a CPO? If not that could also raise flags.

 

[Flaco]

Welcome !

 

[Intuit]

Without repeating what others have stated, look at it this way:
1) You're uncomfortable with the history on the car.

That's all!

Don't doubt yourself on this one. It's not unusual for sales people to fib. Trust them about as far as you can throw them. In addition, two heads are better than one. Take an experienced buyer along with you. They can temper your lust, somewhat intimidate the salesman and call BS when they hear it.

It may differ from state to state but I believe you have a certain time period to renege on the deal. Have a lawyer review the situation. Usually a simple letter from one will get their attention at which point, they should be willing to negotiate you out of this one and into another.

 

[Spaceman_Spiff]

Without repeating what others have stated, look at it this way:
1) You're uncomfortable with the history on the car.

That's all!

Yep. If you're not comfortable with it, and it's within the "return period", take it back. How long ago did you buy it? Hopefully you can still do something about it if you're worried. Especially if you're not planning on running this car into the ground. If you trade in every couple of years, then this is not going to work out in your favor.

If it's too late... I hate to say it, but you bought it knowing it was questionable. I have no idea where you'll stand with that, legally, so make the best of it (or consult someone who knows). You liked it enough to overlook the possible issues and you bought it, so forget about the title info and have a good time with the car, especially if you don't see any issues. Otherwise it'll drive you crazy looking for problems that may or may not be there.

 

[Cbray]

Thanks for the advice guys! It's only been 3 days. I think I'm going to go in today and see where what my options are.

Thanks again for all the advice!

 

[D1JL]

Has anyone asked what the title brand is?

While title brands vary by state, some of the most common ones include:
Salvage
Junk
Totaled
Lemon
Flood
Reconstructed

Some states even include reposition.


When you asked for the "Car Fax", you were asking for the history report and for the dealer not providing it for any reason should allow you to back out of the deal.
Make sure you ask these questions at the dealer.
However, at the dealer, you may want to use the threat of contacting a lawyer.
This may persuade the dealer to come clean and offer you an out.




Dave

 

[Turbo65]

I would back out if you can, they will tell you what you want and in a few years your down shit creak without a paddle. I went through the same thing on a lemon title with a nearly new grand Cherokee jeep a few years ago. I went to trade it back to the same dealership because it was unreliable and they offered way below book. I threatened them with going to the local TV network but they backed down but it's sad I had to go that way.

 

[Ceecab705]

Good luck today and keep us posted.

 

[Intuit]

Thanks for the advice guys! It's only been 3 days. I think I'm going to go in today and see where what my options are.

Thanks again for all the advice!

Do not trust them to tell you what your options are. Find out before going in. If this is your only transportation the be prepared with a temporary solution. Someone in your state government will know for sure but you should be well within the time period for reneging on the deal. Don't wait too long however. I may have heard a 2 week window before?? If they in any way try to get aggressive or "strong arm" you, just back out of contract entirely and find another party to buy a car from. Lawyer will be very helpful. "Lemon lawyer" is overkill but they will definitely be up on all the ins and outs, without necessarily taking the time to research local law.

 

[flat_lander]

Get your butt back to the dealer pronto. According to google you only have 3 days for the cooling off period. Don't let them push yoI out the door. I had to exercise this once with a dealer for misrepresentation.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sou...LPafQ1qLQHXoTqKjQ&sig2=oTJtVxK9JSqOLlkL2fJNew


Sent from my VS986 using Tapatalk

 

[briandee]

My biggest question is how good of a deal you got. Also, are you familiar with this dealership, you need to stand by your concerns while also trying to stay on their good side. Once you are not their friend, things get messy. Sometimes you can attract more bees with honey than vinegar. (but don't let them walk all over you!)

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[SoyFiesta]

So how did it go with the dealer?

 

[Cbray]

Hey sorry for the late reply! I actually just left the dealership.

So going into it I just wanted out. They got someone who was pretty high up and was much more knowledgeable.

So the title actually ended up being a reaquired title. He provided me with all of the papers showing what the previous buy back was for and a lengthy list of the repaired. It was very reassuring and lifted all the anxiety about driving it around. He offered to do a trade back in and lose a couple hundred dollars, but after seeing the info I feel ok.


Thanks to everyone who replied! You guys already have made me feel welcome! Way better than the s2000 forums!

 

[gabe]

Yea. Definitely isn't salvage title otherwise I wouldn't be able to drive my car with full coverage.

 

[Cbray]

Is yours the same way gabe?

 

[gabe]

Yup. 2016 with 5900miles. Lemon lol

Edit: car now has 14k took it on a road trip to FLORIDA. So far zero issues (knock on wood) except a blown strut.