I Shoulda bought a new one

[tsn1]

Any of you California/Nevada/Arizona guys out there looking for a used MM be very careful. I just returned my beloved '03 to the dealer today, got my money back and went home without a car. After searching the entire west coast for the right car, I thought I found it. I was wrong. I noticed that the front bumper was slightly misaligned when taking possesion of the car, I notified the dealer before the deal was done of the problem. I made an appointment with the dealers body shop to realign the bumper and take care of what I percieved as some small problems. Being a car guy, I started snoopping around the car. Looking under the hood, in the wheel wells etc. I found EXTENSIVE structural and body damage. I found some bent body bracing in the front with bare metal visible in spots. The entire front end appeared to have been replaced. From five feet away the car looks pristine. The closer you inspect it the worse the story gets.
The real shocker is that this car was sold as Ford factory certified. Having somehow passed their 115 point inspection process in spite of evidence of damage. BTW, the car had a clean Carfax. A friend at DMV told me that she saw no reported accidents on the cars' record.
A friend of mine who runs a body and fender program for a large NASCAR team looked at my car for 45 minutes and came up with a list of about 20 defects directly resulting from a bad accident and a really bad repair job. The final defect he listed was a BENT FRAME.
If you are considering a purchase of a used MM in the west, Email me and I will send you the VIN of this car.
Remember, The Carfax is clean

[MARAUDER S/C #5]

Those scumbags should have informed you. :mad: :fire: :mad2: .

[Tallboy]

my mustang has been totaled. twice. comes back "clean" on carfax.

[tsn1]

Unfortunately, its up to my attorney as to any fraud litigation. The biggest problem for me is that I really don't like dealing with lawyers. Necessary evil, ya know.


Those scumbags should have informed you. :mad: :fire: :mad2: .

[Constable]

If you're looking for another GOOD Rauder to replace it with... look no further. No accidents or anything here. Just all of the "essential" mods that you could possibly do to "brace" the MM for an S/C, Turbo, or Stroker. Asking 27,500...

[RCSignals]

Carfax probably wouldn't honour their own stated warranty on it either.
Personally I think a carfax report is meaningless/useless.

[martyo]

Unfortunately, its up to my attorney as to any fraud litigation. The biggest problem for me is that I really don't like dealing with lawyers. Necessary evil, ya know.


I hear ya!!! :flamer: :uzi: :shake: :fire: :cry: :argue: :mad2:

[Racerx88]

Where was this car from? Did the Carfax history show a Texas title?
I traded my twice wrecked '03 in on my '04, and the dealer had it sold the very next day. I've always been curious as to where it ended up.

[merc406]

Before buying ANY car New or Used, better look at it on the lift, inspect the body gaps for alignment, look down the sides for waves, run it through a wet spot on the pavemet into dry to check for dogtracking, and have a mech. look at it if your not one. New cars have their problems before they get to the buyer and may have been repaired, ie, we had a brand new LTD back in 75 that fell off the lift at the dealership, they fixed it and still sold it as new. I repaired my Grandfathers 72 Buick after he had it for 7 years, come to find out the hood was painted along with the entire drivers side ( good paint match) it had had light bodywork along the whole side, maybe from the transport trailer. If you suspect damage, get your tape measure out.

[Bradley G]

My understanding is on new cars& demo's (in IL.)dealers have to disclose damage if it exceeds 10 % of the retail price. But if it's a used title unless the title say's "rebuilt or salvage" your best bet is to follow other advice here and have the car inspected throughly by someone you trust.

[GordonB]

tsn1,
Go for brand new one! You won't regret it. Talk to Logan and he will put uyou in touch with the right people at the right price. Name your color and interior.
GordonB


Any of you California/Nevada/Arizona guys out there looking for a used MM be very careful. I just returned my beloved '03 to the dealer today, got my money back and went home without a car. After searching the entire west coast for the right car, I thought I found it. I was wrong. I noticed that the front bumper was slightly misaligned when taking possesion of the car, I notified the dealer before the deal was done of the problem. I made an appointment with the dealers body shop to realign the bumper and take care of what I percieved as some small problems. Being a car guy, I started snoopping around the car. Looking under the hood, in the wheel wells etc. I found EXTENSIVE structural and body damage. I found some bent body bracing in the front with bare metal visible in spots. The entire front end appeared to have been replaced. From five feet away the car looks pristine. The closer you inspect it the worse the story gets.
The real shocker is that this car was sold as Ford factory certified. Having somehow passed their 115 point inspection process in spite of evidence of damage. BTW, the car had a clean Carfax. A friend at DMV told me that she saw no reported accidents on the cars' record.
A friend of mine who runs a body and fender program for a large NASCAR team looked at my car for 45 minutes and came up with a list of about 20 defects directly resulting from a bad accident and a really bad repair job. The final defect he listed was a BENT FRAME.
If you are considering a purchase of a used MM in the west, Email me and I will send you the VIN of this car.
Remember, The Carfax is clean

[JerseyVics]

Carfax probably wouldn't honour their own stated warranty on it either.
Personally I think a carfax report is meaningless/useless.
I coulda swore I heard a commercial on radio today by Carfax saying they'll pay for the car if they missed something on the report.

Hey Ryan, what are you looking to replace your Marauder with? already....?


--Russ :nono:

[jgc61sr2002]

If the accident is not documented then the carfax is useless.

[RCSignals]

If the accident is not documented then the carfax is useless.
Exactly, that is their out. An accident that was not reported is not covered by carfax.
If an accident was reported but carfax didn't pick it up, then they might honour their warranty. It's a win-win $ making game for carfax

[RCSignals]

Before buying ANY car New or Used, better look at it on the lift, inspect the body gaps for alignment, look down the sides for waves, run it through a wet spot on the pavemet into dry to check for dogtracking, and have a mech. look at it if your not one. New cars have their problems before they get to the buyer and may have been repaired, ie, we had a brand new LTD back in 75 that fell off the lift at the dealership, they fixed it and still sold it as new. I repaired my Grandfathers 72 Buick after he had it for 7 years, come to find out the hood was painted along with the entire drivers side ( good paint match) it had had light bodywork along the whole side, maybe from the transport trailer. If you suspect damage, get your tape measure out.
A friend worked at a Chrysler dealership late 60's, early 70's. they were regularly repairing newly delivered New cars and trucks. Many had bullet holes in them. (Farm boys taking practice as the haulers crossed the Prarie)

[Hawaii 5-0]

I had a 1998 Oldsmobile that was a lemon law repurchase, after arbitration, and it still has a "clean" carfax.... :cool4:

[bryanknie]

Report this vin to carfax, when you pull up the report, there is a place to responde if you feel it is not accurate. It may help save someone else the agravation who is not a car savy.

[tsn1]

Hi Guys,

Sorry it took so long to get back on this thread. I've been traveling on business this last week.
Just to answer a few questions.
1. Carfax is not worth the paper that it is written on. They WILL NOT honor their guarantee. My lawyer tells me that she Has been in contact with the Ca. state Atty Gen. and he is very interested. All this means is that I am paying my lawyer to talk on the phone with another attorney.
2. My car is not originally from Texas. It was originally titled in california.
3. Called ford customer service. They tell me that the dealer is just a franchise and they have no regulatory control over it.
4. I just got my Ford warranty and the certificate listed my car as a Gand Marqius LS! You would figure that they would at least get the model right.
5. There is a five thousand mile discrepancy between the time it was bought by a SoCal Ford dealer and when It was sold to me.

My hypothysis is that the SoCal dealer wrecked it, gave it a quick cosmetic fix, and put it up for auction. I am fortunate that they didn't resist my assertion that they needed to take the car back. The underlying safety issue of having what I believe to be a dangerous car potentially on the street forces me to persue Ford and its' "franchises" to my satisfaction.

The underlying message for Ford is that I will never set foot on any of their dealerships or that of their affiliates (read Volvo, Ford, Rover, Lincoln, Mazda, Mercury) and I will explain to my colleagues (purchasing agents, doctors, nurses, medical staff, my employees, etc ) why they should rethink their ford product purchase.

I love the Marauder, I just can't rationalize supporting what appears to be an untrustworthy organization.
I am going to ramain a member of MM.net. Lets face it, you guys are a great group, and in the event that FoMoCo redeem themselves and I get a new MM, I won't be out of the loop.
Thanks for the good advice and comeraderie.
Tom

[merc406]

Hi Guys,

Sorry it took so long to get back on this thread. I've been traveling on business this last week.
Just to answer a few questions.
1. Carfax is not worth the paper that it is written on. They WILL NOT honor their guarantee. My lawyer tells me that she Has been in contact with the Ca. state Atty Gen. and he is very interested. All this means is that I am paying my lawyer to talk on the phone with another attorney.
2. My car is not originally from Texas. It was originally titled in california.
3. Called ford customer service. They tell me that the dealer is just a franchise and they have no regulatory control over it.
4. I just got my Ford warranty and the certificate listed my car as a Gand Marqius LS! You would figure that they would at least get the model right.
5. There is a five thousand mile discrepancy between the time it was bought by a SoCal Ford dealer and when It was sold to me.

My hypothysis is that the SoCal dealer wrecked it, gave it a quick cosmetic fix, and put it up for auction. I am fortunate that they didn't resist my assertion that they needed to take the car back. The underlying safety issue of having what I believe to be a dangerous car potentially on the street forces me to persue Ford and its' "franchises" to my satisfaction.

The underlying message for Ford is that I will never set foot on any of their dealerships or that of their affiliates (read Volvo, Ford, Rover, Lincoln, Mazda, Mercury) and I will explain to my colleagues (purchasing agents, doctors, nurses, medical staff, my employees, etc ) why they should rethink their ford product purchase.

I love the Marauder, I just can't rationalize supporting what appears to be an untrustworthy organization.
I am going to ramain a member of MM.net. Lets face it, you guys are a great group, and in the event that FoMoCo redeem themselves and I get a new MM, I won't be out of the loop.
Thanks for the good advice and comeraderie.
Tom




Hate to tell ya, you proably already know, that can happen with any make of auto out their.
Sounds like one of those cars that AutoTrader has for sale, the wrecked ones, someone bought one (total) repaired it and auctioned it out or just traded it for a new car.

[tsn1]

Hey 406,
You are right about the autotrader quick turn. You just don't expect this kind of thing from a factory certified, dealer-sold car. The reality is that this vehicle never left the dealership network. It went from one to the other. It was a buyback by a FLM dealer in SoCal.
T.
[
QUOTE=merc406]Hate to tell ya, you proably already know, that can happen with any make of auto out their.
Sounds like one of those cars that AutoTrader has for sale, the wrecked ones, someone bought one (total) repaired it and auctioned it out or just traded it for a new car.[/QUOTE]