Another place to report the problem is to your State's DMV usually most states have a online complaint form. I deal with used car dealers in my state and they all complain about having to address consumer issues with the DMV. Kind of hard for dealership to say sold as is when it is certified.

 

Right because I remember seeing a piece of paper that says that there was a warranty and it was not sold as is. I also have the dealer sticker paper and the full Carfax history it says that there was no damage to those panels. On that dealer sticker paper it says "this vehicle has undergone extensive evaluation and reconditioning process completed by trained professionals at this authorized Honda dealership."

I definitely will be contacting the Better Business Bureau and the DMV in my state. Great ideas.

 

Let me ask a question. You say the car has 5000 miles on it. Was the car sold brand-new to an individual and the person traded it in to this dealership for another car? Or, was the car taken off the lot brand-new and used by the dealership for 5000 miles and then sold as a certified used car? If the car never left the ownership of the dealer then who put the pin-striping on to hide the damage? I'll bet the dealer painted it (why?), saw the defects, and hid them with the pin-striping.

Find out did anyone beside the dealership own the car before you did?

 

The CarFax history report states someone bought it brand new from 11/17 to 07/10. When i spoke to the manager he confirmed the pin striping is installed at the dealer.

I have the last name of the previous owner.

 

Certification checklist did they give you one of these? Note the appearance checklist.

http://www.cars.com/go/advice/shoppi...inspection.pdf

 

Making a complaint it Better Business Bureau is super easy. And it worked for me.

https://www.bbb.org/file-a-complaint/

 

Yes I have a copy.


I want this to affect only that Dealership. Honda hasn't given me a reason yet to be upset with them. We will see come Monday morning.

 

So I found this, the Florida Lemon Law, Florida Lemon Law - Auto Warranties, Complaints and Claims - U.S. BBB (relevant pdf, specifically, Vehicles & Consumers covered and problems covered): http://www.bbb.org/us/Storage/16/Doc...-LLsummary.pdf)

I bought the car last month. Car was manufactured in July of 2012. Car was delivered to previous owner 11/17/2012. So I am in the Lemon Law Period and should be covered (as the law covers Subsequent owners) assuming "delivery of vehicle" means delivery to the dealership (which happened 8/31/2012 at Port Charlotte Honda). If it means Manufactured date, then I would say it would still be valid. But I am not a lawyer. I'll be exploring more options.

 

I didn't read through all the details of the Lemon Laws in Florida but in my opinion, something like this would not qualify under the law. But being in Florida, don't forget to "Stand Your Ground" on your complaint.

 

He did offer to repaint the panels though? That's better than I got and i'd be happy with that. The car isn't that old that it's going to be terribly hard to paint match.

What are you looking to get out of this now? A new car? Renegotiated payment terms? It could be found that the dealership didn't hold up their end of the contract when they sold you the car under false pretenses but be prepared to get a lawyer.

 

He offered to repaint the panel but the problem is, the newer paint looks different. Dramatically different.

The scenarios I gave are:

1. Fix the issue and provide warranty of the paint, in case of fading or poor worksmanship. He denied that option.
2. Fix the issue and renegotiate the principle of the car to compensate for selling me a car with reduced value than what was agreed to (a car that was not in an accident or had bodywork done). He denied that option.
3. Return the car and provide me another. He denied that option.
4. Return the car and give back my old car. He denied that option.
5. He explained that all scenarios are unrealistic. He would repair the panel only, and told me to get off the lot otherwise.

The General Manager was very patronizing. Basically asking me how much experience I had buying cars, what my experience is in dealing with body shop work or any other thing he felt the need to belittle me. I escalated my requests in severity ONLY because he was being obtuse about the entire thing. What upsets me the most is that I spent my time and energy on comments being made to me in an increasingly crude and rude manner. Not even making comment that I had driven more than an hour one-way to go to his dealership and appeal for a reasonable fix.

My time, money in gas, close to 200 miles in mileage added to the car (just for that day alone), to get nothing and essentially drive home empty handed in a car I now felt like I was robbed of my money. Now I am legally required to pay money on this car. When I send out my hard-earned cash for this car, it will feel dirty.

But see, for some reason, I have an inkling it will work out. And when it does, I'll be sure to let Mr. General Manager that when he said I knew nothing, that I was able to get it worked out and I'll just have this huge smile on my face.

 

The complaint form at BBB has options for JUST this dealer not all of Honda. And it is just this dealer that cause the problem so it should be reported ASAP.

 

Thing is, the BBB is requesting information on me having a Lawyer. I need to figure out how to answer this by asking the lawyer

 

Curiously awaiting the outcome of this saga... Good luck DS!

 

Call Honda if you haven't already done so, this is a black eye on their CPO program and they should be able to help to move the dealer to fix your issue

 

I would push for this, the others are a bit unrealistic handling it alone and I don't see Honda or the dealership doing any of them. There's absolutely nothing unrealistic about warrantying their paint work against defects, unless they are that unsure of their body shop's abilities which i'm not surprised by seeing their previous work Maybe go through Honda Corporate and take it to a GOOD paint and body place? Paint matching is totally possible, I just think they don't have the skills there.

I could see a full refund and voiding the purchase, but not without a lawyer.

 

Update:

Called Honda. They listened to me and thought it was odd that the manager refused to be helpful on this issue. They assigned me a liaison to work with me and the dealer on this. Since it appears to be both a warranty and a sales issue, they will let me know by end of business tomorrow.

I am working out things with a lawyer to figure out what to do, but right now Honda is working on the issue and I'll be notified of what to do through Honda shortly. I am going to exhaust what options I have through them.

Edit: need to clarify here. The Honda rep agreed that when I bring up the issue about the renegotiation principle, I was justified in making this assumption. Considering I had no control over this panel issue, she referred me to a middle-man to figure something out. All reps I have spoken to from Honda Corporate have been understanding of my issues.

Honestly, that's really all I want. But I really don't think it's unrealistic to say that when I purchase a car - I pay a price for what condition the car is in when I buy it, aka no hidden funny stuff. When I find out that I was misled, that becomes another issue. But then again, that's just my opinion. If I want to sell this car like it is (with this panel issue), I would take a rather large hit. People would wonder what *I* did to cause this to happen. Private or trade-in. And it would be an issue I had *no* control over. I had no clue this was on the car. I was given contracts and paperwork that says otherwise. To me, it's unrealistic to think I wouldn't come back to try and renegotiate based on that principle alone.

I appreciate all the advice. I am hesitant on filing a BBB complaint in the middle of a remedy being attempted by Honda. So I am refraining until I can get a complete picture of the issues. I know it is immediately sent to the Dealer and not Honda, but since it may end up being fixed by the dealer anyway, I'll be holding off.

 

Good to see Honda helping, they will push the dealer since the dealer is representing the CPO program on Honda's behalf

 

Honda has confirmed to me that they will not assist me on this issue and neither will the Dealership. Apparently, the title isn't even transferred to my name. But now I have the full name of the previous owner.

 

Well yeah if it's financed the title isn't in your name.

Do you have gap insurance?












I'd try to get the scoop from the previous owner if you can find him/her. Use the internet, it's fairly easy to find people if you have a name and location. Take the information to your lawyer. Good luck and sorry to hear about a crappy situation.