Hey guys...My gf bought a "certified" preowned 2010 Honda accord from the dealer early last year.
Today we went out to a couple dealers and tried to trade in her car for something a little bit cheaper monthly. After the last dealer looked at the car, he pulled the carfax and it said that the accord was in an accident. The dealer that she bought the accord from last year said the car was the previous owner of the car was the Honda dealership's daughter and she did some damage to it but it wasn't bad, assuring her it wasn't a big deal/damage. All certified Hondas come with a vehicle history, but we can not find it right now. Now the car is worth about $10,000 with 64k miles because of the accident on the report. We know she isn't going to get the entire loan paid for when we trade it in but now there is a $8,000 gap instead of $1500-2500.

Anyone been through this before? It is a well reviewed dealership that she bought the car from, but she would have never bought the car if she knew what extent the damage was. Help? Anyone?

 

Is it possible that a Certified car was in a previous accident? Like if it only a scratch or something, but still involved another party?

It may have just been something minor, and still fall into a Certified category. "Accidents" can range from a scratch to being totaled...

 

certified vehicles CAN be in accidents before, as long as it's within certain limit and the repairs were done according to guideline

now if there was a report that you reviewed before (and that you can find now) that said no accidents before but carfax says otherwise, there might be something to talk about

but being CPO doesn't mean no accidents

 

As other's have said already, CPO doesn't mean accident. And an accident record on carfax can be something as small as a scraped bumper, that simply gets reported to the police. I had 2 cars get hit while parked on the street. Scraped bumper, one had a lightly dented hood (parallel parker!!). In order to get insurance to cover the damage, they needed a police report. Unfortunately that results in an accident record. I was sure to take pictures and document all damage, and when each car got traded in, the dealer would bring up the accident record, and I provided them with the pictures and repair bills to prove that it was minor. That way they didn't ding me on the trade in value for that.

 

It says on the carfax that we got today that the accident was reported to car fax on 6/21/11 and she bought it on 6/4/11... Plus it was the owner of the dealerships daughter that owned it before my gf. They had to know

Oh it says collision with another vehicle, had to be towed, and airbags deployed

 

Airbags deployed may change things.Dealers really give low trade numbers with airbag deployment.That's a big negative with a trade in.
I don't know if a vehicle can be certified with airbag deployment.I guess so if your Accord is.

 

Yep welcome to car fax, where an accident shows up months or years later after being in one.

 

Looked at an '07-'08 Civic for my son last Spring. Dealer was used cars only, not a new dealer.
Hood/fender gaps didn't look right, small bit of primer exposed at/under the outside mirror base.
Fender bender I can live with if correctly repaired. Popped the hood & the real story was there.
OEM fender hammered back into shape & filled before paint. Pinch seam along the top was still quite wrinkled.Plastic finish/garnish mouldings missing along that side.
Salesman waving the Carfax in the air, swearing it was never in an accident !
Never in a reported accident, maybe.

Moved on & bought something else. Someone did buy the car shortly after. Hope they're not putting front tires on it too often.

 

like i said if there is record of you asking dealership about accident and they disclosed no in writing, you have a case

 

Yea I did notice respray but they said it was parking lot damage. Now could the accident have been reported before and didn't hit the carfax until after purchase? Seems very coincidental that she bought the car then it says on the accident portion of the carfax that it was reported on 6/21/11 and she bought the car on 6/04/11.

 

If that is the case then you may have a case. Can maybe have a smalls claims case if need be against the dealership. However if it was reported prior correctly and carfax's system is just late in posting it, then thats just how the cookie crumbles. Goodluck and hope it works out for you.

 

I think you are going to have a really tough time here. My first Q is: Is this a Honda CPO, or a dealer CPO? If the dealer is just calling it CPO, it's very different. This is the true definition of buyer beware--they told you about damage--insist on the paperwork showing it. IF it's a Honda CPO, and the damage is contrary to the terms of the CPO program, you may be in luck.

Hope you can nail these guys.

 

you have as much chance of winning this as you got hitting power ball.you would have to retain a lawyer and thats expensive going against a dealers lawyer with deep pockets.what i would do is talk with the dealers top brass and see if anything can be done.you know when a dealer is lying if his mouth is moving .

carfax is just a tool,you should allways have a body shop inspect the car before you buy.lastly never ever believe anything a dealer is telling you.best of luck
alot of people trade a car in after a accident before its reported on carfax.like the day they get it out of the shop.
i would lay money that her car was a trade in.

 

While not knowing the particulars as to whether she has a claim, may I suggest you try this as it costs little beyond your time.

Go to the dealership with your GF, pen and paper. Ask for the used car sales manager. Ask to see the dealership's "Dealer Bond Certificate" and the "Dealer's License". Those documents should be posted in a place where the buying public has access.

Once you see their paper, write down on your pad their bond and license information. Then explain to the manager that you believe there is an issue of fraud and you intend to file against their bond with the proper state authority. If they offer to sit down and discuss the matter, ask to do so with the General Manager of the dealership or an officer of its corporation present.

Research Auto Dealer Bond and Fraud in your state prior to the visit. Enjoy the benefits of free state sanctioned consumer protection.

 

I have little faith in CARFAX. I had a 1997 Jeep Cherokee which I purchased new. I had 2 accidents with the car later.
Even after 2 years of trading the car for another vehicle. The carfax still showed clean history.

"Simpley... Don't trust CarFax. Get an independant Bodyshop AND mechanic check the vehicle"... PERIOD!!!

You can't do anything legally, just consider it a lesson learned and move on.