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| - I'm in Tucson, but was willing to make the drive to Phoenix if the right car was available. What looked like the right car was posted at this dealership. I called and communicated I was in Tucson but interested in the car. The woman was very friendly and expressed this was a great find. There were four long shots of the exterior posted, but no interior shots. She worked to get me interior shots, which was appreciated. I spoke with the dealership three times - two of the three times I asked if there was any damage, etc., I should know about. Both times nothing specific was mentioned, so we made the two hour trek north.
When we arrived, we saw immediately that the car had a four inch gash on the back passenger door - like a car door had hit it - it was damage I would have expected to be mentioned during my previous conversations with them. I understood that I was buying a used car and was prepared for some dents, but this was deep. My husband has rehabbed many cars and determined this would not be fixed by paintless dent repair - the dealership disagreed, but said they would not fix it. We called our friend who assesses auto body damage, explained the damage, and he said the repair would be in the $600-800 range. We suggested that they could adjust the price to accomodate us having to fix it.
The sales guy agreed that seemed reasonable and went to the finance guy. He came back with the full sales price. They said they had already spent $2,800 fixing it when they normally spend $1,800. We then asked what was wrong with it - they said they preferred to think of it as them fixing the problems for us (except the door). The two primary items they listed as having been fixed were the tires and the 40,000 mile inspection. Tires are expensive, no doubt, but not $2,800 expensive. And the car had 47,000 miles on it - meaning the previous owner went 7,000 miles over the due date for the inspection. This expense should not have been held against the new purchaser.
After some haggling, they offered $200 off. We walked ... then drove two hours home.
Glad I held out and found the perfect car elsewhere.
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