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The WORST day with my first charger !

6K views 38 replies 20 participants last post by  DodgeMan1 
#1 ·
So today I finally broke down and decided to finance my first charger to build my credit "I was going to save until I got all of it then just buy it straight out.". So we get paperwork and everything ect done .... So the lot attendant "younger guy" took the car off to detail so they could clean it and everything. So after sitting there anxiously for 30+minutes waiting for him to come the back the manager walk over and say there's been an accident. I'm thinking one of the sellers or someone got hit. I walk outside and look down a block this idiot crashed my car ..... After flipping out forever they gave me a car to use until the body work is done and took the price down for me. now I'm deciding if I want to get the charger still or not
 
#2 ·
Pass. Make them give you a new car or walk away.

You bought an unmolested car in good condition and THEY crashed it. It's not your issue, it's theirs.

What about diminished value? The car now has a wreck history.

What about my loan? The loan was given on the car in the condition at the time of sale, it's now not in that condition.

What about my lost use time? I bough a car expecting to drive it home, you didn't deliver it to me. I'm entitled to lost use and wasted time because YOU WRECKED MY CAR!!!!!.

Tell them that you are contacting your lawyer and you want the deal called off.

Then see what they have to say.
 
#4 ·
Tell the dealer that you have a Lawyer (they don't need to know if you really do), contact the Loan Company and tell them what happened (they may get their lawyers involved). Call your Insurance Company and get them involved too.

Get everyone involved and don't go it alone.

You are the victim here and no one is your friend. Don't forget that.
 
#7 ·
I do not know legally what your options are since technically you own the car already, but I would do whatever was in my power to NOT take delivery of it.

What a mess...

How bad was the damage? Pics?
 
#9 · (Edited)
Well the part noone has addressed is how much they knocked off the cost. You said they knocked the price down. Was it substantial? Was it enough to make it worth some body work. Little known fact about new cars, is that MANY of them have body work before you ever buy them. It's often minor, but damage in the dealer's lot, (or while in transit to/from dealers) is not listed on the car's history.
My last Ram had a dent in the roof from the dealership. I have no idea how you dent a roof (maybe while off loading from the delivery), but they fixed it. I saw the dent the day I took delivery, and they scheduled make the repairs. Since it was damaged prior to taking delivery, nothing showed up the the title.

Diminished Value may be little to none. A guy backed out of a driveway and hit my current truck when it was about a month old (I know, I apparently have bad luck with my Rams). Diminished Value (not the cost of repairs) was determined by several expert witnesses, and confirmed by Nationwide to be $1,000. It wasn't a major crash and there was no mechanical damage. It was functional/cosmetic needing a bed panel, taillight, bumper, and rim replaced. Point being if the damage is repaired with OEM parts, and it's just body work the DV won't be much. Depending on how much they took off the price for you, they may very well have covered the diminished value.

Regarding the crash on the title. If they did this prior to you're ever taking delivery of it, it's likely it won't show up on the title. It will be like all the other "incidental" damages that are repaired on dealership lots. If it's handled like that, and the crash doesn't show on the title, there's no diminished value to affect you when you sell it later. Granted you still know it happened, so they should give you a discount but it may have zero affect on resale.

As for it "never being the same". That's old school thinking, and just doesn't apply any more, especially if it was just cosmetic damage. I've seen some body work that exceeds factory work. Paint being a perfect example of that. A PPG certified shop will have lifetime warranty on the paint they applied. Car manufacturers will hardly cover paint defects on a car that's still under warranty. If you're replacing a panel and painting it, there's no mechanical issues to worry about, not to mention you've still got the entire warranty to cover anything that may spring up later (though I highly doubt anything would).

All that said. If you take it from them or not, would depend greatly on how badly it was damaged, and how well they compensated you for the inconvenience. From your description it sounds like it was only body work needing fixed. I wouldn't worry about that at all assuming it was repaired seamlessly, but that's me. You may be surprised how many people are driving cars with body work that they don't know about. Since you know about it, they gave you a discount. Sounds pretty good to me (obviously depending on the specific circumstances).

So, what happens if you decide you don't want it? Easy, just don't take delivery. You can't be forced to take it, since you never actually took delivery. Sure you signed the loan, and all the papers, but they will go over the car with you before you drive it off the lot the first time and have you sign off saying that nothing else is owed or promised. People order cars all the, and have to wait several days (or even weeks on some more unique cars/trucks) to take delivery. If the car doesn't meet your approval on the day you're supposed to take delivery you can simply decline it and walk away. No need for lawyers, or anything fancy, it's your right as a consumer to make a final approval before taking possession of the car.
A lesser known method (and a little more work), is that in most cases you can actually back out of the purchase for up to 3 days after you take it. This is a bit more difficult, and may require the assistance of legal representation, but it doesn't really apply to your situation. Since you never signed off on the final delivery and drove the car off the lot, you're not obligated to take it yet.

Again, if it's just body work, and they gave you reasonable compensation I'd take it. If it was significant, then maybe I'd back out, but it doesn't sound like it was significant..... "they gave me a car to use until the body work is done........"
If part of the damage is the hood, maybe you can talk them into getting you a SRT, Scat Pack, or Hellcat hood. Might as well upgrade the look a bit if they're replacing the hood anyway. Makes for a pretty good incentive to not decline it too, right? ;)
 
#17 ·
So I went back today told them
I'm not interested anymore. Surprisingly they just said ok and the deal fell through returned them the rental and left. Call the bank just to make sure everything was ok and it was. Still kinda pissed. There isn't any srt8 around here for sale for the price that one was. Looks like I'm going to just be waiting. Sucks because I sold my car : /
If it were me, I'd pass and take the next one.
Well the part noone has addressed is how much they knocked off the cost. You said they knocked the price down. Was it substantial? Was it enough to make it worth some body work. Little known fact about new cars, is that MANY of them have body work before you ever buy them. It's often minor, but damage in the dealer's lot, (or while in transit to/from dealers) is not listed on the car's history.
My last Ram had a dent in the roof from the dealership. I have no idea how you dent a roof (maybe while off loading from the delivery), but they fixed it. I saw the dent the day I took delivery, and they scheduled make the repairs. Since it was damaged prior to taking delivery, nothing showed up the the title.

Diminished Value may be little to none. A guy backed out of a driveway and hit my current truck when it was about a month old (I know, I apparently have bad luck with my Rams). Diminished Value (not the cost of repairs) was determined by several expert witnesses, and confirmed by Nationwide to be $1,000. It wasn't a major crash and there was no mechanical damage. It was functional/cosmetic needing a bed panel, taillight, bumper, and rim replaced. Point being if the damage is repaired with OEM parts, and it's just body work the DV won't be much. Depending on how much they took off the price for you, they may very well have covered the diminished value.

Regarding the crash on the title. If they did this prior to you're ever taking delivery of it, it's likely it won't show up on the title. It will be like all the other "incidental" damages that are repaired on dealership lots. If it's handled like that, and the crash doesn't show on the title, there's no diminished value to affect you when you sell it later. Granted you still know it happened, so they should give you a discount but it may have zero affect on resale.

As for it "never being the same". That's old school thinking, and just doesn't apply any more, especially if it was just cosmetic damage. I've seen some body work that exceeds factory work. Paint being a perfect example of that. A PPG certified shop will have lifetime warranty on the paint they applied. Car manufacturers will hardly cover paint defects on a car that's still under warranty. If you're replacing a panel and painting it, there's no mechanical issues to worry about, not to mention you've still got the entire warranty to cover anything that may spring up later (though I highly doubt anything would).

All that said. If you take it from them or not, would depend greatly on how badly it was damaged, and how well they compensated you for the inconvenience. From your description it sounds like it was only body work needing fixed. I wouldn't worry about that at all assuming it was repaired seamlessly, but that's me. You may be surprised how many people are driving cars with body work that they don't know about. Since you know about it, they gave you a discount. Sounds pretty good to me (obviously depending on the specific circumstances).

So, what happens if you decide you don't want it? Easy, just don't take delivery. You can't be forced to take it, since you never actually took delivery. Sure you signed the loan, and all the papers, but they will go over the car with you before you drive it off the lot the first time and have you sign off saying that nothing else is owed or promised. People order cars all the, and have to wait several days (or even weeks on some more unique cars/trucks) to take delivery. If the car doesn't meet your approval on the day you're supposed to take delivery you can simply decline it and walk away. No need for lawyers, or anything fancy, it's your right as a consumer to make a final approval before taking possession of the car.
A lesser known method (and a little more work), is that in most cases you can actually back out of the purchase for up to 3 days after you take it. This is a bit more difficult, and may require the assistance of legal representation, but it doesn't really apply to your situation. Since you never signed off on the final delivery and drove the car off the lot, you're not obligated to take it yet.

Again, if it's just body work, and they gave you reasonable compensation I'd take it. If it was significant, then maybe I'd back out, but it doesn't sound like it was significant..... "they gave me a car to use until the body work is done........"
If part of the damage is the hood, maybe you can talk them into getting you a SRT, Scat Pack, or Hellcat hood. Might as well upgrade the look a bit if they're replacing the hood anyway. Makes for a pretty good incentive to not decline it too, right?
Don't except that car my friend...... Don't!
accept
I do not know legally what your options are since technically you own the car already, but I would do whatever was in my power to NOT take delivery of it.

What a mess...

How bad was the damage? Pics?
 
#11 ·
Do you have pics? How wrecked is wrecked? All contracts (loans) can be cancelled if they cannot deliver the promised (new, not repaired) product. They are in breach of the sales contract and the loan in contingent upon the valid sales contract. No contract, no loan.
 
#18 ·
No I didn't bother taking any pictures I was so pissed I just got the rental and left. I was so hype to get it then I left without it.
Like stated, PICS of the wreck. How bad was the damage and how much did they knock off the price? What year model did you get? Was this a NEW ride or off a used car lot? If it was brand new, I would never take delivery unless they knocked thousands off and the damage was not that big of a deal. Damage to the front end (Tie rods, ball joints, sway bar) sometimes never gets fixed right.
Do you have pics? How wrecked is wrecked? All contracts (loans) can be cancelled if they cannot deliver the promised (new, not repaired) product. They are in breach of the sales contract and the loan in contingent upon the valid sales contract. No contract, no loan.
 
#13 ·
The dealer is in default because they can't deliver what you bought. You are in a good position actually because you didn't take delivery and they now own a "new" damaged car. You can do what you want and time kills all deals but I would have picked out a different (more expensive) car on the lot and told them you want it instead, for the same price. If you don't feel confident negotiating a deal, call the loan company and tell them what happened then walk away.
 
#14 ·
Like stated, PICS of the wreck. How bad was the damage and how much did they knock off the price? What year model did you get? Was this a NEW ride or off a used car lot? If it was brand new, I would never take delivery unless they knocked thousands off and the damage was not that big of a deal. Damage to the front end (Tie rods, ball joints, sway bar) sometimes never gets fixed right.
 
#15 ·
If it was a new car, are you going to be comfortable driving it for a long time, knowing it's not new but damaged and repaired. If every time you go to get in you see a damaged and repaired car don't do it. Even if the repair was perfect. What will your mind set be towards this car if you keep it. I would make them replace it with another new vehicle.
 
#16 ·
Man I would have demanded all my paperwork back, make them cancel everything, contest any charges to my credit card or changes to my credit report, AND walk right away from that dealer. I'm guessing this was a nice V8 charger, if they really have staff there that are stupid enough to go for a joyride when they should be detailing your car, there are clearly bigger issues you don't want to be a part of there.

Unless they knocked off 15 or 20 grand, I'd laugh at them and said "You're trying to give me a wrecked car when I agreed to accept an unwrecked car". Hopefully you didn't sign anything accepting the damaged car after repairs. Either way, play that youth/inexperience card if you have to and if they get pushy threaten with the lawyer...you have a pretty good case.

Either way, sucks to have issues even when it isn't your fault. Hoping for a speedy and advantageous solution to you.
 
#24 ·
I find it interesting that everyone automatically assumes the dealership employee was at fault for the crash. It could have been a completely professional, responsible, cautious, seasoned employee of the company, who had someone rear end them. We don't have any details other than it was wrecked. Sure are jumping to a lot of conclusions aren't we? I'm not saying the assumptions are wrong, because I don't know either, but they're just assumptions. No need to bash the dealership and tell him to never go back there if we don't know what really happened. Sounds like they were pretty cool about him walking away from the deal too. Doesn't sound like a shady place to me.


....... if they really have staff there that are stupid enough to go for a joyride when they should be detailing your car......
Why do you assume they're joy riding it? Isn't it just as likely, or even MORE likely, that they took it to the car wash? Not all dealerships have car washes on their property (very few around here do), so they'll go a local car wash, then come back an polish it. That's not a joy ride, that's cleaning it up before the completed sale.
 
#21 ·
I also don't know the legalities, but I would guess since you had not taken physical possession of the car, AND your contract must state somewhere that you are buying a new vehicle and not a crashed and repaired one, you have a legal foot to stand on. Even if you don't, I suspect that with a certain amount of insisting, the dealership would not argue providing you with a new car. More than threatening to have an attorney handle it, I would refuse to take possession, and tell them your are taking it up the chain, and do so.
 
#22 ·
Read the previous posts, he already walked away. ;)

It also looks like it was an SRT which is probably why the "Lot boy" wrecked it hot rodding down the street. He probably turned off the ESP trying to burn the tires.

OP, please post the dealer and vehicle color so that someone here doesn't try to go buy an SRT from there without knowing it was previously wrecked.
 
#27 ·
This is exactly why I told the dealership manager that if anyone drove my car after it was off the truck I would not accept delivery.
It was just in the middle of the lot, covered in plastic and all.
When I got there they asked permission to clean it up and let me drive to get gas while they rode shotgun with the dealership credit card.
They didn't push back, pretty sure they understood. Lol
 
#30 · (Edited)
I'm not trying to be the guy that argues with everything guys, though it kinda sounds that way. I pretty much agree with you all if those were the facts of the crash. I just wish we knew more, such has how bad was the damage. Was the crash on the road, in a parking lot, were 2 cars involved, was it front/rear/side damage, was it struck or striking, etc. We've got incredibly vague information and the only thing not assumed is that a Charger was involved.

I think it's a very good idea to post the year, trim, color, etc so nobody buys it as a fresh car if it had extensive damage (again an assumption). If it was only minor damage, they could at least negotiate a better price by having that information.
 
#35 ·
I guess it'd be safe to say it was a 1st new-gen model SRT8, which means it was definitely used and the accident will more than likely show up on a CarFax report. I can only assume the dealership just said OK to letting the deal fall through because they could very well fix it and then sell it and have the accident go under the radar until the new owner already has the car and it's too late. Oh well, enjoy your R/T!
 
#36 ·
It may never show up if the title is in-between registered owners and the accident isn't reported through normal car insurance. Used cars being passed through dealers hands can have lots of things happen to them that never show up in their report history.

Glad the OP got a ride he's happy with.
 
#38 · (Edited)
Agreed. They can only report what has been reported to them. With hundreds of thousands of crashes a year (not an exaggeration) there are bound to be crashes that go unreported/documented to where they don't show up on carfax. Especially if the owner doesn't want it out there. I wouldn't take those reports as a certainty of everything that has happened to a car. All it really tells you is what has happened, it doesn't confirm what hasn't happened. So it can tell you a crash has happened, but it can't confirm one hasn't.
 
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