Found out my car was in an accident..

[GTBrandon]

So to start off, I bought my 2014 335xi GT in November from a reputable local dealer in MD which was rated in the excellence awards by BMW NA this year. I was originally looking on Manheim for a good deal but came across this vehicle for around the same price as auction and upon inspection seemed like a clean car and good purchase. The car had a clean CarFax, and was CPO'd by BMW.

Fast forward a couple of weeks, I had my car on a lift and noticed the front bumper had been repainted in some spots. I assumed this was due to some curb scrapes and minor incidents, so I brushed it off and minuscule.

Now a week ago, I had my car dynoed and was informed of some not so great information about my car from somebody who's been around these models for the past 20 years.

1) There had been a previously cleared code from the airbag system most likely related to either the bumper being removed without the battery disconnected, or an actual airbag going off.

2) The entire front side of the car had been repainted, see pictures below for proof.


3) The accident was more severe than I thought because the body panels now have uneven gaps on each side.

4) The driver's door does not close properly upon close inspection.


So here's my dilemma, I was under the impression from the dealership that nothing was wrong with the vehicle, and that they had performed a full check up to ensure this.

I do not know if the price was so attractive because they knew of these faults and decided not to disclose them to me, or if it was simply a good deal for an unwanted vehicle (given that is was a GT).

I am wondering what the best course of action would be, and if anyone has ever experienced something like this. I am not comfortable knowing this as it will affect resale in the future, and might cause issues with the car mechanically down the road. I am wondering if it is too much to request a buy back from the dealership, considering it has only been 4months since the purchase.


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[WRXtranceformed]

My brother had the same issue with an M3 he purchased up in the DC area. Bought it from a BMW dealer, turned out it had been stolen and partially wrecked and something "that didn't make it onto the CARFAX".

I would take it back to the dealer and demand a buyback if you don't want the vehicle.

[Scott]

2) The entire front side of the car had been repainted, see pictures below for proof.

3) The accident was more severe than I thought because the body panels now have uneven gaps on each side.

4) The driver's door does not close properly upon close inspection.

This is why you always go over a prospective car purchase, new or used, with a fine tooth comb. All of what you mentioned is hard to miss and should of thrown several red flags. If you do not have the knowledge/skill, etc, pay a reputable shop to do a PPI.

CPO'd by BMW

BMW never states that CPO is conditional on no previous accident. Cars can become CPO if they meet the minimum requirements on the inspection. Basically it's a marketing gimmick. How many owners has the car had? It could of gotten wrecked and repaired after gaining the CPO label.

So here's my dilemma, I was under the impression from the dealership that nothing was wrong with the vehicle, and that they had performed a full check up to ensure this.

Can you prove they knew anything about it? They probably got it at auction, washed it, and listed it for sale.

I am wondering what the best course of action would be, and if anyone has ever experienced something like this. I am not comfortable knowing this as it will affect resale in the future, and might cause issues with the car mechanically down the road. I am wondering if it is too much to request a buy back from the dealership, considering it has only been 4months since the purchase.

A lot can happen in 4 months of ownership, I guess it never hurts to ask, but I wouldn't expect them to do anything. First thing I would do would to run a Carfax and an Autocheck to see if anything as appeared during your ownership and go from there, sometimes it takes months for things to show up, if they do at all. I would file this under a lesson learned and move on.

Crappy situation either way.

[Ken]

2) The entire front side of the car had been repainted, see pictures below for proof.

3) The accident was more severe than I thought because the body panels now have uneven gaps on each side.

4) The driver's door does not close properly upon close inspection.

This is why you always go over a prospective car purchase, new or used, with a fine tooth comb. All of what you mentioned is hard to miss and should of thrown several red flags. If you do not have the knowledge/skill, etc, pay a reputable shop to do a PPI.

CPO'd by BMW

BMW never states that CPO is conditional on no previous accident. Cars can become CPO if they meet the minimum requirements on the inspection. Basically it's a marketing gimmick. How many owners has the car had? It could of gotten wrecked and repaired after gaining the CPO label.

So here's my dilemma, I was under the impression from the dealership that nothing was wrong with the vehicle, and that they had performed a full check up to ensure this.

Can you prove they knew anything about it? They probably got it at auction, washed it, and listed it for sale.

I am wondering what the best course of action would be, and if anyone has ever experienced something like this. I am not comfortable knowing this as it will affect resale in the future, and might cause issues with the car mechanically down the road. I am wondering if it is too much to request a buy back from the dealership, considering it has only been 4months since the purchase.

A lot can happen in 4 months of ownership, I guess it never hurts to ask, but I wouldn't expect them to do anything. First thing I would do would to run a Carfax and an Autocheck to see if anything as appeared during your ownership and go from there, sometimes it takes months for things to show up, if they do at all. I would file this under a lesson learned and move on.

Crappy situation either way.

Yeah - all of this. Shit situation but a lesson learned. I don't believe there is much ground to stand on here unfortunately.

On the positive side, if the CarFax is clear still - i'm sure your resale won't be affected much, if at all. Most buyers, or at least some, will go through the same process as you did. While morally dubious, that might be your best bet if the dealer tells you to get fucked, turn around and sell it and get out with what you can in case any issues crop up.

[Jake]

Given it looks good unless you've got a magnifying glass on the bumper (to me, my standards are low) and drives fine, I might just deal with it and keep on keepin' on.

I was under the impression you bought this from a BMW dealership and it was sold directly to you under their CPO program. If some smaller dealer got ahold of it in between, the CPO stuff may be less applicable. How many previous owners?

[GTBrandon]

It had one previous owner, and was a trade in I believe to this dealership, then sat on the lot for almost 3 months before I bought it. It was CPO'd at the dealership who sold it to me so no way it could have gotten in an accident after they CPO'd it.

I can't prove they knew anything other than the fact that the car was priced very aggressively compared to everything else on the market.

I believe I can show when the airbag code went off, in order to prove this did not happen in my ownership.

Definitely goes to show I should have done an independent inspection before the purchase...but we'll see what they say.

[WRXtranceformed]

It never hurts to talk to them about it and hint that you might put them on blast on social media / BBB, maybe they'll make some kind of consolation. If not I agree with some folks above, keep it if it's driving fine or trade it in now while it doesn't have a CARFAX history if you don't feel comfortable with it

[ViPER1313]

Just have them fix the door and keep on keeping on. If you didn't notice it or worry about it for the past 4 months, don't worry now. I had a car that I didn't realize had a door replaced for 4 years until the paint began to fade unevenly....

[WRXtranceformed]

Yeah after reading your new project thread, you've already got a bunch of money in it with mods / time invested and you seem to still like the car. I like Adam's idea ^^ Keep it for a while and enjoy it as long as everything is structurally fine.

If it was me I would still probably drop by the dealership and put them on blast, see if you could get something free out of them like a service or 6 :lol:

[Sully]

How do you know the whole side has been painted? Where are those paint drips? I couldn't figure it out in relation to the rest of the car unless I missed some pics?

I can't really tell from the pics so maybe its much worse than it looks but you'd be surprised how many panel gaps are not the same per side even from the factory. You just never look until it's been damaged.

There could be a ton of reasons for paint the whole side that wouldn't necessarily mean the car was badly damaged. Someone could have dragged something down the side or if they resprayed the door or fender, they may have blended (recleared) all the way into the rear door. Might have removed door to paint and didn't put it back on right.

Honestly, unless you can actually find serious structural repairs on the pillars or behind the fender, I wouldn't worry about it. The runs could be shoddy work or they just missed it in post paint. Most painters at shops get runs, they usually just catch them before they leave.

[rherold9]

I'm going to ask why do you care it's been wrecked because they said it hadn't? Most dealerships do not know and buy their cars at auction. Does it drive fine? Is any frame damaged? Does it really matter if it all runs and looks fine? Idk. I was all gung-ho about not buying wrecked cars but if it is put together fine again I could care less. If it isn't disclosed on CARFAX most people won't fin what you found without an inspection.

I had good indication my Miata had been wrecked especially after Scott took a quick look at it. Haven't combed over it but there a small things that point to one such as fenders were taken off and some weird rust spot. There are paint chips but that is supposedly normal. It drives fine and is mechanically stout so far. So, I'm not worried. Nothing was in the CARFAX as well. CARFAX means almost about nothing these days. It's just to make a consumer's mind at ease when buying a car from a dealer even though their can be underlying problems. Luckily I did not find any srs codes on my Miata with the scanner I got for the 3 so I assume if there was a wreck the airbags didn't deploy.

[ScottyB]

CARFAX means almost about nothing these days.

this pretty much sums up the thread. it catches major accidents, but there are plenty of ways to get around it, obviously including repairs handled privately.

at the end of the day, if you plan to keep the car for a while, you have nothing to really worry about if it drives well other than the dirty knowledge your car isn't perfect. if you aren't keeping it, at least you got a good deal on it and carfax may never end up showing any history to anyone else either.

[ViPER1313]

Our Corolla has been in 3 accidents; 2 reported that resulted in Police reports and insurance claims, one of them resulting in $7000 of repairs and a deployed airbag.

Still has a clean Carfax

Edit: another data point: my Grand Prix was definitely in a couple good accidents in its tenure as a rental car. Rear quarter had definitively been cut out and replaced, both bumpers painted, and I am pretty sure the entire front end (hood/both front quarter panels) had been repainted as well. Clean Carfax as well.

[.RJ]

Wouldnt worry about it. Drive it and move on.

[GTBrandon]

How do you know the whole side has been painted? Where are those paint drips? I couldn't figure it out in relation to the rest of the car unless I missed some pics?

I can't really tell from the pics so maybe its much worse than it looks but you'd be surprised how many panel gaps are not the same per side even from the factory. You just never look until it's been damaged.

There could be a ton of reasons for paint the whole side that wouldn't necessarily mean the car was badly damaged. Someone could have dragged something down the side or if they resprayed the door or fender, they may have blended (recleared) all the way into the rear door. Might have removed door to paint and didn't put it back on right.

Honestly, unless you can actually find serious structural repairs on the pillars or behind the fender, I wouldn't worry about it. The runs could be shoddy work or they just missed it in post paint. Most painters at shops get runs, they usually just catch them before they leave.

My indication other than the airbag code was because the drivers door does not hinge closed correctly. If you close each door with one fingers force, you can see in the pictures how they close to way different gaps. This is the only big thing for me. But I agree as long as nothing huge is an issue then I don't really care. I'll probably still go by the dealership though and see what they might do for me.

[HAULN-SS]

Did they run the carfax, or did you run it? When I bought my cadillac used as CPO, I ran the carfax, and the "carfax guarantee™" said if it had been wrecked and wasn't as described in the report, carfax would buy it back. Read the small print

[JPolen01]

I wouldn't waste your time going back to the dealer. If they knew about the repairs and didn't disclose it then what makes you think they will open up about it now?

[Senor_Taylor]

I'm in the "Learn a lesson and take an L camp". Sometimes life just isn't fair.

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[Ken]

I wouldn't waste your time going back to the dealer. If they knew about the repairs and didn't disclose it then what makes you think they will open up about it now?

At the same time, what's the worst that could happen? They say no?

[JPolen01]

I wouldn't waste your time going back to the dealer. If they knew about the repairs and didn't disclose it then what makes you think they will open up about it now?

At the same time, what's the worst that could happen? They say no?

Yeah but if I recall he said he bought the car in MD so that would be about 4-5 hours round trip just for them to tell you to get fucked. Not worth the drive time in my opinion.

Also unless you have proof that it really was in an accident why would they even listen? Just because the side of a car has been repainted doesn't mean it was in an accident just like what Sullivan said. He also can't prove that said damage didn't occur under his ownership.