about 3 weeks ago, i financed a 2006 interlagos fire Roadster thru my local ford dealership. when i test drove it before purchasing it the steering wheel had vibrations, they took it back in to the shop, test drove it again and everything was fine.

about a week after i brought it home, i took it to a Nissan Dealership to get a second key made and the CSM went out with me and looked over the Z from bumper to bumper. a few things he noticed was the car had been repainted from front to back, over spray from being painted in the door jambs and on the fenders in the engine bay, both belts are dry rotted, the Under Engine shield is completely missing, there are specs of dirt painted into the paint in various places. the hood and driverside fender are out of align

couple days later im hanging out with my friend that is a UTI graduate and he points out to me that 2 of the driverside fender bolts had been cut off, the driverside fender shows signs of it haven to be beaten back into shape with a hammer, the driverside sideskrt isnt aligned correctly, and one of the trunk bolts has been sawed off as well, ant the trunk isnt alligned correctly either.

Also the top already has a rip in it.

TODAY i was driving back home when i started smelling burining rubber really strong, pulled over immediately into a gas station to find that my driverside tire was completely ripped off the rim. ever since they fixed the steering problem when i test rove it, the car has slowly been getting worse out of allign.

my question is, what do you guys think the problem is here? I am very unhappy with this car, I feel like this car has been wrecked before and is now a lemon.

what are my options as far as returing this car back to the dealership?

 

Well that sucks lol sounds like that car has been wrecked multiple times. Didn't you check the car fax on it before buying it?

 

Should've looked over the car carefully. All your fault

 

did you not look at the car in the daylight?

you posted in an earlier thread that it was in "perfect condition".

sorry to say it, but sounds like you got taken to the cleaners by the dealer.

trying to get a dealer to take a used car back a month later, while not unheard of, is almost unheard of.

 

Judging from everything said how did u buy a used car and not look at the belts or paint? Or engine bay? Even tread life on the car?

 

wow that sucks...

you can trade it in but you'll always lose more money in the process. dealer got you good my friend

 

wisdom isn't handed to anybody.. just take notes and learn from your blaring mistakes

 

Yes, I know it was my fault for not looking things over more thoroughly, but I would have never noticed any of the issues with the paint or the panels being crooked if my buddy hadn't of pointed it out to me. The panels are barely misaligned.

it was in "perfect condition", the rip in the top and the tire issue didnt come up till recently.



but if the car has been wrecked previously, shouldn't they have told me about it?

No CarFax was issued at the dealership.

 

The belts was the only thing I had noticed that were bad, I had planned on replacing them myself.

and there was no way i could have noticed any uneven tread ware because they sold me the car with new tires

 

Go to the dealership and argue, b!tch, and even threaten them with imaginary lawyers?

Or


Enjoy getting to know your Z through repair!

 

dealers love to paint the pretty picture for you but you can't give in. when dumping cash on a car you really have to know what you're buying man. it's crucial. especially on a used car.

it's not the car, just how it's been mistreated in the past.
Z's are great cars and last a very long time when maintenance is top notch

 

Sounds like you are up s-it creek without a paddle.
As much as I'd like to say to you,I'm so sorry dude,the trith is you were a
dumb *** to buy this car.
How many cars have you bought in the past?
What to do?Get to the OWNER of the Ford dealership.Take your complaints directly
to him.You bought the car as is,right?Cosmetic stuff is one thing(that top had a
defect when you bought the car).Mechanical is another.
The mechanical is the most important.
Another thing,the IL Fire paint I'd think would be hard to match.Was the entire car repainted?
You have experienced what most of us have.You got caught up in the
passion of something.Your eyes were glazed over only seeing the good stuff
not the warts underneath.Unfortunately,the way it works, we learn from experience.Thats just the way it is.

Good luck

 

I'd think that the average Ford dealership service dept would not
have a clue on how to accurately set the alignment on a Z.Hey,most
Nissan dealerships can't!From what you are saying,there are prolly
some damaged suspension parts on your car making a proper alignment impossible.

 

Here are the red flags^^

No matter where you buy your car from, you have to assume something bad happened to it and the seller is trying to hide it. They will not tell you. If you ask them, they will probably say they don't know about it.

CarFax is the buyers responsibility. Honest dealerships will usually offer it, but it is your responsibilty to either ask for it or get one yourself.

 

Sounds like somebody bought one salvaged, mickey moused it together in their garage, then traded it in to the dealership when they were tired of it.

 

I will occasionally buy a side project to build. I never buy a car that's been hit. The dealership you bought the car from, I am 99% sure they have a paint meter similar to mine and know about all the work that's been done to the body.

 

Dealers are happy as hell to show you a Carfax, when they know it's clean and (in theory) there's nothing to hide.

You can be sure it wasn't an oversight on their part to NOT voluntarily show you a Carfax.

At a minimum, you should have taken it to a reputable shop and paid to have an inspection done. Had the dealer refused to let you do that, it would have been the proverbial hammer hitting you on the head that something was wrong with the car.

 

Caverat Emptor certainly applies to this sale. The OP always has the option of beggin' the dealer to take it back, but unless that specific Ford dealer has a stated policy on 30-day returns, it's usually a waste of time. I don't like beggin' much, and it usually annoys the dealer. Learn from it and move on.

 

So when you test drove the car it had bad vibrations? Right there I would have walked away, whether it was a minor fix or not.

Sounds like you bought somebody else's problem.

I would really try to have them take the car back. Say you were mislead and the car was sold in an unsafe manner. I believe dealerships cannot sell a car that is deemed unsafe for the road. Not sure what the qualifications would be though.

 

You have a friend that knows about cars, why didn't you bring him with you?

When I bought my Z I brought my buddy who was a well experienced automotive insurance adjuster and did body work on the side. We went through the entire car before I even test drove it.