My fiance bought a car back in late 09, we asked to see the carfax and they gave us what "info" they had, looking back that was a stupid move but it looked legit, it was just like a screenshot print out of the carfax and not the whole report. It looked legit when we looked at it. Fast foward to about 6 months ago I noticed that one door was a slightly different color then the other, fast foward to today and I had the VIN ran and sure enough came back with a accident on the title.

Now this was never told to us when we bought the car, and the carfax that they gave us obviously wasn't the full thing and was them being shady.

I contacted the dealer, and it is under new ownership. I fully plan to either get my money back or go to small claims court for as much as possible. Can I go after the dealership even though it's under new owners or do I have to find the people who owned it and sue them?

 

i dont think you have a case.. you neglected to research the carfax yourself. They showed the carfax but not the complete copy? thats messed up.. dealers scam people for a living. id say seek legal advice if you really want this to go somewhere, good luck man.

 

I think you have a case, but against the previous owners. But seek advice from an expert and your next big task is to find the original owners of the dealership.

 

I don't think u can sue the previous owners, cuz they might have told the dealership about the car when they sold/traded it in to the dealer.. The person you might be able to sue is the person whom u bought the car from. Also, you neglected to get a car fax report on your own or the full report from the dealer

 

By previous owners, I meant the dealership owners.

And although he should have checked the carfax himself, the dealership still provided false information. The consumer can't be fully at fault if they are lied to.

 

If the dealer lied to you then you could have a case but if you just looked at the "report" and didn't see it then that's technically your fault.

 

Get legal advice, the dealership didn't lie to you they just didn't disclose everything available. Salemen will be your best friend until you're out the door, after that you've become a stranger, unknown to them!
Gary

 

Yeah you don't have a case. It's not a legal stipulation to disclose a vehicle's history. That falls under the buyers responsibility not the seller unfortunatley. Even a current up to date and accurate car fax won't show you everything. If a vehicle is repaired without notifying an insurance company, it's not going to be officially recorded anywhere. And the seller is not legally bound to disclose that information. More of a buyer beware sorta deal/

 

As with any type of legal question that comes across this site, the first thing I say is seek legal advice from a registered lawyer in your jurisdiction, because many times the advice some people give you on this site is inapplicable or just wrong (sorry guys)

That being said, here are some general legal principles (I don't know if they're the same in your jurisdiction since our laws are probably different)

1) If you were to file a civil claim against anyone it would be the "dealership". Unless the owners of the dealership are completely stupid, they've incorporate the dealership, which means the legal entity you would be suing has not changed. Legal obligations of corp pass through if a business is later bought by someone else

2) If you could prove that the dealership knew about the accident but told you otherwise then you would be suing them for fraud and breach of contract. However, you might have to show why you were too careless to check the registration yourself or get an independent copy a carfax report before purchasing the car.

Moral of the story.......go get a lawyer

 

It's not weather I have a case or not. I was wondering who I need to go after... I had a case with supported documents needed to prove 51/49 in small claims court that they were shady and lied. Pretty much slam dunk. I'm speaking with a lawyer this week to see if I need to go after the prev. owners or current.

Yes, we could have looked at the carfax however when they gave us the "carfax" it looked legit and real, however they didn't give us the full report (obviously) and stated there was no prev. damage or anything on the title, again lying.

1) If you were to file a civil claim against anyone it would be the "dealership". Unless the owners of the dealership are completely stupid, they've incorporate the dealership, which means the legal entity you would be suing has not changed. Legal obligations of corp pass through if a business is later bought by someone else Exactly what I was thinking, the dealership acted like it wasn't going to fall on them but I think regardless its the same business thus they gotta deal with past crap.

2) If you could prove that the dealership knew about the accident but told you otherwise then you would be suing them for fraud and breach of contract. However, you might have to show why you were too careless to check the registration yourself or get an independent copy a carfax report before purchasing the car. Gave us the wrong VIN number and had to go to the dealership to check it out, again very shady and have proof of them being shady and lying so I think it'll be a pretty easy case. Once the manager sees the documents I have he may just want to pay us to shut up as it's very obviously with supporting papers that they lied. What would be even better is if the dealership fixed the car themselves, makes them look even worse.

 

Exactly. They basically showed us a half *** car report that looked legit but wasn't obviously. Not sure how they did it, but I still have the report they showed us so they are SOL.

 

Seems I'm getting the run around, they did own the place back in 2009. Just gets better and better.

 

So, your still going to talk to a lawyer on this and see if you have a case? Or your just going to leave it B?

 

I'm waiting to hear what the owners have to say and the GM. If they don't accept my offer then I will speak with a lawyer.... B.

 

Good luck and hope everything works out for you on this one.