Please help me determine if my TL was wrecked.

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Originally Posted By: Bill in Utah
Sharpie marking on parts = parts car. (ie salvage title/poor repairs)

Every part that the body shop used on my 2007 Subaru was factory new and came from Subaru.

They tried to put on a used bumper.

It is still there at the shop. It had sharpie markings on it. When I saw that they admitted that they went to a parts place because the factory was back ordered on the part. We made a deal to use the old one until the new one came in and then they would need it for 3 days to color match and paint it.

Came out perfect. But you do have to watch the shops!

Bill



Eactly what I was thinking. It said 30,xxx (can't remember the rest) but it looked like a mileage number and since my car was at over 40K at the time it didn't match. Unfortunately when I spilled some oil I washed it off with degreaser and it took most of the sharpie numbers off. Either way, the tiny dent was in the rear of the car and it just so happens the trans may have been replaced and the new looking headlight lens is on the same side.

Thanks for all the responses. I will check the vin numbers today. This is really helpful as bodywork is not my strongpoint.

It sucks that I decided to buy new even though I said I never would just so I would know the history of the car and now it looks like that's down the drain. It really gets to me that I'm paying $700 a month on a car that may have been severely wrecked.

Unfortunately I was away part of the time job hunting in Vegas and then working in Vegas and was not able to drop in like I normally do.
 
Originally Posted By: BuickGN
It really gets to me that I'm paying $700 a month on a car that may have been severely wrecked.



Ouch. No offense, but that payment should be sore issue #1. But that is for another thread.

Please keep us posted. Something definitely sounds completely wrong and we sure would like to see how it turns out.

Also, if you havent already, can you state the dealership??? Even if it IS your car, it sounds like it is not a shop that folks ought to frequent...

JMH
 
Pay cash or go home. Financing at $700/month means there was not ready money. That means that it could not be afforded at the time of purchase. Maybe Im a purist, but debt is only used for mortgage and if it is 0% and I can get a return guaranteed elsewhere.

$700 IS a lot of money, even if youre netting $10k/month.

If one is netting more, cash should be even more the rule, as then there is plenty of income to pay for toys.

Again, not the topic here, just a comment - because it DOES suck bigtime to be paying such an amount and potentially be getting fooled by a supposedly competent shop.

JMH
 
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Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Pay cash or go home. Financing at $700/month means there was not ready money. That means that it could not be afforded at the time of purchase. Maybe Im a purist, but debt is only used for mortgage and if it is 0% and I can get a return guaranteed elsewhere.

$700 IS a lot of money, even if youre netting $10k/month.

If one is netting more, cash should be even more the rule, as then there is plenty of income to pay for toys.

Again, not the topic here, just a comment - because it DOES suck bigtime to be paying such an amount and potentially be getting fooled by a supposedly competent shop.

JMH



You are correct. The payment IS a problem and I did get screwed even with a 2.9% rate. No doubt about that and that's why it bothers me that much more that I may be driving a wrecked car. I had to get a car that weekend (no car, rentals were killing me), had my heart set on a TL, didn't want to touch my savings so I pulled $3,000 out of my checking account and that's all I put down. I was making very good money (for the past 3 years) and was going to pay it off in a year. Company went out of business and I make about 50% of what I used to make. As embarassing as it is, I paid full sticker. Live and learn I guess.

Way off topic but I got the BMW dealer to go down to $42,000 for a new 335 and pay off my TL loan but I'm close to being paid off and I'm looking forward to having no payment.

The shop was a Honda dealer in Tempe, I'll have to dig through my old paper work to see which one if there's more than one.
 
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Pay cash or go home. Financing at $700/month means there was not ready money. That means that it could not be afforded at the time of purchase. Maybe Im a purist, but debt is only used for mortgage and if it is 0% and I can get a return guaranteed elsewhere.

$700 IS a lot of money, even if you're netting $10k/month.

If one is netting more, cash should be even more the rule, as then there is plenty of income to pay for toys.

Again, not the topic here, just a comment - because it DOES suck bigtime to be paying such an amount and potentially be getting fooled by a supposedly competent shop.

JMH



1000 %
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Ideally you would want to pay for the house in cash too. Unfortunately I didn't have 40K laying around so I financed it at a low rate.
 
Originally Posted By: BuickGN
It sucks that I decided to buy new even though I said I never would just so I would know the history of the car and now it looks like that's down the drain. It really gets to me that I'm paying $700 a month on a car that may have been severely wrecked.


Same here, only ever had one new car (my current), and that's the last new car.

They delivered it with a crease across the roof (where the haulage company lowered a ramp onto it...didn't tell me until pick-up day, but knew their business with a "will make do" statement, meaning that they would fix it.

Best mates until they have your money, and you become scum thereafter.
 
Lots of folks get in over their heads with cars. Not to beat this guy up, he already knows what its like every time he makes that 700 dollar payment.

I couldn't even imagine..

My mother got herself into a similar boat.

Got a decent job about 5 years ago. She always drove junk cavaliers and stuff around. Bought herself a 2 year old lincoln navigator. Paid way over book value for it at a lincoln dealership.

Fast forward about 3 years, she couldn't afford to put $1000 in tires on the truck, and didn't want to put gas in it (12mpg).

She rolled the thing into a newer monte carlo, now pays nearly 600 a month for a 2005 monte carlo with 50k miles.

Its unreal.

I drive newer econoboxes, always pay cash or take out a small personal loan, and pay that right off.
 
not trying to beat him up, I hope I made that clear twice.

I just cannot imagine having the unfortunate, out of his control "bad luck" that occurred.

We buy our cars new and keep them forever. By doing this, the cost of a new car vs. a used car is irrelevant, its a matter of pennies... but then again, we have not had such a circumstance.

I can only imagine the annoyance and discomfort of such an occurrence. After it, you never know if your car is the same. That is a terrible feeling, especially if it is an excellent car.


We all certainly wish BuickGN all the best for a quick and clean outcome.

JMH
 
If it is indeed your car it has been wrecked, and not the damage you brought it in for.

My guess is they were joyriding in your TL (beer smell) and wrecked it.

Get it looked at somewhere else and call a lawyer.
 
When Buick called the shop to check on the status of his car and described it as "the TL with the light 1/4 damage", that's when the manager looked over at a smoldering wrecked TL and was confused. Dealer body shops are thwe WORST places to get work done. No offense, but they assume the customer is going to be aloof and passive about the work quality. It goes to the point of never just hopping in your car on dlivery. I feel like a butthead walking around my car with the Honda service advisor when I drop it off, but it's fair-play and they respect that.

As for the payment scheme, I can see there being an inverse relationship between how much you pay and how much real enjoyment you get. Heck, how much does a new Accord lease for? Less that $700. Cars are like a watch- they all do the same thing...and once it's good-enough, is better really "better"?

One analogy is between an A4 and an S4. You could pay 2x as much for an S4 and basicly a lot of stuff is the same....paint chips, doors ding, window regs die, brakes and shocks need replacement. With some current examples, sore points are PS rack, control arms and wheel bearing....all the same parts on both cars!

I'd much rather set aside 40% of the money of the S4 purchase and just get a another newer next-model A4 5 years later. It'll have all the nice stuff the S4 has and be 100% new again. 2 cars for the price of one and the biggie is double the period of waranty....right??? It's a conceptual jump to think of cars as disposable, but are they not?
 
Originally Posted By: Audi Junkie
It's a conceptual jump to think of cars as disposable, but are they not?


Exactly! Cars rust, rot, chip, dent, and break. No matter how much TLC you put into them. Yes, it does make a difference to treat a car well vs abusing it. But even if you give it the BEST treatment it's still a losing battle. Eventually something is gonna break, rust, etc. They're all gonna be in the junkyard someday.

You have to find a happy medium between good maintenance and wasting time and money by obsessing. You could run a car with all synthetic fluids, wash and wax it once a week, and it's still gonna be a rotten piece of junk in 20 years. That's just how it goes.
 
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...and as that applys to the original budgeting for the vehicle itself and a reality-check on your own particularities. I mean, I'd generally rather a new base model car over a wilted 5-year old one. 10 years is and should be considered a good target ownership range. Obviously, even making 5 years with the same car is a toughie for cool guys like us.

Our CRV is 10 years old and I still consider it viable for further duty! The nice thing about a small utility vehicle is it eventually eases into the role of a beater for winter/hauling/trips/dogs. It also nice to have a wife that does not mind driving 2nd-tier vehicles!


As for what Acura Tech said, yeah cars get wilted, but proper care should always be practiced. Their usefull life gets way extended when the car LOOKS good. Just had this conversation w/ the wife. We understand the CRV might needs a trans at some point, but since the rest of the vehicle is nice, it's not so much of a problem. I often have people mistake the actual age of my vehicles. I even get strait-up complements from the service depts. The best way to express my attitiude here is to say I like having the "best example" of ~whatever~ kind of vehicle it is. I rarely see perfect old CRVs, but most are pretty decent.
 
Originally Posted By: AcuraTech
Audi Junkie said:
...and it's still gonna be a rotten piece of junk in 20 years. That's just how it goes.

20 years is still practically new!!!

Other than that I agree with you, but I still love to see an older car that's been maintained well, and is in good shape, on the road. Not babied semi-garage-queens or anything restored, mind you, but ordinary daily drivers.
Click to expand...
 
Originally Posted By: Audi Junkie
When Buick called the shop to check on the status of his car and described it as "the TL with the light 1/4 damage", that's when the manager looked over at a smoldering wrecked TL and was confused. Dealer body shops are thwe WORST places to get work done. No offense, but they assume the customer is going to be aloof and passive about the work quality. It goes to the point of never just hopping in your car on dlivery. I feel like a butthead walking around my car with the Honda service advisor when I drop it off, but it's fair-play and they respect that.

As for the payment scheme, I can see there being an inverse relationship between how much you pay and how much real enjoyment you get. Heck, how much does a new Accord lease for? Less that $700. Cars are like a watch- they all do the same thing...and once it's good-enough, is better really "better"?

One analogy is between an A4 and an S4. You could pay 2x as much for an S4 and basicly a lot of stuff is the same....paint chips, doors ding, window regs die, brakes and shocks need replacement. With some current examples, sore points are PS rack, control arms and wheel bearing....all the same parts on both cars!

I'd much rather set aside 40% of the money of the S4 purchase and just get a another newer next-model A4 5 years later. It'll have all the nice stuff the S4 has and be 100% new again. 2 cars for the price of one and the biggie is double the period of waranty....right??? It's a conceptual jump to think of cars as disposable, but are they not?


I agree with that logic. At the time of purchase I was going through an early midlife crisis lol. I made plenty money and it was actualy between the TL and a more expensive 1 yr old CL500. I picked the TL for it's reliability. At this point (29 yrs old)I had never owned a car with AC and the GN isn't the most reliable car so I felt like I deserved something nice. I dont want to give the wrong impression, I can afford the TL no problem right now and any associated repairs but knowing I'm paying a Mercedes payment on a Honda still bothers me. My original plan was to buy the TL, keep it as nice as possible and when it's paid off, maybe lease new car.
 
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