Hi,
I bought a certified 2008 corolla less than 3 months ago. I found out after i bought the car that it was in an accident, i have had two toyota repair people tell me this and that the paint was all resprayed on the front bumper, but because of the fact it's not on the carfax report the toyota dealership doesn't admit to it or care about it. well the problem i'm having is that the front bumper that was repainted is bubbling all over the place and starting to slowly crack. does my 3 month total warranty cover any of this? thank you.
If you're still under that 3 month warranty, I am sure it should be covered..because it's wrong to buy a car and not know it was in an accident. This warranty is from the dealer himself right?.
If you're still under that 3 month warranty, I am sure it should be covered..because it's wrong to buy a car and not know it was in an accident. This warranty is from the dealer himself right?.
The dealership says it won't confirm anything because of the fact that it wasn't on the carfax and they don't have to do anything because it isn't. The 3 month total warranty is what you get standard when you buy a toyota, from toyota. I am going to call the repair center tomorrow and talk to them about this, the bubbling up just keeps getting worse and I know more cracks will follow, whomever did the repair did a horrible job, you can imagine how angry I am, especially if they try to tell me i'm not covered.
A simple bumper re-spray is not going to show up on a Carfax report. It'll probably cost you a few hundred bucks to have the bumper professionally re-done. I doubt the bumper panel itself is cracking; it's probably the paint on it that's chipping off. The shop probably didn't use the right kind of flexible paint for urethane parts like that.
I'm pretty sure you're just going to have to bite the bullet and have it fixed yourself. This is part of the risk of buying used cars.
A simple bumper re-spray is not going to show up on a Carfax report. It'll probably cost you a few hundred bucks to have the bumper professionally re-done. I doubt the bumper panel itself is cracking; it's probably the paint on it that's chipping off. The shop probably didn't use the right kind of flexible paint for urethane parts like that.
I'm pretty sure you're just going to have to bite the bullet and have it fixed yourself. This is part of the risk of buying used cars.
Yeah, the accident wasn't on the carfax report. I guess I just thought being it's a certified car that I would have the same rights as if it were new with certain things.
The Toyota Certified Used Vehicle Program gives you a 7 year/100k mile Powertrain Warranty. It also comes with a 3 month/3,000 mile Comprehensive Warranty. This is what the website says about the Comprehensive Warranty:
Comprehensive Warranty (from date of purchase). This warranty covers any repair or replacement of components which fail under normal use due to a defect in materials or workmanship.
The paint has apparently not failed due to a defect in materials or workmanship, but due instead to the accident.
This is what Carfax says about the Accident Indicators on their reports:
CARFAX receives information about accidents in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Canada. Various events in a vehicle's history can indicate an accident, such as: salvage auction, fire damage, police-reported accident, crash test vehicle, damage disclosure, collision repair facility and automotive recycler records. Not every accident is reported and not all reported accidents are provided to CARFAX. Details about the accident (e.g. severity, impact location, airbag deployment) vary depending on the source of the accident indicator. CARFAX recommends you obtain a vehicle inspection from your dealer or an independent mechanic.
So again, the TCUV Program doesn't guarantee you anything. It simply reduces your risk as a used-car buyer. The bumper was probably repaired pretty close before the car was obtained by Toyota (perhaps through an auction sale or dealer trade, etc). It was apparently repaired at a very cheap price, using questionable workmanship and/or materials. It probably inspected a-okay during the 160-point inspection, but has since declined in condition. It was obviously good enough visually or you would have noticed it when you bought it. The accident was probably only evident after the paint started cracking off, and you can now "put 2 and 2 together".
Again, sorry for your bad luck in this case. You may get a Toyota dealer to cover the paint, but I would doubt it. It was not of Toyota's doing, and a TCUV does not come with a guarantee against pre-existing conditions.
The Toyota Certified Used Vehicle Program gives you a 7 year/100k mile Powertrain Warranty. It also comes with a 3 month/3,000 mile Comprehensive Warranty. This is what the website says about the Comprehensive Warranty:
Comprehensive Warranty (from date of purchase). This warranty covers any repair or replacement of components which fail under normal use due to a defect in materials or workmanship.
When paint chips or cracks off of a car it is generally due to the painted surface not being properly scuffed prior to the painting.
To me that sounds like a defect of workmanship or materials on a Toyota car that you bought from Toyota which was covered under the TCUV. If the dealer did not disclose the paint would not be covered I would fight that tooth and nail. Maybe threaten with the Better Business Bureau first and just keep harassing them.
CBC Marketplace busted Carfax last season and made them look like the idiot crooks they are.
If the dealer insists that it was not in an accident, because carfax says so, then it can only be faulty material/workmanship. They certified it, so they should cover it. Maybe a call to corporate is in order.
To me that sounds like a defect of workmanship or materials on a Toyota car that you bought from Toyota which was covered under the TCUV. If the dealer did not disclose the paint would not be covered I would fight that tooth and nail. Maybe threaten with the Better Business Bureau first and just keep harassing them.
But it's not Toyota's workmanship. Neither the dealer nor Carfaxed promised anyone that the car was NOT in an accident (did they?). It's nearly impossible to prove a negative. Nobody got guaranteed anything. That 160-point inspection makes them check off that there are no dents and that all the paint is lustrous and even. Apparently the paint was good enough at the time of the sale that it passed inspection. The original poster BOUGHT the car, so it must have looked pretty good.
The TCUV Program reduces your risk as a used car buyer, but these are still used cars. They're not new cars. And the dealer is not insisting that it WASN'T in an accident. In fact, the original poster noted that two different Toyota folks said that it appeared that the bumper had been re-painted in the past. The dealer is simply not admitting that they knew about the damage (and they probably didn't).
In my opinion to the original poster: this is going to cost you WAY more in time and effort trying to fight your way into a $200 paint repair. You may sour your relationship with your local dealer, and that's not good for anyone. You took a risk and bought a used car like many do (my '07 was a TCUV also). This time, the car had damage that wasn't apparent at the time of the sale. The dealer apparently didn't see it, you didn't see it. Life sucks. Time to move on (again, just in my own opinion). Take it to a professional body shop. If it's just the bumper paint that's getting messed up, it won't cost more than a few hundred bucks to get it repaired.
Spending the money up front to re-paint it probably doesn't seem like a good deal, but stewing over what the dealer coulda/woulda/shoulda found is adding stress to your life that you probably don't need (I know I don't!).
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