Buying Used Prius Agonizing over Details : }

Seller is a Toyota dealer.

There was a warranty repair not reported on carfax too. A bolt was replaced. Not worried about that but interesting this is reported on Toyota owner site but doesn't pull up on Carfax. I thought anything serviced and entered into dealer system showed up on carfax but I guess not. Some carfaxes I've looked at report wiper blades being replaced.

If rear bumper was the body work/repair that's better than somewhere on the actual body of car but the fact that it's cracking....needless to say I didn't sleep well last night. It's just a car but my biggest purchase ever as you all know. I need to resolve this and make decision before salesman comes down with car for inspection.

Wish this wasn't just now getting interesting. : /

Thanks for listening!

 

Toyota collision dept just told me car had rear impact damage paid for by insurance but couldn't give me anymore details except there was actual body work done on tailgate, latch and new bumper cover replaced.

I can't tell what I'm more upset about.

Is it my gut or just fear telling me to back out of deal? Only I can decide but I promised myself to avoid a car that had any body work done. A replaced bumper doesn't bother me....well...if it's not cracked. Plus this info was available to dealer and they didn't reveal it when I asked before making the trip to see it. I specifically said I don't want to come see a car that has had body work done. I asked again while looking at it. I will give them the benefit of the doubt that they may not have dug into history but when a serious buyer asks they "should" do the research.

Feedback greatly appreciated.

 

It was another Toyota dealer that did the work. All they will tell me is impact damage. Body work done on tailgate (hatch not replaced), maybe replace latch and bumper cover replaced. So it could have been simply paint repair on hatch.

 

Horrible feeling in pit of my stomach! I would not have bought car at this price if I'd known it had work done. Trying to figure out what would make this deal ok. Friend says to pay the $100 to get it inspected and see what inspection dealer says about work that was done. Then what...asking them to go down in price which I doubt they will because they think they can sell it at full price especially with this info not showing anywhere obvious.

I would want to negotiate lower price before wasting my money to get inspected but I guess I don't have that option.

It's only coming with 60 day warranty.

 

I've looked there and that's how I found the collision shop info. The Toyota collision shop told me what they will tell me.

 

I guess I need to call dealer and tell them I've found this issue and what will they do about it.

 

I just called the sales person. He's saying he used paint meter and did a visual walk around check with sales manager the day I asked about body work concern. I'm not assuming they hid it from me. They probably just didn't look beyond carfax. Most don't. He's calling office to get more info and getting back to me.

I mentioned I negotiated price with the knowledge that car had no body work done.

I guess I need to decide what I would be ok with. Obviously ideally I would want a bumper with no crack and a reduced sales price since their negotiating tool was car being so clean and carfax stating car was worth $1640 above retail value.

 

Realistically they aren't going to replace bumper and reduce price. Of course this is all happening before getting mechanics checked out. Who knows they may call back and say they want to back out of deal. They could easily find someone who won't be so thorough.

 

I told them my budget was $9000 and we were trying to get them to go down to 9.5K.

I'm so flustered with stress at this point. No idea what realistic offer would be assuming everything else checks out.

 

Ok...now I'm pissed off. Sales person said he would get back to me after speaking with manager and before heading to my Toyota dealership for inspection. I just called and he's on the way already with no phone call. He said they want to see what comes up from inspection before discussing price any further. So I'm stuck paying $100 before knowing if they will go down. So I'm stuck getting inspection before knowing how much they will budge.

 

Ok...heres the deal. I will spell it out quickly. Car was inspected and in "very good condition". Wish he hadn't said that in front of salesman. Except : fog lights are cracked and will eventually fall apart. Big cracks all the way across in 3 directions. It also needs a marker light which is supposedly a cheap fix.

They looked at rear damage and no leaks, paint matched and considered a good job with everything lining up.

Dealer said I should have them fix marker light and negotiate a deduction for replacing fog lights. In other words I don't mind the lights as they are and would rather pay less now and fix when they break.

So...I still don't know how much to take off for "body work that was not revealed" and I'm calling to find out how much to replace fog lights in New port area because inspection guys said they would be more expensive in that location. Local price for 2 fog lights is $326 plus tax.

Oh my!! Before I knew about fog lights I wanted car for 9.5K. Not sure how to present this. My negotiator friend isn't available.

 

I guess the other option is to have them replace fog lights and negotiate a small amount off for car not having "clean" carfax. Obviously them doing the fog lights is cheaper for them than me taking price off.