My husband and I recently traded in our 2003 Jetta TDI for a 2003 Ford Explorer (we just had a baby 3 weeks ago and the carseat, stroller, etc. wouldn't fit in the Jetta). We found the Explorer at a used car dealership, and it was listed a little bit below book.

Long story short, my husband asked them 'what did you have to do to this car before you put it on the lot?' They said they had to put all new brakes on it and fix a check engine light. My husband's a mechanic, so we took it home overnight and he checked it out, and found the engine, etc. to be acceptable.

As we were driving last night, the front window fogged up. We saw the remains of some writing that had been on the windshield that said 'Running. Frame sold as is.' Obviously, it was a wrecked car that they'd done some repairs to and then were selling.

When the salesman was helping us get a loan, he bullsh!tted the bank, telling them that it had leather seats, etc. in order to make the value higher (to work out the deal w/ the trade-in, etc..) He told them the Explorer had all kinds of features it doesn't have, making it appear that it's worth much more than we bought it for.

Now, the Jetta is for sale on their lot.

So...what do we do? I'm going to the dealership in the morning, and I'm really pissed, but I'm not sure what exactly I should expect to be done. They lied about the condition of the car, both to us (saying they hadn't had to do anything to it except brakes and the light), and to the bank (saying that it's much nicer than it is).

So....what now? If they won't help us out despite the fact that they lied, can we tell the bank that it isn't as nice as what they financed, and see if something can't be done about that?

Any thoughts/ideas would be greatly appreaciated

I have the consumer sign a list of all the equipment that is on the car. I sign it likewise, that is then presented to the lender.

The notes you saw after the window fogged up were probaly crayon marks left over from the auction sale.

I don't know about other store, but wherever I have worked a salesperson does NOT under any circumstances talk with the bank.

If you heard him allegedly do this why would you go along with it and then complain about it after the fact?

It's a small dealership and a small bank (the main bank they use for financing, also the bank we used to finance the Jetta). My husband sat there while the salesman called them the first time, and the bank said they wouldn't finance it for that amount/would require a bigger downpayment. My husband left the dealership and came back to the hospital to be w/ me and the baby. About an hour later, the salesman called and said he was going to try a different bank. He called later and said that the first bank had reconsidered, the terms were a little different, but we had a loan (6 months longer and a little higher interest rate). This sounded fine to us, so my husband went and signed the papers (and looked over the contract, obviously). He thanked him for helping us out, and the salesman said he had called the finance guy at the bank and told him our 'sob story' about the new baby in the hospital, and that we needed a bigger car, and then mentioned that he told them he'd 'forgotten to tell them about the leather seats', etc. This was after the deal was sealed, my husband was holding the keys, etc.

And yes, I understand that the markings were from the auction- but what they bought at the auction was a car that had been in a wreck, not what they told us they were selling us.

you have verified that the automobile has indeed been involved in an accident?

The deal is NOT sealed until the approval is in hand and the consumer accepts delivery.

With that being told to me, I would have refused delivery. That kinda makes him a party to the deception since he went ahead and accepted delivery.

That's why I'm unsure of what to do...my husband heard him say that, and took the car anyway, not really thinking of the implications (my worry here is that if we get in a wreck or something, the bank will say 'that's not the car we financed!')

There are a few other things written on the windshield that make it clear that it has been wrecked and repaired, but I don't know what it is and my husband isn't home to ask.

Any thoughts on what to say when I go in tomorrow? Ideally, I would get the Jetta back (I know it's still on their lot) and give them the Explorer back...

I'd like to know what is on the windshield that makes you think it was wrecked?

Dealer auctions place odd entries on windsheilds to most consumers... Could just mean it was a running vehicle, and no checks were made to verify the background (thus the frame as-is statement).

would a carfax help in this case? I think it is less than $20.00.

Exactly, you should carfax everything.

Secondly, walk into the dealership on a busy saturday afternoon and flip out all over the salesfloor, use words such as "liars, cheats, and bastards" eventually they will want to make it work.

I wouldn't recommend that on any day of the week or at any time during the day. One might get shown the door, or the police be called to have you exit the building for disturbing the peace.

Most disagreements or misunderstandings can easily be handled with a wee bit of tact and diplomacy.

shown the door? theyd more than likely be thrown through it. I loved the people who used to picket a dealer i worked for. the tomatoes were flying whenever the picket would show up.

Is the title marked salvage or anything like that??

Just run the carfax before anything else. That will show if there is any accident history. "Solid frame" on the windshield many not necessarily mean the car was wrecked. Carfax should tell you for sure (at least as sure as one can be.)

I agree with everyone who mentioned the Carfax report. You can get it free from the dealer. You can also see bits of it online with the VIN number.

So did you sign the papers that you actually agree to the terms of the Explorer? If not, you can surely still return it.

If everything happened as you said it did, why didn't alarm bells go off in your head? Seems almost like those shark dealerships buy here/pay here lots where the salesmen are greasy and the cars aren't very reliable and warranties non-existent.