Honda Certified Pre-Owned - Advice Needed

AwMyLoLo

Totally off topic

Does anyone know the specifics of Honda "Certified Pre-Owned" vehicles? I bought a 2007 Civic last year "Certified Pre-Owned" and found out today that it has previously been wrecked. :mad:

merebear

I think it just means that the dealership has checked it out and "certified" it as safe and well-maintained. But it doesn't have anything to do with prior wrecks unless there was severe damage and in that case it probably wouldn't be resellable. Bummer, I know

marjaskow

Not sure if Hondas ideas are any different, but at most dealerships being certified preowned, means that it is obviously a used vehicle, but they are certifying that they have checked it out, basically mechanically, and that everything is good when the car is sold. I think the only way to get an honest answer as to if it was in a wrecke is to get a car fax report on it. That would show all previous owners too.

AwMyLoLo

Wouldn't they have had to tell me at the dealership that it had been in an accident before?

SageGoddess320

I work at a car dealership and I'm sorry to say that it's just one of those "Buyer Beware" kind of situations. They won't tell you anything that you don't ask.

Edit: I just want to clarify that I am NOT in the sales department

rob1976

A Look at Honda Certified Pre-Owned
The Ins and Outs of Honda Certified Used Cars

Before buying a certified pre-owned vehicle, check out this explanation of the certified pre-owned program offered by Honda certified used cars. This explains the warranty program for the manufacturer; how old the certified pre-owned vehicles are, and other benefits you can expect from the manufacturer’s certified pre-owned program.

Each Honda certified pre-owned candidate receives:

* a 150-point mechanical and appearance inspection, performed by the dealer technician
* Honda-trained technicians recondition any component that does not meet standards, or replace it with Honda parts.

Warranties cover, among other areas:

* Major engine and transmission components, except for standard maintenance items, body glass and interior;
* Repair or replacement of any covered part that is defective under normal use with a $0 deductible.
* Powertrain coverage for 7-years/100,000 miles from the vehicle's original in-service date.

amboardman

Nope, sorry, they're under no obligation to tell you that the car has been wrecked. They're trying to sell it, remember?? They will usually run a car fax report on it for you--but you have to ask.

rob1976

And no, the dealership has no requirement to tell you if a car has been in an accident. That is why Carfax makes so much money!

LittleSpy

Wouldn't they have had to tell me at the dealership that it had been in an accident before?

They don't have to tell you anything. You have the right to ask for the Carfax. My Honda dealership showed me the Carfax automatically before I even had a chance to ask. Sorry you didn't have the same experience. :ohwell:

Mellie13

Yeah, you always want to get the Carfax!!

AwMyLoLo

BOOOO! Buying my car was a bad experience all together. I should have walked out of there when I had the chance! Thanks for the info, guys!

thumper44

I agree with marjaskow - My dealership as far as I know Certified preown means that they bought the car, and have checked it out with their "100 point system". If they see it's in good enough condition to get into this area, they will give you a warranty.
Otherwise I don't believe they want any part of it. ie if they know that this car is 7 years old and has 150,000 miles on it already, they might not be interested in buying it to sell it back with a warranty. They know that car might need a transmission replaced or an engine, and their not going to cover that warranty.

Did you buy this at a honda dealership?

Look at your paperwork to see if there was something that they snuck in there, that they didn't communicate. ie some small field that shows some kind of status of the car etc.

How did you find out it was wrecked?.. Do you have a car fax report stating this?

I've read alot about others having problems with "stealerships" in my dealer forum that i've been part of for 2 years or so) 100's of people having to do this or that to get things right. Unfortunately customer service lacks in some areas. Once they have your money some don't care.
Anyways. Sorry this is over the place, just going off the top of my head..

What I would do. Start collecting information.

Go to another honda dealership and pretend your looking for another car, or even go with a friend so your not lying.. hehe. Ask about that certified pre-owned, and ask few questions.
Where do they buy the car?
I know they buy cars from people who swap for a newer car, or their lease is up.
As well they buy from brokers and sometimes auctions.

Ask them about if they bought a car would they know if it was wrecked.
If they didn't know, if they found out afterwards if it was wrecked what would they do.
Would they sell a rebuilt car.

You want to be prepared when you go back to your dealership. I don't believe they should be able to sell a car that has been branded as "wrecked".
Once a car is branded as wrecked. Yes you can buy a car like that fix it up, and then as long as it meets specs, you can take the information etc to the ministry, and it would be changed to rebuilt.

Your in Ohio, so I did a quick search, here's one site for info.
http://www.ohiolemonlaw.com/wrecked-car-ripoff.html
and here is some information given to someone that was in the same position in a diff state.
http://www.avvo.com/legal-answers/dealership-sold-me-a-wrecked-car-2429.html

Once you got your info collected, you can give the place that you bought the car a chance to correct it, and if not see a lawyer, Also I'm sure the news people would love to hear a story, as a wrecked car rebuilt is never as safe as a new car.

Good luck.

thumper44

I"m sorry I took so long to type everything. I just read the responses.

I disagree with some of the people. You didn't get a carfax. ok. That's not the end of it as far as I'm concerned.

Your buying it from a reputable (one of the big 3) vehicle companies. If you bought it from Sams used car lot, I would say your out of luck.

Sometimes some people give up too easily - Companies know that.

Edit: An accident is one thing. A car being filed as "wrecked" is totally different,. It was unsafe and taken off the road.

AwMyLoLo

Thumper, thanks so much for your input! I will take a look at all my paperwork and gather some information.

I found out that it has been in an accident before because it was in an accident last week (:ohwell: ) and is at the body shop now. My husband took it in and the first thing the guy asked him was if it had been in an accident before. My husband said, no, not that I know of, and the guy said, well, it has, because there is body filler here. I'm going to call the body shop first thing and ask them more about it.

I did buy the car from a large dealership in my area. I have a friend of a friend who works for Honda and I will ask him about it too.

Thanks again for your help - you rock!

LittleSpy

Edit: An accident is one thing. A car being filed as "wrecked" is totally different,. It was unsafe and taken off the road.

Well I certainly agree with this! A "wrecked" car has a "Salvage" or "Junk" title in most states -- I don't think they could sell you a car like that without you being aware (because you'd have a "Salvage" or "Junk" title instead of a clear title). It sounds like the car you have was just involved in an accident & had some (obviously great if you never noticed) body work done.

Also important to note is that if the accident wasn't reported to authorities, it wouldn't have even been on the Carfax report (and I think some states don't release that information, so if it happened in one of those states, it wouldn't be on the Carfax, either). I think it's VERY possible the dealership wasn't aware the car had any previous bodywork done. But like someone else said, their job is to sell you the car. So, even if they did know about it, they very well may not tell you. :ohwell:

archanaveeramachaneni

We bought a HONDA 2010 pre-owned car from a Honda dealer.

They said it was certified too and mentioned it on the purchase order.

But now after 3 months i realized its not certified by calling the HONDA customer care people.

what do i do now??i feel very very bad for being cheated by a dealer.Can i take this legally?? please advice



thank u