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HI - I'm thinking of purchasing a specific used Dodge Caravan. It drives fine, altough maybe pulls to the R slightly. The Carfax report on it looks perfect - 1 owner, regular maintenance, no accidents reported. But the front of the hood has a repaired split (or dent?) on it. The problem area is about 5" long, and is just above the front bumper. It looks like it was welded together and painted?? I don't know enough to explain it better than this, sorry.
What could have caused this other than an accident?
It is being sold by a different dealership about 20 mi. away from the one which did the regular maintenance.
Someone could have bumped something at some early time in the vehicle's use, and instead of turning it in to insurance, it may very well have been an out of pocket expense repair. If that is all that is wrong with it, I'd buy it if it;'s a fair price and you are other wise happy with the vehicle. But I would neg. a front end alinement in the deal if at all possible. This way you have some bargining power too on it and the frontend gets a free to you inspection before you buy it.
First thing you need to know is NOT to trust Carfax. We have run dozens of cars that we knew where in wrecks and all but a couple have come back clean. A good friend of mine wrecked his BMW doing 30K worth of damage 3 months after it was purchased and it was fixed. A few months later the car was wrecked a second time doing 10K+ in damage. Both times the car was repaired at BMW dealers and to this day the car shows a clean title. I can give you 20 more instances but it's not worth typing. Plain and simple. Save you money.
As for the split in the hood. Any number of things could have caused it. Something could have fallen on it, Driver drove under something that was just a little too low etc. Since the car pulls and there is damage on that side i'd have someone that knows what they're looking for inspect the car. Odd are it's been in a wreck.
Thanks you guys! I decided to buy a different vehicle.
It's distressing about Carfax - what other source can a regular person who knows little about cars use? I know that the best thing is to go to an independent mechanic and have them look at the vehicle, but the local car dealers don't allow this. So ?
I just decided to trust the dealer. Cross your fingers for me!
Thanks you guys! I decided to buy a different vehicle.
It's distressing about Carfax - what other source can a regular person who knows little about cars use? I know that the best thing is to go to an independent mechanic and have them look at the vehicle, but the local car dealers don't allow this. So ?
I just decided to trust the dealer. Cross your fingers for me!
SO buy from an individual. Why pay the dealer's overhead.
(And they don;t know or care much about the vehicle except what they can make!)
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What would cause split in hood other than accident?
