The The vehicle I bought turned out to be an ACCIDENT CAR

Hi,
a month ago or so I bought a used car from a dealer (even if both the dealer and I are phisically in chicago, the dealer company is registered in Indiana and the title was made there). He gave me a carfax showing that the car never had any accident and he told me that I had never to be concerned about that car. After a couple of weeks check engine and airbags lights started going on and off, light bulbs blowing and the windscreen washer was not working. I took the car to a mechanic close to my place and he told me that the car was involved in some bad accident, pointing out how he hood and maybe other parts were not original (slighly different color), including the airbag cover in the middle of the steering wheel. I contacted the dealer who told me that I bought the car "as is", offering as only assistence to sell the car for me at some auction (with the consequent loss of money for me!).

Can I start some legal action against the dealer?

Thank you

Order your own carfax .. if its different than what he showed you (and you have the one the dealer showed you) then fraud may be able to be at least argued. You did buy the car as-is , did you not?

Yea, I bought the car as is. I think the carfax is real, most likely the car was fixed not by an official dealer and the accident was not reported. Is there anything I can do in this case?

Thank you

ippocratedicoo said:

Yea, I bought the car as is. I think the carfax is real, most likely the car was fixed not by an official dealer and the accident was not reported. Is there anything I can do in this case?

Thank you

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I would think then, if the carfax was not altered, that you may be outta luck on this one....sorry.

Not nice. So they can sell you a bad car if they repaired it by themselves and the carfax is clean? Unbelievable...

Thank you though

ippocratedicoo said:

Not nice. So they can sell you a bad car if they repaired it by themselves and the carfax is clean? Unbelievable...

Thank you though

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Carfax should be used as a PIECE of your research, but you can't rely on it to show 100% of a car's history.

That's why it's important what the dealer himsel declared, I guess. I'm really disappointed, I trusted him. It's so frustrating that there's nothing I can do.

ippocratedicoo said:

That's why it's important what the dealer himsel declared, I guess. I'm really disappointed, I trusted him. It's so frustrating that there's nothing I can do.

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Oh, you have the guarantees in writing? If not, then he didn't say it.

And what did your private mechanic say when they inspected the car (before you bought it)? Of course, they should have mentioned the things you have recently discovered, especially when you gave them your CarFax printout saying that the car had never been in an accident.

What? You didn't hire a mechanic to inspect before you bought the car? Your mistake. Dealers often make false promises to sell the vehicles, but if it's NOT in writing, then it's like it never happened (and you will find they will NEVER admit it).

The old adage "Caveat Emptor - Let the buyer beware" is why it is the BUYER's responsibility to make sure that the dealer is telling the truth. One does this by having an independent mechanic do an inspection to verify the mechanical and physical condition of the vehicle. ESPECIALLY when the sale is considered AS-IS. (Most vehicle sales are considered AS-IS, unless the seller offers a WRITTEN warranty or guarantee of fitness.)

AS-IS sales are just that - you buy the vehicle as you find it. With all of its inherent problems. Because you failed to exercise your due diligence and obtain a proper inspection before buying, looks like that's exactly what you have done here.

Enjoy the new car.