New Car on Dealer Lot-Verifying No Hail Damage?

[JimInOK]

We are looking at a new Camry, but it's at a dealership that was hit very heavily by a hailstorm at the end of May. We have searched the car and see no signs of damage, but the dealer is $500 lower than any other quote we can find. Another dealer suggested it may have been hail damaged and fixed. I have an oral representation from the salesman that it arrived after the hailstorm and has not been damaged/repaired, and he has said he will put that in writing if I want.

Is there any way for me to independently verify any of this? Car fax, or anything else, that might show if it had been repaired? They have MANY cars on the lot with visible heavy damage. Just wondering if there is a way I can ease my mind on this.

Or is it worth an extra $500 to have the peace of mind?

Thanks!
Jim

[bjl584]

Carfax will show if it was repaired so long it was done at a legitimate shop and a claim was filed.

[JimInOK]

Thanks! I will check run a Car Fax on it. It's one of the largest dealerships in Oklahoma City, maybe THE largest, so I'm thinking they would do things on the up and up.

However, a clean Car Fax isn't complete assurance then, right?

[parafly]

If the problem was taken care of "in house," there is a good chance that there was no claim filed, and it won't appear on a Carfax report.

In the vast majority of cases, hail damage is strictly cosmetic. If this is the make and model of the car you desire and it looks as good as new, there really shouldn't be any concern about mechanical function or long term performance.

Inspect the car thoroughly, request documentation stating the car arrived after the hailstorm and never suffered any damage, and pull the trigger.

[sandrark]

There's a label on the frame, inside the driver's door, that shows date of manufacture. If it's after the hailstorm date, you don't have to take their word for it...

[Naples09]

There's a label on the frame, inside the driver's door, that shows date of manufacture. If it's after the hailstorm date, you don't have to take their word for it...

That will show you the month the car was built. It can take a good 8 weeks to arrive at the dealership depending on how long it sat at the manufacturing plant and how long it took to ship.

[JimInOK]

Thanks everybody! I did go ahead and order a Car Fax report, just to see what it said. It came back clean, which, as has been stated, is no assurance.

However, scanning through the report I found that it also shows the date the vehicle was shipped to the dealership and the date the dealer performed his predelivery inspection and placed it in inventory. All of the dates were after the date of the storm, and matched exactly the dates the dealer told me. So, I feel good about the vehicle now. We went ahead and purchased it last night after looking it over thoroughly and giving it a second test drive.

It's also nice to have an idea if the vehicle has been sitting on the lot a long time. May be a factor in negotiating a price.

[sandrark]

That will show you the month the car was built. It can take a good 8 weeks to arrive at the dealership depending on how long it sat at the manufacturing plant and how long it took to ship.

I know. That's why I said "IF the date manufactured is AFTER the storm date...."

[bjl584]

However, a clean Car Fax isn't complete assurance then, right?

If someone paid a body shop to do the work for cash and never filed a claim, then it won't show up on Carfax, as there will be no record of the work being done.

[Christian321]

If the dealer said that they will put it in writing, I am sure that the car does not have hail damage. Believe me, the owner of that dealership does not wish for you to sue him.

Besides, $500 off is not a significant discount...that is peanuts and any new car dealer would be happy to discount $500 to make a sale. If it were discouonted $5,000, that would make me think twice.

Get it in writing and make sure it is signed by the dealership owner. If you get this letter, you can be confident that the car does not have hail damage.

[disneysteve]

We went ahead and purchased it last night

Congrats on the new car. Enjoy it.