I bought a 2006 CS from Carmax in Sterling, Virginia on Saturday and ended up returning it under their 5-day return policy yesterday. When cleaning it yesterday afternoon, I noticed overspray on the seal around the passenger window. That raised an eyebrow so I started looking around a bit more and found bad paintwork in a couple of places on the door and (get this) the protective film in front of the rear wheel well had been painted over.

So that's at least two body panels that had been resprayed. I was furious, so I took the car back to Carmax and returned it. The guy dealing with my return mentioned that the car had been repainted at their shop, but didn't divulge what damage they were trying to cover up. Needless to say, this was all way too much for me so I gave them the car back and had them do a refund. Thank God I found the evidence of the damage in time to do the return.

In case they try to sell this car again, please note that it's a silver '06 Cayman S with PASM and Sport Chrono, with the following VIN:

WP0AB298X6U780447

The Carfax and Autocheck reports came back clean, by the way. I've learned a lesson - NEVER buy a car without a full PPI. The next car I buy, I will insist on this. I should have done so in this case and nearly paid the price for it.

Caveat emptor.

 

that's where I bought my bimmer from. Conversely, I had a great experience.

But yes, a full check of the car is a good idea before buying. Lesson two is that carfax doesn't tell the whole story.

 

I have seen several cars that have bumper covers, etc. painted before sales to resolve nicks, or parking lot dings. Those repairs won't show up on CarFax or AutoCheck. Good luck with your search.

 

Thank your lucky stars that you bought the car from a place that allowed you to return it.

Unless they lied about any damage, I don't see that CarMax did anything necessarily wrong.

You were obviously able to spot these issues. It seems to me you should have paid more attention or asked more questions prior to the purchase. A PPI is certainly a good idea since the dealer may or may not have any clue as to the history of the car.

 

wow that sucks. like you said at least you found out about it within the return period. good luck with your search.

 

Thanks guys. Yeah, Carmax didn't do anything illegal or against their policy I suppose. I do think it's morally wrong not to disclose something like that to a prospective buyer, though. I'm sure I'm holding them to too high of a standard, given how slimy the car business is in general.

And yes, I feel VERY fortunate that I found the issue in time to do something about it. I feel like I dodged a bullet.

 

ummm, very normal for used cars to be touched up by dealers...your luck you were able to return it, they are morons for their return policy actually...you drive it off the lot you bought it! "Buyers Remorse"

 

whether they have a policy or not, Virginia law allows either party of a contract to back out within 72 hours with no penalty.

I had a great experience at that carmax, though. The only problem I had with the car I bought from them was the cooling system exploding after a couple months of ownership. Which I came to find is normal on an e46.

 

Sorry you had a bad experience. I bought my car from Carmax 5 years ago and it was a very good experience. One of the most reliable cars I have ever owned. The car was 6 years old at the time and the nose had been resprayed. I expect that sort of thing to remove stone chips and minor nicks. They did a good color match but it wasn't the finest custom paint job I had ever seen. I had the nose resprayed again last year because it just takes a beating without a clear bra.

 

I understand what you guys are saying, but this wasn't "buyer's remorse." I was really sad and angry to have to give it back. It was a phenomenal car. The fact is that the paintwork was on two side panels, not the front bumper. There is no reason these panels should have to be repainted (and badly, at that) short of collision damage. I'll wait until I can find the right car. I'm disappointed, but grateful that I could back out of the deal.

 

Customers trading in cars are worse trust me. They say never been in an accident then I paint meter the car and the whole side was repainted. YOu confront them they say OH I FORGOT. They are almost always lying when trading in a car. I ask them what if I forgot to tell you the car I sold you was in an accident how would you feel? This really goes both ways.

 

there are lots of reasons that two panels would have to be painted. It's possible that one panel had a ding in it that required paint, and was close enough to need to be blended. It's possible that one or both panels were keyed. Possibly there was hail damage there. It's possible that there was some kind of non-key vandalism that required paint (egging, for instance, can require paint if allowed to dry on the car).

Granted, you were most likely right for bringing back a car with poor paintwork, but paintwork alone doesn't mean the car was in an accident, and shouldn't be the sole basis for not buying a car.

 

how's ones experience in selling to carmax? do they give you super low prices?