Buying a car? "Caveat emptor"

Gus Philpott
Woodstock Advocate
March 20, 2011

There are few other places than a new car dealership where it is more important that this rule be remembered. Can you trust anything that you are told at a dealership?

Recently a friend bought a used car from a major-manufacturer dealership near the Mississippi River (in Illinois). Yes, he should have checked CarFax first. Yes, he should have taken the car to his own mechanic for an inspection. Yes, he should have asked why the car didn't qualify for an extended warranty.

But the salesman told him the car had been a "local trade" and had belonged to the daughter-in-law of the dealership's owner. When he soon noticed the hood was out of alignment and there was some paint overspray, he then found out the car had been in a fleet car-rental program and had a history of three wrecks, two including major frame damage!

Now the dealership says, "Hey. Not our problem. You own it now."

And this reminds me of a deal closer to home that I heard about. A dealership within 15 miles of Woodstock sold a car that needed some work. I had told the prospective purchaser not to buy the first day and to take the car for an inspection by his own mechanic. He bought the first day and did take the car to be inspected, but the dealer's financing is going to cost them two arms and a leg. Two big mistakes!

You do know what "caveat emptor" means, don't you?