Carfax, damage & accidents? Bargain or time bomb?

[sgrenald]

I'm still looking for a 2015 Genesis. I'm heading down to Miami for the weekend to visit family, so I was looking at what was available down there. Found a few cars that mostly sound good on paper, but the Carfax report shows that there were accidents on all of them, which probably explains the prices. For example, my local dealer has a CPO Pamplona Red Tech package 3.8 with about 21k miles on it for $28k. Off-Lease in Miami has the same car with less than 12k miles (not CPO, of course) for $22,000. Even though I don't love the red, that price was too good to pass up. Then I read the carfax, and saw this:
Accident reported
Vehicle involved in a rear-end collision
with another motor vehicle
Involving rear impact
Right rear primarily damaged
Damage to front
Vehicle functional
Airbags did not deploy

The car looks pristine in the photos, so it may very well be the bargain of the year. Or it could be that something will blow up as I'm driving back to GA.

There's also a couple of "base" blue 5.0's (one Ibiza and one Montecito) at another dealer. Both have 25-30k miles and are in the $26-28k range. BOTH Carfax reports say that both were damaged twice. The Ibiza one was "damage to front" twice so I assume the driver hit a pole in a parking lot or something like that. The Montecito had a similar entry, as well as an accident. That sounds a bit more serious, but the Montecito is both CPO and $2500 less than the Ibiza.

Are any of these worth the risk? Ibiza blue and Montecito blue are, respectively, my two favorite colors. I haven't test driven a 5.0 yet, but I'll be hitting that dealership on Sunday.

Thanks in advance for the feedback and toleration of my never-ending trolling of the internet for the non-existent perfect-for-me Genesis.

 

[glennk]

The dealer should have all of the paperwork available on any service performed. If they don't, walk away. CarFax has very generalized descriptions on what was performed, where and any further work that may have needed done to make the car "whole".

You're not a troll. You are an informed consumer, which everyone on here appreciates!

 

[EdP]

Then I read the carfax, and saw this:
Accident reported
Vehicle involved in a rear-end collision
with another motor vehicle
Involving rear impact
Right rear primarily damaged
Damage to front

Sounds like he was rear ended and pushed into the car in front. If the damage was minimal, no big deal. May be just a crumpled bumper replaced and painted. I'd try to get more info on the damage and if minor, save a few bucks. Make sure the paint matches.

 

[batmanmiami1]

Watch out for some of dealers down here. Too good to be true, probably is. Shopping about 4 months ago found some real Junkers that looked good on paper. Off Lease Direct had volume junk, Fl Fine Cars, junk. If you purchase from a reputable Hyundai dealer it is well worth the extra purchasing a CPO. CPO is all about the warranty. The CPO I purchased was full of miner defects, that should have been addressed as a CPO before the sale, but were not. Things like windshield wiper blades, one not so good tire and a front end alignment just to name a few. All I had to do was quote the CPO agreement and tell them fix what should have been fixed prior to the sale as a CPO or I'm going to state. Used independent dealers are pros. They are NOT going to sell you a 24K market value car for 22K. In about a month I'm heading from Miami to North Carolina then back home, then up to West Pa then NH then back to Miami. If I have any expensive issues they will more then likely be covered by the Factory or CPO agreement. Save 2 or 3K initially and have issues 600 miles from the independent guess who's stuck with the repairs, which could be significant. In my case, never owned a Hyundia, never owned a Genesis, had no idea what to look for but I thought by purchasing a CPO it gave me an edge down the road. Your money, of course, and if you feel confident you know everything to look for in a used car, go wherever you find the best deal, you still have the factory warranty, what's left of it. Also, don't put too much stock in a Carfax report. Carfax only reports what was reported to them. My understanding is If someone has a really bad wreck and takes to a cheap, not to honest, shop for repairs the accident may not show up on the Carfax. Good hunting.

 

[sgrenald]

Thanks for the info. Off Lease Only was the red 3.8. The two 5.0's are at Rick Case.

Since I live in Savannah, a "local" warranty wouldn't do me any good. Heck, Rick Case offers all sorts of "goodies" if you buy from them that wouldn't be of any use to me. That's one of the reasons I'd prefer to buy from a local dealer. But I'll see these cars in person this weekend, and then (assuming I like one of them) can go back to my guys and say "find me a blue 5.0 for X dollars."

I'm also going to talk to a few F&I guys to at least get some names to call when I want to buy that extended warranty...

 

[DWIL80]

You can always do a pre-purchase inspection for the off lease listing. That said, their site also shows frame inspection reports for many of their cars and noticed a lot have frame damage documented. I would be afraid that it would affect the driving experience long term. Up to you but I would do a PPI at minimum.

 

[BlancaGenny]

Are any of these worth the risk?

I'd only get a CPO. The warranty is your safety net. What I would have done differently before I bought mine was have them perform the 151 (or so) CPO inspection again and to have them document it. There were a few items that needed checked that they didn't (sunroof seal, injector replacement, rearend seal leak). If there are any discrepancies then you can tell the dealer didn't take the time to do the inspection correctly. Make sure to use every gadget and push every button to make sure everything works. I understand it from a management level. "Less time in the shop, more time on the lot" kind of deal. BUT, that isn't going to make the dealership any more reputable.

Like some of the others stated, get as much information regarding the accidents as you can. Don't let us sway your opinion though, we are just a bunch of forum members biased to our lovely cars. Good luck

 

[batmanmiami1]

Looked at RC website with the blue 5.0. Case is real big in this town. He has to have a least 3 or 4 other dealerships selling other brands. You might say he's his own competition. If it looks as good in the flesh I'd jump on that deal. I'd offer them 2k less then asking and wait till they cave, which they will somewhat. End of the month coming up, 2015 leases coming to an end and they are overloaded. Not only does Case have a dealership where the 5.0 is but another Hyundia dealership less then 20 miles away. If I thought they'd give me a good trade-in I'd buy it myself. I purchased my Goldwing motorcycle from his Powerhouse dealership in Davie, seemed pretty honest as car dealerships go.

 

[Armyguy1980]

Buddy of mine is the used car, trade in vehicle manager for a Ford dealer in town. We had a big discussion about the Carfax but anything on a Carfax besides services being performed, any accident at all is at minimum 15% off the usual used car rate for the consumer and 20-25 on the dealer trade ins. So for example if the Genesis is usually going for 28k on the market but it has an accident reported your negotiating starts at 15% off that number. If your Genesis is getting traded in and has a KBB trade in of 20k, the dealer will give 15-18k for it if has any Carfax reported accidents.

 

[sgrenald]

Looked at RC website with the blue 5.0. Case is real big in this town. He has to have a least 3 or 4 other dealerships selling other brands. You might say he's his own competition. If it looks as good in the flesh I'd jump on that deal. I'd offer them 2k less then asking and wait till they cave, which they will somewhat. End of the month coming up, 2015 leases coming to an end and they are overloaded. Not only does Case have a dealership where the 5.0 is but another Hyundia dealership less then 20 miles away. If I thought they'd give me a good trade-in I'd buy it myself. I purchased my Goldwing motorcycle from his Powerhouse dealership in Davie, seemed pretty honest as car dealerships go.

That's good to know. I'd rather buy close to home, but if I can make a good enough deal...

The local Hyundai dealer is looking for a blue tech package 3.8 for me. I hadn't really thought about the 5.0, although the local VW dealer (owned by the same company) has an Ibiza blue base '15 5.0 with just under 30k miles for just under $30k. About the same price as the one at RC. I wonder why the Montecito, which is CPO is 10% less than the Ibiza, which isn't CPO. I don't know what the "fair market" price for a 5.0 is, but if they're asking $26.6, maybe I could get them down to $24k. I think I'd rather have Ibiza than Montecito, but not for an extra $2500 or so.

And I'll get to test drive a 5.0 on an actual highway. The VW dealer is in suburbia, so I just drove around regular city streets. LOL. I suppose I should call my dealer tomorrow and ask him to look for a blue 5.0 base and see what he comes up with. I suppose if RC comes through, and my local guy can't find anything, I can do the deal over the phone after the fact or something and then ship it or burn a weekend...

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[sgrenald]

Buddy of mine is the used car, trade in vehicle manager for a Ford dealer in town. We had a big discussion about the Carfax but anything on a Carfax besides services being performed, any accident at all is at minimum 15% off the usual used car rate for the consumer and 20-25 on the dealer trade ins. So for example if the Genesis is usually going for 28k on the market but it has an accident reported your negotiating starts at 15% off that number. If your Genesis is getting traded in and has a KBB trade in of 20k, the dealer will give 15-18k for it if has any Carfax reported accidents.

So in this case, since one car is $26.5k and the other is $29k, I should offer $22.5k or $25.5k respectively? Assuming I like them, that is.

 

[sgrenald]

Man! I picked a GREAT day to test drive a car in Miami!

 

[larrymg1]

I just turned in my leased 2015 Genesis Ultimate 3.8 RWD with 18000 miles. It is immaculate. My buyout would have been $28K. My dealer in SC sold it to Jim Ellis Genesis in Atlanta. He has it listed here:
Certified Used 2015 Hyundai Genesis For Sale in Atlanta GA | H7641

 

[batmanmiami1]

Man! I picked a GREAT day to test drive a car in Miami!

well at least you'll know how it handles in the rain

 

[lt2211]

Found a few cars that mostly sound good on paper, but the Carfax report shows that there were accidents on all of them.
The car looks pristine in the photos, so it may very well be the bargain of the year. Or it could be that something will blow up as I'm driving.

All car fax reports are not accurate. I had a Lincoln LS involved in a very minor parking lot accident. Scrapes to rear bumper casing, on my car. A bit more damage on the other car. A year or so later I ran a car fax on my car and was shocked to find the report said, moderate to heavy rear end damage. No way,not even close. This was quite a few years back, however, I wouldn't trust them. Take a look yourself drive it and come to your own conclusions. Superficial repaired damage is usually of little concern. Very heavy damage is another matter.

 

[sgrenald]

well at least you'll know how it handles in the rain

Lol! True. The Montecito literally was sold as I was pulling into the dealership. The internet price for that one was $26.5, but the sticker on the car was $30+. They just dropped the internet price on the Ibiza to $28. I think I'm going to offer $25 as a best and final and see what happens. It'll cost me an extra $200 to return my rental car at FLL which is annoying, but no big deal. Then it's a 500 mile drive home.

Assuming we make a deal

 

[sgrenald]

I didnt buy the car. Just to recap, they are asking $28k for the CPO Ibiza 5.0. Their initial OTD price was $33k. Besides taxes, etc, there was a prep fee of $1800 (basically what they charged to CPO the car) and a dealer fee of $700 ("to keep the lights on") Those seemed kind of bogus to me.

I said that was way more than I wanted to spend, and got up to leave. The sales guy asked me to make an offer, so I said $30k OTD. There was an hour of negotiating after that, but I stayed on my price.

In an effort to "help" them, I said I'd do $32k OTD if it included the Hyundai platinum extended warranty. The car will hit 3 years & 36k miles this year. They wanted to give me GAP insurance for $1500. (Which dropped to $900 quickly) too.

The last number I think I got was $32,700 OTD which included the extended warranty but no gap insurance. They didn't want to budge on $31k OTD for the car.

I told them I was heading back to Savannah around 1pm tomorrow. So we'll see if they call me back in the morning...

 

[larrymg1]

I just turned in my leased 2015 Genesis Ultimate 3.8 RWD with 18000 miles. It is immaculate. My buyout would have been $28K. My dealer in SC sold it to Jim Ellis Genesis in Atlanta. He has it listed here:
Certified Used 2015 Hyundai Genesis For Sale in Atlanta GA | H7641

I don't know whether you saw my earlier post? I have reposted it here. Jim Ellis in Atlanta has 11 2015 Genesis offered. Mine is the one displayed in the link above. Might be worth a detour on the way back to Savanah.

 

[sgrenald]

I don't know whether you saw my earlier post? I have reposted it here. Jim Ellis in Atlanta has 11 2015 Genesis offered. Mine is the one displayed in the link above. Might be worth a detour on the way back to Savanah.

I saw it, but Jim Ellis only sells Ultimate editions, and I'm looking for a tech package because I want CarPlay.

It's probably a 7+ hour detour from Miami to Atlanta to Savannah

 

[milind]

I saw it, but Jim Ellis only sells Ultimate editions, and I'm looking for a tech package because I want CarPlay.

It's probably a 7+ hour detour from Miami to Atlanta to Savannah

I got my Tech Package from Jim Ellis. It was the only one they had. I lucked out. My sales guy, who was great, moved to Florida. Otherwise I'd have given you his contact and he could have kept an eye out for one for you. I didn't care about the color or really anything else on the car, and I know you are looking for a blue one.

Try calling Aaron Jackson in Jim Ellis. Another great guy to call is El Rico Williams from Cumming Hyundai. Unfortunately, they don't have as good a collection (or prices) as Jim Ellis. Good luck.