Rep Power: 0

My girlfriend was in a car accident. She got $2500 for getting T-Boned by the same exact model Grand Am. Same year same color. She was punched by the air bag.
Found a DEALER on Craigslist selling a 2003 Civic EX for $4300 not mentioning that it was a salvage title. It had 101k miles on it. So I negotiated $3550 cash to be paid in a couple days. We were under the gun to get transportation and from owning two Hondas before, just buy it and we shouldn't have too many mechanical problems to fix...
I pick up the car and I notice that it had an oil leak coming from the top gasket...round plug thing.
To make a long story short. It's been 10 weeks and we can't get the car to pass inspection. The third day we had it the temp spiked and we replaced the plugs and a coil after scanning it. It overheated again so we put more coolant in.
The coolant eventually dumped into the oil after we took out the thermostat. The timing belt cover melted off.
We had it towed being stranded in the middle of Kansas. $1300 for head gasket, compression test and head check, not cracked, and we figured to change the OEM water and timing since it was there.
The hood doesn't close and the fan doesn't come on. The cross member that supports the hood, lights, fan etc is f-ed.
The dealer said he was selling it for a friend who later I found out was having a third party doing it. So I tracked them down and they said "We'll fix it". Two weeks go buy and it comes back with the cross member spray painted.
I'm going to file a claim on the dealers bond.
Anyone have any experience with any of this? I need more advice.
Thanks, Jeff from KC

 
Rep Power: 511

If they didn't disclose that it was a salvage title while selling it to you, I'd lawyer up.

As far as the spray painted cross member, was there evidence of replacement, or was it the same old one, just sprayed? Replacement of that involves cutting out the old one and welding in a new one. Painting the radiator support would make sense for corrosion inhibition (as welds are more susceptible to corrosion).

If you have the car in your possession, mind taking some pics? Only thing I can tell you for sure is that the "round plug thing" sounds like it's the cam plug, which should have been an easy fix (pop it out, some RTV for good measure, pop it back in).

Nevertheless, sounds like the shadiest of deals going on at that dealership. I'd google them to see if there were any similar stories.

 
Rep Power: 517

This is why a prepurchase inspection can be money wisely spent.

 
Rep Power: 0

We realized we made a mistake not having it looked at. The Kansas Highway Patrol is cracking down on these dealers. It's a misdemeanor crime. The cam plug seal was changed without a problem. I noticed that the head gaskets in this forum seems to be a common problem with this model? Now, the car is sputtering at idle and the transmission slips between gears. What's that all about?

 
Rep Power: 517

Sounds like you are now discovering even more reasons why someone else got rid of it.

 
Rep Power: 0

It was bought at a salvage auction and "fixed".

 
Rep Power: 199

Sounds like they bought a junker to "fix" and make money then figured out it needed too much to make anything so they only patched it for a sell. I do this for mechanical issues, but there are some cars and trucks to avoid, I bought mine from my sister and did fine on it, but live and learn. Too many expensive fixes on these things for the fixer. Doesn't really help you, but IMO. I rebuilt my own transmission, but if you can't ouch is all I can say. Between your head gasket, a new tranny, and the plague of value decrease with a salvage title, you are gonna have way more in it than its worth, sorry man, lawyer up if not disclosed at sell time... I had a salvage title truck a few trucks ago, won't do that again. Loan values are decreased, so unless it is old and a cash seller, good luck selling it.

 
Rep Power: 517

Crashed and totaled, someone did just enough bodywork to make it look fair (repaired as cheap as possible, and could still be dangerous as hell under the skin!)

The car still has all of the problems that the cars normally have at that mileage. (trans issues, maybe average, may be from the damage?)

PLUS problems associated with the crash and/or repairs, like maybe a radiator fan that can't run...

Yes they blow the head gaskets, it's an average thing for a lot of them...... Or it could have been damage from the crash:
Blown head gasket from overheating during or after the crash, running with no radiator/coolant/fan is a big possibility..
If the crash damaged the radiator support, it stands to reason the radiator was a goner too.

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I actually see this sort of thing (OMG crappy repairs) on some cars that come from auctions. They might look OK to the untrained eye on ONE side of the car....

It's kinda fun to look over a car and figure out what the story really is....there is always a story behind cars from the auction.

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You could get a ton of cash wrapped up in trying to fix all of the problems, and the car still might never ever be right again. Not usually worth it IMO.