Bought CPO, found out it was in an accident. How to proceed?

[speedinthemach3]

Hey guys. This is my first post as I can generally find my answer to any question I have just by looking through the forums. However, I have reached a point where I need the expertise of all of you. I have a 2006 ZHP and was at a crossroads as to whether dumping a bunch of money to maintain it or trade it in and up to a newer BMW. The pickle is, when I took it to my local dealer here in Memphis to see what its trade in value was (I bought the car in Illinois), they disclosed that the car had been in an accident by the previous owner. I bought the car as a CPO from the dealership in Illinois and was under the impression that NO CPO could have any wreckage or body work done to pass the inspection. My concerns are that I payed several thousand dollars more than necessary for the car since it had been in an accident and now I am also getting far less money on it as a trade-in due to this as well. Should I call BMW of North America and if so, how would you recommend to proceed? thanks for any help.

[KevinC]

I don't think CPO means accident-free.. just has to be "repaired right". Were you able to get any details on the accident?

EDIT: just downloaded their CPO checklist. Mentions Carfax and does it disqualify the car? But no criteria on what might disqualify it - any accident reported? Or something like salvage title issue? Big difference. Unclear.

[Hornung418]

Start with BMW dealer in Illinois. Then move to BMW NA if the dealer doesn't divulge info. Good luck.

"You don't have to blow out my candle just to make yours shine brighter."

[KevinC]

Found an inspection document, which states this:

Special attention should be given to inspecting previous body repairs. This information may be confirmed by review of your record of Repair Orders to be reflected under the BODY REPAIR HISTORY section of this checklist.

...

All BMWs have unibodies. Unitized vehicle bodies consist of the floor pan, safety occupant cell and outer panels. The floor pan consists of the base panel, side and cross members, engine mounting and axle mountings. The safety occupant cell consists of the front bulkhead, rocker panels, A-B-C pillars and the rear bulkhead. Outer panels consist of the nose, quarter, tail and roof. Bolt-on parts such as the hood, fenders, doors and trunk are not considered part of the unibody because they have no structural function. For the purpose of evaluating CPO Program Eligibility, any vehicle where a Component as listed on the Unibody Review Chart has been replaced WILL NOT be eligible for CPO enrollment. Vehicles where these components have been repaired will qualify for enrollment provided that the repair conforms to the functional requirements of the body component (example: doors meet alignment and operation standards if the rocker or pillar[s] were subject to repair).

There is a section summarizing this. So, yes, a car that's been hit CAN be eligible - or it can be disqualified. Depends on the extent of the damage.

http://www.bmwmotorsports.org/pdf/misc/BMW%20CPO%20inspection%20guidelines.pdf

[ZHPRegistry.net]

Unibody Review Chart has been replaced WILL NOT be eligible for CPO enrollment

"replaced" is the keyword. CPO does not mean "no collision".

[johnrando]

First, welcome to the forum. Please introduce yourself and your car in out new members section. As far as CPO, I don't know for sure but it sounds like they are right in that it can be in an accident as long as it's not an issue longer term, but that's just a guess.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

[jiggz]

First off, welcome to the forums!

Of course the dealer is going to low-ball you on trade in - they'd do that with or without a previous accident. I would avoid trading any car into a dealer for starters…sell it yourself for it's true market value!

[derbo]

Here is my opinion: (Used to work at a dealership CPO department for 7 years)

CPO like Kevin C mentioned, can enroll any car that does not have frame damage and meets all the stringent maintenance requirements. A car can have a dirty carfax with a minor accident and still be eligible for CPO program.

The dealership in Memphis must have seen some report that mentioned the PO accident report. This is either DCS, CARFAX or similar reports. Unfortunately, the dealership in Illinois should also have this same information when you purchased the car and should've disclosed it to you then. Perhaps you should check your reports to confirm this? CARFAXs were also given to customers at the time of purchase here in California dealerships.


Now in your current situation, I think you may have lost out. There is not really much you can do now except attempt to sell it private party or negotiate the hell out of the dealership for a higher trade-in value. Trade-in service from a dealership is really a convenience program. It's not meant to get you top dollar and with something like this popping up, its hard to get a fair price either. You can argue that it past the CPO program and that it should be a minor accident. Either way I think you are in a tough spot and it's a little hard to fight it being it's so long since you purchased it.

I'm always open to chatting about this, so feel free to respond.

[ELCID86]

2012 Join date and first post?? :biggrin

Sorry you had to find this out the hard way. Good advice above. Probably not much recourse but it may be worth a shot (nothing to lose?). If not, keep the car and enjoy it! And then private sell when time comes (with disclosure of the new information of course).

[NoVAphotog]

2012 Join date and first post?? :biggrin

Sorry you had to find this out the hard way. Good advice above. Probably not much recourse but it may be worth a shot (nothing to lose?). If not, keep the car and enjoy it! And then private sell when time comes (with disclosure of the new information of course).

+1

Read through my build thread below to see that an accident isn't necessarily a bad thing provided it was repaired right and you still have a clean title (e.g. no frame/mechanical/drivetrain/airbag damage). Then again, I'm not trying to sell my car any time soon so I can't say how well I could sell the "better than it was" aspect against a dirty Carfax. I certainly wouldn't do it with a trade-in as per the notion that they really don't care what the history is and will lowball you either way. I also know there are a few folks here who have joked about going deer hunting with their ZHPs to refresh the front ends... :shifty

I would start with the aforementioned methods and try to find out more about the type of accident, if it shows up on Carfax it's really only showing an insurance claim so it doesn't necessarily have to be something major with these cars to cause someone to not want/be able to pony up out of pocket. Trading paint with a parking pole kind of thing.

[Ryans323i]

Gathering what I've read from the well informed posts, if it was a minor accident, without unibody damage, the only thing the Illinois dealership is guilty of is nondisclosure of an accident. So, IMO, there's no recourse to be taken. Basically you got lied to at a dealership, it happens to the best of us.

The question now is, how bad do you want a new(er) car? Are you still making payments on the ZHP? If so, can you afford the upcoming maintenance and repairs? If the answer is yes, I'd say keep the car. If the answer is no, then its smarter to trade for something with a warranty, and deal with the loss $ on trade-in. If you're no longer making payments, keep the car. 6 months of "new" car payments should cover the upcoming maintenance. Then the longer you keep the car you'll be "earning" that new car payment and eventually the loss you'd had taken at trade-in will even out. A well maintained car with a minor accident, that was visually and mechanically repaired correctly (as is stated by the cpo when you bought it), will be worth more than a car in need of repairs/maintenance without an accident history.

And because I'm curious, what are you wanting to trade the car for?

[orange260z]

Hey guys. This is my first post as I can generally find my answer to any question I have just by looking through the forums. However, I have reached a point where I need the expertise of all of you. I have a 2006 ZHP and was at a crossroads as to whether dumping a bunch of money to maintain it or trade it in and up to a newer BMW. The pickle is, when I took it to my local dealer here in Memphis to see what its trade in value was (I bought the car in Illinois), they disclosed that the car had been in an accident by the previous owner. I bought the car as a CPO from the dealership in Illinois and was under the impression that NO CPO could have any wreckage or body work done to pass the inspection. My concerns are that I payed several thousand dollars more than necessary for the car since it had been in an accident and now I am also getting far less money on it as a trade-in due to this as well. Should I call BMW of North America and if so, how would you recommend to proceed? thanks for any help.

I feel for you - I've been there. I bought my previous BMW (2006 330i) 18 months old, CPO from BMW retailer in Regina SK. This was just before CARFAX became effective in Canada (it existed, but generally had no info in the reports). The dealership owner's buddy owned it previously, and I was told it was traded on an X5 because the guy just had a second child. I was told it had no accidents.

3 years later, I'm trading it in, and CARFAX shows that it was in 3 major ($5000+ repair) accidents in the first 18 months for a total repair tab of around $20,000. My trade-in value plummets from $17K for an extra-clean to $12K for a spotty history. The dealership I purchased it from in Regina SK told me to piss up a rope. BMW NA pretty much said the same thing. I was shocked that under CPO rules they wouldn't have to disclose the accident history so that the purchaser can make an informed decision.

[ELCID86]

I feel for you - I've been there. I bought my previous BMW (2006 330i) 18 months old, CPO from BMW retailer in Regina SK. This was just before CARFAX became effective in Canada (it existed, but generally had no info in the reports). The dealership owner's buddy owned it previously, and I was told it was traded on an X5 because the guy just had a second child. I was told it had no accidents.

3 years later, I'm trading it in, and CARFAX shows that it was in 3 major ($5000+ repair) accidents in the first 18 months for a total repair tab of around $20,000. My trade-in value plummets from $17K for an extra-clean to $12K for a spotty history. The dealership I purchased it from in Regina SK told me to piss up a rope. BMW NA pretty much said the same thing. I was shocked that under CPO rules they wouldn't have to disclose the accident history so that the purchaser can make an informed decision.

That sucks. I think we are all a bit wiser thanks to this tread. Caveat empto --though I'm not sure how to be more cautious about these non-disclosures.

[Bird-Dog]

Even without an accident in its history I don't think it would be wise to trade-in a ZHP. They are retailing way above market and are generally an easy sale. As noted, dealers are going to try to lowball you on a trade and the book value is not a true reflection of market value with these. Sell it yourself and use cash for the buy-down on a newer car if that's what you want (personally, I'd keep the ZHP).

If you're in a hurry because you've seen a certain car you want... well... don't be. That's just an invitation for the dealer to rape you, but good! There will be plenty of other cars out there once you sell the ZHP.

If your car looks good, has no frame damage, and the repair was done right, which I would assume to be the case if it was a CPO car, then that shouldn't hinder you too much on a private sale.