It's official, the left hand side, from fender to fender, has been repainted, as confirmed by a impartial body shop. The masking traits are obvious. And to top it off, it was repainted Spa Yellow... On a Rio Yellow Pearl car. Goddd....



If the car is certified, can this be 'shrugged off'? I know it previously owned, but during the time that it was 'checked over' by a Honda tech and sat in the showroom for a month under scrutiny from other buyers, don't you think ANYONE would notice it was repainted? And if so, don't you think ANYONE would tell me before I sign here, initial there, spent 27 grand?


What are my rights regarding this? The dealer tried to play dumbshit and get out of the fact that they didnt 'notice' it was repainted. Well if they didn't notice THAT, I wonder what else they might have missed during their 300 bazillion point inspection... for all they know I could have a damn Oddesey engine in this thing!




So... who's fault is it? I suppose I should have looked it over (and I did, but I wasnt expecting a paint job). But the fact that it's certified brings out another trump card... it should be just the way it came from the factory. If I had bought it from some punk owner who didn't give a rats ass about me, then yes, I'd be out of luck. But since I bought it from a supposedly reputable dealer and it should have passed all visual, mechanical, and electrical inspections with flying colors, I might have an argument. I mean seriously, WHO DOESN'T NOTICE STUFF LIKE THIS?!

What can I do? I'm heading up to the dealer on Saturday to get them to reprogram my spare key and check out my terribly resprayed car... what can I say?






PS. I hit VTEC like 10 times today... almost makes the worries go away. I'm thinking supercharger hahah.. yeah.

 

This is a tough one. Because the vehicle is used, they only have to disclose "what they know" and this can be an extremely gray area. If it has a clean Carfax report and or has no documented accidents or body repair-technically, they don't have to tell you anything. The paintwork could have been looked over believe it or not...or just simply kept from you. In either case-they are covered and there really isn't that much you can do.

 

Your S better have low miles cause 27 grand on a 04 is quite high.

 

Buyer beware.

Unless you asked them whether it was repainted and they denied it, you're probably out of luck. Did you check out the carfax on it? When I bought mine, they whipped out that carfax in a heartbeat. While waxing mine the other day, I've found some slight body damage. Didn't notice it when I bought it.

As for them noticing the repaint, well, you didn't notice when you bought it did you? 27K IS steep for an 04. I can get an 06 for a touch over 30 locally. I guess paying top dollar, this would be kind of a shock.

What exactly does certified mean? I'd go over that agreement with a fine toothed comb.

http://automobiles.honda.com/certified/standards.asp


I'd call honda. I'd call a repaint with the wrong color paint a problem in the certification process.

 

You're right, you should have looked the car over before you bought it.

I'd look for any more obvious proof that the car was damaged and see if any of it should have been caught during the CPO process. If so, I'd say you have a good claim to getting the car replaced. If nothing else, you should complain to Honda about the dealership. Wht dealership was this?

 

Does your sale contract state the car you bought was Spa yellow or Rio Yellow?

 

I have to be blunt here. If you didn't notice a Rio yellow car was reaprayed in Spa yellow on one side before you bought it, then it's totally you fault.

 

Everyone has an opinion about the law, just like everyone has something else.

You need to get your legal advice from attorneys.

You need to look at the language regarding the inspection process. I think you have a right to expect a certified car to be as promised. If you sue them, you'll be able to get discovery and question everyone involved. If they knew it was repainted, you may be able to prove this.

You can be sure they knew it was repainted and used this as an excuse to pay as little as possible for it.

Ken

 

Exterior Inspection: Left and right front fenders - finish, trim

I would take that to mean that they should have checked the finish of the paint, and seen that it did not match.

 

Have you spoken to the dealer about this yet? Have you tried to go above the dealer and deal with American Honda (I think that is what they are called) ?