We have recently been made aware of customers coming into
Pumpkin Cars to look for a
great pre-owned car and discovering that the car they planned on trading in had previously been in a reported accident of which they were not aware. We realize that the use of Car Fax and Auto Check vehicle history reports have become much more prominent in recent years, but clearly some pre-owned car dealers were not and still are not up front with their customers. Imagine the surprise on the faces of our customers when they find out that their trade is not appraised at the value they had in mind simply because the car had been in an accident before they even purchased it! This is something that we at
Pumpkin Fine Cars would never have let happen. When we are out buying cars for
inventory, we do not buy any cars that have ever had an accident reported on the vehicle history report. Cars that we take on trade-ins from time to time have had accidents reported and we figure that into the trade allowance for that customer and also the price at which we will sell that car. Every car still must pass through our rigorous
Pumpkin Certification Program.
A perfect example is this
2003 Chevy Tahoe. It is a great truck, runs great, has great options and overall is in very solid condition. This particular truck did have an accident reported in 2006 as a minor front end impact. We were assured by the owner that it was merely a "fender-bender" and was thoroughly inspected by
Franck Freon to make sure that all of the paint was original and that there was no frame damage or replacement. Franck utilizes a small sonar paint meter and can tell immediately with this tool whether a panel has been replaced or repainted. In the case of the Tahoe, everything checked out. This Tahoe is listed at $8,995 which is a fair price that is also about $5,000 Below book value. One of the first things we mention to any customer that has come to check out our Tahoe is that it was in a reported accident. We are open, up front and honest with all of our customers, about all of our cars. It would be ridiculous for us to try to conceal the fact that the car was in an accident when we make the vehicle history report readily available to all of our customers, on all of our cars. We here at
Pumpkin Fine Cars have nothing to hide. If the fact that a vehicle like the Tahoe has had an accident determines whether you as a customer would purchase it or not, is certainly your decision to make. It would be a much worse situation, however, if you were to purchase the car, and go to trade it in down the road and then discover that it had been in an accident at that point. That is a situation in which we would never put one of our customers. Sometimes we cannot help the fact that a vehicle that we take on a trade has been in an accident. It happens, cars get into accidents, and most times nothing can be down about it.
What we can do though is make sure that if you are looking at a
Pumpkin Car that was taken on a trade that has had an accident reported, we will disclose that fact to our customer up front and allow that to factor into your decision making process. If all pre-owned dealerships enacted this same policy than eventually it would be a non-issue. Until that time you can know that
Pumpkin Fine Cars will pull no punches. Please swing by our
unique indoor showroom to see this
Tahoe or any one of our
Pristine Pumpkin Cars. Feel free to stop and talk cars or racing with Franck, pick the brain of his
friendly, knowledgeable staff or take one or a few cars out for a no-hassle test drive. As always,
Pumpkin Cars can be reached over the phone at 609-646-7676 and via email at
[email protected] . Please find us and
"Like" Franck Freon and Pumpkin Cars on Facebook, follow
PumpkinCars on Twitter and if you like what you have just read, please
subscribe to our blog.
Comments