waldron

Sad story: I bought a used luxury vehicle knowing it had been in a major accident, without having it inspected. Dumb, I know. Sick to my stomach dumb. Lost sleep dumb. Lost my shirt dumb.

I have had plenty of trouble and costly repairs (around $8,000 already). 18 months and 20,000 miles later, that drive-line vibration felt since I drove it off the lot was determined to be a cracked engine block. The motor-mount boss snapped off and there are spider cracks around that. Just one bolt out of three is holding the engine in place on that side. Must have been quite the accident. The aluminum is unfixable due to the cracks and the mechanic advises against replacing the motor; he advises against sinking any more money into it, given the history. Game over.

I still owe a lot, and will have to pull hardship money out the 401k to pay off the auto loan and obtain the title. Then what? Please share thoughts on how to recover some $, keeping in mind that dishonesty is not my way.

It has low miles (44k) and looks good (9/10 inside and out). Carfax says it was not Salvaged. I am not a mechanic myself, nor do I have a buddy who is. It is driveable (sort of).

• Trade it in to a dealer, disclosing the full situation?
• Post it on Craigslist as a mechanic's special, disclosing the full situation? (for how much?)
• Part it out? (without good engine/core, would I get much?)
• Any other ideas?

Thank you!

dreadlocks

Ooooof.. dude.
Trade it into dealer and let em figure it out.. you dont needa disclose anything with the low ball offer they gonna give you anyhow.. but thats probably best yer gonna get.

FranklinQ7

Not sure of the whole story here, sounds fishy but if Carfax said it was not a salvage, did Carfax show it as being in a severe accident. They have a buyback policy but the process is pretty dependent upon something just being missed. If someone has misrepresented the condition of the car, you may have recourse there.

waldron

Thank you for considering this, Franklin. Here's what the vehicle history report says: "Accident reported with another motor vehicle. vehicle towed. front airbag deployed." No mention of severity, nor of the collision repair facility (I think monkeys put it back together). Carfax says "guaranteed not salvage". The car was later auctioned, but apparently not a salvage auction. It probably should have been!

I pulled a separate AutoDNA report, with nothing found for accidents or insurance records. I do not know how to dig deeper.

FranklinQ7

I feel your pain. I really think this qualifies as illegal as the sellers/repair people knew how bad it was.

Dudeness30

I would look at trading it in too, And don’t tell them anything, just let them give you a price.

porsche man

Trade it in to a Audi dealer,they will most likely give you the most money. It is not your problem if they don't throw it on a lift. Get another one. Who did you buy it from? If it is a new car dealer you might go back to them, but that reveals your hand.

waldron

Thanks, all, for your support.

My mechanic advised me to advertise it as-is, for $10,000 to gauge interest, then drop the price, hoping to get $5-6,000 when the right buyer comes along. Your thoughts? They also suggested screwing a dealership (because "they screw us"), but the auction circuit is how it came to me, and I do not wish for this to happen to anyone else. Also, I have two teenagers watching how their parents navigate this predicament, with integrity. Those stakes are higher than any lost money.

RE being on a lift, nobody noticed this during many service and repairs; not two German car mechanic shops, not even the Audi svc. department while changing a CV boot.

dreadlocks

Just crush it and walk away if you have such a moral dilemma.. You bought it at auction as-is? well that explains how you got so ****ed w/this deal..

If you show your hand, the car is a total loss.. nobody is gonna give you more than scrap for it.. unless take it to a push/pull/drag trade in event where they dont give a crap about its condition, but you'll probably leave the lot w/another disaster.

Dudeness30

If you don’t want to screw over anyone else, then it doesn’t hurt to find yourself a good metal worker with experience in creative repairs and try to fix the mount. If it fails then scrap it.