Long story cut short -

I was getting ready to purchase a used vehicle from my dealer today after test driving it a few days ago and also having a preinspection done to it to assess any issues.

The mechanics said one of the O2 sensors need to be replaced and transmission flushed.

So, it wasn't too bad.

Until I went in this morning and found out there was a damaged hole on the tail light and long white scratches on the rear deck lid. It looked like someone had done it the night before because myself and my fiance checked the car several times during our test drive and did not notice those at all. I remember seeing just minor scratches on the back, that seemed faded and small but not as big as we say today.

I ended up leaving because I could not wait any longer, then left a message and sent an email to the dealer. He claims those have always been there and that my mechanic, myself, and my fiance missed seeing it.

What else is great is he updated the pics on his website with all new pictures attempting to mimic the same shots as before and added more pictures with all updated pictures. And the reason I know this is because I knew he was shady from the beginning, so I saved all the pictures off his website this morning. I check an hour ago and I see all new pictures that looks almost exactly the last ones but was not the same. Did a comparison and yep he definitely updated all the pics and included the one pic where he emailed me that showed it was damaged.

So my only proof right now is this video I took on the day I test drove it and the pic he has given me today that he claims to have taken on the 11th, which is the same day I test drove the car. You be the judge. The damage is on the right rear tail light. There is a hole you will see. It's worse when you get closer, but not as bad on the pic.

Pic he gave me:
http://www.red-demon.com/img/images/dscn9192.jpg

Video I took that had no damage from the day I test drove it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUKxFRVCghY

Do you see the hole damage on the rear tail light on the video?

At around 0:15 to 0:16 it looks like there is possibly a hole there.

Agree with #1 - there is something abnormal there between 0:15 and 0.16. When you freeze the frame and use full screen - you can definitely see it.

Can't really tell from the video, too blurry. Walk away from the deal if it seems fishy.

I don't get it. If you saved all the old website pics because you thought he was shady, how about posting those up to compare to the new ones? You posted the new pic he emailed you; why not post the old, similar pic you saved off the website?

That aside, even if you think he's shady but he's actually not and that whatever problems have always been there but you never noticed them before... it still comes down to the car you are thinking about buying has damage to it. Whether it was there before or not or whether you noticed it before or not is immaterial since you notice it now. Well, immaterial other than trying to prove to yourself you're not crazy/blind and that he is indeed shady.

Unless you already bought the thing.

I don't get it. If you saved all the old website pics because you thought he was shady, how about posting those up to compare to the new ones? You posted the new pic he emailed you; why not post the old, similar pic you saved off the website?

That aside, even if you think he's shady but he's actually not and that whatever problems have always been there but you never noticed them before... it still comes down to the car you are thinking about buying has damage to it. Whether it was there before or not or whether you noticed it before or not is immaterial since you notice it now. Well, immaterial other than trying to prove to yourself you're not crazy/blind and that he is indeed shady.

Unless you already bought the thing.

The OP stated he only has the video and the updated photos in the original post.

It really doesn't matter if the photos were updated or not, if you think he's the kind of dealer you rather not to deal with, walk away. It's a nice coupe but if you think the dealer is willing to update the photos just to cover up what happened to the car after you test drove it, there can always be something else that you think you don't know.

I'm not saying whether he did damage the car after your test drive and tried to lie about it or you remembered it wrong. Either can happen. However if you are not feeling comfortable with the person who's trying to sell you a car, just don't go through with it. That's pretty much the rule when buying used stuff.

And yeah, in the future, try and take your time documenting things better. Bad evidence is not evidence.

The OP stated he only has the video and the updated photos in the original post.
"so I saved all the pictures off his website this morning. I check an hour ago and I see all new pictures that looks almost exactly the last ones but was not the same. Did a comparison and yep he definitely updated all the pics"

Sounds like he compared old website pictures he saved with new website pictures. :confused:

Oh well, not like it matters unless he already signed paperwork to buy it.

Dude, based on what you're seeing & feeling here, stand up & walk away. I don't understand why you're putting so much time into this. If the dealer seems shady & you think he's hiding something, drop it & go somewhere else. There's no shortage of used Hondas laying around.

I know just about everyone is telling me to steer away from this deal with his carefree attitude since the beginning. I remember the first day I went there he did not give a $hit about anything, didn't say anymore than 10 words and just kinda tossed me the car keys. So me and my girl went out for a drive (he didn't even take either of our IDs and I wasn't insured during that time) and that is when I took that recording.

The second time I got there when I asked him if I could take it to the mechanic, he just smacked a license plate on it and we drove to the mechanic. Again, he took no documentation or anything from me. The only thing he had up at that point was my email address, name, and phone number.

My reason for going as far as I am and still sticking with it even though I know this dealer is shady is because myself and my fiance are both tired of relying on her car only, especially since we both have jobs at different shifts and she has to go to school. We've been dealing with it for a long time, I wanted something decent and not too out of my pocket range to invest on. Something I could keep for at least 5 years, until I see how everything with my career and financial goals go. Anyways, for anyone who wants to see the before and after shot - here it is.

Here are the old pics, I uploaded it to a friend's site:
http://red-demon.com/car/

Here are the new pics on the dealers site (I used a free anonymous url service so that the dealer doesn't see traffic coming from this slick deals thread):
Honda Accord 06 (http://anon.projectarchive.net/?http://www.theautoportinc.com/vehicle/3475533/2006-Honda-Accord-LXPZEV-Tampa-Bay-Florida-33773)

walk away and go to a different dealer...
save yourself the time/trouble/effort

I know just about everyone is telling me to steer away from this deal with his carefree attitude since the beginning. I remember the first day I went there he did not give a $hit about anything, didn't say anymore than 10 words and just kinda tossed me the car keys. So me and my girl went out for a drive (he didn't even take either of our IDs and I wasn't insured during that time) and that is when I took that recording.

The second time I got there when I asked him if I could take it to the mechanic, he just smacked a license plate on it and we drove to the mechanic. Again, he took no documentation or anything from me. The only thing he had up at that point was my email address, name, and phone number.

My reason for going as far as I am and still sticking with it even though I know this dealer is shady is because myself and my fiance are both tired of relying on her car only, especially since we both have jobs at different shifts and she has to go to school. We've been dealing with it for a long time, I wanted something decent and not too out of my pocket range to invest on. Something I could keep for at least 5 years, until I see how everything with my career and financial goals go. Anyways, for anyone who wants to see the before and after shot - here it is.

Here are the old pics, I uploaded it to a friend's site:
http://red-demon.com/car/

Here are the new pics on the dealers site (I used a free anonymous url service so that the dealer doesn't see traffic coming from this slick deals thread):
Honda Accord 06 (http://anon.projectarchive.net/?http://www.theautoportinc.com/vehicle/3475533/2006-Honda-Accord-LXPZEV-Tampa-Bay-Florida-33773)

Don't really see what the issue is. If everything is pointing to a bad situation/deal, why are you pushing forward? Juts walk away. I know you two have been putting up with one car, but will it be worth it in the long run? What's a few more weeks/months?

I looked at the pictures on the dealer's website and it appears that they have both the old pictures (that you saved to your friend's website) and the pictures that are new.

After a quick look at the pictures of the car, it definitely looks like something was on the tail light in the old pictures (This one specifically (http://image9.autorevo.com/2066/pics/3475533_dbd0bed8-966b-4763-a2fb-776488a81703.jpg)), but was covered up in some fashion. Looks like red tape may have been used.

As others have mentioned, if you've signed nothing, there's nothing compelling you to buy the car. If you aren't feeling it, just walk away.

As an aside, for an 06 Accord LX with 94k miles, I'd say that you can probably do much better through a Honda dealership. I don't see anything particularly special about that specific car. You might spend a little bit more, but you can probably get an 08 (current generation) Accord LX for only a little more money.

I looked at the pictures on the dealer's website and it appears that they have both the old pictures (that you saved to your friend's website) and the pictures that are new.

After a quick look at the pictures of the car, it definitely looks like something was on the tail light in the old pictures (This one specifically (http://image9.autorevo.com/2066/pics/3475533_dbd0bed8-966b-4763-a2fb-776488a81703.jpg)), but was covered up in some fashion. Looks like red tape may have been used.

As others have mentioned, if you've signed nothing, there's nothing compelling you to buy the car. If you aren't feeling it, just walk away.

As an aside, for an 06 Accord LX with 94k miles, I'd say that you can probably do much better through a Honda dealership. I don't see anything particularly special about that specific car. You might spend a little bit more, but you can probably get an 08 (current generation) Accord LX for only a little more money.

That's the new one. Compare it with the old one on friend's site. The hole on the rear light is not visible on the right side with the old picture vs the new picture.

There are way too many dealerships and cars out there to buy from this dude.
HAVE YOU SIGNED ANYTHING?
HAVE YOU PUT A DOWN PAYMENT?

Have not signed anything, no down payment yet.

That's the new one. Compare it with the old one on friend's site. The hole on the rear light is not visible on the right side with the old picture vs the new picture.

It's exactly the same as This pic (http://red-demon.com/car/index.php?cmd=image&sfpg=KmNhcjcuanBnKjRkNTcxNDg3MzY4MjhmOTNjNmRlODBmOGM2NmQ1ZmMy) that was uploaded to your friend's website.

It's always been there, it seems.

Have not signed anything, no down payment yet.

Chalk it up to a free learning experience. Go buy somewhere else.

Well for one thing you can walk away the car is not the lady drove it to town once a week and even though it is 10 yrs old only has 20K on it nice.

The dealer is not "shady" in letting you drive the car without a bunch of paperwork, he could be trusting or lazy, are you in a small town? As for insurance the car was probably insured thru his policy if you did not have coverage, that said you damage the car you are liable for it.

You are spending way to much time on a non issue go to cars.com yahoo autos autotrader or any number of sites and pick a car out.

The dealer is not "shady" in letting you drive the car without a bunch of paperwork, he could be trusting or lazy, are you in a small town? As for insurance the car was probably insured thru his policy if you did not have coverage, that said you damage the car you are liable for it.

Yeah, I wouldn't think much bad about the carefree attitude. In fact, I'd encourage it. "Want to take it to your mechanic? Sure, here's a plate. Have fun." Shows confidence in the quality of the vehicle, actually.

This all comes down to do you want the car in its current shape or not. If you want to tell the dealer you didn't notice the hole/scratches/whatever before and would like them fixed before purchasing, maybe he'd fix them. If not, offer a price you are comfortable with since you will have to fix it if you care to fix it.

You apparently already had your mechanic check it out, so if you trust him, then there you are on that part.

I have no idea what we are all looking at here. I've compared the pics and see NO difference

If you haven't bought the car, then it doesn't matter. Let's say you really like the car and the price, but it has this damage. Then your opinion is that the car is worth $X less because of the damage. Offer the dealer that amount. He's free to take it our leave it, and so are you.

So my only proof right now is this pic he has given me today that he claims to have taken on the 11th, which is the same day I test drove the car.

Pic he gave me:
http://www.red-demon.com/img/images/dscn9192.jpg

Do you see the hole damage on the rear tail light on the video?

I just checked the exif data on the picture and it says "Image Created: 2011:11:11 18:31:35" so he's not lying about having taken it on that day. Although this may be a moot point since I noticed on the website the car now says sold. As others have pointed out, I think you may have overlooked it on that day that you test drove?

sure looks like the hole is there in the video

I just checked the exif data on the picture and it says "Image Created: 2011:11:11 18:31:35" so he's not lying about having taken it on that day. Although this may be a moot point since I noticed on the website the car now says sold. As others have pointed out, I think you may have overlooked it on that day that you test drove?

That date is easy to change through windows properties. I guess all 3 of us somehow missed it.

I just checked the exif data on the picture and it says "Image Created: 2011:11:11 18:31:35" so he's not lying about having taken it on that day. Although this may be a moot point since I noticed on the website the car now says sold. As others have pointed out, I think you may have overlooked it on that day that you test drove?

:lol:

That date is easy to change through windows properties. I guess all 3 of us somehow missed it.

Seems there are a few things you've missed.