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/mi...guidelines.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.

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[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??

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??

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...

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.