Marietta area: can someone check out a car for me?

[95oRANGEcRUSH]

Figured I would ask here and there might be somebody willing to check a car out for me. It is a 2007 Acura TL-Type S w/ a little over 27,000 miles. It is at an independent dealer and they are asking $25,900 which is about $3,000 lower than what I typically see for this model with similar miles. CarFax came back clean with no accidents or anything negative to report. Still, something seems odd.

A lot of the other cars in inventory are underpriced and that has me thinking these may be flood cars or something like that. However, it is a good price so I figured I would look into it.

Here is the autotrader link:
http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.jsp?ct=u&car_id=250856425&dealer_id=100012080&model=TL_MODELSCLASS_SERIES&make2=&start_year=2007&keywordsfyc=&keywordsfyc=&keywordsrep=&keywordsrep=&engine=&certified=&fuel=&search_type=both&distance=0&make=ACURA&keywords_display=&color=&min_price=22000&drive=&default_sort=priceDESC&max_mileage=&style_flag=1&address=44321&advanced=&end_year=2009&doors=&transmission=&max_price=30000

Address of the dealer is:
GA Best Car Deals
1745 Roswell Rd
Marietta, GA 30062

Thanks!

 

[65x2]

I can probably swing by there this Friday afternoon. I'll be out that way.

 

[95oRANGEcRUSH]

I can probably swing by there this Friday afternoon. I'll be out that way.

I would appreciate that a lot. I have a friend in the Atlanta area, but he's not a car guy by any means. I'm not sure that he would know what to look for when checking a car out.

 

[65x2]

I would appreciate that a lot. I have a friend in the Atlanta area, but he's not a car guy by any means. I'm not sure that he would know what to look for when checking a car out.

No problem, I'm not an ace mechanic by anymeans.. but I can find my way around... now paintwork/body wise can't slide much past me on that one. I can take additional photos as well if you like. Get up close and personal with this bad boy :beer:

 

[SicStang03]

No problem, I'm not an ace mechanic by anymeans.. but I can find my way around... now paintwork/body wise can't slide much past me on that one. I can take additional photos as well if you like. Get up close and personal with this bad boy :beer:

It's a good thing you are doing for him:rockon:

 

[95oRANGEcRUSH]

No problem, I'm not an ace mechanic by anymeans.. but I can find my way around... now paintwork/body wise can't slide much past me on that one. I can take additional photos as well if you like. Get up close and personal with this bad boy :beer:

Sounds good. You don't have to take pictures, but if you think it would be a major issue (huge scratches, dents, etc) I would appreciate it. Feel free to treat it as if you are buying it. I emailed this place Tuesday and they still haven't responded which makes me a little suspicious.

It's a good thing you are doing for him:rockon:

Yes it is. I would gladly return the favor. Hell, if you're ever up in the Cleveland area hit me up and I'll buy you a couple rounds. :beer:

 

[65x2]

It's a good thing you are doing for him:rockon:

It's no problem.. gives me something to do on Fridays after work! What goes around comes around anyway!

Sounds good. You don't have to take pictures, but if you think it would be a major issue (huge scratches, dents, etc) I would appreciate it. Feel free to treat it as if you are buying it. I emailed this place Tuesday and they still haven't responded which makes me a little suspicious.



Yes it is. I would gladly return the favor. Hell, if you're ever up in the Cleveland area hit me up and I'll buy you a couple rounds. :beer:

I'll take a camera with just incase. No worries, I'll treat it just as if I were buying it. I'll probably head out in about 2 hours. Wait till morning traffic dies down some.

Luke

 

[65x2]

All rightie... heres the skinny!

The car is absolutely filthy. Its sitting underneath a couple trees backed into some bushes. With enough room for a pencil to squeeze between it and the one next to it.

My first question to Mr. not so talkative was, "Has the car ever been in any accidents?" He replied "We have a clean carfax." Thats pretty much the most he was willing to give me as far as conversation goes.

Observation wise, the engine bay is immaculant, no leaks as far as I can tell and it doesn't have that freshly washed look to it. The oil looked clean and didn't smell burnt, I didn't have a flashlight to look down inside and the light was obstructed by the trees, but from what I could tell, it looked clean! Doesn't look like a single bolts been turned either.

The interior looked like the only seat ever occupied was the drivers seat. It looked pretty worn for a 27,000 mile car. But nothing awful, no tears or worn through spots, just a good many wrinkles. Otherwise the interior looked very clean! The back half of the sunroof was tilted like it was starting to be opened, I asked him if it was stuck or it didn't close all the way or just wasn't closed all the way. He told me probably not closed all the way. I didn't think to check it myself... my apologies. But I didn't notice any stains on the headliner.

Exterior wise, the rear bumper has been painted (its a nice three stage paint job, which I'll give credit too its tough to panel paint and match) and is a couple shades darker than the rest of the car. The D/S fender looks like it might be a TOUCH (this is looking very hard) misaligned, I felt a tape edge on the inside of the fender and again the color is just a shade off, but I'd say 80% of the population would never notice it; much closer than the rear bumper. Theres also a dent about 3-4 inches long and 2 inches wide on the top of the D/S fender, but not very noticeable.

The P/S front tire is some unknown name brand that looks too small for the rim, its bulging on the sides, tread looked OK though. The rear tires looked fine and tread looked OK and I did notice that the D/S front was a Michelin which fit nicely and also had good tread. (Didn't notice if the backs matched).

Heres where I dropped the ball, I'm going to blame it on the fact that I was on my way to a job interview after I left the car lot so I completely forgot to crank the car up. :nonono: I was telling my G/F about it when I got home how I screwed it up and she said she'd like to go test drive it. So we'll probably go back tomorrow to give it a spin around the block. Sorry about that, had a complete brain fart.

If theres anything else you'd like me to look at when I go back out there tomorrow. Let me know. I did ask how firm he was on the price and he said pretty firm, I asked 20,000 firm and he again repeated pretty firm :beer:.

Hope this helps and I'll update you tomorrow when we go back out there!

Luke

 

[95oRANGEcRUSH]

Luke, thanks so much! I'm not surprised that there were some minor issues with the car. It sounds like there may have been a minor accident that was handled outside of insurance. While the carfax is clean, I'm still skeptical about the history somewhat given the price.

Other than the minor bodywork it sounds like it is in pretty good shape. The dent and tire can be taken care of pretty easily. The wrinkly drivers seat can be fixed under warranty (that is a common problem with these cars). Sounds like the mechanicals are ok, too.

Thanks again and let me know how that test drive goes. :beer::beer:

 

[Smacked_in_ATL]

Man, this is a great thread. Good luck in your purchase.

 

[65x2]

Hey man, I haven't had a chance to get over there again. Saturday the G/F and I ended up doing stuff around the house all day. Right now I'm in and out of the garage trying to get my pops '67 Mustang Coupe in primer today. Depending on how that goes, I'll try to get over there this evening to give it a spin. Otherwise the soonest I'll be able to get back over there is Friday. Sorry about this dude, hopefully today will work out!

Luke

 

[95oRANGEcRUSH]

Hey man, I haven't had a chance to get over there again. Saturday the G/F and I ended up doing stuff around the house all day. Right now I'm in and out of the garage trying to get my pops '67 Mustang Coupe in primer today. Depending on how that goes, I'll try to get over there this evening to give it a spin. Otherwise the soonest I'll be able to get back over there is Friday. Sorry about this dude, hopefully today will work out!

Luke

No problem at all. I know you have a life and have other commitments. I appreciate everything that you have done so far. :beer:

 

[65x2]

DUDE!! I just remembered about this.. I apologize man. I can't believe I forgot about it.
Shit my bad man.