mystikk

I got into some crap and I'm kind of in a bind on whether or not to do one or do the other. I'm including a story, so if you want to see cliff notes, scroll down to bottom, lol.

A few months ago, I tried to trade my 'o1 for an 'o6 WRX, and was pretty close to dealing it .. til it came to my trade-in value for the CL-S .. they only offered $4000. Now a few weeks before that, Mazda offered me $11,500, so I threw a "wtf" flag up and demanded an explanation .. turns out, the owner of Honda knows this car very well. Words from the Subaru dealership were, "this car has basically been rebuilt from the ground up." My reaction of course .. We still owed $12k at the time, so trading in was basically a big no-no.

Now, when we bought this car, my mom told me it has a clean record, no crashes or anything like that came up on CarFax or anything on her research. I asked the dealership if it's illegal to hold this kind of information from a potential buyer, he said it's not illegal whatsoever. I thought that was a bunch of crap ..

So after I stormed out of the dealership, I came to the conclusion that I should start modding this $4000 car extensively, to make it look like it's supposed to .. But the other half of my conscience says leave the car be with its current problems, then sell it when you can.

I've been bouncing back and forth with this kind of decision .. should I leave it alone or mod it? Reason why I want to mod it is because I'm probably never gonna have a car like the CL-S for a long while, so I want to make it a better car overall. I'm buying a new intake, headers, axlebacks, 2 new bumpers, and an audio system.

At the same time, I want to leave it alone because why throw money at a no-value car? I'm probably gonna get a new car soon anyway. [ which would be like a decade with my luck ] This is what my friends are saying. Save for a new car. What do you guys say? Mod or no?

CLiFF NOTES ..
- CL-S became a $4000 pos.
- mod or no? Help me decide.

BigLizard

If you absolutely love the car and you know you are going to keep it, sure, mod the damn thing. But if you know you are going to get rid of it ASAP, then no.

AS3.0CL

i would be pissed if they told me my car was worth that much and go after the dealership if you baught the acura from the acura store or the honda store.

if ur gonna sell don't modd it......i almost modded the hell out of my 3.0 before i sold it.

mystikk

I can't really go after Honda/Acura for this, since I bought the car from a used dealership. Coincidentally, the owners of the same used dealership got arrested a few months after we made our purchase, for fraud.

jproy

you could still sue them even in jail. if the guy has 10000 left to his name and noone else has claimed it yet, you could win a case provided you have the right evidence.

brianlin87

iTrader: (1)

i'm confused how your car changed value from $11.5K to 4K.... "just because the owner of Honda knew this car very well..."

doesn't make sense to me.

pits200

Must have had a salvage title or something...

GreenMonster

I thought that Mr. Soichiro Honda died in 1992, but apparently he's alive and living in Alaska and knows the owner of the Subaru dealership

I think the subaru dealership is just fucking with you w/ the lowball offer... If I was a salesman and saw a 19 y/o come in I know I'd try to make a killing. Take it somewhere else... there must be another subaru dealership up there that will give you more then $4k

If the carfax is clean, the carfax is clean... What evidence is there other then the "owner of honda" allegedly saying the car was "rebuilt"....

GreenMonster

It's stupid to mod a car that you are going to get rid of in the next year... you'll be lucky to get 50 cents on the dollar for the mods...

Damn... I gotta get rid of my CL... it's painful to read some of these threads...

mystikk

The Subie, Honda, Mazda, Volvo companies here operate under one parent company, "Continental," so they all call each other to look up past histories. I guess the convo went like this.

Subaru: yeah i've got a 2001 CL type-S ready to be traded in ..
Honda: wait, i see it outside, the gold one huh?
S: yessir.
H: *after a pause* i don't want it, offer 4000 or less.

then yeah. It's fucking stupid, and the reason why I came to the conclusion that I'll never get the car I want, as long as I live. =/

mystikk

Yanno, I think I'm gonna make an appointment with Mr. Honda Dealership someday and have a chat with him. It'd be interesting to say the least.

clpassenubye

iTrader: (20)

You said Mazda offered you $11,500 ealier so it just doesn't add up if they are all owned by one company then Mazda wouldn't have offered you that much. Yeah I agree I think they are trying to jack you. Just go somewhere else. If the car was rebuilt totally it would show up on carfax and if in fact it is totally rebuilt and carfax didn't list it I believe they have some kind of buyback guarantee.

NightRider

If you are bent on the wrx, go to a different subaru dealershit. When I traded my C280 in for the 04 TL, the dealership in Boulder (flatirons acura) offered me 2k less than what I needed for trade in. I called up the CO Springs dealership and described my car, told him my situation, and the GM or whoever (Leif, awesome guy) guaranteed what I needed for the trade in over the phone. I also received a great price which I don't currently remember, but it was great!

mystikk

Actually I forgot to mention, Mazda offered me 11.5k BEFORE they ever called Honda.

I'll look into the CarFax thing, because I haven't seen it with my own two eyes. My mom is a numbnut when it comes to cars, so I didn't really trust her when she said nothing was wrong with this car.

Time For Sleeep

so what problems do you have w/ the car?

why are you getting new axlebacks?

sorry to hear man =/.

mystikk

Oh, where can I start ..

15+ dents on both sides of the body
both bumpers spider-cracked and snowbank-cracked
Neuspeed axlebacks are chipped
speakers are shot, the whole left side is nonexistent. I also hear a lot of crackling in the left side speakers
spark plugs need to be replaced
AEM CAI has a hole and a towel for a temporary filter
SRS light is on, I accidentally pulled a wire while I pulled the passenger seat out.
an overall tune-up is needed.

Blah. A lot of shit's wrong with the car, but it shouldn't diminish the value down to $4k.

Lord Helmet

Uhhh.... dude, you need to haggle more on trade value. You should have told them how much you wanted for the car before hand. Also, from the sound of it, you should have also taken the $11k you were offered before and ate the additional $1k you owed and dumped it into the new car (or paid the difference.) Sounds like yours needs some work and it would probably cost you that much anyway and them some to make it right. Why not get a better car out of it instead? If I were offered $4k for my car, I honestly don't think I would have wasted one more second at that place. I would have laughed , gotten up from the desk, and left.

fuzzy02CLS

iTrader: (2)

Well that's a lot of problems, & it shows the car has not been taken care of. I wouldn't give you $5K for it either in that condition. Many other CL's out there in a ton better shape.

RaviNJCLs

iTrader: (4)

I would get rid of it, but not for $4000. Put it on ebay, see if someone bites. And run a current Carfax. Was there ever a salvage title? Go to the Honda dealership and ask them to show you how they know the car is re-built. Raise some hell. How long have you had the car and how many miles are on it?

pits200

Dude, no offense, but the car sounds like a piece of shit. What the hell happened to it that you could let your car go that much.

Second, don't put yourself into more debt by buying a car and only getting 5K for a trade in and then having to put the other 7K you still owe on the new car. You will never get ahead this way.

Third, suck it up and start fixing the small things on your car. If you cant afford 50 bucks to fix your CAI, and $100 bucks to get some replacement speakers, and all the other problems. Maybe you shouldn't be looking into getting a new ride.

Lord Helmet

mystikk

Oh, I will be fixing the problems as money comes in, no worries. I have a hookup for a real good paintless dent removal, and the small things like plugs and the CAI will be fixed in about a week and a half.

In an effort to save myself though, the bumpers look okay, just a big crack on the back one, so no real need to buy and paint 2 new ones; but I'll list them because like I said, I just plan on bringing the car back to its original state. Oh, and the 15 dents didn't come from me, they're from the previous owner who kept it outside during a big windstorm. Good ol' Mommy and Daddy wanted it anyway. I seriously told them I had a bad feeling about this car before they ignored me and bought it.

Looks like I WILL be keeping this car for a while. As said, no one wants to buy a modified car that's in POS condition.

Sun Diego CL-S

what, no love for the CL?! you're letting both us and your car down. wtf.
cause and effect son.

All Mine

Fix it and dump it. But that's just me.

pits200

Ya man, put about 400 bucks into fixing the dings ($125) speakers ($125), CAI ($35), oil change ($20), PCV Valve ($8), Seafoam ($10). Then go buy yourself some wax and shine your car up....

You're 19, I would be out there haulin ass to the autopart store to fix all these small problems. Go cry to someone who has had their tranny blow and Acura not honor the warranty cause its after 100,000 miles.

Lord Helmet

Hey, Pits, how many dings did you have?

pits200

I got 3, I travel for work and dip shits in some of these lousy cities just don't care. I got 2 on the drivers side and 1 on the passenger side. I am anal as hell, I know exactly where all the dings are on my car. Especially since its NBP, they really stand out when you look at it from an angle.

I am gonna stop traveling in about another year, I plan on still having this car because I really enjoy it. When I stop traveling, I will pay the Ding King to take all the dents out.

Lord Helmet

Mine's got some dings in it and one small dent on the back of the trunklid. Some asshat backed into it at my work and took off. I want to get them taken out and I think the trunklid one will come out too by paintless. I would imagine mine would cost me more that $125 as there are several. I'd like to get it done for whoever buys it.

Anyone know of a hook-up in Denver?? I know some guys in Co. Springs that do it but it's like pulling teeth trying to get down there on time during the week even on my days off. The guys only work in the mornings.

mystikk

Yeah looking at my car, I'm kind of ashamed of the lack of care I've given it, so I'm gonna blow a whole paycheck on it. Needs some love after all.

pits200

Thats what I like to hear. Besides our trannys, the car is reliable. It has some annoying small problems, but nothing worth letting it go to the dogs. Get some of dads beer and get some buddies over and work on the car.

Its simple, just don't do to much work after 7 beers or else you will be finding left over parts the next morning. I can tell you that from experience.