So. I bought a VERY slick 2008 NBP TL from Sam Swope Infiniti in Louisville KY on June 20th, 2012. They said it was the cleanest/ best looking pre-owned Acura they've seen. I talked them down a good chunk, and took it for $19,000 out the door. Ive been loving it ever since! (I came from a 1989 Thunderbird lol!)

I got the title today. Guess what? It says ** REBUILT / WATER DAMAGE **

NO indication was given to me of this. The CarFax they gave me was clean - no accidents reported and no damage. They said the title was clean - the title they still have on file says it's clean. What gives?

I called them ready to give hell...and they said that 4 years ago a customer was complaining about the same thing...and that the government had a *glitch in the system* (cliche much?) and printed a title with the REBUILT branding by mistake. They were adamant that the same thing had happened....because the DMV makes title mistakes all the time, right?

I asked them what would happen if the title I received in the mail today was in fact correct? They replied..."We would have a major problem...I dont even want to think of what is going to happen"

This scares me...What do you guys think is going on? What should I do? All VIN body panels match the title I received in the mail and I've had no problems whatsoever with the car. I'm stumped as to what to do and what could possibly happen!

 

Rule #1 run the car's VIN you are intent pn puchasing past your insurance agent.... they will catch any claim submitted to an insurance company and is by FAR more reliable than carfax or dealer BS....

 

Rebuilt water damage doesnt exactly mean the replaced exterior parts.....u paid clean tittle price that's for sure....
If I was you run a car fax yourself and check the history see if they showed you a real car fax!.....
Go to this website also and do a vincheck.....

If it is a rebuilt tittle try to get more money back if you really like the car if not return it..

https://www.nicb.org/theft_and_fraud_awareness/vincheck

 

it passed both of those checks
They are calling tomorrow to find out if the title was printed wrong...if not...idk what to do.

 

Dang, I hope they get it sorted out and printed it by mistake, the DMV is subject to mistakes, as is everyone else. But I hope you have a truly clean car good luck!

 

I would still pay the money and get a real car fax anyway just to be sure

Rebuilt tittle cars are not bad,as long as everything is done correctly I'm telling you from experience but I feel your pain,you paid for a clean car,hope it is a mistake,but I've never seen the DMV dO mistakes when it come to titles

 

I havent either. Im not too awfully worried about the repairs, its the drop in value that scares me.

 

I would take it to a reputable body shop and start measuring paint thickness on each panel. This should give you some idea if any panels were replaced/repaired/repainted

 

Meh keep the car forever and forget about value.

It's against the law to not notify the buyer that it is salvage/rebuilt. So if they didn't know or knew they'd still have to give you your money back. This is for TX though.

 

A lot of people are telling me to sue them already. I've never dealt with before and it seems like a daunting task to be honest!

 

This will be interesting.

It's a shame-it's a nice looking TL.

 

It would be real hard to tell since it was water damage!..meaning mostly electrical parts were replaced if any......

 

It is a very nice TL. I couldn't believe what I was reading. They will call tomorrow morning to the clerks office and find out what is going on. If the dealer still has the previous owners information, I'll call them too. That should give a definitive answer.

 

That is a sweet ride. Hopefully the drama surrounding it gets sorted out. I love my NBP 06.

 

Salesmen will lie to sell a car.

 

Car salesman aren't lying. They're twisting the truth. Completely different.

 

^obviously you don't know what a lie is......

 

funny

 

Sorry. The same thing happened to me, although not to the extent of a branded title, when I asked if there was any damage to the car previously. I asked if its been in a wreck, and showed me a bogus carfax I can only assume, and after I already purchased I looked a little deeper to discover the passenger door was hit. After I raised hell and told them I'm going to voice out on yelp how I-5 Motors in Fife, WA is a shitty place to buy used cars, they offered to repair the orange peeled side and sent me a check for 162 dollars.

 

Good luck

 

hard to believe something like that would not have records of the damage. OP, i think the real question is if it does turn out to be an actual salvaged title do you a) plan to keep the car as is and ask for money back or b) return it for a full refund? Aside from the dealer making calls. Make your own calls and document them. Let insurance find info on the car and definately wont hurt to hire a lawyer. Did you get copies of all the documents when buying the car? Hopefully its a mistake by the DMV and you have a clean ride.

 

If you have a copy of a CARFAX and your car has a rebuild title, carfax offers buyback guaranty. At least you can get your money back. I am not sure who would make a claim in this case you or dealer.

 

I say if they don't figure it out within the next week, demand your money back. I personally wouldn't keep a car with water damage. And even though they had no idea, you still have a right to get your money back. But if it does turn out to be salvage and you keep the car, they should reimburse you some of the money since you paid for a clean title but got a branded one. It looks very clean, but since it isn't even on record that the car was under water, you have no idea how well it was repaired. Which like the other guy said, exterior parts aren't what you would worry about, it's the electronics.

But best case scenario it actually is a misprint. Sounds kind of weird though. I would think something shady happened and the dealer got ripped off.

 

If it does turn out to be salvage, I'll have an acura dealer examine it (at the dealers expense of course) and see if they find anything. I'm leaning toward just getting my money back and going with a silver or WDP TL if I can find one. But hopefully it really is a misprint and I can keep what I have

 

Also, maybe have the dealer or you take out the interior carpet to see if you see any rust on the interior metal of the car. If the car was flooded, it would show there.

 

That's a clean NBP TL. I hope this mess gets straightened out, one way or another. Good luck.

 

UPDATE: Dealer called the clerks office and said the title was branded wrong, its actually clean! So they are asking me to bring the title in and sign it over to them so they can send it to the clerks office for reprinting. Sounds good, and I'm very relieved!! Thanks for all the support

 

Awesome news! Could have gotten really ugly if they were lying. Nice car.

 

Sweet! Glad everything worked out for you!!

 

Excellent news! Enjoy your new TL!

 

Good news so far but it aint over until you have the new clean title in your hands

 

awesome news! what a relief!

 

I wonder why you have 2004 seats in your 2008. I'm pretty sure those are the older style seats.

 

id return it and move on to another TL..

why give yourself the headache?

you already paid clean title price for a rebuilt title car regardless of its true or not.

 

Just playing devil's advocate here, but what are the chances the dealer used their "connections" with the DMV to get you a clean title for the car even though it's actually a salvage/rebuild?? Of course, the carfax records would support your new clean title, but it still makes you wonder if the dealer somehow found a way to cover his ass so you wouldn't sue them.

Regardless, I'd say that's a pretty slim chance. Hope it all works out in the end.

 

Good eye!. I have to agree.

 

Hmm I haven't noticed that. Are you sure?

 

i don't know about everyone else, but i wouldn't sign the title. why would it need to be signed over for a reprint?

 

You made me go outside and look at my 2008 TL. I will need to see more cushion to tell the difference so far I do not see any.

 

DMV will not allow you to have two titles for same car. You can sell it twice, you can get two loans, you can ship it overseas then make a claim that it was stolen.

He probably will be surrendering it to DMV not signing it over to a dealership.

just my opinion.