Buying a car from a dealership that was/is modified...

I’m working with a local dealership to get in to a 2009 wrx. Apparently the 5 doors are pretty hard to come by locally (at least in my searchings), and they’ve been tracking them down for me.

They recently brought one in on friday. My salesman called me and said that he got one in, but it wouldn’t be ready for me to see until Monday or most likely Tuesday. That’s cool, i’m excited.

I decided to go by the dealership this afternoon to see if it was sitting outside so i could take a peek at it. Fortunately it was.

This is when I noticed the Perrin sticker on the door, perrin license plate holder, and the Cobb sticker on the mirror. Obviously these brands are intended for performance enhancement. That is also a cause for concern, i would think. This means the previous owner likely beat the crap out of it, possibly didn’t even observe the break in period. Also, not that it’s a big deal, but the tail lights are tinted, indicating that it was most likely a younger driver.

I haven’t brought any of this up to the salesman yet. I’d like to see what he meant by “getting it ready” for me to view. If that means removing the stickers and clearing the tails to hide the fact that it was modified, then I’ll bring up what i saw.

I’m concerned that if the ECU was modified and something goes wrong with the engine and Subaru of America asks for an image of the ECU and sees it was modified, they will decline warranty coverage.

IF… IF i decide to continue on with this, what should I be doing here? Should/Can I ask for a lower price? Can I have them verify that the ECU is still covered by subaru of america? Would asking for an extended powertrain warranty be acceptable?

I’d like to have them chop 2k off the price, throw in a set of snows, add a year or 2 full warranty to cover the engine and transmission, etc… but i think they’ll just say no and figure they can sell it to someone unsuspecting.

Oh, and in case they try to play it off that i was looking at the wrong car, i took pictures of the car, stickers, tail lights, vin number, etc. It’s the only white 2009 wrx on the lot, with the tags still on it saying it was from PA (as the salesman told me)… the only wrx at all for that matter.

I guess i’d just like to know what you would do. Haggle, haggle, buy? Or just move on?

I have a feeling that they are going to tell you what I tell assholes that offer me insultingly low amounts on cars I am selling, go fuck yourself comes to mind. If you want a car that is perfect buy a new one, plain and simple.

This has been in the works for over a month. The dealer has been working with me and vice versa. If they are going to lie to me and try to say a car was never modified in a performance manner, then really who should go fuck themselves? I’m the one with the 20k+ check that they want. I have no problem taking my deposit back and saying “sorry guys, shouldn’t have had the car shipped here from PA if you planned on lying to me.” There are plenty of other dealerships out there willing to sell someone a car. I’m not a punk kid test driving cars that i have no intention of buying just for kicks.

I understand that asking for a shitload off the price may be extreme, but that’s why i was asking for advice or opinions from people who could see themselves in this position, not for sarcastic replies from a disgruntled salesman who obviously had a bad month end. Maybe try again and suggest what I should do, especially since you’re a salesman. Hopefully you have more experience in the field than just telling people to fuck off.

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Also, I don’t want to buy brand new, it’s a waste of money. You’re a salesman, you know how much a brand new car is worth the second the new owner drives it off of the lot.
And i’m not looking at a 1995 transmarrowbird, it’s a 2009 with factory warranty still intact. Well, that is unless the ECU was modified and i get denied at a time of need because of it. See where i’m going with this? I’d like to figure out the appropriate way to handle this.

I can’t wait to see the results of this ie removal of stickers/tinted lights and lying.

But in all seriousness just make sure the warranty is still intact. Save the pics as your “ace in the hole” to maybe cut a better deal.

Quick google search,think this is him? …

No, it’s not a private sale, it’s through west herr. They purchased it from another dealer in PA.

If you’re gonna spend 20k+ why not just buy a new one? You’ll probably get better financing and pay only a few G’s more for it. Then you get a new car warranty and piece of mind. You can probably find a WRX wagon new for ~25k. I probably would only buy that used one if it was in the 18k range.

Also, haggling on price is a given…I would never NOT offer a considerably lower price (than sticker) at a dealership. Aftermarket warranty is garbage, so don’t waste your time. I think if anything, you may want to get them to agree to allow you to take the car to a shop to have it looked at (Innovative or a Subaru dealership).

I would ask the dealer to check and see what the flash count is based on finding the stickers. If they tell you it hasn’t been flashed (in writing) it would be hard for them not to cover it under the factory warranty.

I would love to have more information about this.

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It’s about 28.7k before tax and title for a new premium. That’s about 8-9k more than a 2009 with less than 20000 miles on it. As i said it’s been in the works for over a month, so i’m taking my time with this. I want peace of mind, but i don’t want to spend a lot more money where i don’t really need to. There ARE more used wrx’s out there, it’s true, i just want to work this situation properly before moving on. I guess we can call it a learning experience.

I won’t buy this one unless i get it under 20k though, that’s for sure.[COLOR=“Silver”]

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This is only true, if its an AFTERMARKET company. If they will throw in an extended SUBARU bumper 2 bumper warranty for a few years i would say go for it, but dont expect anything else. They will just sell it to someone else and still make their money. Yes i am a salesman right new door to west herr lol. Pm me with who you are working with, i know some of the guys at the subaru/kia dealer

Dealerships usually try and work something out rather than telling a customer to GTFO. That whole being in the business of making money thing…

Expected results.
-You lowball and/or mention your issues.
They will
A. Claim their techs looked at over and the ecu was never flashed and all is perfect with the world and if you have issues they will cover it yada (and then they won’t)
B. They will sell it to some uneducated lump for too much that thinks the stickers add HP or have no idea WTF it is.

A rule of mine is if I see mods I walk away.

It’s VERY rare that you find a modded car that someone hasn’t beat on. Buying a used car is all risk/reward. You want the reward of someone else taking the big depreciation hit from new to used while you’re taking the risk that the car may have had an abusive past. A smart buyer does everything they can to reduce that risk, aka, not buying something you know was modded.

It’s a WRX. Get on autotrader and push the search radius out to 500 miles. That’s a doable fly in drive home in one day range.

EX:
http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.jsp?ct=p&car_id=282047762&dealer_id=65425105&car_year=2009&doors=&systime=&model=IMPWRX&search_lang=en&start_year=2009&keywordsrep=&keywordsfyc=&highlightFirstMakeModel=&search_type=both&distance=0&min_price=&drive=&rdm=1291643318395&marketZipError=false&advanced=&fuel=&keywords_display=&lastBeginningStartYear=1981&end_year=2011&showZipError=n&make2=&certified=&engine=&page_location=findacar%3A%3Aispsearchform&body_code=0&transmission=&default_sort=newsortbyprice_DESC&max_mileage=&address=14221&color=&sort_type=priceDESC&max_price=23000&awsp=false&make=SUB&seller_type=b&num_records=25&cardist=343&standard=false

That’s private sale so you know there is some room to work on that 22k price.

There aren’t even a lot on ebay. I wouldn’t want someone’s modified car that I have no idea what was done to it.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2009-SUBARU-WRX-5-SPEED-MANUAL-HATCHBACK-BLACK-BLACK-/260702149745?pt=US_Cars_Trucks&hash=item3cb30f1c71

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2009-Subaru-WRX-Wagon-Navigation-Satellite-/290508067524?pt=US_Cars_Trucks&hash=item43a3a152c4

I guess a modified car has never scared me. I’d rather buy from an enthusiast that ran the car hard once in a while but changed oil and maintained it religiously than from some mid-40’s housewife that gets her oil changed every once in a while at valvoline. I dont know a ton of subaru modding but aren’t perrin and cobb THE names in modding? I bet with those mods it ran better and got better mpg than stock lol. It’s not like the stickers are apc, skunk 2 or some other rice boy crap. I’d look the car over, mention your concern and make sure the warranty will be upheld if something goes wrong. Maybe you’ve got a free tune and mods to go with your car. Just use your head when you go see it.

This.

If someone has completely thrashed a car, you can tell. I don’t understand why people get so scared of this. Its the same people that say “omg, I’d never let anyone else drive my car” as if them taking it up to the redline is somehow different than when you do.

Quite frankly, I’d be more scared of the one owner low miles car that some woman drove in stop and drive traffic for 30k miles without ever changing the oil and crap footing the clutch the whole time.

I love the hard ass attitude of the OP too. “I’m the one with the $20k check that they want” before you even know what they are going to say. If you don’t like the fact that they are dishonest, then just go somewhere else. If you don’t care that it had the mods, then buy the car. Don’t act like some hardass. Lord knows there are plenty of people out there with stickers on their cars that don’t have anything done to them, just because they say the car hasn’t been modified, doesn’t mean you’ve caught them in some lie. If you don’t like the answer or the circumstance, then just walk away. D

I could not have worded it better myself. I like seeing a modded car, I know how I maintain my modded cars. And it’s not like it was modded poorly from the sounds of it. As long as they still honor the warranty with the mods I would say the mods are a bonus for you.

Yes it seemed to me that the stickers on the car are of the higher reputable companies in the subaru world, so the only issue at this point is if the warranty will be held up. Thanks for all the info

That statement was a direct reply to the individual who told me to go fuck myself as part of my reasoning as to why the dealer would probably want to work with me, it’s not my mentality at all. Well, i guess it is a little, they ARE trying to sell me a car. But if that were the case completely I would just walk away, however I’d like to see if they are willing to work with me first. Sorry for coming off as a hard ass.
I completely agree with your other points though. Rather an enthusiast than someone completely negligent to be the previous owner.

Well, I should be seeing it tomorrow, and i’ll see what happens.

How’d that work out for your suby? LoL Sorry

Just check the car out really well. If it has an intake, exhaust and minor bolt ons it probably won’t hurt too bad. A modified turbo car always scares me though and they could have just turned up the boast for fun then traded it in.

Not sure I get your point?

I bought mine stock at about 20k miles, and had no major issues until I sold it with 80k miles. I went Stage 2 with the car. Between listing the car for sale and selling it, the RWB and TOB both went bad. Both were fixed by the new owner, the RWB under warranty. Both are known weak points in that car. The current owner still loves the car, and has only had to replace the other RWB since then. Quite frankly, I’d be pretty confident in saying that my car was healthier than almost any other example of similar mileage that you’d find. I exceeded all the maintenance intervals, and spent 75% of the time driving on the highway. Despite being modified for about 30k miles, it never even so much saw an autocross.

What were you implying?

take pictures of the car with stickers and start posting them on forums and try to find the owner… ask questions.

then again, why not just find your own car and cut the dealer out?

also, now the new wrx has the sti widebody now I read, so it might be worth looking for a new one because that’s a nice feature to have.