Very werid buying experience with a 2015 Pathfinder

Discuss your dealer buying and servicing experiences here. And just the facts mam, let's keep the libel to a minimum please.

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alaroz33
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Joined: Sat Jul 01, 2017 9:10 pm

Very werid buying experience with a 2015 Pathfinder

Postby alaroz33 » Sat Jul 01, 2017 9:30 pm

Hi all,

We went to look at a 2015 Pathfinder SV tonight at Shift's warehouse. If you are unfamiliar with Shift, they are a tech company that buys and sells vehicles using various online means, including bringing the vehicle to to your home for a test drive and having the ability to provide close the whole sale on the spot using a iPad. In my case I was too excited to wait to see it so I drove up to where the vehicle was stored to take a look.

Anyway, once we got there and the brought the vehicle out, the first thing I happened to notice was the the VIN under the glass had significant scratches on it. That was really weird considering the metal VIN plate is typically sealed off from access (unless of course you remove the windshield for some reason.

Further inspection of the door jambs (where the front driver and passenger side doors are hinged to the vehicle) revealed a weird foam like substance that looked like it had expanded and burned.

A brief history of the vehicle: it was a rental car in Hawaii that was shipped to California and sold at auction, presumably to Shift.com. The Carfax revealed a spotless history, but in my experience, Carfax is often inaccurate.

Needless to say, we didn't buy the car and I was a little miffed for having driver 45 minutes up to South San Francisco only to see significant problems with the car. Sure, it was my decision to drive there, but Shift.com supposedly documents all cosmetic damage on their website for the sake of transparency and conducts a "200 point" check of the car for problems. There is no way anyone could have missed the issues we found. Had those images been posted, I never would have wasted my time.

When I came home, I checked the vehicle's history in a second source I have access to called a CLUE report. (This is a report that insurance carriers use to verify driver and vehicle accident history and is far more accurate that Carfax). The CLUE report indicated the car had been involved in an accident in May of 2015, that nothing had yet been paid, and the claim was in subrogation.

So, sorry for the long post, but it was all very weird and I am posting here to get your thoughts on what might have caused the VIN to be partially scratched and what would cause that weird foam to be in the door jambs. Is it normal for a 2015 Pathfinder to have large, bulbous black foam in that area? I have pics I can send. I am new here and don't see an option to upload images.

Thanks for reading.


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smj999smj
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Postby smj999smj » Sun Jul 02, 2017 2:01 am

To post pics, use an image service like Photoshop and copy the URL.

bambox

Postby bambox » Wed Jul 05, 2017 7:18 am

Yes, please upload pics here, but yeah, the situation is a bit weird. It's one of the reasons I would only trust the best companies on market with a lot of great opinions, like DSRLeasing.

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palmerwmd
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Postby palmerwmd » Tue Feb 20, 2018 6:57 pm

I think the traditional dealer model is still good even in today's internet driven world.

I'd hate for all those great family business get replaced by faceless amazon type corporations.

That being said. Yes they were trying to rip you off.

larken
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Joined: Thu Feb 15, 2018 12:02 am

Postby larken » Wed Feb 28, 2018 6:24 pm

Good eye on inspection. In that condition of the vehicle, it will only give you a headache.

mark916
Posts: 5
Joined: Tue Jan 29, 2019 7:28 pm
Location: Sacramento, CA

Postby mark916 » Thu Jan 31, 2019 12:45 am

I think I checked that one out online a few days ago, I noticed from the pics it looked scratched up inside and out, I thought it was a typical San Francisco banged up from parking fender benders. It looked a little beat up, but the price and mileage was good. But I think the guys on here convinced me to stay with the 2012 Pathfinder which looks better then the new ones.


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