Questionable auto history on this car?

[puma1552]

Here's the car, a 2012 VW Tiguan SEL with 4Motion and DynaAudio; this stickered at $40k, it's the absolute top model Tiguan with everything:

http://burnsville.lutherauto.com/pr...agen_Tiguan_Burnsville_WVGBV7AX0CW603591.aspx

Then click the Carfax link.

Car was shipped to the dealer in June, and was sold on August 11th with 180 miles on it (presumably just had a lot of test drives on it). But on August 16th, it came back into dealer inventory. Five days is too short of a timeframe to buy it, smash it, fix it, and unload it, so I'm confident it hasn't been in a wreck. I thought maybe they thought they had sold it, started paperwork for it, and financing fell through, but that can't be since someone picked it up from the dealer and logged 100 miles over those five days. Also the car does have license plates on it, in MN new cars are issued 21 day temp permits until the license plates come in after the car is titled/registered, so it was definitely owned by someone for those five days.

Who on earth would own a car for five days and trade it, and why? Something seems fishy. I did look at the car last night, it's gorgeous, and has a 3M clear bra on the front end. Car looks perfect in person.

 

[juanm]

Mid-life crisis impulse buy, and wife not okay with it would be a possibility.
Also, deciding it's too small/large.
etc...

 

[Weaselboy]

I'm guessing they took the car home and the financing was declined by whatever bank the dealer uses. If it is the same dealer that sold it new they should be able to explain what happened. If they won't I would pass.

 

[Alameda]

The dealer will make up whatever lie suits them, but either the financing fell through, or the dealer bought it, collected a rebate or other incentive, and flipped it back into inventory.

But in any event, with the time involved being so short, it's a gain for you -- there couldn't have been time for major collision repair. The only downside is you aren't the original owner and you won't get any factory rebates. You are purchasing a used car, although that will make zero difference in your daily use and nobody will know.

 

[gr8whtd0pe]

They may have transferred their old plates to it instead of temps and just not liked it. They could have drove it daily for work or whatnot and just thought it wasn't the car for them.

Never know.

 

[puma1552]

They may have transferred their old plates to it instead of temps and just not liked it.

In MN, plates are registered to the vehicle and not the owner, so plates cannot be transferred between vehicles.

I can't imagine the dealer would let you take a car home before the financing was a done deal and approved?

 

[Weaselboy]

In MN, plates are registered to the vehicle and not the owner, so plates cannot be transferred between vehicles.

I can't imagine the dealer would let you take a car home before the financing was a done deal and approved?

They do it all the time. You can buy a car and get a loan preapproved at 9pm on Saturday when no bank is open. The dealer just does it based on your credit score. Often Monday AM the bank will find a problem and reject the loan.

 

[jca24]

Ah, maybe the person that bought it changed their mind. Yes, the probably took a little depreciation hit, but some people don't care, they have toe money and are most likely paying cash and not financing a quickly depreciating asset. My mom and dad once bought a house in Florida and after a month my mom decided she did not like it, sold it and bought another one 3 blocks away.

If the dealer is reputable they will tell you why they got the car back in 5 days.

 

[gr8whtd0pe]

They do it all the time. You can buy a car and get a loan preapproved at 9pm on Saturday when no bank is open. The dealer just does it based on your credit score. Often Monday AM the bank will find a problem and reject the loan.

I did this with mine. Bought it late Friday night didn't pay for it until a week later.