Letting the Cat out of the bag

Buyer Beware

There are a lot of national used car sales company’s entering the Jacksonville market and bringing in a lot of cars from the north to sell. Many of these cars are very rusty and corroded from the salt roads. These are not a good buy for several reasons. While it is quite normal for us to see some light surface rust under a car that lives at the beach, a car that has lived in a state that uses salt on their roads in the winter can have heavy rust and corrosion, both under the car and under the hood in the engine bay. There are a lot of national used car sales company’s entering the Jacksonville market and bringing in a lot of cars from the north to sell.

Many of these cars are very rusty and corroded from the salt roads. These are not a good buy for several reasons. While it is quite normal for us to see some light surface rust under a car that lives at the beach, a car that has lived in a state that uses salt on their roads in the winter can have heavy rust and corrosion, both under the car and under the hood in the engine bay. Of course, this depends on how long the car was in that environment. Rust and corrosion compromises not only the strength of the components, but the safety of the overall vehicle. When this car requires repairs they will be more expensive due to labor and unusable parts, not to mention the resale value is greatly decreased. Florida is a buyer beware state, which means once you buy it you own it. There is no legal recourse to return it, and there is no warranty unless you purchase one from an Extended Warranty Company.

So, before you buy it have the car inspected by a qualified tech and get a vehicle report to see where it has resided. That will save you money and grief.

Extended Warranties

I can tell you from experience, most extended warranties are not worth the paper their written on. I recently had a car in here with an extended warranty. She said she paid over $3000 for her policy and that anything wrong with it should be covered. I asked her if she read the policy before buying it and she said, No. First, extended warranty company’s do not pay to diagnose a problem or tear something down. I went on to explain what can happen when I call for authorization.

No sir, “that’s not covered”, or “we only pay for a used part” even if a used one is not available, leaving the customer with the extra charges. Or, “we don’t cover the labor or only part of the labor”, leaving the customer more charges again. I told her I would do my best and let her know.

Long story short, the car needed over $3000 worth of work, and the extended warranty company covered less than $400. To say the least she was not a happy camper. This is a common scenario I see way too often.

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Michael Sachs (“The Jag Doctor”) is the owner of Sachs Automotive, Inc. and has been working on Jaguar cars since 1989. He is a former member of the Jaguar Master Technician Guild as well as an ASE Master Auto Technician and the official late model technical expert for the JCCNF.