So I bought a 2009 G37x a couple weeks ago with 20k miles on it and I like the car and it seems to be in good shape. It had an accident free history and, aside from a couple small door dings which the dealer agreed to PDR out and a rash on a wheel (dealer said they'd swap wheel with another car on lot) I was happy with the purchase for the price...

Then a couple days ago while it was misty out at night, I noticed on the rear window that it CLEARLY stated Infinitiy of ____ Courtesy Car 15. I'm pretty annoyed by this as I probably wouldn't have considered a courtesy car and, had I known, I would have negotiated the price down further or walked.

I won't say who the dealership is right now as they've offered to make it right, including buying the car back from me if necessary, but I don't know--I do like the car, but this bit of its history sits a little funny with me...

I know I drive loaners HARD and if even 5% of the people who borrowed it are like me, that leaves a big uncertain about future maintenance.

The dealer I worked with described it as "a low mileage car with no accidents, that they had JUST got back from lease." Omitting it was leased to them and used as a friggin' rental. When I confronted him on it he claims he was new there and was relying on the info he'd been given...

What do you guys think? I don't necessarily want to sell it back to them, but I am bothered.

I was thinking of proposing swapping the 17 inch stock wheels on it for a set of sport wheels of another car on their used lot or asking for an extended warranty.

I will hold off on naming the dealership to give them an opportunity to make right, but it is a popular one in these parts...

 

If it bothers you that much take it back and buy a brand new unmolested one. I see the dealer only doing so much as far as demands, but in the carfax it would show the car as rental. So I would recommend. If you haven't already, looking at the carfax.

 

Even if it hadn't been a loaner, who's to say that the previous lease-holder didn't run the hell out of it?

A used car is a used car... Period. End of discussion. There's no difference between a traditionally leased car and a loaner. Either way, they could have been driven with care; or absolute ****. If you pull up info for the VIN, it will say it was a leased vehicle. (I've had 2 cars I bought used in the past like that)

So from the outside in, it appears to be a mountain being made from a mole hill, and you're trying to take the dealership to task on it. If they only offer you a free key chain, that is more than they NEED to give you.

I hate to say it, but you're essentially exploiting your own ignorance (Not an insult, just pointing out what I said previously re: used vehicles) under the guise of their "wrongdoing."

 

I don't think asking for an extended warranty would be too much. I'm not sure if disclosing who had it as a lease is a material ommission. However, there maybe some weight to the failure to mention it was basically a fleet vehicle.

 

Wow, they got you good. At least they're offering something to fix the situation. I would try to get all I could out of the deal.

 

what are you even thinking about GIVE IT BACK AND DONT LOOK BACK, things i did to loaners and things EVERYONE I know do to loaners is rape!....you think out of everyone who drove the car never smoked in it or spilled something!. talk to people and ask how loaners get treated lol you wont have this problem of being on the fence

 

Per Carfax:

So it's neither... no speculation or "basically." It's just a leased vehicle since it was under the dealership's ownership.

There's such a false sense of entitlement these days it's quite saddening, to think that everyone owes you some type of reparation regardless of who is at fault; or if there's really an issue at all.

The OP is exhibiting that, since he makes such a big deal out of the dealership's name/reputation and doesn't want to "shame" them. If I were the dealership, I would come out and tell it how it is rather than submit to this.

EDIT: Actually, it appears that a number of you feel comfortable trashing something that belongs to someone else... but God forbid you get stuck with it when there was no wrongdoing on part of the dealership?

 

Technically it is only shown as a rental if they accepted money for it. The loaner/fleet vehicle scenario isn't covered.

Looking into the situation, they were only required to disclose it if it were a rental, but they deliberately (whether because they wanted to be misleading or didn't know) phrased it as if it were a private party car that was just turned back in and not even priced or on their website yet, as opposed to a car they'd had from day one loaning it out.

I don't know that its a big enough deal to give the car back and maybe I'm being **** but I sure as hell didn't expect to see the outlines of the stickers denoting my new car had been a loaner.

 

Read what the OP wrote...It was the dealer that leased it and rented it out to customers. Something a respectable dealer would have told him.

That being said, I don't believe they had to tell him they leased it or what they used it for prior to him purchasing the vehicle.

OP - if you have warranty, if the car runs well and you like it...keep it.

 

Karma for you beating the hell out of loaner vehicles like a stupid teenager and not treating them with respect like decent people do?

If they offered to take it back and you don't want to do that, what's your gripe? I really don't understand your point. Give it back or keep it. Fall on your knees and thank them for giving you that option becasue they didn't have to. They didn't do anything shady.

 

They did not lease it or rent it... a loaner is a loaner. If individuals were PAYING to take the car out, the story would be ENTIRELY different.

If all it said was that it was a leased vehicle after running the VIN, the salesman would have no way of knowing unless he knew outside of what the report told him.

I'm not sure why you turned around and stated that you don't believe they had to tell him who leased it and/or how it was used, since that ultimately invalidates your first comment.

Ultimately, the burden falls on the OP... if the dealership held the lease, he could have easily asked until getting a satisfactory answer. If they couldn't provide it, he shouldn't have bought the car. But he didn't, and he bought it... that's a failure on his part, not the dealership; and the majority of consumer laws would support that.

 

THANK GOD!!! Someone else with some common sense and morals!

 

Great point!...I have stated this before when I hear people talking about how they trash loaners and rentals.
It's never OK to trash someone's property just because it's not yours and it was loaned or rented to you. Yet so many people think it's OK and they have some right to do that...and even brag about it and think it's funny.

 

Respect, personal responsibility, working for what you have rather than feeling entitled to it... such simple concepts that society has lost all grasp of.

 

False sense of entitlement? Working for what you have? You're questioning the credibility of the OP, and saying he is irresponsible?

I know the OP, He's a friend of mine, I recommended him to purchase an Infiniti. I've been driving Nissan / Infiniti exclusively for years , and been involved in Nissan forums for years, going back to maxima.org, g35driver, and the370.

Who is entitled to feel satisfaction with the purchase of a vehicle? The buyer is. He spent his hard earned cash, he also happens to be a very responsible, well educated consumer, and was personally recommended to this dealership, and vehicle by myself.

What happened was unfortunate, and things do happen, but where on earth do you get the right to judge him for being disappointed when he finds out the car was used as a loaner car.

Do you beat the crap out of loaner cars? I'm going to guess a lot of people do, nearly everyone does. When you buy a newer car, with warranty, you're interested in the reliability of the vehicle, are you entitled to have a salesman give you honest up front info, or do you feel it's the buyers responsibility to not get scammed? Wow.

He is unhappy with the fact adequate disclosure was NOT made about a car, and the sad part is, it's from a place we are all familiar with in NY area, and I've been doing business with them for years (granted only their service department, not used vehicles). He hasn't even named names or made a motivation to slander anyone, he is here soliciting advice, not your judgement.


If you have nothing nice to say, why contribute to this thread? Let's see how upset you get, when you purchase a new car, and it turns out the dealer mishandled the vehicle, or did anything dishonest. Most people buying cars are taking a large leap of faith, and may or may not be made out of money, but are entitled to a positive experience. When this fails to be true, for such a reason as the dealer forgetting to mention choice details about vehicle history, they are not liable or at fault, but of course it's bad business, and a a rotten shame that Businesses are allowed to operate in such a way. Do you condone the dealership pulling a fast one on a consumer, and say hey it's the OP fault they didn't know any better? Have you ever been taken advantage of?

Things do happen, and car salesman are in the business of making sales, but how about good business, and a little class. It goes two ways.