ygillard

Hello,

I have been looking at buying a used 2007 e63 amg from carmax. Looking at the carfax, it appears that the car has been in a minor accident in 2008 (see below). It appears to have been quite minor, was a while back and no matter what I am getting an extended warranty. Should I stay away? Would that significantly affect resale?

Here is the report
03/04/2008
Damage Report Accident reported
Involving left side impact
Involving left rear impact
Vehicle involved in T-bone collision
Minor left side damage reported

03/15/2008 7,245 Hendrick Charlotte Mercdes
Roof molding replaced

....

North Carolina Police Reports:
•Provide an estimate of the extent of damage in its accident reports for the following:
•SEVERE: The vehicle cannot be driven from the accident scene due to severe damage or an injury. This level of damage often results in a Salvage or Junk title.
•MODERATE: The accident damage affects the operation of the vehicle and/or its parts. Examples include broken windows, trunk lids, doors, bumpers and tires.
•MINOR: The accident damage does not affect the operation of the vehicle. Examples include dented bumpers, fenders, grills and body panels. This level of accident should not compromise vehicle safety.
•NO DAMAGE: The vehicle was not damaged.
•Are required if the estimated damage exceeds $1000

Thx.

grimm

I'd stay away from any car with any type of damage. There are plenty of story-free cars out there for sale. You just have to be patient.

I spent plenty of time searching through car ads, screening out all cars with any sort of story. Did it affect that particular sellers ability to make a sale? Absolutely.

Additionally, if you do have an interested buyer, you'll have less leverage on your price as the buyer will always bring up the fact that the car has been in an "accident" in an attempt to bring the price down further.

TheVazha

STAY AWAY.

1. Carmax does NOT negotiate on their prices. When I was shopping for a car they had an E55 that I liked. I called and spoke to the supervisor (OC) and he said that they DO NOT negotiate prices, the sticker price is the sale price. He threw me in such a state of confusion I wont even begin to get into it.
2. If there was a police report filed, there is a 95% cance it was an injury accident.
3. "Vehicle involved in T-bone collision" is heavy to say the least. Imagine the headache you will go through in 3-4 years from now when you, the second owner, are trying to sell a car with this sort of record. In 3-4 years "like cars" will be selling in the low $20 range (at best), you will get eaten alive financially.

The warranty will cover you mechancally, it will not cover weaknesses in the frame of the car, and overall misalignment that an accident like that can cause.

Dont by it, the perfect deal will come along, like Grimm says, you just have to be patient...

emoving

I would not call that minor!

Yuille36

I wouldn't buy a car that had an accident on it from carmax. If you only knew that it was a fender bender then maybe. But there's no teling to what stinct the damage was. Unless carmax had the previous owners information, then you could contact them, to find out.

skratch77

Could really be minor,I dont know if it shows up on my vin but a few months of owning my car the guy next door scratched my drivers door while he was backing out.

I was pissed and he didnt have the 900 bucks to get the door painted and we went threw the insarance ect.

so it could really be minor

ktwosteve2

These situations can complicated, the comment about roof molding makes me think a hard hit, hard enough to have damage well above the point of impact. It is true that many cars are involved in minor accidents and E55 AMG's are no different other than the possibility that they may be driven more aggressively than the average vehicle. The point is when a vehicle is in an accident and an insurance claim is filed it becomes a matter of record and these records can be found, try using the vin# and if you have a friendly Mercedes parts guy you can ask him to run the vin and see what the history of the car is. If it was repaired at a Merc. certified shop there will be a record of the parts used and you can get an idea of the extent of damage. There are cars out there that have a accident history because of a claim filed, because of the claim it will show up on a Carfax as being involved in an accident but without the details of the repairs, if you do due diligence and find the repair record and the scope of repairs there can be a good value in that effort. But the caveat is that that Carfax will always follow that vehicle and that will diminish the resale value to you.

C32madness

Unless you see the pictures there is no way of knowing how bad it was.

lawguy

My answer to the question of what to do...

RUN LIKE HELL!!!

There is a reason the car was traded to CarMax...they buy the sh*t that nobody else wants. I know a couple people who have dumped problem cars there. I wouldnt buy a CarMax car if my life depended on it (well, maybe if it was life or death), but I certainly wouldnt buy one with an accident history without a number of details.

There are lots of fish in the sea. Trust me on this one

NCE500

Look at it this way: the Carfax report is giving you pause to buy the car, justifiably so. So if you buy it, warranty or not, when it comes time to sell or trade, the next buyer will feel the same way.

IMO, Carmax retail cars have generally been good, not always the cheapest, but they have been gone through and are good cars. However, with the current dearth in new car sales and associated lack of late model trade ins, I have seen some drop in standards of CarMax cars retailed in the past year....they simply need to sell what inventory they can get to stay in business and pickins are pretty slim.

Add in that Carmax will not negotiate price, unless you are thousands under book and can get absolute proof that the accident was cosmetic, I would keep shopping.

Also, do an Autocheck report in addition to a Carfax report on anything you buy, Autocheck is sometimes better. I was going to buy a C55 from a forum member not long ago. Carfax was clean, but Autocheck showed that the car had frame damage from an apparently unreported accident when it went through auction a couple of years ago. The poor seller did not know, but later verified the info to be true. Even though that C55 was exactly what I wanted, I did not even bother to look at it after learning the truth.

MB_Forever

+1 Run like crazy from this car. There are plenty of cars on the market and there will always be good deals to come. Don't tie yourself down with problems from the beginning. Pass on the car.

ygillard

Thanks for all the feedback. I will try to call the dealer where the car was serviced to see if they have details and proof that this was really minor. If not, I will pass.

pearlpower

Many cars involved in accidents do not even make it on Carfax, does not guarantee a thing.

infantry

Just buy mine bro, No Accidents, Veteran owned!