Hoping someone can help out with this as Im hoping to avoid the legal route and the dealer has been helpful with other issues.

Purchased my vehicle preowned from a large well-known nonmercedes local dealer. At the time I purchased dealer promised to replace what looked like a broken tow hook cover - $40 part. After going to Mercedes parts they pointed out that tow hook clips attached to the bumper itself are broken and also showed me bumper is cracked and repaired with glue (but that doesn't affect tow hook cover). I've had the car for about 3 weeks, what to do? I don't want a nonworking tow hook cover and they never disclosed crack at point of sale.

Should also mention that a full PPI revealed car is in perfect condition with all original parts.

 

I see this sort of stuff happening all the time, and to be quite honest (I hate to say this) but it falls on the consumer to do his or her own due diligence to see that said "promises" are put in writing and or fulfilled prior delivery / sale. You should never take a dealers word for any services or parts promised unless its in writing.

Sure you can always take legal action (and that's often the first thing out of ones mouth), but lets face it - between court fee's, time (loss of), and potential attorney fees, the gain may not be worth it. Also let's not forget the heap of documents (contracts) that you may have signed at the dealership that indemnifies them from such claims. One contract or notation may be an AS IS clause, which is a tough clause to work around.

Depending on your state, you may have certain lemon laws, but these laws are usually only good for a few days after the sale, and do not apply to every aspect of the vehicle, specially on a pre-owned vehicle.

As for your private inspection (I've used a few myself), was it provided for by the dealer or did you retain a third party company. It's always advisable to retain an unbiased company on your own, that doesn't have any relationship or ties to the dealership. If the dealer provided the inspection, then you should note that within your report. If you retained the inspection, and they failed to report your findings, then depending on your contract between you and the inspectors, you may have grounds to file a claim or at the least get a full refund on the inspection fee. This will all be within the contracts fine print. Take a few minutes to read through it.

Your best option, in my opinion, is to put your claim in writing and send it to the dealer. Make several copies and address one to the owner / president, one to the sales manager, and last to your sales rep. Make it as detailed as possible with dates, times and copies of all your signed documents. Include a testimony of any witnesses that you may had or have in respect to the dealers promise to perform the repair. Send everything registered mail, with some sort of receipt. A reputable dealer will respond asap, but if you don't get a respond, send it all again. Do this till someone responds back to you, while saving each and every receipt for your mailings. If after lets say two to three mailings, you get no response, then I would contact your local attorney generals office as well as the Business Bureau (BBB). You can also do a write up on ripoff dot com.

Hopefully then someone from the dealer may contact you, but once again depending on what you may have signed (or lack of) at the time of the sale or delivery, you may have a tough case.

Good luck and don't be afraid to be a relentless here...

PS: Last but not least, in response to the crack and the fact the dealership didn't disclose it. You have to understand, dealerships are there to sell cars. Playing devils advocate here, did they know about the crack, they may have, but at the same time I know of many dealers that know nothing about cars. They buy them, and then sell them as is. If a car comes in over all good working and sound condition, they're not obligated (unless otherwise noted or guaranteed) to perform any inspection other than what's being offered or disclosed. This is why its so important to really go through a pre-owned vehicle if you want to be 100% satisfied with your purchase. If you find something wrong, and the dealer says they will fix it, replace it, take care of it, whatever - GET IT IN WRITING!

 

Thanks Ducati got a 3rd party inspection...taking it to dealer with report on bumper next week. Agreed shouldve gotten everything in writing to begin with

 

Replacing a bumper at the dealer shouldn't be any more than $4k. That should fall into small claims territory if you really wanted to go to court.

Might be tough w/o something in writing or some kind of warranty or claim by the dealer that the bumper was in good condition and never damaged.