Complaint Review: Bell Ford

I was called by my salesman that sold me a 2007 mustang coupe in december of 2006 stating that someone just traded in a 2003 mustang mach 1. I have always wanted a V-8 so i went and looked at it. I now owed $14,835.78 on my 2007 mustang coupe. Bell ford started asking 21, 22,000 dollars for the 2003 mach 1 I wound up buying the car for 19,300.00 plus fees and an extended warranty, financing around $22,500.00. Bell ford Gave me $15,200.00 for my trade. I now Have $367.00 Payments for 78 months, which i was happy with a car i thought was in excellent condition. I made this purchase on 1/27/08, on 3/11/08 i was out checking insurance rates when, State farm told me that a payout of $9,923.00 was paid to fix my 2003 mustang mach 1 on 10/3/05 which i just paid top dollar for.

I then drove back to bell ford and spoke with my sales manager that sold me the car, I asked for the car fax printout which showed no accidents or major repairs. I asked the sales manager to see if he could find out who owned the car in 10/2005. he told me to give him a couple of days. After a couple of days i went back and he told me he could not find that info. he then looked at me and asked what he wanted me to do. I then told him to find another 03,04 mustang mach 1 with no accidents and swap the car out.

I even took the car to Bell Fords body shop to inspect for past repairs, the body shop manager told me that the front fenders had been adjusted maybe one replaced and some re-paint on the driver door jamb. I then took the car to 2 different body shops, independent without telling them what was going on only asking to see if they would look over the vehicle for possible repairs or damage.

Both body shops told me the following: Fenders readjusted, one maybe replaced, The radiator support replaced, and the driver side rear quarter panel replaced and the whole car may have been repainted.

After a day or two i went to the dealer and found out my sales manager no longer worked for them, so i told them i wanted to just go back into a 2007 or 2008 mustang coupe, and not to worry about the mach 1 or v-8. So I tried to purchase a 2008 V-6 Coupe with all that my 2007 had. when i sat down to look at numbers they offered to give me $12,000.00 dollars for and laughed at me and told me I was trading in a five year old car for a 2008. and let me remind everybody that at the time it had only been 64 days since i bought the car. so i then got up and took the sales manager out and showed him the body damage/repairs. and reminded him that the car was bought at bell ford.

My next step was to find the previous owner who wrecked the car. I went to the motor vehicle division and ordered a vehicle history report on the car. It came back with a name of the person who owned it in 10/2005 so i went to the address on the title to see if they would still be there and if i could find out anything. The previous owner was still at the address on the title and told me he did damage the front end and the rear quarter panel was replaced. He also told me the repairs were done at five star ford. I called five star ford and had them run my vin# with the service department and they did show repairs were made in the system to my car.

I Spoke To a Steve Crawford Who was just under the General Manager at Bell Ford. I then told him I found the owner who had the car at the time of the accident and told him what i found out. Mr. Crawford then stopped me and asked where i got my info. I responded by telling him I ordered it through MVD and as the current owner i have the right to the info. he responded back by saying that someone was in trouble and that it violates privacy policies. So i just asked how they could sale a once wrecked car at retail/excellent condition and not tell anyone. Mr. Crawfords response was that if nobody tells them and the car fax is free of any accidents then Bell Ford is not Liable. Mr. Crawford also said that they could fix the front fender that is still a little off. I am not letting them touch anything until my issue is resolved.

And the other surprise i found when i got back my MVD report was that this was not the first time Bell Ford had sold the vehicle. The person who had the accident traded the vehicle in to Bell Ford in 1/2007 and sold it again in 2/2007, this owner traded back to Bell Ford in 1/2008 which is when i purchased it a few days after the trade in.

After mr crawfords response i then called The owner who had the accident and asked if he disclosed the accident/damages/repairs done to the vehicle, He stated that he did discolse the info to Bell Ford. Therefore what Mr. Crawford told me is now VOID.

I now Took what I know to the General Manager Lee Spencer. Once I confronted him, he went and looked at the deal and showed them starting at 21-22,000 and came down two-three times and settled at 19,300.00 and giving me 15200.00 for my trade. if i understand him correctly then they will wipe out the 2003 car debt and let me buy another car with my first trade being used. so they will use only the original appraisal of 12,100.00 instead of having 6-7,000.00 negative equity then i would have 1,500-2,000 negative equity that is only if they can find me a car wimilar to what i had or a 2003/2004 mustang GT that is what i have told them. I even showed them the window sticker of the 2007 I traded in and told them that is what i want.

So far it has been a week since they told me this and it doesn't seem like they are trying very hard to fix the problem, The used car manager told me they would like to fix it asap but they are only looking at used cars at Bell Ford and its sister stores ONLY. after a week i have not heard from them but i did just check in with them and They told me they have not found anything.

I am not happy with Having any negative equity at all since i had a good deal with the 2007. and if i knew the car was wrecked i wouldn't be typing this right now, because i wouldn't have bought the 2003 mach 1.

I feel Bell Ford is Liable especially since they have owned it 2 times.

Please Help.

Kook32
phoenix, Arizona
U.S.A.

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