Help: Please recommend good dealer fraud lawyer

[Lanbow]

Unfortunately got into a situation in which the new car I purchased turned out to be purchased by someone else before me and had issues, so the sale was "rewinded" in 3 days, so fast that it does not even show up in CarFax but can see from service records through other BMW dealers (how I later found out). Obviously I was not told any of this during my purchase.

Discussed with the GM in the dealership and of course denied their wrong doing. Thinking to file complaint with NJ Consumer Affairs but worried about their level of effort and efficiency. Therefore looking to consult with a good lawyer.

I am in north NJ so please let me know if anyone is aware of any good lawyers for this type of case.

Thank you all.

[allinon72]

If there are records of the vehicle being sufficiently repaired, I don't think you have a case.

[Frenel12]

It wouldn't show up on the Carfax for at least 30-45 days after purchase. Seemed like he cancelled the deal before they're billing department could send the information to the dmv.

[ad4m]

What Dealership?

[Lanbow]

The whole thing may go legal so I rather not say who this is with at this point. Appreciate all feedback.

[Poiseuille]

depends on the title i'd think: if the dealer transferred the title in the first deal then you're the 2nd owner and failure to disclose that is fraud. this would seem to be the case if records show the car was serviced before you bought it.
if the title was not transferred prior to your purchase then you're the first owner.
hard to understand how the car could have received service prior to the "first" owner though.....UNLESS it was a demo or (yikes) a performance center car. but even still non-disclosure is fraud.
how many miles were on the car when you showed up?

[Lanbow]

Right there were a few hundreds miles on the car already when I purchased. Didn't ring the bell then and they simply told me it was due to demo. SMH.

[Poiseuille]

if the car is titled in NJ and you're the first owner, than that title will have no suffix. if you're the second owner the title will have an 'A' suffix. check your title. if the car is financed ask whomever has the title to send you a copy. you can probably also get that info from the DMV.
if i were you I'd also be asking to SEE the key-read to know exactly what service or repair was done and by whom. as you probably know M cars get a special break-in service at 1200 miles. if this car had service much before that I'd be mighty curious. feel free to go to a competing dealer to get that done.
please let us know how this turns out for you.
good luck!

[m5biemer]

Let me add some clarification here:
1-I had contacted OP about purchasing the X5M

2-We agreed that a PPI would be performed, I chose an independent repair facility where OP had previously done business as the were familiar with the vehicle

3-I dealt directly with the shop owner during the PPI process with no input whatsoever from OP. PPI invoice paid directly by me.

4-Indie shop was able to retrieve vehicle history directly through BMW, which he normally does for all PPI's

5-Following is a quote from the PPI paperwork on May 15, 2019-"when running a vehicle history it appears that BMW bought this vehicle back after one day and put the customer into another vehicle due to an issue that was present"

6-Shop owner stated that the front brakes were replaced and the mechatronics unit was replaced after taking vehicle back, along with a complete reprogramming of the vehicle. He couldn't ascertain if selling dealer or BMW corporate did the fixes.

7-Shop owner was very confident that the OP was not aware of any of these issues, and all this was discussed between shop owner and me prior to the OP being advised later that day.

8-Immediately upon being informed of above, OP refunded my deposit and basically took the car off the market. Later that day, OP sent me a copy of the original buyers order, it's clearly marked as being a new car.

[Mach_3]

Contact BBB if you feel something fish was involved and you lost some type of money. If you didn’t lose any money.... I would just move on it’s not worth the time or the effort.

[Poiseuille]

Originally Posted by m5biemer

Let me add some clarification here:
1-I had contacted OP about purchasing the X5M

2-We agreed that a PPI would be performed, I chose an independent repair facility where OP had previously done business as the were familiar with the vehicle

3-I dealt directly with the shop owner during the PPI process with no input whatsoever from OP. PPI invoice paid directly by me.

4-Indie shop was able to retrieve vehicle history directly through BMW, which he normally does for all PPI's

5-Following is a quote from the PPI paperwork on May 15, 2019-"when running a vehicle history it appears that BMW bought this vehicle back after one day and put the customer into another vehicle due to an issue that was present"

6-Shop owner stated that the front brakes were replaced and the mechatronics unit was replaced after taking vehicle back, along with a complete reprogramming of the vehicle. He couldn't ascertain if selling dealer or BMW corporate did the fixes.

7-Shop owner was very confident that the OP was not aware of any of these issues, and all this was discussed between shop owner and me prior to the OP being advised later that day.

8-Immediately upon being informed of above, OP refunded my deposit and basically took the car off the market. Later that day, OP sent me a copy of the original buyers order, it's clearly marked as being a new car.

beg pardon M5, but your post has left me a bit confused: by "OP" do you mean the person who started this thread? I ask because his question seems to refer to a car he bought from a dealer whereas your post seems to refer to a car you bought (or were considering for purchase) from the OP. So we're talking about two different OP's then? Could you mean "original purchaser" (OP) of the car you were looking at? Also the actual OP lives in NJ while you're in Fla.
Regarding your 5th numbered point: any idea how the PPI shop was able to determine from the key read that the dealer had subsequent transactions with the first owner? or that there were other issues? Unrelated to the key read, were you able to find out why the car needed new brakes after one day? Probably not.
No offense intended here, just genuinely confused by the post.
My guess is you're just relating a similar (sort of) experience you had, not literally related to the thread. In any case the car you describe sounds like a grenade, good job avoiding it.

[Agent - ///M]

No case.

Never titled and the vehicle was repaired.

Are you currently having issues?

[ellipsis212]

I understand that it feels shady, but on the time versus money chart where will this effort put you assuming the car is all good?

Everything comes back to that for me and I can imagine you'll stay ahead if the car is ok and you like it enough to have purchased it. Personally I'd just out the dealer here and enjoy your new M.

[allinon72]

It's unfortunate and I would probably be a little annoyed as well, but this type of thing happens daily at dealerships across the country.

[m5biemer]

Originally Posted by Poiseuille

beg pardon M5, but your post has left me a bit confused: by "OP" do you mean the person who started this thread? I ask because his question seems to refer to a car he bought from a dealer whereas your post seems to refer to a car you bought (or were considering for purchase) from the OP. So we're talking about two different OP's then? Could you mean "original purchaser" (OP) of the car you were looking at? Also the actual OP lives in NJ while you're in Fla.
Regarding your 5th numbered point: any idea how the PPI shop was able to determine from the key read that the dealer had subsequent transactions with the first owner? or that there were other issues? Unrelated to the key read, were you able to find out why the car needed new brakes after one day? Probably not.
No offense intended here, just genuinely confused by the post.
My guess is you're just relating a similar (sort of) experience you had, not literally related to the thread. In any case the car you describe sounds like a grenade, good job avoiding it.

OP (thread starter) purchased the X5M from Paul Miller BMW iirc as a new car or so he thought in 2018. As he flips cars frequently, he posted for sale and I contacted him. I was interested and sought a PPI even though the car had only 5k miles. Yes, OP, original purchaser lives in NJ and me in FL. PPI was done by a reputable shop who was also familiar with the vehicle as they had previously worked on it (non-warranty items). Shop apparently has the capability of obtaining vehicle info directly from BMW and found that some rather major items were fixed and that it appeared the the OP was not the original purchaser, someone else had purchased then the sale was somehow voided and the vehicle put back up for sale as a new car.

This is an actual case, not some other experience I had with another vehicle. Wishing OP best of luck in the matter.

[2011zx10R]

Originally Posted by m5biemer

OP (thread starter) purchased the X5M from Paul Miller BMW iirc as a new car or so he thought in 2018. As he flips cars frequently, he posted for sale and I contacted him. I was interested and sought a PPI even though the car had only 5k miles. Yes, OP, original purchaser lives in NJ and me in FL. PPI was done by a reputable shop who was also familiar with the vehicle as they had previously worked on it (non-warranty items). Shop apparently has the capability of obtaining vehicle info directly from BMW and found that some rather major items were fixed and that it appeared the the OP was not the original purchaser, someone else had purchased then the sale was somehow voided and the vehicle put back up for sale as a new car.

This is an actual case, not some other experience I had with another vehicle. Wishing OP best of luck in the matter.

Originally Posted by m5biemer

OP (thread starter) purchased the X5M from Paul Miller BMW iirc as a new car or so he thought in 2018. As he flips cars frequently, he posted for sale and I contacted him. I was interested and sought a PPI even though the car had only 5k miles. Yes, OP, original purchaser lives in NJ and me in FL. PPI was done by a reputable shop who was also familiar with the vehicle as they had previously worked on it (non-warranty items). Shop apparently has the capability of obtaining vehicle info directly from BMW and found that some rather major items were fixed and that it appeared the the OP was not the original purchaser, someone else had purchased then the sale was somehow voided and the vehicle put back up for sale as a new car.

This is an actual case, not some other experience I had with another vehicle. Wishing OP best of luck in the matter.

That's fraud...

Car can be mint but OP was mislead.

Only upside is new car finance rates

If OP goes to sell the car it should show 2nd owner.

No matter how ya slice it the buyer was mislead and there should be a consequence.

Good luck OP!

[c0nrad]

dealer is legally obligated to disclose this type of info right?