I bought a 1999 Ford Mustang Cobra from Autofair. It was a mistake. The biggest mistake I made was backing down when the dealership refused to provide me the maintenance history on the vehicle because they have a lame privacy policy to protect former owners. Ever hear of a Sharpie? Or better yet, the Freedom of Information Act? I have and I didn't speak up
Once I took delivery of the vehicle, it only took about 3000 miles to realize problems. First, the clutch went. Autofair fixed the problem. Then after about a year, the paint around the rear window started to blister. Then the right rear caliper stuck. So I pulled out the wonderful extended warranty I bought which promised me the world only to find out that the one described to me was the Platinum. I bought the Gold package which is worth about as much as a used handkerchief. Nobody wanted to fix my car. So I took it back to Autofair. If you drove the car a few miles, you could boil water off the right rear wheel. The wheel was also covered in brake dust, while the other three were not. Autofair could fix the problem for $149 by replacing my pads. Gees, thanks!
I decided to replace the caliper and pads myself. When I pulled the jack out of the trunk, I realized when I pulled all the carpeting in the trunk out that the right rear quarter panel on the vehicle had been replaced. I can spot a painted fender or bumper, but I missed this one since the whole vehicle got sprayed. The fact that my key never worked on the trunk made sense. The trunk and quarter panel were from another Mustang. My vehicle was a restored wreck even though the title was clean.
I decided to sell the vehicle. I pulled out the warranty (it was sold to me as fully transferable to a new owner which would be a good investment for a special vehicle like a Cobra) and read the fine print which stated NOT TRANSFERABLE. I asked my wife if she recalled the story I was told on why I should by the warranty and she recalled it was fully transferable as well. Needless to say, I was not happy.
I ended up trading the vehicle in for another car. I learned a lot from that experience. First, do not even trust the big dealers when buying a used car. Second, get a CARFAX no matter what the salesman tell you. Third, don't waste money on a third party extended warranty. Fourth, buy new. And last, don't buy from Autofair. They will push bogus warranties. They will stand behind meaningless policies to make a sale. They are incapable of fixing even the smallest problems - like a bad caliper. I will never set foot on their lot again.
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