Rodland Toyota Sold me a car advertised as new that had been in an accident Everett Washington

In November 2007, my wife and I came to Rodland Toyota of Everett, Washington with the intent to purchase a brand new 2008 4D Toyota Camry XLE.  We purchased what we thought was a brand new vehicle for $32,895 ($36,072 after tax).  The vehicle was represented as brand new from the factory and only had 72 miles on it.  However, we subsequently became aware that the vehicle sold to us by Rodland Toyota had been in an accident prior to our purchase of the vehicle.  Rodland Toyota did not make us aware that the vehicle had previously been in an accident.   It is possible Rodland Toyota was unaware of the accident at the time the vehicle was sold to us.  This means either 1) Rodland Toyota is a dishonest and disreputable dealer that engages in unethical business practices or 2) Rodland Toyota is incompetent and does not have appropriate controls and procedures in place to properly know what they are selling.

We did not learn of this accident until we attempted to do a private sale of our vehicle in May 2013 and a full CARFAX was generated, which surfaced the accident.   The CARFAX report shows the vehicle as being manufactured on August 20, 2007, offered for sale by Burien Toyota on August 27, 2007, offered for sale by Kirkland Toyota on September 12, 2007, was in an accident with another motor vehicle on September 17, 2007, then sold to us as brand new by Rodland Toyota on November 24, 2007.

Rodland Toyota’s fraudulent sales transaction harmed our ability to successfully complete a private sale of our car at a competitive price of $16,500.  This is a very compelling price based on the suggested sales price from Kelly Blue Book and NADA.  By Kelly Blue Book definition, the vehicle is between excellent condition to very good condition (absent the accident discussed above).  Kelly Blue Book excellent condition private owner suggested sales price was $17,410 and very good sales price was suggested as $16,910.  NADA retail suggested sales price was $17,350.  Kelly Blue Book trade-in value was suggested as $14,275 and NADA trade-in value was suggested as $14,350.   

We confronted Rodland Toyota and gave them the opportunity to correct the harm they had done to us by purchasing the vehicle at our private-sale price of $16,500.  Jeff Larson (Rodland Toyota Sales Manger), who claimed he was acting based on consultation with Buzz Rodland (Rodland Toyota Owner), responded as follows over a period of two weeks:

1)      First he stated that this was not their problem and there was nothing they could do for us as they were unaware there had been an accident at the time of the original sale.

2)      He claimed the paper work for the accident was no longer available and there was no way to determine the extent of the initial accident. His guess was that it was minor or they would not have sold the vehicle as new.  However, he later acknowledged that it was unlikely that this was a minor accident given that it was reported to CARFAX and the two month timeframe between the date of the accident and the date it was sold to us (i.e. amount of time the car was likely in the repair shop).

3)      Jeff Larson stated that he sells vehicles as certified used vehicles all the time that had been in accidents, and we should have no problem selling the vehicle privately at $16,500; and therefore, we were unharmed by what Rodland Toyota had done to us.  Jeff Larson agreed that $16,500 was a very compelling price for a private sale as he would have sold the vehicle on his lot for more than $17,000.  Although this may be true for a dealership, we do not have the ability to make the vehicle a “dealer-certified” used vehicle, which can command this sales price.  This is supported by our personal experience of having approximately 20 potential buyers call about the vehicle and express no continued interest once I informed them the vehicle had been in an accident.

4)      Over the two week time frame we dealt with Rodland Toyota, we were never able to speak to the owner Buzz Rodland.  Every time we were scheduled to have a meeting with the dealership owner, Jeff Larson would come up with excuses at the last minute as to why Buzz Rodland was unavailable to speak at the scheduled appointment times. 

5)      We informed Jeff Larson that we would report this unethical behavior to Toyota Headquarters and to local news reporters if a satisfactory resolution was not achieved to make us whole in this business transaction.  Ultimately after all of the discussions with Jeff Larson, the best he was able to offer us was $14,100, which is what he claimed to be trade-in value if the vehicle had not been in an accident.  Accepting Rodland Toyota’s offer of $14,100 would have been unsatisfactory because it did not compensate us for the additional $2,400 we would have been able to sell the vehicle for if it had not been in an accident.  Further this offer did not compensate us for the inflated sales price we paid when we originally bought the car from Rodland Toyota. 

As a result of this situation, I want to protect all future buyers of vehicles from Rodland Toyota.  I would not recommend buying new or used vehicles from Rodland Toyota.  They either knowingly engaged in an unethical business practice and/or were unwilling to correct the situation when they are made aware of it.