Nissan North America Team Nissan of Lithia Springs, Sold a wrecked new car Lithia Springs, Georgia

On October 5, 2009, my husband and I purchased a brand new 2009 Nissan Altima from Team Nissan of Lithia Springs, 811 Thorton Road, Lithia Springs, GA 30122.

Upon my inspection of the vehicle, I noticed deep scratch marks on the drivers side mirror and a ding in the top of the car. The salesman (name withheld) assured me this mirror would be replaced.

The ding on the roof appeared minor at night in the rain. Approximately 10 days later, Will advised me to make my appointment to have the mirror replaced, so I arranged to have the service completed on Monday, October 19, 2009.

I was able to wash the vehicle for the first time the day before the repair was done. Keep in mind that Atlanta experienced The 100 Year Flood during my first days of ownership and therefore it was pointless to wash it until the rain subsided.

After washing the Altima, my husband and I noticed irregularities in the paint on the roof of the Altima. What had previously appeared to be a minor ding was now a much more involved amount of damage, and a poor attempt to cover it up. It looked like a 2x4 had hit the roof alond with some other damage. It had been extensive.

Upon my arrival to the dealership to have the mirror replaced, the service manager advised me that my salesman was mistaken about mirror replacement. (I am assuming he meant the mirror would merely be repaired.)

I asked the service manager to inspect the roof of the vehicle. We looked together, and the more we looked in the morning sun, the more we saw. There had been excessive sanding of the entire roof and hit-or-miss repainting. By this I mean that because of the wash job and the sunlight, one could actually see sanding marks which were not repainted. Further, this sanding extended even to the top of the door frames. In proper lighting, one can see the dullness caused by the sanding.

As the service manager alerted the General Manager, Sales Manager and my salesman, they ALL agreed that the severity of this damage constitutes reason enough for Nissan to buy back my vehicle and replace it with a new one. In fact, Team Nissan went to Union City Nissan and brought a new Altima very similar to the damaged one and offered it to me. It appeared OK, and even though the interior wasnt my choice and there was a scratch on one of the back doors, I agreed to accept it.

Then I was put into a rental until Corporate could come inspect the damage and approve the buy-back.

Days went by and when I was fortunate enough to reach an actual person, I was told that Corporate wouldnt be able to come for an inspection until Monday the 26^th of October. So I waited patiently.

Monday came and went and I heard nothing. I called my salesman around 6pm and he said he would check into it and call me back. He didnt call back.

Every time I called the dealership, my salesman was busy or with a customer. This was also the case with the Sales Manager. I also left messages for the service manager. I emailed the general manager...no reply.

It was beginning to look like I was being avoided!!

On Wednesday, October 28, I finally spoke with Maurice Sewell, the Sales Manager. He said Team Nissan was Getting an estimate to have the car repaired. I stated that I was promised a new vehicle and I DO NOT WANT A REPAIRED VEHICLE. I paid FULL PRICE for a NEW car, not a previously damaged one.

He claimed that Corporate would not buy back the car. He then said he would call me back. He didnt. I called just prior to closing and he was busy.

This is what I demand: A BRAND NEW 2009 or better Altima 2.5S, Black in color, with a MSRP of no less than $23,970.00. Anything less would be adding insult to injury. They have already broken the law, now they are ignoring me.

Even before I drove that Altima off the lot, the value was already much less than the sticker. Any repainting of a vehicle, regardless of the quality of workmanship, will fade and fail to maintain the luster of a factory paint job, not to mention the visible damage.

The Nissan Consumer Affairs people, ha, what a joke, said they would need at least two weeks to access this type of claim. That puts me in a rental 4 weeks. My first payment is due and I have no vehicle.

When I told them that the sales manager at Team said my claim had been denied, Consumer Affairs told me the dealership was lying, that they hadn't even spoken to the dealership at that time.

It is absolutely FRAUDULENT to sell a damaged vehicle (new) without disclosure to the customer. I cannot fathom why Nissan didn't trip all over themselves to replace it immediately. If the damage occurred BEFORE it reached the dealership, it is Nissan's responsibility to replace it. If it occurred at Team, they had to know about it, therefore they broke the law by knowingly selling a damaged vehicle as new.

I emailed an attorney who said I needed to have the car inspected by an expert. He also said that if Team had the car re-repaired without my consent, they were in big trouble for that, too. AND it would be an attempt to cover-up more than they had already. 

So, here I sit at my computer, 32 days since the purchase and 20 days in a rental. NOTHING. I just have this sinking feeling that Nissan is going to tell me that they will repair the car and that's all they will do. Then I will need a lawyer because I won't tolerate being treated like that. I have read cases where consumers have won hefty settlements against dealers who sold damaged cars as new ones.

If they don't want a battle, they better go the cheaper route and give me the new, undamaged car I paid for!!!! I am not a vendictive type person who enjoys suing businesses, but this involves $28,000.00 fraud.