Imports Car Dealership
Posted: Monday, April 03, 2006
by Spanos Imports
Spanos Imports
In my capacity as the owner of an import car dealership, I am often amazed at the levels some wholesalers will go to in order to cover up damages to vehicles. As any reputable reseller will tell you, finding the best vehicles is not only a matter of knowing what to physically look for, it's also a matter of knowing how to spot title and ownership oddities. Lately, I have noticed many wholesalers in possession of autos that were originally sold in the Louisiana and Mississippi areas. For some reason, these vehicles had their titles transferred to wholesalers from states far away. While this isn't completely uncommon, it does raise a red flag when you consider the recent natural disasters that have occurred on the Gulf Coast.
Dealerships need to be aware of the opportunity for unscrupulous parties to effectively "launder" the titles of these vehicles. As a result of Hurricane Katrina, many vehicles were likely paid for via insurance claims against flood damage. These vehicles are finding their way back into the market. While there is nothing inherently wrong with re-selling a designated flood damaged vehicle, there is something entirely wrong with reselling a flood damaged vehicle under the guise of it not having been damaged.
Being in the industry, I have heard both sides of the argument. Many wholesalers will tell you that flood damaged vehicles are often appropriated by insurance companies as "totalled", when in fact they may have never been submerged in water at all. My answer to that is to say that any business which values its customers and strives to maintain integrity and honesty would never sell a product they are unsure of. In other words, I'm not willing to take a chance with my business and reputation at stake, nor am I willing to gamble with someone else's money. That's exactly what selling a flood damaged automobile is: gambling with your customers money. Flood damaged vehicles can have corroded electrical systems that are primed for failure, unseen rust damage, and a variety of other problems that can surface at a later time.
My advice to dealerships is to use every resource at their disposal to find out the history of the cars they are purchasing and avoid flood damaged vehicles, unless you plan to sell them as such.
To learn more visit Spanos Imports of Daytona Florida visit http://www.spanosimports.com/
This article is amusing to the point of absurdity. Spanos sells accident damaged cars. Do a search on Yahoo! or other engines. There is a huge article about Spanos on ripoffreport.
The comment is true. My wife and I just bought a lease return 2005 Lexus LS430. We were assured it had no paint and was a Florida car with no rust. They keep all the cars in an indoor showroom with no lighting. The day we picked up the car it was raining. The next morning we came out to look at our "new" car in the sunlight and were horrified. The windshield was covered in stone pits! And worse: the entire car was covered in swirl marks in the paint and it was obvious that the front bumper, the back bumper, both driver side doors, the passenger front quarter panel and passenger rear door had been painted. The paint was close but NOT a match. The salesman: Chris when I called him told me that the car had no paint and was a FL car. I told him it wasn't and that I was giving him an opportunity to be honest with me. He told me more lies. So I spoke with Alex, one of the owners. I brought the car to him. He told me that they did the paint work and that it wasn't a FL car. (So the salesman Chris DID know about the paint!) He pretended that this was a terrible accident and not a reflection of the dealerships high standards. He even told us he would do whatever it takes to make us happy: "we werent stuck with the car." Since then he has avoided our calls and left me standing in the lobby of his dealership for 20 and 30 minutes while he hid from us. I purchased this car for my wife as a birthday gift and also for giving me a beautiful baby girl on October 13th 2008. It was supposed to be a really special car. Alex and his group of lying flunkies have spoiled it for us and it seems like that is what they do: lie in order to part hard working people from their money.The Spanos are complete hipocrits. Not all do they sell cars that are loaded with problems, they cover them up before they get your money. Once they have payment they will be capable or willing to fix the problem. Please learn from my mistake.