Is It A Good Deal ?

Tampa, Florida — If you’re in the market for a used car there are many precautions you need to take.

Jayson Rosenberg says he learned the hard way. He bought a Jaguar at Jaguar of Tampa. He says he thought he got a good deal, until someone looked under the hood.

“They thought it was a rebuilt car, when I was getting my oiled changed.” Jayson says.

Jayson said he was unhappy with the car he bought so he returned to Jaguar of Tampa to try and get a different car. And he says when he asked about the damage he was told it was never in an accident. He says they told him they painted the front of the car to get the love bug damage off.

That’s when Jayson called 10 News and we wanted to find out what, if anything, was wrong with the car.

“There is existing damage on this vehicle, potential problems for the owner.” says the manager of Caladesi auto shop, a collision specialists certified by triple A.

We asked them to go through the car inch by inch.

They told us, “there definately was an accident, multiple panels have been affected, something has been impacted into the hood. Everyone of these bolts has been tooled, meaning this fender and hood have been off.”

We asked Jaguar of Tampa about what Caladesi discovered. Rob Elder, the owner of the dealership told me on the phone he had no knowledge of any major damage from an accident.

However, 10 News has uncovered police reports and repair invoices showing the Jaguar in one accident in July 2003 in Bradenton where damage estimate was $2000.

There was another accident in California. This one more serious — 15 to 20 thousand dollars worth of damage.

Jaguar of Tampa gave this car a 140 point inspection and certified the vehicle was in good working condition.

According to state prosecutors, “It is not a crime to not disclose previous damage to a car,” but buyers who have been sold damaged vehicles can go through civil court to seek restitution.

Again, Mr. Elder denied knowing about the damage. He also denied our requests for an on camera interview, but he did send us a written response saying when Jayson brought the car back to the dealer “There was disagreement about the condition of the car.” He also said his dealership is consistently recognized for its quality customer service.

Carfax also gave this vehicle a clean title, meaning no accidents. But that’s no guarantee. In fact Carfax representatives say “There is no way for us to know about every accident that may have occurred in a cars past.”

Meanwhile Jayson says he wants everyone to learn from his experience. He says, “One thing I’d like to see happen is for people to be aware and get it checked out.”

Source:Reginald Roundtree, Tampa Bay’s 10News