Calgary couple caught up in dispute with dealership over vehicle history

Couple feels duped by car dealer A local couple says a used car dealer sold them an SUV without disclosing its accident history. Lea Williams-Doherty looks into their claim…

A Calgary couple says the used car dealer who sold them an SUV several years ago didn't disclose the vehicle's accident history and they were less than impressed when they found out its history when they went to trade it in.

Marissa and her partner Kenton bought a used GMC Yukon from Calgary Auto Connection for $58,000 in 2015 and were in for a bit of a shock when they went to trade it in.

CARPROOF, The auto industries' vehicle history report, showed $38,000 worth of damage that was previously done and the couple says that was never disclosed.

“They originally were gonna offer us 45 and after that he said that they couldn't do any more than, I think it was, 27 so it was a significant difference,” said Marissa.

She says they called Calgary Auto Connection and the dealer first denied knowledge of the Yukon's accident history and then said the bill of sale showed that Kenton signed off on the damage in CARPROOF’s report.

“They were like oh well the reason you got it for so cheap was because it had these accidents on it and we were like what?  Yesterday nobody, nobody, knew about any of this,” said Marissa

They then dug out their bill of sale and it has no such disclosure so they confronted the dealership's owner and recorded the conversation.

“If you've got a document, you should be coming to us and going hey, this thing is clean, look at my bill of sale, right? If you've got a clean one from us, then we've got an issue,” said Najel Salem, owner of Calgary Auto Connection in a recorded conversation on May 4.

Kenton says he told Najel Salem that he does have a clean bill of sale but Salem disputed him.

The couple contacted CTV Calgary’s Consumer Specialist Lea Williams-Doherty who went to the dealership and asked how two conflicting bills of sale can exist?

In a written statement Najel Salem said…

"It is possible that [Kenton] has a copy without the claim as we had sent previous bill of sale by fax and email [to his cosigner] but before pick up or delivery we always double check to assure purchasers are aware of CARPROOF claims."

Salem says his CARPROOF report showed only $15,000 in damage,  not $38,000, and he said he offered to buy the Yukon back from the couple.

Marissa says they rejected that offer since it still saddled them with the loss in value and she says next time, she will pull her own CARPROOF report.

The couple filed a complaint with AMVIC, the auto industry regulator, and it is trying to mediate a solution.

(With files from Lea Williams-Doherty)