Would you buy a lemon?

[Billccm]

I have been shopping for a newer car (2021 to 2022 Charger) primarily for my wife's daily driver. My search criteria has basically been a Charger R/T, or 392 with less than 20K miles.

Looked at quite a few 2021 Charger R/T with 9 to 20K miles all priced within 5% of each other at $39,900. Most of the CarFax come back as Personal Lease, with a few rental cars mixed in, but for the most part all are base model R/T cars. Interesting that every 392 I have looked at used was either salvage or rebuilt title, or repossessed with something wrong cosmetically or functionally.

I stumbled across a Lemon Law Buyback and just love the car bumper to bumper. It is a 2022 Charger R/T PLUS with a whopping 4,400 miles. I have driven it twice and my wife drove it once and it is basically the car we both want. For LESS than the price of a rental return 2021 Charger with 20K miles I can get this barely used car.

The CarFax is accident free and list it as a Lemon Law buy back. Interestingly the service visits are not listed. You would think the multiple car complaints and service visits to qualify for a Lemon Law car would be listed?

Fiat Chrysler disclosure documents were printed out and copies given to me. The car went back multiple times for oil leaks, stalling, and check engine lights over a four month period. In December, 2021 the dealer who purchased this car (Bill Luke Chrysler in Phoenix) replaced the entire long block, oil pan, timing cover, water pump, and all four TPMS sensors.

The dealer adds an additional 1 year unlimited mileage warranty to the original bumper to bumper warranty. I have this in writing.

Link to the car:
https://www.billlukemarana.com/inve...arger-rt-plus-rwd-4d-sedan-2c3cdxct0nh166655/
So, I'd like to get some feedback and opinions. My really close friend who just retired as mechanic gave me the green light once he reviewed the disclosure documents. ALL of my Mopar friends tell me to run away as fast as I can. Unfortunately, out of all of the cars I have test drove, this Lemon is the one I like the best!

Thank you for any feedback, opinions, and sympathy!

 

[66 Sat]

I say go for it! It's not like the car is handbuilt by one person and if they are useless the whole car is then a mess. Maybe the engine was dodgy (now mostly replaced), but there should be nothing wrong with the body, interior, transmission, wheels, suspension, brakes etc.
Maybe it was a fussy owner or someone had run into financial difficulties and used the earlier problems to enact the lemon law and get out of the ownership.

 

[LowBikeMike]

Back in the day when I worked for Oldsmobile as a Service Rep we would voluntarily repurchase vehicles, confirm the fix and resell. Never had one come back after resold. In almost all the cases the vehicles had a real concern but the biggest issue that caused a loss of confidence in the vehicle could be traced to a dealer related issue. This experience excludes diesels, once repurchased voluntarily or not, we took them straight to the scrap yard and waited till they were crushed in our presence.

I would have no issues purchasing a buyback vehicle.

 

[eldubb440]

no such thing as a lemon...... it's a BS term for the masses

 

[Nxcoupe]

I have been shopping for a newer car (2021 to 2022 Charger) primarily for my wife's daily driver. My search criteria has basically been a Charger R/T, or 392 with less than 20K miles.

Looked at quite a few 2021 Charger R/T with 9 to 20K miles all priced within 5% of each other at $39,900. Most of the CarFax come back as Personal Lease, with a few rental cars mixed in, but for the most part all are base model R/T cars. Interesting that every 392 I have looked at used was either salvage or rebuilt title, or repossessed with something wrong cosmetically or functionally.

I stumbled across a Lemon Law Buyback and just love the car bumper to bumper. It is a 2022 Charger R/T PLUS with a whopping 4,400 miles. I have driven it twice and my wife drove it once and it is basically the car we both want. For LESS than the price of a rental return 2021 Charger with 20K miles I can get this barely used car.

The CarFax is accident free and list it as a Lemon Law buy back. Interestingly the service visits are not listed. You would think the multiple car complaints and service visits to qualify for a Lemon Law car would be listed?

Fiat Chrysler disclosure documents were printed out and copies given to me. The car went back multiple times for oil leaks, stalling, and check engine lights over a four month period. In December, 2021 the dealer who purchased this car (Bill Luke Chrysler in Phoenix) replaced the entire long block, oil pan, timing cover, water pump, and all four TPMS sensors.

The dealer adds an additional 1 year unlimited mileage warranty to the original bumper to bumper warranty. I have this in writing.

Link to the car:
https://www.billlukemarana.com/inve...arger-rt-plus-rwd-4d-sedan-2c3cdxct0nh166655/
So, I'd like to get some feedback and opinions. My really close friend who just retired as mechanic gave me the green light once he reviewed the disclosure documents. ALL of my Mopar friends tell me to run away as fast as I can. Unfortunately, out of all of the cars I have test drove, this Lemon is the one I like the best!

Thank you for any feedback, opinions, and sympathy!

Well, it does have 666 in the vin, but I'm sure that'd coincidence. I'll ck in a minute for you.

 

[Bee1971]

We have a Chrysler / Dodge / Jeep dealer right up the road that gets a lot of buy back cars out from California

A lot of 392 Scat Packs a few years back

I bought my little 2017 Jeep Renegade from them as a buyback

Vehicle had 2,000 miles on it

Was listed as manual transmission shift issues , brake issues , and rear drivers side window seal issues

Was literally brand new and I picked it up for $13,500 with a full warranty back then

Yes I was hesitant , but man the price was impossible to beat

Still drive it back and forth to work every day , now has 80,000 miles

Took them three times before they figured out the rear window was coming up to high with the electric motor switch blowing out the top seal


That was the only reason the vehicle ever saw a dealership since I owned it

 

[1 Wild R/T]

Most buybacks are people who have buyers remorse & know an attorney... Buy it...

 

[Bee1971]

That’s what I was thinking

A manual shift Jeep Renegade on a California highway

Sounds like a lot of fun

Not

 

[Billccm]

Well looking at the disclosure documents this car definitely had an oil leak. Maybe a porous block?

Drastic repair for a new motor.

 

[Photon440]

If it's a really good price, and as you say it has the extra warranty, then I'd go for it.

 

[WileERobby]

no such thing as a lemon...... it's a BS term for the masses

Bingo !! Does anyone think that as multiple cars go through an assembly line, a particular car gets "spooked" where anything & everything goes wrong with it ? If a car is garbage, all of the model line is garbage... not just "one".

 

[#41]

no such thing as a lemon...... it's a BS term for the masses

Wrong.

Lemon laws protect the public against vehicles with constant or systemic problems.

My brand new 07 CTD 4x4 Ram went back to the dealer every month for 14 months until the new emissions system finally burned up the turbo at only 13k. The area Chrysler rep himself agreed it was a lemon and that they were at a loss on how to fix it. They were losing their *** so bad on the warranty work that they were happy to get it off the road.

How would you deal with this situation without lemon laws? Praise mother Mopar and ask for another?

 

[eldubb440]

Wrong.

Lemon laws protect the public against vehicles with constant or systemic problems.

My brand new 07 CTD 4x4 Ram went back to the dealer every month for 14 months until the new emissions system finally burned up the turbo at only 13k. The area Chrysler rep himself agreed it was a lemon and that they were at a loss on how to fix it. They were losing their *** so bad on the warranty work that they were happy to get it off the road.

How would you deal with this situation without lemon laws? Praise mother Mopar and ask for another?

any "system" on a car can be repaired........ even if it entails replacing the entire system

it doesn't make the car a "lemon"

it may or may not be cost effective to fix, but Chrysler being "at a loss on how to fix it" is nonsense

 

[Bee1971]

Bingo !! Does anyone think that as multiple cars go through an assembly line, a particular car gets "spooked" where anything & everything goes wrong with it ? If a car is garbage, all of the model line is garbage... not just "one".

Spooked

 

[Davefinan]

Good points made on both sides here. I have no doubt that any system or systems can be repaired or replaced.
on the other hand, if a manufacturer representative sees these issues the particular car is having as too many or too often, then I would think this is the manufacturers own definition of a “lemon”. Most anything can be fixed but at what cost……certainly Don’t was to spend more than the value of the vehicle.
on the other side of it , there undoubtedly are people so finicky or unhappy that they will go to any length to get a new vehicle out of it .

 

[68BabyBlue]

I ran a C-15 CAT diesel in my Peterbilt 379, and used to overhaul it every five years. Fairly expensive, but worth it to me in terms of economy and reliability in between engine jobs. The engine would crack a cylinder liner a year after warranty ran out, almost as predictable as a sunrise. The last time in the shop, the service manager and I were discussing the consistency, and he mentioned that in his 20 years with the shop, he had one truck with an engine that defied the norm, consistently failing at least once, and sometimes twice, under warranty.

CAT corporate was on his case, as it was costing them dearly in claims. He finally lucked into a block with better history out of a wreck, swapped it on the next overhaul, and the problem went away. There is always the possibility of a fluke "lemon", but the issue may well get resolved.

 

[Hey-O]

I worked at Chrysler for years and have owned at least 15 over the years, all new. I wouldn't buy a used Chrysler products unless I knew where it came from, period. I know the story, he buys and trades in every year or it still has a warranty. Why do you think I had so many, many were dogs that just didn't hunt. I had a friend that owned three Chrysler dealerships and it's record spoke for itself. The thought is that the dogs are spread around the country, but when you own a dealership that use to sell about 200 cars a month, I've seen it all. I'm sure a used 392 was only driven by a little old lady on sundays, remember that one. Why does a car with 10,000 miles have new tires. Most Chrysler products aren't rated very high and had the highest per 100 defects in the market. I'm talking to you guys, not the general public, I don't **** where I eat..... Royal Gate Dodge, even the dealership went to hell after my friend died. I still only drive Chrysler products and again, I'm talking to you guys..............

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[68BabyBlue]

I worked at Chrysler for years and have owned at least 15 over the years, all new. I wouldn't buy a used Chrysler products unless I knew where it came from, period. I know the story, he buys and trades in every year or it still has a warranty. Why do you think I had so many, many were dogs that just didn't hunt. I had a friend that owned three Chrysler dealerships and it's record spoke for itself. The thought is that the dogs are spread around the country, but when you own a dealership that use to sell about 200 cars a month, I've seen it all. I'm sure a used 392 was only driven by a little old lady on sundays, remember that one. Why does a car with 10,000 miles have new tires. Most Chrysler products aren't rated very high and had the highest per 100 defects in the market. I'm talking to you guys, not the general public, I don't **** where I eat..... Royal Gate Dodge, even the dealership went to hell after my friend died. I still only drive Chrysler products and again, I'm talking to you guys..............

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My approach is a bit different, but the same. I've purchased mainly used vehicles, but I've always been a fanatic about history, with the premise that good ones tend to be kept, or if they had initial issues, they got resolved. On the collector side, my current GTX was far from perfect when it left the factory, but it was brought to a high level of quality for the era, because it was a dealer's personal car. I've had no unpleasant surprises with anything I've owned that had extensive owner history.

 

[Hey-O]

My approach is a bit different, but the same. I've purchased mainly used vehicles, but I've always been a fanatic about history, with the premise that good ones tend to be kept, or if they had initial issues, they got resolved. On the collector side, my current GTX was far from perfect when it left the factory, but it was brought to a high level of quality for the era, because it was a dealer's personal car. I've had no unpleasant surprises with anything I've owned that had extensive owner history.















That goes back to knowing where it came from, not all Chrysler products are junk. An educated consumer should have good luck.

 

[YY1]

Seems appropriate.