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CERTIFIED USED CARS AND REBUILT WRECKS

Too many new car dealers selling so-called "certified" used cars SAY they have no way of making absolutely sure that the used cars they sell have not be involved in major collisions and have been re-built to be re-sold to unsuspecting car buyers, who are not made aware the cars were once wrecked! However, this is hardly believable because if independent car mechanics can easily spot re-built wrecks then so can car dealers!

Only around half of the motor vehicle departments in all 50 states in America even supply local governments with enough information to determine if a used car has been competely wrecked then re-built for re-sale to the public! This makes the so-called "used car search and information" internet services or independent services being sold to consumers for a fee not very practical and essentially unable to REALLY know if a used car has ever been wrecked or not. Consequently, hundreds of thousands of cars that get "totaled", or completely wrecked beyond repair, get re-built for re-sale and end up being bought and driven by unsuspecting car buyers!

Too often these cars end up getting involved in collisions again that may kill the driver and passengers because the re-built wrecks were not re-built for safety but were re-built just to "look" good to prospective car buyers! Re-built wrecks may not even have proper functioning airbags and other safety equipment put back into them and few, if any, proper repairs may be made to ensure the re-built wrecks are even safe to drive again!

Your only hope is to have a competent, independent mechanic that does NOT work for the car dealer inspect the used car you want to buy BEFORE you buy it to determine if the car has been wrecked then re-built. Once you buy the car from the dealer it may be too late to get customer satisfaction even if your re-built wreck case ends up in a court of law!

SUPPLEMENTAL SOURCE: CBS-TV NEWS 4/29/04 and 4/30/04

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