Here's the deal, just under two months ago I bought a 68 Mustang Fastback Shelby clone from a high volume Mustang dealer. The car is an S code 390 4 speed GT car, candy apple red exterior with red interior. The car was located too far away from my home so I couldn't visit the dealer to inspect the car in person, I had to rely on pictures he provided via email and I shared the pictures with a few other fellow VMF’s who all gave it the thumbs up. In the pictures the car looked great, it needed some work but basically could be a very nice car with a little TLC and finishing. The dealer is a certified concourse judge so I trusted his word and opinion. Everything I heard from him and saw in the pictures looked good so I decided to buy the car (for a large amount of money). I had to pay to have it shipped to my house which cost me almost $1000. Once the car arrived I noticed a few small things that he had not mentioned but I decided to not make a stink and just deal with it (i.e. the fold down seat parts don’t fit and are for a different year car, no keys supplied with the car so I had to change all the cylinders, and the entire floor had been replaced and he told me it was a factory floor never replaced).
But now that a little more time has gone by and I have had time to move the car into my garage and get a good look at in under good lighting I have noticed the paint (which was supposed to be great) on the hood is cracking and some other parts of the body have imperfections. When outside in the sun light the car looks good and it's not until it's under the lights that the paint problems are noticeable. Before I bought the car I had asked the dealer the condition of the paint and he said “it looks great, not problems”. Last week I called the dealer and asked him if there was anything he could do for me, he refused to help in anyway was very rude and basically hung up the phone on me.
My question to everyone is what should I do? Do I just deal with it and chalk it up to a learning experience (next time hire a classic car inspector) or should I take it further and press the issue with the dealer and try to get some money in the form of a refund to get the paint repaired? I know I should have contacted him sooner but it wasn’t noticeable in sunlight and garage access wasn't available until recently. I’m now worried that the paint cracking will spread across the entire car and before long I’ll need to shell out big dollars for an entire repaint.
But now that a little more time has gone by and I have had time to move the car into my garage and get a good look at in under good lighting I have noticed the paint (which was supposed to be great) on the hood is cracking and some other parts of the body have imperfections. When outside in the sun light the car looks good and it's not until it's under the lights that the paint problems are noticeable. Before I bought the car I had asked the dealer the condition of the paint and he said “it looks great, not problems”. Last week I called the dealer and asked him if there was anything he could do for me, he refused to help in anyway was very rude and basically hung up the phone on me.
My question to everyone is what should I do? Do I just deal with it and chalk it up to a learning experience (next time hire a classic car inspector) or should I take it further and press the issue with the dealer and try to get some money in the form of a refund to get the paint repaired? I know I should have contacted him sooner but it wasn’t noticeable in sunlight and garage access wasn't available until recently. I’m now worried that the paint cracking will spread across the entire car and before long I’ll need to shell out big dollars for an entire repaint.
