[danielarnold]

I posted earlier that my wife and I had found a great deal at a local dealer on a 2011 4 cylinder Equinox LT2. It has the sunroof, sensors, and 18'' rims. Car looks perfect. We went to do the deal and a guy I had never seen before starts walking towards us with a piece of paper. He informs us that the vehicle was a buy back. The person had the vehicle in the shop several times for a steering wheel shake when the AC was engaged. Several things were done to the vehicle and this dealer couldn't find anything wrong. Placed side by side with a new Equinox, they both run the same. The dealer it was purchased from went out of business and this dealer was asked to handle the problem. They put the woman in a new Equinox. They want me to sign a piece of paper stating that I know this. We have driven the vehicle and cannot duplicate the problem. The dealer put 800 miles on it driving it to replicate the problem and nothing. We were told to take it and drive it for a week and see what we think. Does anyone have any experience with this problem or with a buyback? They are giving us a 48-48,000 warranty to make up for the 13,000 miles on it. We love the vehicle. But, we have a very nice 07 Tahoe LT2 that we will let go of. We are trading for $2,000. Is this a good idea?

 

[dishdude]

I wouldn't. Although I have never heard of this problem who knows what the real story is - I can guarantee you aren't getting it.

I don't know all the details of your deal, but I'd be willing to bet that you coud get a brand new one for the same price. This will seriously affect resale value.

 

[ArizonaNOX]

I'm with Dishdude; why buy someone else's problem vehicle? Further agree that resale value would capital "S" ssssuck! :thumbdown:

I'd be curious to see the Carfax or similar report AND [at risk of digging into your pocket] know the price you are paying for this car. Care to share? If not, totally understandable. Only asking because if you MUST have THIS vehicle, a lot of knowledgable folk around here will chime-in on the sale price to assist you.

Good luck man!

 

[Mr. Plow]

I wouldn't either. Better to wait and get a brand new one without someone else's weirdness. GM doesn't do Buy Backs at the drop of the hat so there must have something that prompted the process. I went through that with the Gen 1 Equinox. It took a lot of hard work on my part - monitoring, following up, pushing. In the end GM did the right thing and replaced it. The second Equinox was flawless. And look I just recently purchased my "3rd" Equinox and loving it too. Acadia's been great too (just to show her some love too).

 

[danielarnold]

Buyback Equinox

The carfax shows nothing. I was told it was between GM, the dealer and me- or whoever buys it. I was told the vehicle would only show that it was used; it will not show as a buyback. The vin is 2CNALPECXB6222932 if anyone wants to look. I was also told if we had the same problem it would be handled quickly. I am just wondering if it was because the vehicle was driven in ECO mode and then the ac was switched on. The papers say that it was bought back for this reason. It doesn't mention anything else.

 

[iafirebuff]

We have not had any problems with the AC being turned on while in ECO.

 

[dishdude]

Carfax and the other reports can take a while to have incidents show up. I can't believe you are even considering this.

 

[georgi55]

Dealers lie. I have a feeling that they are trying to buy your trust by pretending to be upfront about it, when in fact, they are hiding even a bigger problem (maybe it crashed and was not reported, then fixed, etc).

Stay away.

 

[Haole Da Kine]

You're giving the dealer 2K or the dealer is giving you 2K ? 07 LT Tahoe with reasonable miles should be worth somewhere in the upper 20's. I'd want a check for close to 8 grand before I did that deal :thumbdown:

 

[Valsequinox]

You're giving the dealer 2K or the dealer is giving you 2K ? 07 LT Tahoe with reasonable miles should be worth somewhere in the upper 20's. I'd want a check for close to 8 grand before I did that deal :thumbdown:

Mid 20's tops on a trade in!!!

 

[Don B]

Sounds like a con job to me. I wouldn't touch the deal with a ten foot pole.

 

[Terra-Nox]

As is often the case with 'stuff' I might look at this differently. Sounds like the current dealer got stuck with it and has been trying to re-create the problem. Telling you about it and extending warranty doesn't sound like an 'evil' dealer trick, selling it to you without disclosure would be different.

I don't like comparing apples to oranges but it could be something relatively simple (but doesn't set any codes, which mechanics rely on to fix things).
On my 06' HHR with a 2.4 I had a sporadic engine performance problem when using A/C set to max. I had read of one or two others with the problem and it because the system came overcharged with refrigerant. If it was something like this, combined with issues some have reported using ECO and it could create shaking condition.


If you are still interested in it and they are offering a non-committal ride for a week I might be inclined to 'test' it by turning A/C on full with high fan speed, ECO on, Radio on (just to stress things a tad), and drive in long stop and go conditions. Perhaps you can create it.

 

[pawjr74]

I would make them include a 7 year 100k warranty if I were to even consider the purchase.

 

[IceMan]

Seems to me..if the dealer went as far as to offer a 'buy back'...and put the woman into another Equinox ..there was a real problem that surely went way beyond anything imagined on her part. Another 'red flag' is that admittedly nothing was found...or fixed to date. "Buy backs" don't come easy...unless someone is having a reoccurring problem with the vehicle enough to 'raise hell about it' without relenting. If the dealer stated that her problem had later been found and fixed...it might turn out to be a chance to buy at a decent discount. However...even with an extended warrenty...it's a roll of the dice..as to whether an unsolved problem will eventually rear it's ugly head. Are you signing away finding a solution(fix)...and just agreeing to bring it into the shop as the previous lady did until fed up? Will they offer you a 'buy back'...if the unfixed..unfound steering issue shows up again?...Or leave you hanging with repeated servicing of 'Can't replicate'. Afterall....you were made aware that it was a 'buy back' vehicle. I'd be wary of a 'Dealer Surprise'...sometimes..it can become more of a surprise than initually expected...

 

[Colt Hero]

Is there any way you could contact the previous owner? Assuming you could verify that you were actually talking to the REAL previous owner and not another salesman on his off-day, you might be able to gain a better perspective on what really went wrong with this particular unit.

Now - people here are saying not to buy this vehicle - and I tend to agree with them. But obviously there is a price where most anyone would buy. If it were FREE, nobody would turn it down. How many would buy it at HALF price? Probably still about 80-90%. How about 33% off? A little harder, right?

My experience with buying American made cars as NEW LEFTOVERS is that you can find deals with discounts in the vicinity of 25% off.

However, this vehicle is USED (WITH known baggage).

So I'd be looking for AT LEAST 35% off sticker for me to even CONSIDER buying.

I don't remember exactly how much the LT2's were going for, but I THINK they were in the vicinity of $28k+. 35% of $28k is $9800, meaning the sale price would be in the neighborhood of $18,200.

 

[k9kuz]

Run - fast - away from this "deal". GM doesn't do buybacks without very good cause.

 

[danielarnold]

The previous owner bought it from a dealer that went out of business. This dealer is know for crappy service. They lost all of GM. They still sell Ford, Chrysler, and some Asian and German brands. I am going to contact the previous owner tomorrow. When the dealer went out of business the owners took it to another dealer to have the problem looked at again. This dealer that has it now was the closest to the owner and was asked by GM to handle the problem. They did extensive research and testing- over 800 miles and couldn't replicate the problem. Because the people had dealt with 3 dealers it made the buyback a little easier. They put the lady in a new Equinox and she had the same complaint but took the vehicle. She went from a Tahoe LTZ to a 4 banger. It does run rougher. I was told there was nothing wrong with the vehicle. This is a small town dealer with an excellent reputation. They were just asked to step in to buy the vehicle back to take care of a defunct dealers problem. People from two larger cities with Chevy dealers come to this dealer because of their reputation. I was told the paper does not keep me from filing lemon law if a problem is found. It does not keep me from getting the problem fixed and if it is what was stated, replaced. We are going down tomorrow to talk to them again. We will have had the vehicle for three days tomorrow. Our Tahoe is an LT2. It has 55,000 miles on it. It is in very good shape except for the back bumper being hit in a parking lot- just pant damage. The sensors still work. It was previously a rental we bought in 2006 at Christmas. All of the warranty is out. We can get in this one for $2,000. It will have a 48-48,000 mile warranty plus the power train. They did a buy back two weeks ago on an Enclave that had battery issues. The people didn't drive it for 3 to 4 weeks at a time. The battery died several times. Our Tahoe had the same issue. The people needed to get to the hospital quick one day and the battery had died. The man almost died. They got a buy back in 3 days. The loan man bought it and hasn't had the problem because his wife drives it almost daily. These were their only buy backs this year and he said they were both unnecessary. But because of the circumstances, the customer got their way.

 

[IceMan]

Just out of curiosity...how old are you,danielarnold...?

 

[danielarnold]

My wife and I are both 36.