Re: Did I get burned? (long) (archive)

Any body shop can tell you in 10 seconds if the car has been in an accident, how bad it was and how well it wad repaired. Slip the guy a $20 for peace of mind!

I bought a 525iT with 44K miles from a small dealer for $15K. I had BMW do their 21 point inspection on the car and they found no major problems expect for thrust arm bushings. However, BMW states that this is not a pre-purchase inspection and that they do not do pre-purchase inspection. I ran carfax and found no reported incidents. From what I could tell the car looked fine. All the body panels fit fine and VIN decals were on the doors and hood, but I didn't see one on the rear hatch.
I found the name of the previous lessee in the service records and called him. He had the car from 18K miles to 42K miles and had no problem with it other than A/C not cold enough (I fixed this by replacing the microfilter).
Now, I've taken it to an independent mechanic to have the thrust arm bushings replaced. The mechanic says that the the car shows signs that it was in an accident. He hasn't given me any real details yet, and I can't see the car until tomorrow. The thing that's fishy here is that the dealer I bought it from went ahead and applied for vehicle registration for me. When he first told me that he does this as a service I thought it was ok and convenient. But now I realize that I don't get to see the previous title and the new one will be issued and sent to the lien-holder without my seeing it. This would be an easy way to "title wash" the car.
I'm not sure what to do. I'm going to the shop that has my car tomorrow to take a look for myself. The check that I sent to the dealer has not cleared yet and probably won't until tuesday. Can I or should I cancel or stop it?

Any advice, or similar stories would be appreciated.

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