Guys, girls - please inspect the vehicle EXTREMELY well before you purchase. I found a “recertified” salvaged 2023 Honda HR-V online through these guys (the original accident the car had been in was a hit to the front driver’s side and it caused all the airbags to deploy)
I am over 7 hours one way from this shop so I was concerned but they assured me everything was fixed to be in ‘as good as new’ condition and everything was replaced properly with OEM parts. My partner (who has owned a body shop for many years) and I made the trip out there because from what we were lead to believe by photos and conversation, it would be well worth the drive. Absolutely astatic, we were handed the keys and took it out for a drive. Immediately when we got in, my partner pointed out the alignment being considerably off. If you had the wheel driving straight as it should be, you’d be in the ditch. We then pulled over to investigate it further. Under the hood is when the truth came out. There were still broken pieces of plastic all over, the frame had damage that was not repaired, the hood latch cable was cut from the initial accident and is sure to snap, it was clear that it was left outside for some time without a hood as the bolts were already starting to rust, they used self tapping screws instead of OEM bolts - all of this seen within just a couple minutes of truly looking. For some reason there was water in the trunk where the spare tire is kept, the headliner in the car was wrinkled, every panel they had repainted had drips and significant flaws. They cut EVERY CORNER in attempt to make it look “good enough” to sell to someone who won’t know any better. I think about if that had been us and I purchased this and took the kids for a drive and got in an accident - who knows what other corners were cut in the process of “repairing” all the damage and who knows if the vehicle would have done what it is meant to do properly to keep us safe.
Although I initially was upset by all our wasted time, I hope I am able to prevent this happening to someone else. Please take someone with that knows what they’re looking at and please inspect THOROUGHLY!
Update: I’m unable to respond to their comment but note that I showed up with check in hand for the EXACT asking price so by no means was this a tactic to low ball. Nice try. I didn’t want the vehicle AT ALL nor did I try to even negotiate price whatsoever after seeing it.