A Michigan mother purchased a $17,000 vehicle from a used auto dealer to later discover it was a salvaged vehicle needing $13,000 in repairs, according to an 8 Wood TV news report. 

The mother discovered that the vehicle had previous damage after taking it to a repair shop for new damage caused by a deer. 

Moise Nshizirungu, the mother’s son, said the 2018 Nissan Rogue was purchased months earlier from Lee Auto Export, according to the news report. He added his mother pays $500 a month to the dealership for the vehicle. 

The repair shop said the vehicle couldn’t be fixed because of the prior damage, Nshizirungu told the news station. He also said it wasn’t until after paperwork was signed that the dealers said the vehicle had a rebuilt salvage title. 

Paperwork signed by the mother also indicated that the vehicle was being purchased “as is,” the news station reported. 

Nshizirungu and is mother fled from the Congo as refugees and told a volunteer who works with the family about the vehicle, the station says. It was the volunteer who alerted the news station. 

The news station continued an investigation into the vehicle. It took the vehicle to Rapid Auto Repair and Collision for another assessment. 

“It’s not rebuilt correctly,” said Kado A. Kado, owner of Rapid Auto Repair and Collision, to the news station while pointing out defects under the hood. “There are screws that aren’t supposed to be here, just to hold the parts together. As you can see, there’s exposed metal here. There’s rust. So, this should have been replaced. You can kind of cover all of this up with just putting a bumper on. In this case, that’s what they did.”

Kado estimated the vehicle’s worth at $10,000. He told the news station that the situation broke his heart. 

Molly Pham, Lee Auto Export, disputed the $13,000 estimate to repair the vehicle. She said the dealership fixed the previous damage prior to declaring it “rebuilt” and ready for sale. 

She told the news station she is licensed through the state in collision-related mechanical repair and that under state law the vehicle passed an independent inspection. 

“But the salvage inspector who signed off on the Rogue, a retired police officer, told Target 8 it’s not always possible to assess the quality of repairs without disassembling the vehicle,” the article says. “He said a salvage inspector’s main mission is to ensure vehicles are properly titled, contain no stolen parts, and present no safety hazards, like inoperable seatbelts.”

Consumers can find the condition of vehicles sold at salvage auctions in the state by looking up the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN), the story says. 

The Nshizirungu’s VIN number shows pictures of the vehicle, its mileage, retail value, and needed cost of repairs at $13,208. 

Because Nshizirungu’s mother signed “as is” paperwork, the Secretary of State’s office found no wrongdoing in the case, the report says. However, Lee Auto Export agreed to buy the Rogue back after state regulators started investigating the transaction. 

The article notes Lee Auto has been cited for multiple rule violations in the past and placed on probation. 

“When you buy a car ‘as is,’ it doesn’t matter whether that car is unsafe,” Adam Taub, a consumer attorney, told the news station. “It doesn’t matter whether that car is worth one-tenth of what you paid for it. ‘As is’ means you fix it, and you may not be able to afford that.”

Taub suggested consumers make sure to get a warranty that covers at least the drivetrain. The warranty should also cover at least three months and 3,000 miles. 

“If they’re not willing to stand behind the products they’re selling in writing, run away,” Taub told the news agency. 

The Collision Industry Conference Industry Relations Committee reported in January that it found significant frame damage, totaled vehicles, and a lack of OEM-recommended procedures such as alignments and calibrations when it reviewed 26 cases of improper repairs. 

It found that 90% of the vehicles were totaled after having an independent post-repair inspection. About 50% of the vehicles had significant frame damage. 

“We looked at 26 of these vehicles,” said Ron Reichen, Precision Body and Paint owner. “That is just a fraction of those vehicles that are still out there on the streets. It should be terrifying because those vehicles are coming at us and they’re coming at our families.” 

A lawsuit was filed earlier this year alleges Destiny Byassee, a mother of two, was killed in a June 12, 2023 collision when a counterfeit front driver-side air bag exploded. The suit says the vehicle was in a collision previous to Byassee purchasing the vehicle and and the air bag was installed during an improper repair at that time.

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