[jdude3454]

I have been looking around far and wide for a lightly used Element, I have been to 3 dealers looking at different ones and the one thing that has come to my attention is that they are DIRTY!:x One had dirt and clumps of mud in the front near the passengers seat and it was also dirty in the back. The second one I saw looked clean at first, then I moved the passenger seat to check out the rear a/c vents and found a tennis ball:shock: went around to the back and the salesman open up the spare tire cover and a few clumps of dog hair took flight! :shock: and lastly the last one I looked at yesterday was also noticably dirty, it looked like someone just ate some toast and got the crumbs all over the center area between the seats:twisted:and it was dirty also.
I know it's easy enough to clean BUT If they can't even clean the interior properly how can I have confidence in the fact that the vehicle inspection was any better? Is this common? am I just being a big woose about this? any one else have similar situations?
Thanks,
JDUDE

 

[GaryS]

The second one I saw looked clean at first, then I moved the passenger seat to check out the rear a/c vents and found a tennis ball:shock:

Rear a/c vent? Are you sure these are Elements you are looking at?

 

[lizzurd]

Rear a/c vent? Are you sure these are Elements you are looking at?

The rear ducts under the front seats.....

 

[bh241]

open up the spare tire cover and a few clumps of dog hair took flight!

you just thought you saw dog hair... :roll: I can show you dog hair...

It's hard to argue the point that a sloppy cleaning job (and yes it is a lot easier to clean the E than any other vehicle that I've ever had) does make one question any other 'work' the dealer has done to the vehicle. For what it's worth, that damn dog hair will find its way into everything.

But, all that aside, it is a used vehicle, it most likely won't be in pristine shape - :|

 

[Jojo]

Obviously getting these vehicles sold isn't top priority to these salesmen.
Talk them down on the price, find everything you can to get the price down and keep saying, "it's filthy".:roll:

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[jdude3454]

you just thought you saw dog hair... :roll: I can show you dog hair...

It's hard to argue the point that a sloppy cleaning job (and yes it is a lot easier to clean the E than any other vehicle that I've ever had) does make one question any other 'work' the dealer has done to the vehicle. For what it's worth, that damn dog hair will find its way into everything.

But, all that aside, it is a used vehicle, it most likely won't be in pristine shape - :|

My boy Butkus doesn't shed to badly, only all over everything, But at least it's short hair and vacuums up fairly easily,and it does get in all the nooks and crannies of everything He is the main reason I am getting a Element, him and the puppy I will be getting later. The breeder I will be getting a puppy from has some very big pooches, her males are hitting between 200 and 230 pounds and her females are about 180 to 200 pounds so the E is exactly what I need. That or a horse trailer.:razz:
I will take the interior cleaning or lack of it into consideration when dealing with the various salesman, great bargaining tool.
Thanks to all your your reply's.

JDUDE

 

[f5000sl]

They should attempt to clean the E @ least.

That said, people own these vehicles for their versatility towards the outdoor lifestyle, so they will look well used inside.

Our new-to-us 07 w/33k on it looked great initially, but when you looked real close there were scratches and dog hair still and this was from Carmax who IMO does a great job of making used cars look like new.

I was over it the first time I put my pup and drywall in the back...

 

[Sprunch]

Bought ours dirty, interior and exterior, put over 10k on it in 10 months, no complaints about drivability at all.

Sounds like they all have the Detail guy that gets "Just push it through" from the Used Car Manager...

 

[paulj]

When I bought my RAV4 used it was pretty clean. But latter I found that the previous owner had neglected to clean the door seals. The seal on the rear door in particular had rubbed, and even stuck to the metal, producing a lot of noise when the body flexed. Since then I've been quite careful to clean and lubricate the seals with 303.

 

[lizzurd]

Alot of times when we have vehicles come in on trade that are in high demand we just stuff them onto the lot until we get a chance to do a proper clean up.

 

[marksbug]

mine was filthy also.but I gess it was honda certified dirt/dog food/hair/****/crud/gue/---stains,etc.if the detail shop at the dealership where I ran service was like that they wood all be looking for a job.But then again it's a honda. not the $500000.00-750000.00 that I was dealing with ,witch should make no defrence at all.Everybody & every unit needs to get treated with integrity, a point that honda dosent seem to understand or care. witch is beyond my scope of reality. Mr honda wasent like that. the honda dealers in japan were the best dealers I have ever delt with. american honda needs to take lessons from Yamaha.Thier American & Japan network is outstanding.

 

[GaryS]

The rear ducts under the front seats.....

Oh yes, I always thought those were for heat.

jdude3454- A reputable dealer will clean it up before you take delivery.

 

[jdude3454]

Oh yes, I always thought those were for heat.

jdude3454- A reputable dealer will clean it up before you take delivery.

I only assumed that they would be a/c as well as heat, I don't see why they wouldn't pump out the cold air as well. I may be wrong,:? it has been known to happen.

I would think I could at least get them to vacuum the dirt out. I have no problem with scratches and scrapes, that is to be expected in a used car. But the dirt and toast crumbs had me thinking.