Welded parts to frame considered frame damage??

Alright guys I just got back from the Taggart dealership in Corpus Christi. Anyways the boss came out and checked out my truck to see the condition that its in and i was telling him some of the stuff I had on my truck. I mentioned that i had a front receiver hitch and that its welded on, and he told me that if anything is welded to the frame that was considered frame damage and that this drops the price of the truck by 5 grand. Now I think he is full of shit and just wants my truck for dirt cheap. I hear about people getting stuff welded on all the time, like sliders for example.

Is this true about frame damage and this is just ANOTHER dealer being a dick and trying to steal my money??

 

Good question but 5k lower, its a dealer being a dick

 

He IS full of shit.

 

Walk away. He's trying to get the truck 5k cheaper than his low ball offer. He's a complete idiot if he really thinks that's frame damage.

 

You should tell him since that you owned it the price of it should be $5k more than the KBB price because you're awesome. Someone is full of something and it's not candy.

 

Sell it out right. You're giving free money away to the dealerships with trade ins.

 

you should tell him that unless he cut his nails within the last 15 minutes, his hands are considered "unsightly" and that he'll have to increase his price to you by at least $5k to make up for your mental anguish

 

This too. I did that with my old truck. Got $18,500 for it when dealers offered me like $14,000 max.

 

He came off to be a conniving douche, but i was just so overwhelmed of such a ridiculous response i didn't know what to say.

I called my insurance and asked if i "were" to weld something on would it be considered or not, just waiting for them to respond back.

Ive heard of some weird things dealers try to pull but this is a new one for me.

 

I'm sure your insurance company would be smart enough to know that welded on parts is not frame damage. That and probably think that the dealer is dumb. Frame damage is when the FRAME is rusted, bent, twisted, cut, etc..

 

Tell him his wife didn't drop 5k after you gave her frame damage.

 

That's an offer that you can't say "no" to. Pff!!!! What a douche.

 

OMG PLEASE TELL HIM THAT!

 

He is full of shit, but that's just a negotiating tactic. Tell him that you understand that welding could be considered damage if done improperly by some amateur hack who doesn't know what he's doing, but welding done properly by a skilled welder is the opposite of damage, it's an improvement. Ask him if he were selling your truck on his lot would he tell a potential buyer that the front receiver hitch is damage or an improvement?

Negotiating with pricks like that is tough because part of their strategy is to piss you off so you are off-balance, so just play hardball back and don't make a deal unless you get what you want, otherwise just walk away.

 

OMFG best answer ever rep for that..

 

You should ask him, "if your mother traded in a vehicle to you. Would you drop the price 5k"? I highly doubt he would.

 

Idk.. there are a lot of shit bag dealers, wouldn't surprise me if they tried to fuck over their family members to make a few bucks.

 

I do plan on selling out on my own but since I was there why not see what they have to say. I didnt know i was going to be drug into a shark tank lol

BTW i just got the call from my insurance and they said they have never heard of welding causing frame damage.

 

Besides being a Toyota Tacoma enthusiast, I am also a car sales professional and I have been a car wholesaler. I can tell you that at most dealer auctions that anything welded to the frame is considered frame damage. If I came to your house to buy your Tacoma for the purpose of running it to the dealer auction, once I saw anything welded to the frame I would say "have a nice day" and I would leave. Even if you take it off and someone has a frame inspection done after a sale, it will come back to someone. It may not come all the way back to you, but if someone wanted to make a big deal out of it, they can.
The only exception to frame damage would be plow trucks. If a 3/4 or one ton truck is announced to have been used as a plow truck, it usually will not affect the value because that is how the trucks are supposed to be used. On a half ton or even a compact truck like a Tacoma (or lesser truck) is announced or discovered as previously being used as a plow truck, it will affect the value in a negative way.
You can argue with me all you want, but I have been in the used car industry for 15 years and been to hundreds of auctions!
Now if the dealer takes the truck in and resells it to an unsuspecting customer and does not disclose the previous frame issue, the customer gets a lot of rights to shove that truck back up the dealers place where the sun does not shine. He might get away with it, but once discovered can cause a lot of problems for that dealer.
As a final note, once that truck gets labelled as frame damage at a dealer auction, Autocheck and/ or Carfax will pick up on it and that truck will carry that label for the life of the truck.
If the truck does not sell on his lot, he will take it to auction. Once he gets it to auction, he has to announce frame damage.
So the lesson is to think very carefully before welding ANYTHING to your frame!

 

And the plot of this thread thickens. Interesting!