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Fluid leak/dealer shenanigans?

AcenTitus

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I've recently started thinking about cashing in on the value of my Challenger while dealerships are hungry for stock and buy a beater SUV for cheap and start learning the trails in my area. I sent pictures and my VIN to Shift who I've had good experiences with in the past. They estimate (pending inspection that I had no reason to think would go poorly) that my car is worth $14,600 which based on my research seemed about right give or take an option or scratch not factored in. I received s letter from a local dealership in LA saying they wanted to buy my challenger and would offer more than normal right now. I took it in and while I test drove a jeep to make sure I 1: liked driving a big SUV on big tires and 2: wasn't missing anything by not just buying a jeep, they took my key for their guys to look it over and give me their appraisal.

They said it's worth 7,500. I told them I'd buy this car for 7,500 and informed them politely that I was done there. As I entered the freeway driving home, i noticed my transmission acting strange (wasn't shifting where it normally does), then shortly after I suddenly lost traction and fish tailed for a bit before getting it back under control. Neither of those things have happened in the 75,000 miles I've driven this car (bought the car with 10k on it).

I went to drive it again today to see if it was still acting up and was met with the attached image. It seems very strange to me that I gave my car to these guys for an hour and afterwards it started behaving poorly in a way it never has before. Is this an unfortunate coincidence? Might one of their tests/poking around have caused an issue somehow? I figured one of you guys might be able to shed some light on this via your general knowledge or some previous experience.

I'll be taking this to my trusted mechanic tomorrow but if anyone wants to armchair diagnose what that fluid is I'd welcome the theories to add to my research.

I need a Bronco.

20200802_124216.jpg
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Dlerojo

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Can't tell what that fluid is from the picture but its not in a location that oil or any other vital fluid would be leaking from. Can you tell where its leaking from if anywhere? To me it looks like you ran over a liquid and it sprayed up onto your wheel wells then dripped onto your floor once stopped.

I doubt they did anything to your car. It could be that something was wrong with your vehicle that they saw and thats why they lowered their valuation. It could have been a coincidence that whatever failed after you took it to the dealer.
 

Fordboi

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(beofre i start, idk much about challengers. if any of these proposals sound weird lmk)
did your steering go weird? may have been the steering pump. also could be a traction control thing... idk tho
 
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AcenTitus

AcenTitus

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(beofre i start, idk much about challengers. if any of these proposals sound weird lmk)
did your steering go weird? may have been the steering pump. also could be a traction control thing... idk tho
Yeah it did. Seems to be fine now though. @Dlerojo might be on to something too. Would make sense if I ran through oil, lost control then it dripped off. Fingers crossed. I've got stuff under the car to see if I can catch anything else coming off it or not. Thanks for the input. Hey guys is it June yet?
 

1979

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What type of liquid is it? You should be able to tell if it’s an oily substance. The way it spread it looks like water. Oil usually pools as opposed to running like that.

Do you have a sunroof? Where the spots are look almost exactly where sunroof drains are.
 

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I've recently started thinking about cashing in on the value of my Challenger while dealerships are hungry for stock and buy a beater SUV for cheap and start learning the trails in my area. I sent pictures and my VIN to Shift who I've had good experiences with in the past. They estimate (pending inspection that I had no reason to think would go poorly) that my car is worth $14,600 which based on my research seemed about right give or take an option or scratch not factored in. I received s letter from a local dealership in LA saying they wanted to buy my challenger and would offer more than normal right now. I took it in and while I test drove a jeep to make sure I 1: liked driving a big SUV on big tires and 2: wasn't missing anything by not just buying a jeep, they took my key for their guys to look it over and give me their appraisal.

They said it's worth 7,500. I told them I'd buy this car for 7,500 and informed them politely that I was done there. As I entered the freeway driving home, i noticed my transmission acting strange (wasn't shifting where it normally does), then shortly after I suddenly lost traction and fish tailed for a bit before getting it back under control. Neither of those things have happened in the 75,000 miles I've driven this car (bought the car with 10k on it).

I went to drive it again today to see if it was still acting up and was met with the attached image. It seems very strange to me that I gave my car to these guys for an hour and afterwards it started behaving poorly in a way it never has before. Is this an unfortunate coincidence? Might one of their tests/poking around have caused an issue somehow? I figured one of you guys might be able to shed some light on this via your general knowledge or some previous experience.

I'll be taking this to my trusted mechanic tomorrow but if anyone wants to armchair diagnose what that fluid is I'd welcome the theories to add to my research.

I need a Bronco.

Ford Bronco Fluid leak/dealer shenanigans? 20200802_124216
I sold my 2016 Dodge Journey with a weak 4 cylinder engine with 31k miles on it. They gave me 12.4k for it. Thought it was a great price for that vehicle.
 
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AcenTitus

AcenTitus

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What type of liquid is it? You should be able to tell if it’s an oily substance. The way it spread it looks like water. Oil usually pools as opposed to running like that.

Do you have a sunroof? Where the spots are look almost exactly where sunroof drains are.
No sunroof and the liquid was black which makes me think oil except it was by the front and back driver side wheels which I found puzzling
 
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AcenTitus

AcenTitus

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I sold my 2016 Dodge Journey with a weak 4 cylinder engine with 31k miles on it. They gave me 12.4k for it. Thought it was a great price for that vehicle.
Yeah I'd be happy with what Shift estimated. The dealership was offering literally half which was pretty ridiculous. They were the ones who reached out to me! Waste of time but at least I learned beyond any doubt that I am not going to prefer a Wrangler over the Bronco
 

Parker

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I never - NEVER - give a dealer keys, and I always - ALWAYS - go with them when they drive my car. That way I never have to worry at a time I have other things on my mind (like four salesman distracting me).
 
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AcenTitus

AcenTitus

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I never - NEVER - give a dealer keys, and I always - ALWAYS - go with them when they drive my car. That way I never have to worry at a time I have other things on my mind (like four salesman distracting me).
I've had this car serviced at that dealership before when it was under warranty so I didn't think much of it
 

siddious33

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Just tried Shift for my car and it said they can't take cars worth more than 50k, so that's good. lol.

I don't live anywhere they buy cars anyway, so it's much more likely that is the reason...
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