Car Rip-Offs?
CONSUMER NEWS KABC Channel 7 Los Angeles
August 6, 2005

There are scam artists out there that are playing an extremely dangerous game by selling cars with damaged or re-welded frames. Thousands of innocent consumers are unknowingly putting their families at risk.

Every time you buy a used car you are at risk of getting a vehicle that has been in a wreck and then fixed poorly; so much so that you could be driving a deathtrap. Do your research before buying that used car.

Terry Donscheski paid nearly twenty thousand dollars for his Toyota SUV. But when he took it to his mechanic for service he found out he'd been driving his family around in a rebuilt wreck. Unfortunately what happened to the Donscheski family could happen to anyone buying a used car.

The risk is in a vehicle that has been repaired but suffered frame damage. A car's frame is more important than seat belts and air bags when it comes to survival in a crash. Unfortunately some body shops don't repair frame damage properly. They might use outdated equipment so if they're just a few millimeters off of being precise that could make the vehicle unsafe. A good shop will use laser technology. Or, the body shop may be looking to rip you off.

If you're driving a vehicle that doesn't feel right there could be something wrong with the frame.