ok i am the twins plus booster person from the TX thread. we found a 2021 Hyundai Palisade Limited on the m&a listing, sitting at a lender yard in Alabama, 52,000 miles, 7 seats (captains). Alabama to Chattanooga is close so the delivery is free.
my worry is not the engine, it is the car seats. i can't touch the car, so:
- how do i know the LATCH anchors are actually there and not bent or broken? the photos are of the seats, not between the cushions.
- the history report says "no accidents reported." does that mean the seat belts are fine? i read that belts should be replaced after a crash.
- how do i check recalls if i am not the owner yet?
my husband says i am overthinking it. i say i am putting our three kids in it.
you are not overthinking it. that is the right worry for this forum.
recalls are the easy one: you do not need to own the car. the NHTSA recall lookup on nhtsa.gov takes any VIN, and the listing VIN works. open recalls get done free at any Hyundai dealer no matter how the car was bought.
naomi will have better answers on the anchors and belts than i will.
the lower anchors are steel bars welded or bolted to the body structure, they don't really break on their own. what you see in used cars is the plastic guides or covers missing, or a child seat buckle jammed down in there. ask for a photo of each anchor with the seat cushion pushed back. it is a 30 second job for whoever is at the yard.
belts: ask for a photo of each seat belt pulled all the way out, so you can see the webbing. look for fraying, cuts or a belt that is stiff and won't retract. in a crash where the pretensioners fire, there is usually an airbag or SRS light on the dash too, so ask for a cluster photo with the engine running.
and the history report not showing an accident means nothing was reported. it does not mean nothing happened. read it with the photos, not instead of them.
for what it is worth, when i asked the m&a people for extra photos on our TX they sent them, it just took a couple of days. send your list early, not the night before the close. and if a photo shows something the listing did not say, you have 30 days to get your money back when a lot turns out materially misrepresented. screenshots of the listing on the day you bid.
whatever you end up buying, book a free car seat check with a certified tech once it is home. Safe Kids runs check events in a lot of cities and some fire stations do it by appointment. they found that our booster in the Telluride third row was in a spot where the shoulder belt hit my son's neck. 20 minutes, free.
update, we lost. i got the photos (anchors all there, belts looked clean, no SRS light, one open recall, which any Hyundai dealer does free). we bid $31,800 on mandaautollc.com and somebody beat us. no idea by how much, you never see the high bid.
a little sad but honestly relieved that i know what to ask now. there is a 2022 Telluride EX on the m&a listing that i am watching, same list of questions ready to go. husband has stopped saying i am overthinking.
