What do you do when you travel over 500 miles to see a vehicle on CarGurus and it is a piece of Sh__? I thought that these vehicles were checked out before allowing them be a part of this website.

You learn from the experience. You can pay someone to check it out for you. Check out Lemon Squad.

I purchased a car out of state so I could not see it personally. So, I decided to use Lemon Squad. The car looked great but there was a note in the CARFAX about vibration being checked. I had driven a few of the cars before and all had some level of vibration during acceleration. So, I was not overly concerned but asked specifically that the technician check this out. I also asked that any cosmetic defects be photographed. The tech drove the car and did not find any vibration according to his report. He also noted that there were some scratches consistent with age specifically that there were some scratches under the front bumper that you needed to bend down to see. Based on the report I drove down to see the car (7 hours). When I got there the car looked good, but, there were a number of visible scratches on the front bumper and you didn't need to bend down to see them. I was ok with that but it would have been nice to have the pictures of this so that I could have made the decision before driving down. Driving the car I found that there was vibration during acceleration. It was a bit worse than what I had seen but given the clean bill of health I got from Lemon Squad I decided to take the car. When I brought it home I had a nagging feeling that something was not quite right. So, I brought the car into a local mechanic. He found the following: 1. The top engine mount was leaking hydraulic fluid and needed to be replaced. 2. A control arm bushing was torn and a ball joint needed to be replaced (you replace them in pairs - right and left typically). 3. The CV joints had been replaced with aftermarket units and they were out of balance causing the vibration - this is a manufacturing issue. 4. The timing belt needed to be replaced along with the serpentine belt. The timing belt on the purchased needs to be replaced at 105K or after 10 years (car is 13 years old). The response from Lemon Squad was less than helpful. You have 2 weeks to refute the report and it did take some time to get the car over to the local mechanic (about 3 weeks for me - didn't do it right away because I had just paid 200 dollars to Lemon Squad so I was hesitant to spend more money. The summary of their response was: 1. They can only report what they find at the time of the report (all of these things were issues at that time). 2. I waited too long to contact them - again, I spent 200 dollars so I was hesitant to spend more money on an additional inspection. 3. They can't lift the car so they can't find some things - but, they are supposed to get around the fact that they can't lift the car by using mirrors to inspect the underside of the car. Control arm bushing was torn and visible, engine mount was on top of the engine and visible - should have found these things. 4. Said no vibration when driven - not possible. The issue is a manufacturing defect (CVs were out of balance - too long or short). It is not something that comes and goes. A skilled mechanic would be able to identify/diagnose the issue. The local mechanic called this out immediately. 5. It would have been nice to know that the timing belt replacement was due. This is a common replacement item on many cars but the schedule differs (so at 90k, some at 100K+ some have a time component as well). In any event, they give themselves plenty of wiggle room to take absolutely no responsibility. If you need assistance with a car I couldn't recommend them any less... Responses from Lemon Squad - this is what you can expect We do our best to catch all the scratches, but we can't get them all. Lemon Squad I checked with the inspector about your concerns and if you refer to the sample report, we didn't have access to a lift with this seller. Some items aren't able to be assessed unless you have a compete look underneath the vehicle. The inspector did report on the condition of the vehicle when he was there, and gave you his report, on items that we are able to check on the pre-purchase inspection. The inspector reported that during the road test the driver (wife), drove slow, and up to 80 mph, and the vehicle didn't have any issues with vibrations, noises, clunking, shaking to indicate that there were any issues with this vehicle. Tire wear was even, ride was smooth, nothing to show an issue. We have also talked with the inspector, he states the issues you are having did not present themselves for him on the day of the inspection. We can only report on things that are acting up while we are there with the vehicle. Remember, we are not a warranty company. We do not fix, work or disassemble cars. Things can fail after we leave the vehicle. Some issues can even be intermittent. All in all I had a 2800 dollar repair bill on a car that had been given a clean bill of health.