Autocheck Showed Clean; Carfax Shows Lemon

[catle]

My question involves a consumer law issue in the State of: Illinois

Long story, short. I purchased a used car yesterday. It's a 2008 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo. I test drove the car and it rode perfectly. I had the sales agent pull a vehicle history report with AutoCheck and it came out clean. It actually outscored similar vehicles by over 10%. We agreed on a price, financed on car, and signed off on the papers.

The car is currently being ported and I'm supposed to pick it up from the dealership later this week.

I was sitting in my office this after and for whatever reason, decided to run a CarFax on my VIN#. This report notes the vehicle has a manufacturer buy back/lemon branded title.

I would have never agreed on the purchase had I known the vehicle was actually branded titled as a lemon, which is quite contrary to what the dealer had presented in the AutoCheck report.

Since I haven't actually drove the car off the lot, what can I do? Do I have any legal right to back out of the contract?

Illinois does have a lemon law, but it's worded towards new cars only.

[flyingron]

Did you use the "free" version of AutoCheck? That's pretty much useless, it's just an advertisement to sell you the full service.

This isn't technically a branded title. The title branding ONLY occur when the vehicle is salvaged or otherwise marked as irreparable.
What you just have is adverse history tied to the VIN number in some databases. Absent any specific representations or the dealer knowing the specific history and concealing it, an AS IS sale (as most used cars of this sort are made) won't have any basis to rescind the sale.

[Mr. Knowitall]

On the plus side, a Prairie State Legal Services attorney writes here that "Deceptive conduct in automobile sales" includes "Failing to disclose that a car had previously been returned pursuant to a state lemon law". On the minus side, that appears to be an interpretation of the state's consumer protection law, as I don't see such a provision expressly stated in the statutes. (I may have missed something.) It is difficult for me to believe that a dealership would not be aware that a car it acquired had been returned as a lemon, although that does not necessarily mean that the salesperson was aware.

In theory, Autocheck's buyback protection may apply. (I don't much trust such warranties, as they typically have holes big enough to drive the largest lemon vehicle through.)

[catle]

@flyingron

The AutoCheck report was the paid, full report provided by the auto dealership. The CarFax report is a paid, full report paid for by myself.

The vehicle wasn't sold "As-Is". The vehicle was sold with a limited dealership warranty of 30 days or 1,000 miles. I also purchased an extended warranty of 2 years or 24,000 miles.

@Mr. Knowitall

I believe this is covered by the AutoCheck Buyback Protection policy. My only question is, do I void this policy if I drive it off the lot? Does having a lemon title raise my insurance rates?