'I Immediately Text Our Salesperson from the Dealership:' Woman Buys 2021 Ford Bronco. Then She Looks in the Glovebox

"I’m absolutely spinning."

Photo by: barefootlisa & Driving Sports TV

By: Nina Hernandez

Jul 30, 2025 at 1:00pm ET

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A woman is asking the internet for help after learning the used 2021 Ford Bronco she just purchased had an undisclosed accident in its past.

TikTok user Lisa (@barefootlisa) purchased a 2021 Ford Bronco with a clean CarFax report on July 7. “Clean title, CarFax was clean of accidents,” she says. “All that good stuff.”

Everything seemed fine until she got home and started looking through the glovebox for the owner’s manual. That’s when Lisa says she discovered a receipt for approximately $7,000 worth of damage repair from a local auto body shop.

“And on the receipt it says, ‘Per insurance estimate, paid insurance check,’” she says.

An Undisclosed Accident

Lisa immediately contacted the salesman from the dealership to say she had found the paperwork and had concerns about the undisclosed accident.

“I’m absolutely spinning,” she says. “I’m freaking out, thinking, ‘$7,000 is pretty significant in damage. What did they do? Is there frame damage?’”

She went online and started looking up laws applicable to the situation.

“In Illinois, apparently, there doesn’t have to be intent to deceive,” she says. “It’s still on the onus of the dealership that it was undisclosed. Vehicle fraud laws would apply.”

Her primary concern is potential long-term effects stemming from the undisclosed accident.

“And, of course, the fact that we wouldn’t have paid what we paid for this car if we had known that there was a previous accident on it,” she says. “Because damage multipliers and stuff like that with depreciation? It’s like a minimum of 10%.”

The salesman got back to Lisa and told her that the previous owner said she had hit a deer, which damaged the windshield and roof. Importantly, the woman said no airbags were deployed.

“Since she didn’t disclose this accident in the first place, we assume, [I don’t know how] confident I am in her version of events,” Lisa says. “But I know that the airbag not deploying is significant as far as what it would do to the value of the car.”

Lisa says the salesman offered her ceramic coating to protect her paint job and interior coverage for free. But Lisa had paperwork from the glovebox showing the previous owner already had that done when she bought the car. Lisa countered by demanding a free extended warranty for the Bronco.

“This poor girl left all this stuff in the glovebox,” Lisa says. “I can only imagine the dealership is absolutely [expletive] at the fact that the detailers and the service department missed this.”

'Call the Repair Shop'

Many people responded to Lisa’s call for advice on what she should ask for as a concession from the dealership.

“I’d unwind the deal and return the car,” one person wrote. “$7,000 isn’t a huge amount, maybe, but roof damage could lead to leaking windows, sunroofs, or any number of things down the road with the integrity of the body.”

A second person disagreed. “Have the car reinspected,” they said. “$7,000 in body damage is next to nothing in the body repair industry. The question is engine and transmission. Those would be my biggest concern.”

A third person wrote, “Call the repair shop and verify what was repaired.”

Someone else suggested, “Some dealerships have free 7-day returns or 500-mile returns. You should check [the dealership’s return policy] and buy a car somewhere else.”

Is the Dealership at Fault?

Whether the dealership is at fault depends on what you consider “significant” damage. According to one legal blog, Illinois dealerships are required to disclose that level of damage.

But one person’s “significant” can be another person’s “no big deal.”

There's also the matter of whether the previous owner lied to the dealership. It's also arguably odd that there would be an insurance claim and payout, as the paperwork purportedly demonstrates, without the accident being included on the CarFax report.

What do you think?

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Nevertheless, none of this is Lisa's fault. In this situation, given that she has documentation to prove there was an accident, she may be able to return the Ford Bronco to the dealership.

Motor1 reached out to Lisa via TikTok comment and direct message for comment. We'll update this article if we hear back.