I-Team: Used Cars That Were Damaged As Rental Cars Sold With Clean Records

BOSTON (CBS) -- A WBZ-TV investigation has uncovered dozens of damaged cars, formerly owned by Enterprise Rental Cars, that have no record of damage. The I-team found the cars, some with dings and dents, others torn up, crumpled, and crushed, on the lot at Adesa Auto Auction in Framingham.

A quick search of their VIN numbers in Carfax revealed no damage reports.

One of the vehicles, a 2017 Ford Transit, was sold to a Hyannis man who says he had no idea that his van previously had a fire.

"I cannot believe it," the man told WBZ's Louisa Moller. He said the Carfax report for the transit showed no damage and the dealership he purchased the car from did not disclose any damage.

"It was my first car. I need it for my business and I depend on it to work and now you've showed me this and I'm so disappointed by this," he said.

An Enterprise spokesperson told WBZ, "We don't send damage information to Carfax […] We do, however, meet state requirements for reporting damage."

A Carfax spokesperson acknowledged "We do get information from Enterprise, but not damage," even though the company's website states that it receives total loss and damage history from rental/fleet vehicle companies.

"If Carfax is claiming that they're getting information from rental car companies but one of the largest rental car companies in the United States says they don't give that information out to Carfax, there seems is a discrepancy in how they're describing what they're product provides," auto safety expert Sean Kane said.

WBZ asked the dealership where the Hyannis man purchased his vehicle whether they disclose damage to customers. "We have records of everything we do on the car. Whatever they ask, we definitely tell them," an employee said.

The Hyannis man says he had no reason to ask and no money or time to have an independent mechanic inspect his car.

Any business that fails to disclose relevant information or misleads a buyer in any way could be in violation of the Massachusetts Consumer Protection Law.