Austin Premier Auto

We drove 1.5 hours to see a Tacoma they had advertised on Craigslist. We had to put gas in the truck! We took it to a mechanic for a Pre-Buyer's Inspection, and discovered it had a BAD leak, needed a new water pump, brakes, headlamps, etc., and, that it had been in a possible accident (new bumper), which the owner did tell us that upfront only because we had asked him! So, we drove the truck back, handed the sales guy, George the report. Of course, he tried to defend themselves by saying that the mechanic shop "don't like us, they have it out for us"..and had their independent "mechanic" check it out. First of all, I don't know how any 'professional mechanic' can see anything when there are No lights in the shop, and had to resort to using the flashlight on his cell ph to check the leaks?! Secondly, there was nothing to lift the truck up for him to see under the truck, instead, he had to lay down on the floor and put one tire up with a tire jack, and slide underneath?? Very professional (in my sarcasm voice)! So, they tell us that they are willing to fix everything on the list, and give us a free 3 mons warranty on the condition we pay the asking price, and put down a $500 deposit. We thought it was a good deal, and were working with us, so why not! We didn't learn until the agreement was typed out, that is was a Non-refundable dep!!! So..I call a couple of banks for a loan, and both banks (RBFCU & State Farm Bank) came back refusing to give us the loan because the VIN reports came back frame/structual damage!!! When I reported this to George, his response was very typical- defensive, and said that the CARFAX history said it was a moderate accident, but then admitted there was a small dent under the bumper they had changed out, but was fixed. He also told us that the title is clean. So, here we are stuck between a rock and a hard place...Do we purchase this Tacoma which the dealer claims was not in a major accident because Carfax says 'moderate accident' and has a clean title? Or... Do we trust our gut instinct and the banks and forego this purchase and lose our non-refundable deposit of $500?! When comparing lives to $500 there really is no comparison! Lives matter, and cannot be replaced... Today, my husband did a Google search for reviews on this used car dealer, apparently, they did the exact same thing to another potential buyer..except he only lost $300. It's their M.O! Stay AWAY from these people...even though they seem very nice, friendly, and like they want to work with you, in reality, they are only looking out for their pocketbook - it's all about the mighty $$$$...no ethics or morals. George did tell us they made all the repairs on the truck. However, if we were going to buy the truck, our plan was to take it to a collision shop to verify whether or not the accident was moderate or Major, and take it back to the mechanic to again, verify they repaired everything on that list. But since we aren't buying anything from these 'typical used car salesmen', we will never know.