[Mr 5 0]

Something is very fishy here. A 2001 with $15,000. in damage would be considered a 'rolling total wreck' by any insurance company. The extensive damage was repaired but yet no 'official' reports of it exist a anywhere? How is that possible? I strongly suspect the VIN was altered in some way.

Where did the car come from? Auction house? Fine. They have to have a record of where they received the car from and who the finance company (or outright owner if he/she paid cash) was.

I seriously doubt the previous owner paid $10 to 15 large out of his/her own pocket to have a brand new car repaired, although it's theoretically possible, of course.

Moot point anyway as you're probably going to be able to negotiate yourself out of this deal due to the severe damage the car has had and the fact that the previous damage was undisclosed to you, honestly or not.

It's a 'bad faith' situation; you bought an almost-new car with the justified expectation that it was not a near-totaled-and-repaired vehicle. It wasn't. Whether the dealer knew about the damage or not, you have no obligation to go through with this deal. The vehicle was manifestly not as it was represented. End of story.