The_Skyline
Junior Member
Arizona
Hello,
I purchased a used car from a used car dealership and now I am seeking advice on some unfulfilled promises they made to me when buying the car.
When I bought the car, there was only one noticeable problem; the door locks were broken (they wouldn't lock/unlock from the outside). They verbally told me that they would take care of this problem before I signed any paperwork. I made sure to ask them how they would resolve any other problems I may run across within the 15 day/500 mile warranty to which they replied that they now outsource their repair jobs to AAMCO Transmissions since their shop doesn't have the equipment or expertise to do repair jobs. When I went in to sign paperwork, they told me the car was in the back with the locksmith getting the door locks fixed. I signed the paperwork, waited in their lobby for about two hours and finally received the car...the door locks weren't fixed. They said the locksmith had to order parts and that they could get it done within the week. As I got to spend more time with the car before the initial date I had scheduled to get the locks repaired, other problems began to surface...even as soon as the day after I received the car.
The door locks weren't my only problems now. I took it to the closest AAMCO to my apartment and had them perform their free diagnostic check. The results were staggering...both rear rims were warped (as a consequence, so were the tires), the control arms and bushings were bad, the front and rear motor mounts were garbage and the "fly by wire" throttle was hacked all to [insert expletive here]. The price to fix all of it was scary to say the least. Needless to say, I returned to the dealership and asked them to fix the newly discovered problems. They laughed and said they wouldn't fix most of it, but maybe they might still do the door locks. I called the finance company to opt out of the deal (they do a consumer satisfaction survey before approving any loan and if one isn't completely satisfied, then they won't approve the deal until the dealership makes it right). The dealership called me back to let me know that if I decided to opt out, then they needed the car back, but that I would also be without a car since they had no intention of giving my trade back (they had paid it off by this point). Realizing that giving them back the car meant that they would make money on both my trade and my new car, I took a more diplomatic approach. After having a discussion with the head manager of the dealership along with the sales manager, I decided to allow them to have their mechanic at the AAMCO they use inspect the vehicle on the condition that any item they agreed needed to be fixed would be fixed by the dealership's AAMCO and that we needed this agreement in writing.
The second opinion confirmed that all the items listed above needed to be fixed and we put all of the items in writing that they agreed to fix. I told the dealership I would be out of town for a week and they said that I should leave the car with them and they would fix all items within that week that I was gone. They day after I left, the sales manager who was involved in this whole issue sent me text updates on the status of the car. The manager told me that they had all the parts they needed ordered and would be sending it to AAMCO the next day to get all the repairs done. Upon my return and when I picked up the car that evening, things seemed okay (except the door locks still weren't done, but I was made aware of this). The next morning though, the check engine light came on and I thought that was weird considering the major repairs that had just been done to it. I texted the sales manager to let them know and they said I "should bring the car back" and "they would take care of that for me" along with the door locks. I took it back on the agreed upon date and left it there under the assumption that the locksmith was coming out to fix the door locks and that the dealership would figure out what's going on with the check engine light issue. I left it there for five hours, only to come back to a car that still wasn't fixed. The lock smith (the fourth one they have tried to get there to fix it) bailed on them, and the check engine light was caused by some part that is supposed to be "under warranty for fifteen years." They told me that they would now just get a lock smith to come out to where I live to fix the door locks and they would let me know about the part they needed that was apparently still under warranty. In the meantime, they just turned off the check engine light.
HERE IS WHERE THE REAL TROUBLE STARTS: I hadn't heard from the dealership in 10 days, despite repeated phone calls for an update on the part and when I could come back to get it fixed. During this time, one major problem became apparent. One day I lost ALL power to the accelerator which caused the check engine light to turn back on. I took it back to the AAMCO the sales manager told me they sent it to to get repaired and asked them to recheck the work they did to the fly by wire throttle wiring. The mechanic at AAMCO told me THEY NEVER RECEIVED THE CAR TO DO ANY WORK! Any work that was done was apparently done at the dealership's shop (the same shop they said didn't have the experience or equipment to make the repairs). In addition, only a 50% of the items they agreed to fix, were actually fixed. I was furious and called the dealership to talk to them about this. After repeated attempts, I finally talked to the person I was dealing with on this repair issue before and they said that since it has taken so long to get anything done, if I wanted to pay my AAMCO to fix the items (they promised to fix) myself, they would credit some of that toward my down payment - all they needed was an estimate from the shop. I immediately went and got the diagnostic work done on the car to figure out the damage and based on the accelerator issue, they determined that it needed a new engine wiring harness to solve the problem. This caused the price to spike to over three thousand dollars to repair (which well exceeds the amount I still owe on the down payment). I took the estimate into the dealership and the guy there told me that he would talk to the sales manager and would get back to me with a final decision on everything.
IT'S BEEN WEEKS AND I STILL HAVEN'T HEARD ANYTHING BACK FROM THE DEALERSHIP AS TO WHAT I AM SUPPOSED TO DO! I can't authorize the repairs because I don't have a written agreement that they will credit whatever I spend toward my down payment but every time I try to talk to them about what they are going to do to fix my car, they keep telling me they'll "get back to me". It has been 35 days since the repair agreement between the dealership and I was signed and the agreement still hasn't been fulfilled.
To recap: 50% of the work has yet to be completed, the dealership lied to me about where the repairs were made and they have yet to get back to me as to when (or IF) they are going to fix the remaining damages. IS THERE ANY LEGAL ACTION I CAN TAKE outside of a "Letter of Demand"? I mean, the implied warranty states that the dealership gets to select the service facility for repairs in writing AND the sales manager did "write" that it was going to AAMCO for repairs in a text to me...deceptive practice? Breach of warranty? Misrepresentation? Any helpful advice would be greatly appreciated!
Hello,
I purchased a used car from a used car dealership and now I am seeking advice on some unfulfilled promises they made to me when buying the car.
When I bought the car, there was only one noticeable problem; the door locks were broken (they wouldn't lock/unlock from the outside). They verbally told me that they would take care of this problem before I signed any paperwork. I made sure to ask them how they would resolve any other problems I may run across within the 15 day/500 mile warranty to which they replied that they now outsource their repair jobs to AAMCO Transmissions since their shop doesn't have the equipment or expertise to do repair jobs. When I went in to sign paperwork, they told me the car was in the back with the locksmith getting the door locks fixed. I signed the paperwork, waited in their lobby for about two hours and finally received the car...the door locks weren't fixed. They said the locksmith had to order parts and that they could get it done within the week. As I got to spend more time with the car before the initial date I had scheduled to get the locks repaired, other problems began to surface...even as soon as the day after I received the car.
The door locks weren't my only problems now. I took it to the closest AAMCO to my apartment and had them perform their free diagnostic check. The results were staggering...both rear rims were warped (as a consequence, so were the tires), the control arms and bushings were bad, the front and rear motor mounts were garbage and the "fly by wire" throttle was hacked all to [insert expletive here]. The price to fix all of it was scary to say the least. Needless to say, I returned to the dealership and asked them to fix the newly discovered problems. They laughed and said they wouldn't fix most of it, but maybe they might still do the door locks. I called the finance company to opt out of the deal (they do a consumer satisfaction survey before approving any loan and if one isn't completely satisfied, then they won't approve the deal until the dealership makes it right). The dealership called me back to let me know that if I decided to opt out, then they needed the car back, but that I would also be without a car since they had no intention of giving my trade back (they had paid it off by this point). Realizing that giving them back the car meant that they would make money on both my trade and my new car, I took a more diplomatic approach. After having a discussion with the head manager of the dealership along with the sales manager, I decided to allow them to have their mechanic at the AAMCO they use inspect the vehicle on the condition that any item they agreed needed to be fixed would be fixed by the dealership's AAMCO and that we needed this agreement in writing.
The second opinion confirmed that all the items listed above needed to be fixed and we put all of the items in writing that they agreed to fix. I told the dealership I would be out of town for a week and they said that I should leave the car with them and they would fix all items within that week that I was gone. They day after I left, the sales manager who was involved in this whole issue sent me text updates on the status of the car. The manager told me that they had all the parts they needed ordered and would be sending it to AAMCO the next day to get all the repairs done. Upon my return and when I picked up the car that evening, things seemed okay (except the door locks still weren't done, but I was made aware of this). The next morning though, the check engine light came on and I thought that was weird considering the major repairs that had just been done to it. I texted the sales manager to let them know and they said I "should bring the car back" and "they would take care of that for me" along with the door locks. I took it back on the agreed upon date and left it there under the assumption that the locksmith was coming out to fix the door locks and that the dealership would figure out what's going on with the check engine light issue. I left it there for five hours, only to come back to a car that still wasn't fixed. The lock smith (the fourth one they have tried to get there to fix it) bailed on them, and the check engine light was caused by some part that is supposed to be "under warranty for fifteen years." They told me that they would now just get a lock smith to come out to where I live to fix the door locks and they would let me know about the part they needed that was apparently still under warranty. In the meantime, they just turned off the check engine light.
HERE IS WHERE THE REAL TROUBLE STARTS: I hadn't heard from the dealership in 10 days, despite repeated phone calls for an update on the part and when I could come back to get it fixed. During this time, one major problem became apparent. One day I lost ALL power to the accelerator which caused the check engine light to turn back on. I took it back to the AAMCO the sales manager told me they sent it to to get repaired and asked them to recheck the work they did to the fly by wire throttle wiring. The mechanic at AAMCO told me THEY NEVER RECEIVED THE CAR TO DO ANY WORK! Any work that was done was apparently done at the dealership's shop (the same shop they said didn't have the experience or equipment to make the repairs). In addition, only a 50% of the items they agreed to fix, were actually fixed. I was furious and called the dealership to talk to them about this. After repeated attempts, I finally talked to the person I was dealing with on this repair issue before and they said that since it has taken so long to get anything done, if I wanted to pay my AAMCO to fix the items (they promised to fix) myself, they would credit some of that toward my down payment - all they needed was an estimate from the shop. I immediately went and got the diagnostic work done on the car to figure out the damage and based on the accelerator issue, they determined that it needed a new engine wiring harness to solve the problem. This caused the price to spike to over three thousand dollars to repair (which well exceeds the amount I still owe on the down payment). I took the estimate into the dealership and the guy there told me that he would talk to the sales manager and would get back to me with a final decision on everything.
IT'S BEEN WEEKS AND I STILL HAVEN'T HEARD ANYTHING BACK FROM THE DEALERSHIP AS TO WHAT I AM SUPPOSED TO DO! I can't authorize the repairs because I don't have a written agreement that they will credit whatever I spend toward my down payment but every time I try to talk to them about what they are going to do to fix my car, they keep telling me they'll "get back to me". It has been 35 days since the repair agreement between the dealership and I was signed and the agreement still hasn't been fulfilled.
To recap: 50% of the work has yet to be completed, the dealership lied to me about where the repairs were made and they have yet to get back to me as to when (or IF) they are going to fix the remaining damages. IS THERE ANY LEGAL ACTION I CAN TAKE outside of a "Letter of Demand"? I mean, the implied warranty states that the dealership gets to select the service facility for repairs in writing AND the sales manager did "write" that it was going to AAMCO for repairs in a text to me...deceptive practice? Breach of warranty? Misrepresentation? Any helpful advice would be greatly appreciated!
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