What is the name of your state? California
Ok here is the deal. I bought a 57 porsche speedster replica car from a company in Malibu CA. The car is built by this company. The car comes with a 12,000 mile or 1 year warranty. About 4 months ago the Air conditioner quit working. The warranty is not up until August of this year. Anyway... It lost its charge of freon. So, I called the company that built the car and the owner of the company said to get it fixed. So I took it to my local Dodge dealership (5 star). They said that they would work on it. It is basically a volkswagan motor with a Vintage air (air conditioning) unit on the car. Well, the dealership inspected the vehicle and found that the O rings were leaking at the condensor..which is located under the car with electric fans on the condensors. So they replaced the O rings and recharged the system. They also put green dye in the system for any future leaks. They pressure tested the system and everything was fine. They even used a "sniffer" to find any small leaks. So I paid the bill of 200.00 for labor, A/C recharge and freon, 0-ring replacement and pressure test. The dealership told me to drive the car for a couple days and with the A/C on. Well, everything worked great for about 3 days. Then I found a puddle of green dye and oil under the car. So I took it back to the dealership. The dealership found the the two hoses were now leaking where the connectors were crimped. So they now had to pull the lines and get them re crimped. I had already sent the bill to the builder of the car as "Warranty". I then called the builder numerous times to let them know that there was another problem...they never called me back for about a week. In the mean time the car is still at the dealership. So...the dealership pulled the lines that were leaking. Bare in mind that the A/C unit is an aftermarket unit and the high pressure line is really long and goes from the motor..(in the back of the car) through the body and is clamped to the body in about 5 places and then pops out of the body and leads to the condensors. It took the mechanic like 3 hours to get the line off...the clamps were almost impossable to reach...you had to take the clamps off "blind" and the hose was hung up between the motr and the body...to get the hose out...it had to be in the "just right Position". This is a mechanic that I know is a good mechanic. It took him forever to get the lines off the car. So..the lines were finally removed and they recrimped the lines and reinstalled...again recharged the A/C ect. So the second bill was for 397.00 for labor, crimping and another recharge. The dealership even reduced 200.00 in labor. So..I sent that bill the the builder of the Porsche. Today I recieved a check for 68.00 for the lines. I was told that ....leaks never happened and they needed to approve the work..ect..ect. I told them that this is no shade tree mechanic shop...it is a 5 star dodge dealership. I even got estamates from a Porsche delaership and a couple other mechanics shops and the estimate was the same or higher.Now..the car is under warranty...the A/C problem was basically poor crimping and o-rings...They say that they are not paying..that the bill was to high. They said that they coudl get it done cheaper in Malibu...I live in Sacramento...I doubt very seriously that Malibu is cheaper then Cow town Sacramento. Anyway...the mechanic says that this is for sure there fault. The maibu company...basically said...that this kind of thing has never happened before so they are not at fault....The dodge dealership...said that dodge diesels rarely blow up..but if one did..they woudl have to fix it...anyway...What do I do.. The car was under warranty...obviously it was poor craftsmanship. Basically I paid the bills....and sent the Porsche builder the reciepts and a letter explaining what had happened. The reciept also had all the time and parts listed. The porsche builder also stated that they have to approve the work...The owner told me to get it fixed...so I did....It was not an easy job..the car was basiclly built around the A/C lines LOL!! Someitmes that is the price of doing business. So what should I do...If they do not pay...do I have a case for small claims court. The lady in charge of the Warranty for the Porsche builder...said that the A/C units cost that much...sorry but I am a mechanics son....My old man just finished a 39 Chevy hot rod with the same A/C unit...2000.00 and the time to install was about 8 hours...so nice try! The dealership said that they would have no problem going to court if I had to. This is so damn frustrating.
Thanks,
Paul Fullerton
Ok here is the deal. I bought a 57 porsche speedster replica car from a company in Malibu CA. The car is built by this company. The car comes with a 12,000 mile or 1 year warranty. About 4 months ago the Air conditioner quit working. The warranty is not up until August of this year. Anyway... It lost its charge of freon. So, I called the company that built the car and the owner of the company said to get it fixed. So I took it to my local Dodge dealership (5 star). They said that they would work on it. It is basically a volkswagan motor with a Vintage air (air conditioning) unit on the car. Well, the dealership inspected the vehicle and found that the O rings were leaking at the condensor..which is located under the car with electric fans on the condensors. So they replaced the O rings and recharged the system. They also put green dye in the system for any future leaks. They pressure tested the system and everything was fine. They even used a "sniffer" to find any small leaks. So I paid the bill of 200.00 for labor, A/C recharge and freon, 0-ring replacement and pressure test. The dealership told me to drive the car for a couple days and with the A/C on. Well, everything worked great for about 3 days. Then I found a puddle of green dye and oil under the car. So I took it back to the dealership. The dealership found the the two hoses were now leaking where the connectors were crimped. So they now had to pull the lines and get them re crimped. I had already sent the bill to the builder of the car as "Warranty". I then called the builder numerous times to let them know that there was another problem...they never called me back for about a week. In the mean time the car is still at the dealership. So...the dealership pulled the lines that were leaking. Bare in mind that the A/C unit is an aftermarket unit and the high pressure line is really long and goes from the motor..(in the back of the car) through the body and is clamped to the body in about 5 places and then pops out of the body and leads to the condensors. It took the mechanic like 3 hours to get the line off...the clamps were almost impossable to reach...you had to take the clamps off "blind" and the hose was hung up between the motr and the body...to get the hose out...it had to be in the "just right Position". This is a mechanic that I know is a good mechanic. It took him forever to get the lines off the car. So..the lines were finally removed and they recrimped the lines and reinstalled...again recharged the A/C ect. So the second bill was for 397.00 for labor, crimping and another recharge. The dealership even reduced 200.00 in labor. So..I sent that bill the the builder of the Porsche. Today I recieved a check for 68.00 for the lines. I was told that ....leaks never happened and they needed to approve the work..ect..ect. I told them that this is no shade tree mechanic shop...it is a 5 star dodge dealership. I even got estamates from a Porsche delaership and a couple other mechanics shops and the estimate was the same or higher.Now..the car is under warranty...the A/C problem was basically poor crimping and o-rings...They say that they are not paying..that the bill was to high. They said that they coudl get it done cheaper in Malibu...I live in Sacramento...I doubt very seriously that Malibu is cheaper then Cow town Sacramento. Anyway...the mechanic says that this is for sure there fault. The maibu company...basically said...that this kind of thing has never happened before so they are not at fault....The dodge dealership...said that dodge diesels rarely blow up..but if one did..they woudl have to fix it...anyway...What do I do.. The car was under warranty...obviously it was poor craftsmanship. Basically I paid the bills....and sent the Porsche builder the reciepts and a letter explaining what had happened. The reciept also had all the time and parts listed. The porsche builder also stated that they have to approve the work...The owner told me to get it fixed...so I did....It was not an easy job..the car was basiclly built around the A/C lines LOL!! Someitmes that is the price of doing business. So what should I do...If they do not pay...do I have a case for small claims court. The lady in charge of the Warranty for the Porsche builder...said that the A/C units cost that much...sorry but I am a mechanics son....My old man just finished a 39 Chevy hot rod with the same A/C unit...2000.00 and the time to install was about 8 hours...so nice try! The dealership said that they would have no problem going to court if I had to. This is so damn frustrating.
Thanks,
Paul Fullerton
