My question involves a consumer law issue in the State of: Virginia
I went to a big name dealership because I noticed a constant noise coming from my engine. When I started hearing the noise, I stopped driving it and used my moms other vehicle so I could take it to the dealership. I get free state inspections from the dealership and free oil changes, so I am a regular customer. I took it there for a state inspection and told them about the noise. They called me back and said everything was fine, they said something was rubbing on the rotor, which was causing the noise, so they bent the item back at no charge and the noise stopped so I was free to pick up the vehicle.
I picked up the car and they gave me a list of things they recommend I get done, like a coolent flush and possible a new battery within the next few months. Within a few minutes of driving it the noise started up again, so I took it back. They said they would get their top technician to look at it and asked that I wait in the lobby. They brought him to my car, and I watched as they opened the hood and talked for a few minutes before coming back to me. They said the alternator is bad and needs to be replaced and that is what’s causing the problem, they said it would be about $700. My mother was with me and told them to do it and helped me pay for it. Few days later they said they took it for a test drive and everything was good and I could pick it up. They said if there was anything wrong I could bring it back and they would look at it for free and possibly give me a rental.
After picking it up I began to hear the noise again within, maybe 10 minutes of driving off the lot. So I took it back. The dealership said their top mechanic wanted to drive with me so I could point out the noise I was hearing. We didn’t even make it out of the parking lot before the noise started up. The mechanic acted surprised saying he had never heard this noise before in my car. I told him I didn’t know what noise you had been hearing but this is the one I brought my car in for. He explained he new exactly what this noise was, that one of my tires was sending a false signal and it was causing the noise. I then questioned him about my alternator and he insisted it was bad. I pointed out that they didn’t put that on the recommendation sheet and he just said that I didn’t need to worry, because I did need a new alternator. Once back at the shop, he opened my hood and pointed to something and said my ABS was sending a false signal and all he had to do was hook up a computer to find out which tire it is and that was where the noise was coming from. He said it would only take a few hours and he would call me.
After about 3 hours he called to say the timeline belt was bad and they needed to open up the front of my engine and replace it and that is what was causing the noise. They said it would be about $2000. They said if I didn’t get it done soon my car would fail. We debating back and forth until I finally agreed to it.
After a few days they called to say that after opening the front of my car there was so much gunk in it , they said they wouldn’t recommend the timing belt changed because that gunk would eventually mess it up as well as everything else in my engine so they said I needed to get a new engine which was $3000. My mother then went down to the dealership and asked to see the gunk. The mechanic said the car was put back together but he showed her pictures he had taken and showed her some of the oil from my car that had the gunk in it. My mother asked how this happened and he said if you put bad oil in it or miss an oil change this is the result, so she asked to speak to the manager.
She told him we were up set and we didn’t have any faith in them. They asked why we felt that way and she explained the escalation of prices and constant misdiagnosis being done to my car. She also didn’t understand how this gunk accumulated, he tried to repeat what the mechanic said and she told him again she doesn’t understand how it happened when I bring my car there regularly for oil changes and maintenance since it’s free. He looked up my record and then assured my mother multiple times that I did nothing wrong. He said his record does show regular maintenance and that I did everything I was supposed to.He said perhaps the previous owner didn’t keep up with maintenance. My mother also voiced her frustration over the fact that in all the oil and maintenance that was done, that they never noticed this happening, the fact that we just wasted $700 on an alternator that we obviously didn’t need, and how we went from passing a state inspection not even two weeks ago to then needing a timing belt to now a new engine. At this point the manger stated it was actually the timing chain. My mother said I thought those were supposed to rarely be changed and he agreed that normally that is true but the gunk caused it to need to be changed. She said she also doesn’t understand why they are trying to sell me an engine with no warranty. He offered a 30 day warranty and we told him that wasn’t a warranty. He asked if I was looking into getting a new car which I said no because I just spent 5 years paying off this one in June and it should have lasted me quite a while longer. He said that if we wanted to take my car it would be no cost, but he said he wanted to look into engines with warranties and also check the history. I told him it should be on file cause I got the car from one of their sister dealership and when I got it it had only 1 previous owner, 80,000 miles on it and we were assured the maintenance was well maintained. The manager asked we give him a few days to research and to see what he could do.
A week and a half later, we called to check on the status and they basically said if I wanted and engine with a warranty it would be $6000 and then said he gave our number to the sales representative so we could look into buying a new car. We refused and picked up my car, we plan to take it to another dealership on Monday.
I’m frustrated with the other dealership and was wondering if there was any thing I could do. My car is a 2009 and it has about 119,000 on it. I feel like this car should have lasted me a long time and yet because of their neglect I’m looking at having to get another car which I don’t have the money for.
I went to a big name dealership because I noticed a constant noise coming from my engine. When I started hearing the noise, I stopped driving it and used my moms other vehicle so I could take it to the dealership. I get free state inspections from the dealership and free oil changes, so I am a regular customer. I took it there for a state inspection and told them about the noise. They called me back and said everything was fine, they said something was rubbing on the rotor, which was causing the noise, so they bent the item back at no charge and the noise stopped so I was free to pick up the vehicle.
I picked up the car and they gave me a list of things they recommend I get done, like a coolent flush and possible a new battery within the next few months. Within a few minutes of driving it the noise started up again, so I took it back. They said they would get their top technician to look at it and asked that I wait in the lobby. They brought him to my car, and I watched as they opened the hood and talked for a few minutes before coming back to me. They said the alternator is bad and needs to be replaced and that is what’s causing the problem, they said it would be about $700. My mother was with me and told them to do it and helped me pay for it. Few days later they said they took it for a test drive and everything was good and I could pick it up. They said if there was anything wrong I could bring it back and they would look at it for free and possibly give me a rental.
After picking it up I began to hear the noise again within, maybe 10 minutes of driving off the lot. So I took it back. The dealership said their top mechanic wanted to drive with me so I could point out the noise I was hearing. We didn’t even make it out of the parking lot before the noise started up. The mechanic acted surprised saying he had never heard this noise before in my car. I told him I didn’t know what noise you had been hearing but this is the one I brought my car in for. He explained he new exactly what this noise was, that one of my tires was sending a false signal and it was causing the noise. I then questioned him about my alternator and he insisted it was bad. I pointed out that they didn’t put that on the recommendation sheet and he just said that I didn’t need to worry, because I did need a new alternator. Once back at the shop, he opened my hood and pointed to something and said my ABS was sending a false signal and all he had to do was hook up a computer to find out which tire it is and that was where the noise was coming from. He said it would only take a few hours and he would call me.
After about 3 hours he called to say the timeline belt was bad and they needed to open up the front of my engine and replace it and that is what was causing the noise. They said it would be about $2000. They said if I didn’t get it done soon my car would fail. We debating back and forth until I finally agreed to it.
After a few days they called to say that after opening the front of my car there was so much gunk in it , they said they wouldn’t recommend the timing belt changed because that gunk would eventually mess it up as well as everything else in my engine so they said I needed to get a new engine which was $3000. My mother then went down to the dealership and asked to see the gunk. The mechanic said the car was put back together but he showed her pictures he had taken and showed her some of the oil from my car that had the gunk in it. My mother asked how this happened and he said if you put bad oil in it or miss an oil change this is the result, so she asked to speak to the manager.
She told him we were up set and we didn’t have any faith in them. They asked why we felt that way and she explained the escalation of prices and constant misdiagnosis being done to my car. She also didn’t understand how this gunk accumulated, he tried to repeat what the mechanic said and she told him again she doesn’t understand how it happened when I bring my car there regularly for oil changes and maintenance since it’s free. He looked up my record and then assured my mother multiple times that I did nothing wrong. He said his record does show regular maintenance and that I did everything I was supposed to.He said perhaps the previous owner didn’t keep up with maintenance. My mother also voiced her frustration over the fact that in all the oil and maintenance that was done, that they never noticed this happening, the fact that we just wasted $700 on an alternator that we obviously didn’t need, and how we went from passing a state inspection not even two weeks ago to then needing a timing belt to now a new engine. At this point the manger stated it was actually the timing chain. My mother said I thought those were supposed to rarely be changed and he agreed that normally that is true but the gunk caused it to need to be changed. She said she also doesn’t understand why they are trying to sell me an engine with no warranty. He offered a 30 day warranty and we told him that wasn’t a warranty. He asked if I was looking into getting a new car which I said no because I just spent 5 years paying off this one in June and it should have lasted me quite a while longer. He said that if we wanted to take my car it would be no cost, but he said he wanted to look into engines with warranties and also check the history. I told him it should be on file cause I got the car from one of their sister dealership and when I got it it had only 1 previous owner, 80,000 miles on it and we were assured the maintenance was well maintained. The manager asked we give him a few days to research and to see what he could do.
A week and a half later, we called to check on the status and they basically said if I wanted and engine with a warranty it would be $6000 and then said he gave our number to the sales representative so we could look into buying a new car. We refused and picked up my car, we plan to take it to another dealership on Monday.
I’m frustrated with the other dealership and was wondering if there was any thing I could do. My car is a 2009 and it has about 119,000 on it. I feel like this car should have lasted me a long time and yet because of their neglect I’m looking at having to get another car which I don’t have the money for.
Dealership Keeps Misdiagnosing My Car Till I Need a New Engine
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