Problem with used car bought from dealer
 

warning, mostly a rant:

I bought a car for my family on the 7th of this month. A check coolant level light comes on, but the coolant level was perfect. The next day it stalled at a stop sign, didn't let myself worry about it cause I was already upset I took a loan out for a car.
Couple days later the car jerks and the SES light comes on, check the codes and there were 12, now i'm getting nervous in the back of my mind.

Concensus says a low battery tends to throw many false codes so I clear them all to see what comes back. 2 do, a crank angle sensor and a door switch. Searching tells me the crank angle sensor does exactly what my car does with the random stalls and jerks, and the door switch I don't care about it's merely convenience. The sensors need replaced in a pair, around $88 each. The coolant message is from a faulty resevour tank not letting the switch function properly, $128 from dealer. These are retail prices mind you.

I clear the codes about 4 more times over the next couple weeks and do some more tinkering to be sure. Then I call the dealer to talk to them, instead they set up an appointment to bring the car in. I have a funeral so I write everything that has happened, what I did to diagnose the problems, what parts including part numbers need replaced down in a letter. Then I ask for them to pay for the parts and I'll handle the labor so we can meet in the middle. I send this letter with my woman to the dealer.

I get a call after the funeral they made her wait an hour for them to check it out, charge her $37.50 labor and tell her they don't have the special addapter to hook up to a cadilac and scan the codes. Since they can't scan the codes they can't verify there is anything wrong (the light goes out after a few key ons and the code goes to 'history')

I'm pissed and go get my money back as they did absolutely nothing and explain again that I expect the problem fixed. I figure I saved them money by diagnosing the issure myself, and offer to save them more money by installing the parts myself. I give them part numbers and the dealers they can be purchased from.

They offer to give me a discounted rate on labor if I have the work done there (I would have to pay retail for parts though)

Am I being an unreasonable ------- like the buyer in the other thread? I figure I saved them the trouble of finding the problems (it was really easy though) and I am saving them the money of installing the parts. This car came with a 3 month warrenty but it might be a third party so I havn't bothered to check into it yet.

/rant

Re: Problem with used car bought from dealer
 

so, you bought a g.m. and it doesnt work right?
sorry man. join the club, atleast it hasnt caught fire yet

Re: Problem with used car bought from dealer
 

I have never known a shop that will trust what a customer says is the problem. Your smarter than the 99 percent of the people who walk in there but they dont know that. They have a process and you fall into it regardless if what you said was right.

Re: Problem with used car bought from dealer
 

My mom bought a 98 caravan 7 or so years ago we kept having an issue with the serpentine belt flying off when it got wet. It fell off on her way home from work one day and when she got home i looked at it and the belt was in pretty bad shape. I stuck what was left of it back on and drove the van to the parts store, bought a new belt and stuck it on in the parking lot. I then drove the 1/2 mile or so to the dealer where we got it (had a warranty) and told them about the problem. They pull it into the bay and 10 min later the mechanic comes out and goes oh here is your problem the belt is old an wore out. I reach into my pocket and hand him the receipt for 20 min earlier and say want to try again :8 I finally got a hold of the manager and told him what was going on and he told me it was a common issue with that model caravans and that Chrysler had issued a kit to fix it. :S

I guess this probably doesn't help you at all because I guess you dont have a warranty but it goes to show dont trust what the dealer or car lot mechanics tell you.

Re: Problem with used car bought from dealer
 

You know what you are doing and talking about but for reasons that should be obvious to you the service manager can't take your word on it. They will not buy parts for you to install yourself its a liability issue and not how businesses work. Give up and try doing it through warranty.

Re: Problem with used car bought from dealer
 

Exactly.

Re: Problem with used car bought from dealer
 

Also, $37.50 to do nothing is ridiculous. They should refund that.

You need to figure out what the warranty deal is. Most likely you need to suck it up and fix the tank yourself.

Re: Problem with used car bought from dealer
 

As someone who has administered warranties for a company for the past several years, I give this advice.

Read your warranty policy carefully. They are obligated only by what the policy states. Anything beyond that is goodwill. If you want more than the policy offers and they are not willing to go into goodwill, then your only option is the legal route, which is expensive as hell, and to be honest, you might endup taken care of a period of time from now, but probably won't be happy. This is just based on my experience dealing with customers, lawyers, etc over the years.

If you have a copy of the policy I will happily look it over and give you my opinion of your options.

Re: Problem with used car bought from dealer
 

when i worked at kia we were also a preowned dealership. all those warranties were bullshit from what i remember it was a pain in the ass to get them to go through. ---- that dealership man. how do you charge to say you cant hook up to a certain car. if you sell multiple types of cars you should have alldata or some equivilant. i say talk to either the general manager or talk to the vice president of the company. service managers are always trying to ---- people. dont even try to deal with him

Re: Problem with used car bought from dealer
 

what is your warranty claims/statures included on the ftc sticker? electrical doesn't fall into powertrain a lot of the times on used warranties.

remember me telling you about wrecked caddys before you bought it? the area is plagued with them. and you told me the car sat for MONTHS.



i would have told you no if i looked at it with you, but you tend to take things i say with a keg of salt