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

Re: Problem with used car bought from dealer
 

I understand the not taking my word for it, I guess the exquisit documentation would lend a little insite that I wasn't just throwing staws at it. Also it is obvious the problem didn't jsut appear, I'm sure the one tech has cleared the codes as he was quick to spout off he knew all about how to do it and it was the only caddy on the lot. It just infuriated me that they gave it to the schmuck that didn't know how to do it and then charged my girl for not being able to do anything to it, then forcing me to argue to get a refund.

I went over the warranty and it pretty much is a joke, I already bought the parts and have it all lined up to throw on the lift tomorrow.

A buddy's girl works counter for the chevy cadillac dealer so I got employee pricing so the 2 sensors only cost me $114. Not sure why I made the thread, guess it was a rant and poll what others would do. I'm willing to bet a little cleaner in the tank will fix the coolant for next to nothing too, I hear it's from sediment build up and the sensor is fine. Just impossible to get to and one piece with the tank.

And about the gm comment, I ------- love the car and my research tells me all the horror stories with the northstar seem to mostly be older models. I've taken more than my share of well maintained but hammered gm cars to the jy with a couple hundred miles that never had engine or tranny opened up for major work. still ran and drove fine just beat to ---- not worth the fix so I'm not afraid. these fixes will take me an hour tomorrow and only cost 100, plus I got a kick ass deal on it.

Re: Problem with used car bought from dealer
 

If you complain to the owner you will usually get alot covered. If this is like most dealerships some dumbass checks the car over but is not motivated to actually work so all this issues where there before they sold the car. I am assuming you bought this car at the same dealership you are having check it out? You will have to deal with this as most service tools only do the scan on women.


Warranty companies our a joke as they will cover a seal but not the item (transmission that needs to be replaced for example). Meanwhile if you don't have a decent service nog fightning with the insurance/warranty company you are fubar.

Re: Problem with used car bought from dealer
 

I found the book in the glvoe box and the carfax confirms it was a one owner that was religiously maintained at the same dealer. It's never been wrecked it was just not perfect and not a loaded model. The dealership is tanking so it sat and they needed to unload it.

and I do take your advice with a ton of salt, but lately you've been seeming les hairbrained more often.

Re: Problem with used car bought from dealer
 

my car was and it's had suspension pieces replaced, plus might have had wreck damage based on findings throughout the car. carfax is a lie and dealers will lie out their ass to make the sale. trust me, i was the one who found most of the minor wreck ---- in used cars when i worked at subaru.

i just hope your dealership was telling the TRUTH when the said it wasn't wrecked and religiously maintained

Re: Problem with used car bought from dealer
 

where i wroked they bought wrecked cars from california all day long with only about 13k miles and always had clean car faxes and they would always tell people they were not wrecked even though you can see the overspray and crinckles underneath. also its not the engines that are the problems its all the damn electronics and sensors that are bad with those caddys. my friend bought one and within a month the fuel level sensor and the climate controls broke along with some of the seat position switches but the thing ran great

Re: Problem with used car bought from dealer
 

I wouldn't trust the dealer I bought it at for ---- either or the carfax alone cause how many people like us report ---- we do etc, but the paperwork in the glove box with the original owners and dealers information backed up the carfax report, and had listed the dealer/date/and mileage every time it was serviced.

Like I said I'm pretty satisfied especially that the only issue seems to be a quick cheap fix, but don't quote me till after tomorrow. The way the dealer treated my woman just really pissed me off. Ignored my letter instead of testing me/calling me, then scammed her out of my money. I'm retarded to think they'd buy me parts but hey I tried.

Re: Problem with used car bought from dealer
 

she's a nice girl and probably doesn't know any better. she should've told them she owes nothing to fix problems with the car that have been there since day 1, and waited for you to arrive. when are you going up tomorrow?

Re: Problem with used car bought from dealer
 

They're their to make money. If the ---- you without spitting on it first is not their problem. You being to tight for spit to even help is something they blow off and work around.

Re: Problem with used car bought from dealer
 

what year is the car? most caddi's i've worked on you dont even need a scan tool to retrieve the codes, there is a sequence of buttons you can push on the dash that will bring them all up in the gauge cluster.

and the coolant light, seen that on every single one i've even looked at. i personally wouldnt bother with it

Re: Problem with used car bought from dealer
 

Light is usually the sensor in the bottle (bottle needs to be replaced) Some states allow you up to 30 days to return a car for a refund. Kinda a hush hush law, but look into it.