Complaint Review: J.D. Byrider

On June 19 of 2003, I puchased a 1995 toyota tercel from J.D. byrider, on the front of the can and back window, were blue stickers with bold orange and white letters reading "All of our vehicles have been put through a 120 point inspection, Items replaced: wipers, belts, hoses, alternator, plugs and wires, tires, brakes, timimg belt, battery and fluids. It was even explained to me buy my saleperson that all of these things had been replaced.

But unknown to me, they had not been. It started the day after I puchased my vehicle, I noticed when I would start my car in the morning or after it had been sitting for a period of time, the belts would screech very loudly. So I did what anyone who had just purchased a used vehicle would do, I went back to the dealer.

My salesperson referred me to the side-swipe mechanic working in the back, I ask him if he could tighten the belts to take care of the problem, he then rudly replied, "OH,, they don't need to be tighten, the car was run through water and it will go away in a few days after they dry out"--- it never did.

I then took my precious to toyota where they had to replace all the belts, brakes, and spark-plugs, I found out that my oil pan was damaged, and the timing belt was the original one, and the tercel had over 90,000 miles on it. The repair bill was over $500.00. (No, not a benz, a toyota).

I then called J.D. Byrider and informed them of the work I had to have done and the price, My salesman then replied,"You took it back to Toyota, why did you do that?" He then was going to see what he could do about getting some of my money back, It's been a year,and I'm still waiting to see what he can do.

I then decided to do some research on my vehicle, so I called the head office and asked to know what type of work had been done to my car before it was placed on the lot for sale, I was told that no record of any work could be found. The only thing that was replaced on my car were the tires and the only reason why you could tell that was because the looked new, but I'm pretty sure they even came from a second hand dealer.

I must tell you, even though it cost me a pretty pennie, my car hasn't screeched since, lucky--- naw, just wise enough to know "even if it's used", "it's a toyota". So as you can plainly see, I was ripped of and left high and dry.

Steven
fortlauderdale, Florida
U.S.A.