Complaint Review: Surprise Ford- Rob Hubler - surprise AZ

Purchased a vehicle from this dealership on Sunday afternoon (3/31/2019) and purchased an extended warranty on the vehicle to protect it for up to two years. After three weeks the car engine seized without warning and shut down on the freeway on Thursday morning at approx 8am, 4/25/2019.

I pulled over immediately and called my salesperson. The dealership paid to have it towed and said they would take care of it. Once they received the vehicle and put the vehicle in their service department. They inspected the vehicle to determine that the oil plug fell out and was not secured which caused the engine to seize.

Keep in mind they are the ones that did the oil change at the time of my purchase and release of the vehicle along with a safety inspection. They had Hyundai look at the vehicle and they said the dealership was liable since they did the oil change and caused the issue. The service manager wanted to call our car insurance and claim vandalism in order to get it repaired.

I didn't see the correlation and we did the call in their conference room at the Surprise Ford Dealership with Rob Hubler the General Manager. On the open conference call on 4/26/2018, Rochelle Wagner policyholder Service manager and Rob called Geico on open mic conference for all parties to hear. Rob Hubler explained the situation and Geico came back and said it is the responsibility of the dealership to fix the car for negligence on securing that plug and torque it down.

Rob was clearly upset at another party saying his dealership was liable. Issued an onsite rental car as he figured this out and assured us he would take care of it. He does this insurance thing all the time and it always works. I didnt understand why we were calling them and asked them to pursue the extended warranty we purchased for 2500.00 to ensure no issues for mechanical repairs for 2 years.

They kept pushing back but finally did call on 5/1/2019 to pursue that option after much pressure from our part to do so. We were assured at the time of purchase for 2 years all defects were covered on our vehicle with this plan. The extended warranty /mechanical warranty people came back with same conclusion that this was the fault of dealership and negligence from the oil change done at time of sale by not securing the oil plug.

On 5/2 we spoke with Rob Hubler and gave the details and expectations we have for a resolution. He said he was not paying for a new engine no matter what and for me to get a lawyer. I said what happened to “we will take care of it”! So, looks like we have to pursue those options. I asked for the garage and service department insurance since every other business party in this matter states that who should pay the repairs for the dealership’s negligence.

He refused to provide me the information to corporate,  garage service insurance for their service dept. , and service records for vehicle and told me to lawyer up and he can’t talk to me any further. Even his sales and finance people came to me privately and contacted me and stated he is wrong for this and should be covering this damage. They recommended to call and pursue other options to get help because this is wrong.

This situation is on the verge on financially ruining me. I haven’t even made my first car payment on the vehicle and the damage this negligent service on the oil change the dealership did for the purchase caused these issues. I can’t afford the 9,000 on a 22,000 vehicle I just purchased for work and to care for my disabled sister. 

How do I transport her and help my mom with her? My mom just had surgery herself. I need the help of the governing bodies of this business to step in and help.  This is unacceptable professional behavior and practice. I did everything to protet myself and do the right thing with full coverage insurance, extended warranty they suggested and said every  issue for two years would be covered.

We have went to service places , other dealerships, insurance companies, mechanical/extended warranty companies and they all say they are lliable for negligence and not doing proper safety and torque to standards on the oil plug. They may have hand tightened and it obviously came loose over time and feel out about 1200 miles after the change 3 weeks later for not being secure. They safety security system never said a thing either or service light it just froze and stopped working.