Bought a car from a buy here, pay here lot. It was half way paid off, when a car hit me & kept going. The damage was extensive. The owner of the lot said he could take the car back, give us credit, and we could purchase another car. We did.
This car was twice as much or more, we were approved for financing. And 3 dys after we had it, we noticed it was shifting rough. Then we noticed a burnt rubber smell & smoke from under the hood.
When we looked under the bottom, oil was dripping. We made the owner aware of the problem. He said bring it in. We dropped it off the next day. The car was there 3 dys.
We called, the dealer said, his mechanic could not find anything wrong with it. We explained the problems again. That there was a puddle where the car stays parked. Again the dealer said, we couldn't find it. If it is still leaking bring it back. We did.
We asked him to ride with us to see what we were talking about. He did. And repeatedly said. It sounds fine to me. He reminded us that we had purchased the warranty and any problems we were having should be directed to them. But that what we were up against was that we had bought a used car.
No one gets rid of a car unless they are tired of fixing things wrong with it. And the warranty was for that purpose. Once we stopped, he lifted the hood, saw the smoke, smelled the smoke, then saw the leak and agreed, there was a problem.
He said, leave the car, he'll have his mechanic look it at again. 4 dys later we picked it up again,Fri. Sunday,Mother's Day, we went to the car to go to church, as we were driving the car stalled. Restared it in Neutral, and when I put my foot to the floor, the car didn't excelerate.
The Service Engine Soon light was on...and the speedometer was registering 0. After several times of pushing down on the gas pedal, the car was going but only about 20 miles per hour. We made it to church. At the end of the service, we thought we should take the car to the dealer, so he could see the situation firsthand, and drive the car himself.
We pulled up to the lot, CLOSED. By this time we smelled the burnt rubber odor again. We then just prayed that we could make it home without the problems getting worse. (To back up for a day, Sat. we placed cardboard under the engine, and there was oil on it from the car. Sat. eve. we took the van, through the car wash that you wash the car yourself, and that night placed cardboard under the car again.
Sun. am. there was oil on the cardboard)Mon. am. told the dealer. He said we could bring it back to his mechanic. I decided not to, for a 4th time. I decided to take it to Aamco, since the dealer said the warranty co. would pay, but we would have to pay the cost of a $100 deductible.
Aamco ck'd the van, the seals on the transmission were bad, needed to be replaced, but the warranty co. did not cover this, the cost to us would be $500. Told the dealer, he said, we could pay the $500 to get it fixed,or buy another vehicle off his lot.
We decided on another car, but when we were making arrangements to pick it up, the dealer let us know...we had to pay $500 more,plus the cost of tags, plus a higher monthly pymt, after being told it would an even trade.
The van needs the repair-we do not have $500,we just gave the dealer $700, the night he said we could pick out another car, with lower mileage, but in the same price range, and we want to know what choices we have for recourse. Our decision at this time is to speak out. Let it be known, investigated, publicized...so that someone else can be informed, and not have to lose what we have lost, moneywise, credit, and future paycks already accounted for, and still have a van that is not safe to drive our family in...to/from school, work, grocery store & other places of necessity, to keep our household functioning at a somewhat comfortable level.
Isn't that what we work for, to improve our life, and to benefit the community...The American Dream!
THOMAS
Lindenwold, New Jersey