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WHO IS RESPONSIBLE? Opinions Appreciated!

realitycheck's picture

Who is responsible? - - - - - -

In June 2005, I purchased a 2001 Durango from the Dodge Used Car lot. I got a fairly good price on it.
The day I drove it home I discovered that the A/C only worked on the "MAX" setting, it was pulling to the right and making a clicking noise.
I contacted my salesman to find out what the deal was. The SUV ran perfectly during the test drive which took place 7 hours earlier. *(During the test drive the sales man said, "If you have any problems, just give me a call and we'll take care of everything".)
Well, when I called, He was not in the office.
The following day I tried to contact him again. Still not in the office.
Finally, 4 days after bringing the SUV home I get ahold of the guy and he says, "You had three days to get the problems fixed. You should have brought your car in. There's nothing I can do now."

So I drive up to the dealership and talk to the manager. He tells me to bring the Durango to the garage area and they will fix it. I do this.

Two days later I pick up my new car start to drive home. I notice that there is pop splattered all over the headliner and there is stickey soda smeared on the sunglass holder. I try to call the manager, now he's not available.

The next day I bring the SUV BACK to the dealership. They say they don't deal with interior cleaning(s). Some guy who works there days, "My employees don't drink pops in cars. It must have been from somewhere else."

Then, later that day I discover that there is an open recall on this car. The recall was posted 6 months earlier, so Dodge had to have known. I call the damn dealership again and get the run around.

Two weeks after that I have to leave my car with them for two days so they can fix it.

Then, a month ago, during a snowstorm, my INFANT son and I are coming home from my parents. My tire goes flat. I go to change the tire and discover that the spare has a huge nail through it and is totally unusable. So I have to sit on the side of the expressway waiting for help while my new baby screams in the back seat.

I have sent numerous letters to this particular dealership location. As you can guess, nobody is responding. I am angry and confused. One person suggested they may have done a "car swap" on me from the time I test drove it to the time I drove it home (8 hours later). I don't know.
Who is responsible for all of this?
I think that if you pay for a car it should be in operating condition unless you are specifically told otherwise.

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pchan33's picture

hmmmmm

I could be wrong, but Maybe you are both at fault. Did you have a mechanic check out the car before you bought it? I think the people selling it should have told you about any problems with the car.

Dreams Matter.

tundrades's picture

Who is at Fault?

Do you live in or around Charolete NC? We had problems with a Dodge Vechile we puchased from a Dodge Dealer Used Lot. We had a lot of problems including transmission going. Even if you do get someone to check it out there is no gaurantee the vechile will be problem free.

In our case our car was totaled and the other person's insurance was not giving us much time to find another vechile. They were not willing to pay more than two days car rental. So we did not have much time to find a replacement vechile.

Salesmen sense this with people and if they know or feel thay can offload a vechile that they know will be problem. In their bussiness they get away with it Old saying buyer be aware.

Tottie's picture

Consumer regulations

First of all it is a good idea to get a car checked if you are really keen to buy it - in our state it is a requirement by law to have the car "roadworthy checked" before one sells it - and there are certain things in this check that must be done. As well, we have consumer laws that state that a car dealer doing this sort of thing should be reported to our Consumer Affairs Department. The other thing that is worthwhile if you do not have Consumer/Fair Trading legislation is publicity. A car dealer will not like bad publicity. We can go to TV stations who will take up the cause, and we have a website called www.notgoodenough.com (it is in Australia so won't be helpful - but that might be a good idea to start where you are!) Good luck.

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