DealerSh!t

Here is a letter I sent to the General Manager of Bob Howard Automall about my "new" car I bought from them. What do you guys think?



Hello my name is Brian. My wife and I purchased a used 2002 Lincoln LS on July 26th 2006. I understand that we did purchase the car as is BUT we were under the impression that we were buying a good used vehicle that had been looked over by a mechanic. We figured that you guy's look over the cars real well before you sell them. People don't want to bring their mechanics to look over their future car. They want the delership to already do that for them. They also want to have faith in the Dealership ( even though delerships have a bad rap) that they would let the customer know if something was wrong and especially with a safty issue. After two days of owning the car the airbag light came on. The day we went to take it to see Grant (service manager in used cars) the power steering was making a big whinnying noise. I popped the hood to see the reservoir was empty. I asked grant to check it out for me cause that fluid isn't supposed to leak. They took the car and fixed the airbag light and loaned me another (Which I am very great full for.) Grant said he forgot to ask them about the power steering fluid leak but they did fill the car back up with power steering fluid. As happy as I was that you fix the airbag light I was still concerned about the leak. Thinking it was just maybe low (implied by Grant) we took the car and was happy. My wife being the one that drives her new car all the time and always paring in the same place. One day she didn't park exactly where she normally did and I noticed a big oil spot in the drive way. I called Grant back up and he said to go ahead and bring the car back in. So the next day I did. They took the car to the service center and they said it looked like a hose was leaking. Grant said that they would'nt fix it and I was lucky Bob Howard fixed the airbag light(not in those exact words but that's what I was getting from what he said)He said if it were something small they might would have fixed it.(If it's just a hose and not a reservoir leak or pump leak how much smaller could it be?) If Bob Howard fixed the Airbag problem after the sale what about the leaking power steering fluid that can cause loose of power steering and is a big fire hazard it being so close to the catalytic converter. This problem was there clearly before we purchased the car. If you don't have integrity in the cars you sell I don't see us purchasing from Bob Howard again. If the cars you sell are not good quality it's not worth spending the time and the money on them. I am asking for your help in this matter to continue to be a customer of yours now and in the future. Please fill free to contact me Brian Brunson 812-8581 or work # is 522-8792

Thanks Brian



Here is a letter I gave to Grant the week after we bought the car.



Problems incurred since last Thursday the purchase of a 2002 Lincoln LS. These are in no particular order.

1) Airbag light flashes three times @ three sets of three then stays on.
2) Power steering is whining. Power steering wasn't low when we bought the car. And power steering doesn't go low for any reason. Not having an Owner?s Manual (7) I don't know what type of power steering fluid to use.
3) Center console emergency brake lever boot can not be fastened.
4) Back glass we thought was foggy because of smoking in the car. (Which we don?t like but were fully aware of it being a smoker?s car before the purchase of the car.) Come to find out it wasn?t a ?dirty? windshield it?s actually something in the glass. (We do not smoke.)
5) The day after we bought it we spotted an oil leak in the drive way. Thinking it was from the old car didn?t think much about it until I spotted another spot in a different place. Crawling under the car I noticed that the oil leak was coming from the oil drain plug. I brought the car in the next day and Bob Howard fixed it. (Which I want to thank you for)
6) Bought car with only one key and key fob. Not thinking it would cost that much to get an extra key and key fob we didn?t really worry about it. Not knowing how much they are ($80.00 for the key and to programming of the key plus an extra $35-$45 for a key fob.)
7) What about an Owner?s Manual? Didn?t come with one. There goes an extra $30.00 or more dollars.





So as you can tell I am very unhappy with the purchase of our ?new? vehicle. Having all these problems after not even having the car for a week leaves me to wondering what future expenses are we ?going? to inquire? We bought this car here in Oklahoma. We had another car picked out same make and model in Dallas. It did have 65,8xx miles on it but the starting price was $10,500.00 plus our trade in. It also came with 3months 4,500 mile warranty. We bought our car from Bob Howard.
1) Wanting to keep the money in Oklahoma.
2) Hearing what a good dealership and good customer service you have.
3) Starting a new family we will need cars in the future and would like one place to buy our cars. Because it is a place we know we are getting
a) A good price on a car.
b) Great customer service
c) A reliable good used/new car.
d) A local dealer that has a big selection of cars, trucks, and vans.











We went ahead and spent an extra $1,890.00 for your car. And that?s not including the trade in which they were giving me for $1,500.00. Knowing this was pushing the boundaries on our budget we went ahead and went with you guys. But because of the list above we are questioning this now.

Being such a young couple with excellent credit I would think we are the type of customers you guys really want. Other than all the problems we?ve encountered with the car. We are happy with the Bob Howard experience and will continue to do business when the time arrives with Bob Howard. We would greatly appreciate your help in this matter. With that we can make this an all around awesome experience with no regrets.


Thanks in advance,
Brian

i believe all used cars have a 90 day warranty. at least at the dealership i work at....

Well thats kind of what I was thinking even an "AS IS" car should have some what of a warranty or buy back feature.

Oh well whats done is done. But thanks for the tips anyways.

How would you suggest me wrighting a farewell letter to the delership? I want to let them know that sence they wont fork out a couple hundred dollars now. That will cost them a few thousand dollars later. Cause we wont buy a car from them again.

I guess I should let you know what they said huh. Well Grant calles me up and says the GM (Rob Smith) gave him a copy of my e-mail that I had sent him. He said that he could give me a owners manual from an '03 LS but they can't do the power steering hose. Because it has to be done by a Ford or Lincoln dealer. Keep in mind this is Bob Howard Dodge Chrysler Jeep right well there is also a Bob Howard Ford Lincoln Murcury. So I asked him why he couldn't take the car to them and he said that the dealerships aren't interchangeable. After I got off the phone I realized thats where he sent the car to get the airbag light fixed the first time. Anyway I just want to let them know I will not do anymore business with them sence they are not willing to fix this problem with my "new" car.

Make sure that you contact the Better Business Buro about them. Also if they have a 5 star dealership you can contact dodge. The 5th star is very hard to keep and if anyone else has complained it is likley you can cause some major problems for their dealership from HQ. You may never see anything happen but from my understanding HQ will send a letter to the owner about the problem you had with the dealership to ruffel some feathers.

Also, there should be a 30-90 day required return policy for the dealership. I would look into that. And they should have looked over the car before they sold it and found the problems you are having. Especially the power steering problem. As far as that goes, if it's not a major leak you can get some power steering fluid sealer that will sometimes stop the leak.

In most states there is an "Implied warranty" law. It protects buyers if there is no warranty included or offered...unless the the term "As is" is specified.

Link to the Federal Trade Commission website:
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/autos/autoserv.htm

Quote from FTC website:
"As Is - No Warranty. If you buy a car "as is," you must pay for all repairs, even if the car breaks down on the way home from the dealership. However, if you buy a dealer-service contract within 90 days of buying the used car, state law "implied warranties" may give you additional rights.
Some states prohibit "as is" sales on most or all used cars. Other states require the use of specific words to disclaim implied warranties. In addition, some states have used car "lemon laws" under which a consumer can receive a refund or replacement if the vehicle is seriously defective. To find out about your state laws, check with your local or state consumer protection office or attorney general."

In most states there is an "Implied warranty" law. It protects buyers if there is no warranty included or offered...unless the the term "As is" is specified.

Link to the Federal Trade Commission website:
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/autos/autoserv.htm

Quote from FTC website:
"As Is - No Warranty. If you buy a car "as is," you must pay for all repairs, even if the car breaks down on the way home from the dealership. However, if you buy a dealer-service contract within 90 days of buying the used car, state law "implied warranties" may give you additional rights.
Some states prohibit "as is" sales on most or all used cars. Other states require the use of specific words to disclaim implied warranties. In addition, some states have used car "lemon laws" under which a consumer can receive a refund or replacement if the vehicle is seriously defective. To find out about your state laws, check with your local or state consumer protection office or attorney general."

Thanks for the info but unfortunately I bought it "as is" :banghead: Well I guess this will be a couple hundred dollar lesson.:disappoin