Well then you may have a case for them to pay all or half. Although I would expect to pay it all because the BMW dealership here is not helpful when it comes to their used cars. They seem to have a "you should have bought new if you wanted us to care" attitude. I hope it's not a universal thing in your case
I wouldn't expect a car I bought to break down 3 days later, even if it was a 14 year old car or whatever.If the water pump was rusted out, I would hope they would pay for the part.
Yes, we KNOW that we will be putting money in this thing. We did not expect to this car to never have any problems. However, we have had the car for THREE DAYS. I think it's reasonable to expect that we are not needing to repair the car after 3 days when they TOLD us that it was in good running condition and everything that needed replacing was replaced.
They ignored a rusted water pump. They also delivered the car to us. They drove 60+ miles. The water pump went out and caused two separate belts to snap after us driving it, maybe, 10 miles. There must have been something going on on the drive over here.
Look, I've bought used cars. I get it. It sucks when they break. That's why you buy a warranty. I just can't believe that you would buy a brand that is notorious for breaking and being expensive to fix, and a 14 year old car at this point, and then be flabbergasted that it broke. I bought a ~7 year old Honda many years ago, and something was wrong with it, we couldn't figure out what it was, and spent a ton of money fixing it. We basically replaced the whole engine. It ended up being a $20 ignition switch.
So 3 days is too soon to break. When is it ok to break? 10 days? A month? 6 months? When you buy a used car, especially an older model, I think this comes with the territory.
Did your DH look at the engine before he bought it? Did he have his mechanic look at it?
As the daughter of a mechanic and the niece to a man who actually is the owner of a car dealership, your techs suck. How they misdiagnosed an ignition switch and instead replaced the engine I feel sorry for your customers.
The vehicle should have been checked at the time the dealership got it weather in trade or auction and this should have been caught and fixed. OP if you don't get anywhere with the sales guy, go to the GM of the dealership. Last thing a GM wants is a pissed off customer over a water pump.
Look, I've bought used cars. I get it. It sucks when they break. That's why you buy a warranty. I just can't believe that you would buy a brand that is notorious for breaking and being expensive to fix, and a 14 year old car at this point, and then be flabbergasted that it broke. I bought a ~7 year old Honda many years ago, and something was wrong with it, we couldn't figure out what it was, and spent a ton of money fixing it. We basically replaced the whole engine. It ended up being a $20 ignition switch.
So 3 days is too soon to break. When is it ok to break? 10 days? A month? 6 months? When you buy a used car, especially an older model, I think this comes with the territory.
Did your DH look at the engine before he bought it? Did he have his mechanic look at it?
As the daughter of a mechanic and the niece to a man who actually is the owner of a car dealership, your techs suck. How they misdiagnosed an ignition switch and instead replaced the engine I feel sorry for your customers.
The vehicle should have been checked at the time the dealership got it weather in trade or auction and this should have been caught and fixed. OP if you don't get anywhere with the sales guy, go to the GM of the dealership. Last thing a GM wants is a pissed off customer over a water pump.
He actually was a great mechanic. The problem was that the ignition switch didn't show up on the computer because when it would act up, the car would turn off. Then it would reset itself. So the computer never caught it. So we replaced everything that we thought might be causing the issue....then it turned out to be a $20 part. It was awful when we were going through it!
The way we ended up figuring it out, was that there had been a recall on the ignition switch for 1997 Accords and Odyssey. But they only do a recall if it affects a certain amount of cars. And there weren't enough 1997 crv's sold to require a recall.
But after dealing with all the fixes on that CRV, and then the used Navigator that we bought to replace it, we only buy new cars now, and I haven't seen a mechanic since 2006
The way we ended up figuring it out, was that there had been a recall on the ignition switch for 1997 Accords and Odyssey. But they only do a recall if it affects a certain amount of cars. And there weren't enough 1997 crv's sold to require a recall.
Post by ElizabethBennet on Aug 17, 2013 17:43:28 GMT -5
So a small update.
The water pump was not part of the original inspection. However, the fact that it's rusted should have been noticeable if they did the sort of inspection they claimed, but that means nothing to them. I feel like the rusted part should have been mentioned to us prior to purchase. They are willing to offer us a discount on the parts, but they will ONLY send the parts from their dealership. The cost for us, with their discount, would be $236. H found the exact same parts at a local auto parts store for a little over $100. They won't cover that amount.
It's not the amount of money that is pissing me off, it's the FREAKIN PRINCIPLE OF THE MATTER. I think it's reasonable to expect that we get more than 3 days and 10 miles out of car we bought, when we were told it was in good running condition. The age of the car is irrelevant.
Who are you talking with? Sales won't help you, call the GM of the dealership or blast them on review sites. Yelp is good but they can pay to have negative feedback taken off. Usually, someone from the dealer will call or email you to get the reviews removed and work something out.
This same thing happened to us, and because we bought the car as is, the dealer tried to get out of paying. I told them there was no way they didn't know, which meant they misrepresented the condition of the car to us, and there fore they had to pay for it (or take the car back) under the lemon law. They agreed to pay for it.
This is where I am. The water pump is rusted according to H. I feel like that should have at least been mentioned when the contract was being drawn up.
I thought BMW had a certification for their pre-owned's. If you bought it from a dealer and the dealer won't stand behind it, I'd escalate to their, I guess, regional office or something. Inspection list or no inspection list.
My DH runs a car dealership. In this instance, he is under no obligation to fix it. If the customers are nice and polite, he will gladly pay for the repair. But if they are rude or start threatening, being assholes, etc, he won fix it for them. So be nice when you call!
I have to ask...you buy a 14-15 year old bmw and expect it to be in good condition? Honestly? You're going to be pouring money into that thing until you sell it. My BFF drives a 2003 Toyota that she bought new, and it barely passes DEQ and requires all kinds of fixes. Good luck with your Beemer!
Really? How is this at all helpful?
Yes, we KNOW that we will be putting money in this thing. We did not expect to this car to never have any problems. However, we have had the car for THREE DAYS. I think it's reasonable to expect that we are not needing to repair the car after 3 days when they TOLD us that it was in good running condition and everything that needed replacing was replaced.
They ignored a rusted water pump. They also delivered the car to us. They drove 60+ miles. The water pump went out and caused two separate belts to snap after us driving it, maybe, 10 miles. There must have been something going on on the drive over here.
Some states literally have something called a "Lemonade Law" that specifically applies to used cars. Check your state.
Yes, we KNOW that we will be putting money in this thing. We did not expect to this car to never have any problems. However, we have had the car for THREE DAYS. I think it's reasonable to expect that we are not needing to repair the car after 3 days when they TOLD us that it was in good running condition and everything that needed replacing was replaced.
They ignored a rusted water pump. They also delivered the car to us. They drove 60+ miles. The water pump went out and caused two separate belts to snap after us driving it, maybe, 10 miles. There must have been something going on on the drive over here.
Some states literally have something called a "Lemonade Law" that specifically applies to used cars. Check your state.
Then I would for sure elevate this to the GM of the dealership.
I can understand why they won't allow the local parts store parts. A lot of dealerships won't warranty aftermarket or off brand parts. When they put brand specific (in this case BMW) YOU have a leg to stand on if the part fails after it is installed. It sucks but it's for added protection.
Post by juliagoulia on Aug 17, 2013 19:15:49 GMT -5
It sucks this happened.
I agree with the people suggesting you or your H going in to talk it over with the GM. Any more customer service is getting more and more important to dealerships and there's a good chance if you take the time to go in they will make a concession for you.
I'm sorry it crapped out on you. It's frustrating.
I really do feel badly for Elizabeth - mostly because I get the sense her DH bought the car without a whole lot of input from her - but I do not think not fixing the part reflects poorly on BMW (and I don't think BMW will care, at all, if she leaves a negative review about this on Yelp or other social media sites, nor do I think an average BMW customer will think BMW should have fixed the car). They bought a car that is notoriously unreliable and expensive to repair. They didn't pay for a warranty. The price reflected the risk that the car would break. I don't see how BMW is responsible, either morally or legally. I agree the timing really sucks, and I feel bad for Elizabeth that it happened. But I do not understand the "it's the principle" argument. It's bad luck for sure, but BMW isn't doing anything wrong.