Complaintsfor5280 Motor Company

• Initial Complaint

  11/27/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  My daughter and I purchased a used 2008 Subaru Forester on June 09, 2023 at 5280 Motor Company from Ryan Cary. The total price of the car was $11,503.23. My daughter put down a $2,000 down payment and financed the rest of the car through Elevations Loans with the remaining balance being $9,503.23. Ryan told us that his own mechanic cleared the car and clears every car before it is purchased. On the "Vehicle Disclosure and Liability Release" form, the only information listed under what the dealer knew about the vehicle's history or damage was: no accident or damage reported on Carfax, no known open recalls, and possible light hail damage. However, 3 days later, my daughter took the car to a mechanic shop called Simply Subaru's to get it double checked. The mechanics there found that there were oil leaks seen, low coolant levels, and found an exhaust heat shield that was loose and rattling. The technician noted that "someone had previously installed a hose clamp around exhaust heat shield to attempt to fix," and that, "the exhaust is very rusty of holes". Pics. inc. My daughter had to drive the car to California for work, which is where she quickly had to replace the rusted exhaust pipe and other rusted parts below the car, which was $433 dollars. About two months later, my daughter started smelling a weird smell coming from near the engine after she would drive the car. My daughter took the car to her mechanic and he said that there was a huge oil leak by the engine causing the smell and that he didn't recommend fixing the car because of all of it's rust. My daughter then took the car to two other mechanics who said the same thing, suggesting replacing head gasket and reseal of complete engine. We have photos included of the oil leaks that the mechanic said have been around for years.The mechanic in LA told us that the car could catch on fire and we ended up having to pay 800 dollars to get the car towed back to Colorado. Ryan has been no help/stopped responding.

• Initial Complaint

  06/24/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I bought a Rav4 from 5280 in April and was assured that it was in good working order. I saw that there was a slight bit of fluid leaking from the transfer case. The underside of the car had been detailed and I was assured that the seep was normal for the age of the engine and that it would not be an issue. I was told that it would not be leaving puddles of fluid on my driveway. The warranty did not cover the leak because 5280’s mechanic did not classify it as a leak but a seep which we were not aware of. Upon request, 5280 would not release the notes from their mechanic, saying that it was not legal. I insisted on speaking to their 3rd party mechanic on the phone to ensure the seep was ok. He was less than polite and hardly remembered working on the car even though the dealer had it for less than two days. Less than 6 weeks later there was fluid all over my driveway. The shroud they had wiped clean had collected a bunch of fluid and the underside of the car was a mess. I had put minimal miles on the car and drove it gently. We were told to have it looked at by the warranty company’s mechanic who told us the leak was an obvious existing condition that the dealership should have taken care of before they sold the car for $16,000. He also found a faulty axle seal. When I talked to 5280 both the manager and owner said that they would take care of the axle seal that they had missed but only if I would sign a non disclosure agreement which was promptly sent over. I declined, saying I didn’t see any sense in signing a legal document that bound me to silence for an issue that they admitted to missing in the first place. 5280 refused to address the transfer case or even split the cost with me saying the “seep” turned into a “leak” in the few weeks after I bought the car and that it wasn’t their responsibility. I was left with $2,000 of work and the owner Rick told me that I wouldn’t have had this problem if I wasn’t so lazy and would have examined the car better.

  Business response

  07/05/2022

  We would like to provide some context to your review. You visited us the day before you purchased and after test driving the RAV4 asked if it was possible for you to take it to a mechanic for a pre-purchase inspection. Which you as well as all of our customers are welcome to do. We suggest taking the car to a mechanic when we have a known defect. So we do not have misunderstandings as we have here. Again we are sorry that this disclosed defect has gotten worse.

  
  Later that day after you left you asked if you could speak with the third-party mechanic that worked on the RAV4 and we were glad to have you talk to him which you did. You were encouraged to purchase a service contract by the third-party mechanic and by us that would have paid for this repair, should you run into any troubles or if this seep developed into a leak. You chose to opt-out of purchasing the service contract. All of our vehicles are detailed by a professional automotive detailing company before they are offered for sale, this includes cleaning the exterior, the interior, and the engine compartment. Everything was disclosed to you prior to purchasing and you chose to proceed with purchasing. We did everything possible to be transparent with the information we had available.
  

  
  

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