Complaints

• Initial Complaint

  03/22/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I purchased a vehicle from this dealership on 03/02/2023. Since thencthe car has been giving me nothing but problems. It has been back to his shop numerous times already and he lied to me about the vehicle... he told me it had new breaks ( it did not) he also told me he drove the vehicle to Boston and to Worcester all before me purchasing the vehicle which he also did not.... I brought the car back to dealer a week after purchase because I no longer had 1st gear... he then tried to tell me everything was fine 20 minutes after I dropped it off so I had to drive back out to fitchburg and asked him to drive it and I sat in passenger seat within 1 minute he realized the shifter would not engage into first gear properly then tells me it's a shifter linkage... the 2 days later I get a check engine light on for a evap code ( purge valve) according to the dealer... I picked my vehicle back up on 03/17/2023 and i sent him a video of it still having a hard time shifting into first and he was trying to imply that i was breaking it on purpose becuase i stated to him i want to return the vehicle agter the second time of it being there....and I went maybe 150 miles and on monday 03/20/2023 my vehicle no longer shifted into any gears... and I had to have it towed from my jobsite 790 gay st. Westwood ma to fitchburg because it was not drivable and he proceeded to tell me a clutch does not go bad overnight and it must have been poorly driven.... which it has not i have been driving a standard for. Very long time. I just want me money back and to return the vehicle

  Business response

  03/30/2023

  After purchasing the car from us and everything went good we were able to help him get financed and helped him with registering the car . He picked it up from our dealership and everything was fine he took it at inspection place of his choice and car passed inspection and everything was fine he contacted us a week later saying the car in not engaging in first gear so I told him to bring the car to check it . He brought the car back with a 1000+ miles already on the car. I thought went he said its not engaging in first gear that the transmission is broken or something . I was able to drive it and engage in all gears , that why I told him the transmission is fine and he came back to show me what he talking about that the he has trouble to put the shifter in first gear where it’s a linkage problem not transmission problem or clutch. And about the check engine light which was a purge valve was leaking air , And we agree that he bring the car Monday afternoon drop it off and we work on it the next day as we need to order parts and its dealer only it is a Volkswagen car and not all parts store have parts available and some of them are dealer only . He brought the car Monday afternoon and unfortunately parts didn’t got here same day and I called the supplier infront  of him and asked him why I haven’t seen the parts he apologized and said will be here on Tuesday there was some delays. Mind you the next day was Tuesday where we had the snow storm and received a huge amount of snow , we were forced to close that day and no trucks of delivery where able to drive on the road to deliver parts .

  Wednesday morning we open at 9 am in the morning I received a text from him at 10 am asking if the car is fixed and obviously it wasn’t and he was not happy and start harassing me and saying that all im saying is bullshit and all that stuff.

  I explain that we will be working on the car at 3 and when its done I will let him know to come pick it up

  Where by lemon law I have 5 days to do the repairs , he came anyway and was waiting outside without me letting him know that the car is done , I texted him and said that the car is inside the bay being worked on its not ready yet , and he got all mad how its not ready , as repairs takes time and not something can be done in couple minutes . And just to save myself the headache and show my good faith in doing business i made my mechanic stay 3 hours overtime until 8 pm to fix it . and I didn’t let the misleading 1 star review that he left me affect me and kept working on it , as he said owner doesn’t hold his end of bargain in the review where I was always answering and trying to help

  He came the next day and still complaining that the shifter is hard to go in first gear , where 1st gear and reverse and close to each other and if you push it down will touch the reverse position . then check engine light got fixed . He said he is bring it Monday and still spoke to me with bad language and I asked him to watch his language talking to me . all of the sudden Monday morning he text me saying the clutch  broke and he is towing the  car to the shop and he wants to return it.

  Let me explain mechanically the clutch is a wearable item in the vehicle like brakes or tires . it cant have mechanical failure all of sudden , you can wake up one day with check engine light or your alternator stopped working . but you cant wake up one day and your tire got bold over night or your pads are low over night , it wears out will being used , and clutch before it brakes and goes away will show signs

  Like :

   

  • Squeaking or grumbling noise when the clutch pedal is pressed.
  • Spongy, sticking, vibrating or loose clutch pedal when pressed.
  • Ability to rev the engine, but poor acceleration.
  • Slipping' clutch, causing a momentary loss of acceleration.

   

  And none of these signs where showing or complained about.

  So I told him he broke because of poor driving to break in one day of sudden

  Although the lemon law of Massachusetts require me to guaranty the car for 30 days

  Automatic or standard transmission/transfer case system : transmission case ;torque converter and all internal parts including flex plate; transmission mounts ; oil pan.

  That’s quote on quote from the lemon law paper . it doesn’t say anything about the clutch covered and clutch is not an internal part of the transmission it’s an item that goes between the transmission and the engine .

  And I have pictures that shows the flywheel burnt from excessive heat , and noway someone wont notice the smell unless it is intentionally

   

  So for that matter I am gonna ask the client to pay for all the damage cause to replace the new clutch for the car .

  Customer response

  03/31/2023

  
  Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because: car is still not hitting the gears correctly.... and here is the proof.... mind you I only went 10 miles..... you can't blow nothing in 10 miles and now 5th and 6th gear are not hitting correctly there for it is a poor job done by the mechanics and they will need to yet again for a 3rd time fix the problem again and I noticed you stated you want me to pay for the parts n repair of clutch n flywheel.... is that is the case you can pay me for all of my time missed at work due to car not being repaired which is approximately 4 days now i have had to miss work... and my tow that I had to call for which was almost 70 miles....  mind you I just picked the car up yesterday (03-30-2023) and within 10 miles as you see in the video I was parked in a parking lot first time all gears go in then won't go back..... clearly it is not an operator error if the vehicle isn't on or moving.. 
  
  Sincerely,
  
  **** **********

  Business response

  04/18/2023

  We ended up choosing not to charge him , from the good will of our business and to not have any problem with anyone .

  the clutch is fixed and  car is already out the miles warranty and he has a year extended warranty that he can go anywhere is covered from now on 

   

  thank you 

  Customer response

  04/18/2023

  
  Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  This dealership should still be required to properly fix all things I mention to him multiple times he keeps saying charge me..... there is nothing to charge me for the car was and still is under warranty and by law he can only charge me 100 dollars max..... anyways.... I still want him to take the car back or allow me to bring it to a mechanic of my choice and he pays for the parts and labor as there shop clearly could not fix the situation.... by fix I mean just tell someone they replaced a part that they simply never put In.... if you noticed he went over his 7 business day response mainly because my warranty with him expired yesterday..... so that is the absolute only way I will keep the vehicle is of he pays for the parts n labor to get the shifter linkage actually replaced and to get my strut replaced that I told him multiple times to check and they never did.... to boot  my clutch went the other day no surprise here they put electric tape on the hose to hide the clamp that was not there.... the tape finally stopped sticking  and my line blew..... luckily was an easy fix.... an easy fix there shop could of fixed but chose electrical tape instead of a 2 dollar clamp...... so yes to conclude this like I stated above if he is willing to pay for the parts and repairs for my shifter linkage and my strut I will keep vehicle otherwise I will have my lawyer continue to pursue actions to return the car.... thank you
  Sincerely,
  
  **** **********

  Business response

  04/19/2023

  Why are u still responding to this you ask..... it's  very simple I purchased a vehicle that you simply refused to fix properly..... you said u ordered and replaced the shifter linkage and you did not..... the vehicle still does not drive properly therefore that is why we are here...... you simply neglected to fix the problem when not only you knew what it was but lied and failed to actually do the job..... so I am still going to fight to get the vehicle I purchased from you fixed.....I will continue to fight until it's fixed

  Business response

  04/21/2023

  it is a false claim that I waited 7 days to answer , because as the last time he brought the car for repair , I told him that the car exceeded the 1250 miles and its out of warranty , so I didn't wait 7 days for the warranty as it is already was over anyway .

  lemon law of Massachusetts doesn't cover clutch , it covers transmission component and engine , and we still replaced it at no charge and didn't charge him anything its a 2700$ job that we didn't ask for a dime from him did it just for the goodwill of our business . although we strongly believe and mechanically speaking with asking for opinion of couple mechanic that the he broke the clutch intentionally , its a wearable item it won't go overnight . unless its poorly driven . and we still let that go and didn't collect any money from him and gave him the car 

  Again car passed inspection , that he took it of a place of his choice , and if the Strut was broken or car was unsafe to drive it wouldn't pass and if the clutch was about to go bad the inspector would have felt it low , or even he would have felt it the day he came for test drive or the 1000miles that he put on the car before breaking it . And if he believes that's not the case , he should go and talk to the guy that passed the car inspection 

  We were so helpful with him and trying to help all the time although he was so pushy and unreasonable with us example: he dropped the car Monday afternoon , Tuesday was snow storm and everything was close including us and he still texted me Wednesday morning one hour after we open asking if the car is ready and got pissed because I said it is not . 

  Laws are set to protect both side and reserve both right .

  By this being said the law doesn't require us to pay for his service at another shop , we only guaranty our cars at our shops .

   

  P.S: I was at hospital my wife and I got our first baby that why it took me a little long to answer 

  thank you and best regards 

   

  Customer response

  04/24/2023

  
  Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  Anyways we need to come to a solution.... my car that u tried four times to reapir couldn't so yea that means you chose not to fix it and it needs to get fixed.... so figure out what you need to do on your end
  Sincerely,
  
  **** **********

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