ComplaintsforJim Robertson Chevrolet Toyota

• Initial Complaint

  03/18/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  This business is not standing behind the product. I took them my ***** to have the new air bags installed because of a recall. I was driving on Hwy 6, the RPM shot up to 9 and dropped down to 0. I called AAA and had the car taken to Kirksville Motor Company. They said my car had a lot of miles and I told them they just put in a new transmission in the car. They said basically that they were not going to repair my car. I would like for them to repair my car at their expense or give me another vehicle the same year or of equal value as long as it runs.

  Business response

  03/28/2024

  We first would like to make note that this is written to Jim Robertson Chevrolet Toyota, we are not affiliated with Jim Robertson, but purchased the dealership in 2014.  The current name is Kirksville Motor Company.
  
  The customer, ** *****, states that he brought us his ***** due to a recall on airbags.  We are not sure what he is referring to as we are not an Acura dealer and do not perform Acura recall work.  ** ***** brought his 2005 ***** MDX to us on November 3, 2023 with the following complaint, “vehicle will run 5K RPMS to go 20MPH.” The vehicle at the time had 279,740 miles on it.
  
  We determined the transmission had internal failures and the customer approved us replacing it with a used unit. We replaced the transmission with a used one and the vehicle drove normally after that. The work was completed on November 27th, 2023. The customer did not pick up the vehicle immediately, but he gave us a check for part of the amount owed within a few weeks of the repair being completed. He then returned some time later, around February 5th and paid the rest of the money owed to pick up the vehicle. We gave the customer his vehicle, however, when we then went to deposit his original check (along with the additional money) there was a stop payment issued on the check. At the time of this BBB complaint the customer still owes Kirksville Motor Company $600. 
  
  Approximately a month later, on March 1st, 2024, the customer brought his vehicle in to have one of the windshield wiper arms replaced. He had no other complaints at this time and the vehicle mileage at that visit was 281,937. So far he had driven the vehicle 2,197 miles since the repair that was done about three months earlier. 
  
  The visit in question we believe happened on March 12, 2024. The customer's vehicle was towed with 282,426 miles. The tow truck driver took note and let us know that there was a very large quantity of transmission fluid on the bed of his tow truck that had come from the customer's vehicle just in the short time it had been on the bed during the tow (not running). The customer's complaint this time was “when you start the vehicle, and put it in drive, the vehicle does not move, check and advise." Diagnosis of the vehicle eventually led to finding the transmission was too low on fluid to operate correctly. Several components were leaking transmission fluid. Based on the fact there was no problem reported at the prior visit which was only about 500 miles before and based on the amount of fluid lost on the tow truck it is our interpretation that either a transfer case seal, transmission line, or transmission cooler completely failed and began leaking profusely while driving. These are not components that were replaced when the transmission was replaced because they were not causing any problems and were not leaking profusely. 

  We checked his vehicle over. We came to the conclusion something else had broken (most likely a seal or fluid line), causing most of the fluid to be lost quickly, causing the transmission to not be able to drive the vehicle. When we explained again how our findings point to components other than the transmission itself being the root cause of this failure, he stated that we should have replaced all of those components at the time we replaced the transmission. That is not standard procedure, and the components that are failed now had not failed at any other visit. There are some failures that can't be seen until they happen. A seal or fluid line blowing out would both be examples of this. 

  We prepared a quote but ** ***** didn’t take it with him. The estimate to fix the components leaking transmission fluid was $1409.01. The quote also contains estimates for thermostat replacement ($276.76), valve cover gasket replacement for both banks ($478.74) and oil pan gasket replacement ($297.25). It is still unknown if the current transmission is significantly damaged due to being run out of fluid. After we put some fluid back in, it appeared to function until it leaked right back out. We were unable to do a road test though due to the rate the fluid is leaking out at. 
  
  The replacement transmission itself has not caused any failures and has been driven 2,686 since it was replaced. This failure is not related to any work we performed, but due to the vehicle’s age and overall condition.
  
  
  
  

  
  

  Business response

  04/16/2024

  Customer states he paid most of the bill, and yet we completed all of the work.  He was able to drive several months in his vehicle without paying in full and without issue. The transmission we replaced is not faulty, however, new issues arose outside of the transmission due to the age and miles on the car.  Due to the vehicle's age and condition it is not uncommon to have subsequent issues arise that need replacing.  The customer still owes us $600 and we don’t feel a need at this time to compensate him or correct a new issue at our cost. 
  
  
  
  

  Customer response

  04/21/2024

   
  Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  
  I have photos of the receipt and my response letter. I have tried to do them at a smaller size and still will not go. Is there an email that I can send you the paperwork so that you have it on this case ? Thank you

  Sincerely,

  ***** *****

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