ComplaintsforDealer's Choice Auto Sales

• Initial Complaint

  01/17/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Unresolved

  More info

  I bought a ******* ******* (2008) from Dealer's Choice Auto Sales where we picked it up on Monday January 9th and parked it in our driveway. The next day on January 10th my son went to drive it and while driving the car on a thruway the latch on the hood malfunctioned and the hood flew up and smashed into the windshield. It damaged the whole windshield, dented the hood and roof, and on impact broke the interior rear view mirror and storage compartment inside the car. It obstructed his view and could have been deadly. Thank god no one was hurt. I contacted the man from the dealership, Tuesday right after it happened and explained how the latch didn't function properly and explained to him what happened. When viewing the car when it got home the latch is clearly corroded and rusted and the secondary latch was not springing over to shut properly. His comment was "he can't fix every little thing on cars" I said, "little thing? This is a serious safety concern and could have led to serious injury or death." He had his mechanic working on the car (something with brake line) prior to us picking it up. He wouldn't tell me the mechanic's name. He was unwilling to take the car back to pay for and repair the latch or damage. He said, "he would only give me the parts at his cost, which is me still taking responsibility for the damage on a latch that wasn't functioning correctly. That shouldn't be on me, that is a dealership problem. The secondary latch was not working properly and he refused to remedy the issue. So now I am stuck with a car I paid $6,000 that isn't drivable until it is repaired and I have to repair it myself when it clearly is rusted and not in proper working order. I am unsure how the lemon law works but if the car wasn't damage I would return it and ask for my refund. There have been many recalls on the Elantras that had hood latch problems as well. I would want the dealership to pay for replacement parts, labor and the cost to repair.

  Business response

  02/03/2023

  On January 9, 2023 Ms ****** did pick up the vehicle in question. Prior to Ms ****** picking up the vehicle on January 9, 2023 that said vehicle was driven over 30 miles that day with speeds over 60 miles per hour. From the time we took possession of that vehicle we put a total of 200 miles on it and during that time we never had any issues with the hood latch or the hood safety latch it was in working order. On January 10, 2023 Ms ****** called me and said that her son was driving down the 219 on there way to Ellicottville NY when the hood opened and smashed into the windshield causing damage to the hood, windshield and the roof of the vehicle. During our conversation I explained to Ms ****** that a hood just can’t open. Ms ****** did say that they never opened the hood on the car but did tell me when they left our office that night they went and put gas in the car and they were having a hard time locating the gas door release to a point where after feeling around they used a flashlight on there phone to find the lever. With that being said our feeling is that during the gas filling process the hood was accidentally released and with them driving down the 219 going 60+ miles per hour the hood lifted and after flapping/bouncing in the air for a long period of time the safely latch finally let go. For those reasons we do  responsibility to fix the vehicle. As far as Ms ****** speaking of the latch recalls from what I have researched there was a recall but not on that model and year. I did offer to help Ms ****** get it fix at our cost vs retail cost but she did not want to proceed. That vehicle was also sold as is with no New York State 30 day lemon law Stamped on her paperwork, but I do stand behind my cars for two weeks only for motor and tranny problems.

  Customer response

  02/03/2023

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
  
  
  
  Regards,
  ********* ******
  
  
  
  I do not accept this response!  Chuck is trying to say that we opened the latch we didn’t!  His mechanic had worked on the car prior to us picking the car up!  The secondary latch was not functioning properly due to rust and corrosion and wasn’t able to securely latch the hood!  Two mechanics looked at the latch after the incident and they both stated that the secondary latch wasn’t springing back the way it was supposed to and it was unsafe for long term! They also mentioned that their is a shinier spring and it looked as if someone knew of the problem and tried to do a quick fix just to sell it!  Chuck from the dealership told me he drove the car back from his mechanics (however wouldn’t tell me his name)in gasport and there aren’t any roads that have a speed limit off over 65 from Gasport to Akron!  Most of the roads are 30 mph to 45mph.  The pictures clearing indicate how rusted and I also have a video of the secondary  and it wasn’t springing shut!  

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