More Car problems! I'm losing it!
Find a Conversation
| Mon, 01-24-2005 - 8:05am |
On Thursday during my lunch hour, my car broke down in the Chick-fil-A drive through. Luckily, I was next door to Goodyear. Let's just say that either the last repair job wasn't done right or the last repair job wasn't done right. I had to have it towed to the dealer who worked on the problem the first time b/c the brand new serpentine belt I had paid for on Jan 3 was eaten up because the tensioner was bad...probably b/c they didn't do the job right the first time! The dealer told me I would have to pay for a new belt even though it had just been replaced 17 days prior. Angry? Words don't begin to describe....so on Friday I took the day off and went to another VW dealer to find out a second opinion. They told me to call customer service and I am glad I did! I was told that I still have a powertrain warranty for another 3K miles and I should have a spare parts warranty on the belt that had just been replaced! The lady on the phone said, something sounds fishy here....yeah, esp when the dealer quoted me $462 to fix it all!
So my car is still at the dealer while I wait for the customer care ppl to work it out with the service manager. If I have to pay anything for this...well...this is the last time I'm taking my service there. Maybe I will get a refund for the previous repair if it was covered!
I may trade in my car for something else. I hate that. I love my car. I don't blame it, I blame greedy dealers who deceive women! And yes, they deceived me b/c they never told me about the powertrain warranty!
Here's a question for you all....would it be advisable to keep trading cars with low mileage and a CPO warranty or just pay it off then have to pay for all the repairs myself? I know a single woman who just keeps trading them so she doesn't have to deal with continual repair costs.
Did I mention my car only had 47K miles on it and it's a 2001?!
I can never get ahead...I just never can.

Ah - A vw dealership. Well I don't think this is going to make you feel better but I am currently and HAVE been having problems with my audi dealership (their sister car co.)
And they're just as bad there to women - I know 1st hand. Here's just ONE of my bad stories and the one I'm currently working on.
So I go for my scheduled service a few Sat. ago and tell them that there is STILL a very loud noise coming from what I BELIEVE is the back driver tire. (I remindeed them again when I was in a week BEFORE that because my oil light was on for no reason, they blew me off again and said they didn't have time to look at it.) So when they call me at home to tell me my car's is done they also mention that the noise WAS coming from that back tire and that it was unsafe to drive on and that they put it in my trunk as the spare and that I should buy another tire at $250 to replace it!!!!!???WTH? So I put hubby on the line who calmy reminded them that we had bought the faulty tire FROM THEM about a month and a half prior and that if the tire was faulty it was THEIR fault for giving us a faulty tire and that we shouldn't pay. Then the service guy says we should pay because it was worn. OF COURSE IT WAS WORN!!! I'd been driving on it because they told me THEY didn't have time to look at it. And the jerks were so non-chalant when I first called to explain the situation (mid-Dec) that they said it would be safe for me to make a round trip drive from Orlando to Miami during the holidays, now per them the tire was so bad that it could've gone at ANY moment. As far as I'm concerned THEY could've killed me! Just because they NEVER take me seriously when I come in there. Anyway long story short... they send it back to the tire manufactor who says YES it's not my fault the tire's bad it's their's, a bad tire. Well now the dealership is trying to tell DH and I that we should still pay at least 60% of the NEW tire's cost because the old one was still worn.
UGH! I've already told DH I refuse to pay a dime and when we go down there I'm speaking to the manager.
DH and I have also discussed whether it would be a good idea or not to purchase the car after the lease is up? But the way I see it I still have pretty much a new car and if I've been to the service dept so much with an '02 and now that I have warranty how much worse is it going to be when I actually have to pay OUT OF POCKET for repairs every other month!!?
In our case we'll have to research how much work the car will need in it's later life and whether in the long run it's cheaper to buy the car out and pay for repairs or just move on next year when the lease is up. But I do like having service work taken care of w/o paying out of pocket so that's usually what I lean towards, JMHO.
Sorry I can't be of much help, just wanted to let you know you're not the only one getting awful service from the VW/Audi Corp. DH already knows how much I loath them and how I will NEVER buy another one of their vehicles.
Good luck with your work and getting your $ back.
It seems like most mechanics try to take advantage of women. One story I love is that one day, DH went to pick up our car at the dealership (it was having the 50,000 mile servicing done). Well, there was a woman arguing with the service manager saying she had been overcharged and she wasn't backing down. Anyway, her male companion walked out, sat in the waiting room and said that it looked like she was handling things pretty well. The female walked out and said, I guess they didn't realize that before I became a helicopter pilot for the Army, I was a light engine mechanic and I know how much that job should cost. The dealership lowered the price and DH and I never went there again.
I would fight the dealership on the cost, ask for a refund for the repair that has already been done.
My mother had a similiar complaint 20 years ago. She ended up being charged about $300 for a repair that should have cost $20. She was advised to file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau and file a complaint with the attorney general or who ever regulates car dealers in her state. I would do the same.
Good luck and don't give up on the car, especially if you love it. Those cars we truly love are so hard to come by.
Kellie