r/askcarsales • u/PopularGrapefruit150 • 1d ago
US Sale Dealership refusing to compensate for their negligence
Dealership is an absolute pain to deal with, I just want to know if I have a leg to stand on here or if I'm SOL. It's a minor bill ($500 including towing), but I feel like this isn't something I should have to deal with 300 miles after buying a car. Just looking for a second opinion, I don't care about the money, I can afford a $500 bill, but I'm just pissed about the situation.
Anyways here goes...
About two weeks ago, I purchased a used vehicle from a dealership. The vehicle was represented as being in proper working condition at the time of sale, passed their 10 point inspection. I purchased a 2023 Hyundai with 39,328 miles. I ran into this problem at 39,600 miles.
Shortly after purchase, I was away for several days. Upon returning, I discovered the vehicle’s engine oil was practically empty. Given the severity of the issue, the vehicle was immediately towed to an independent mechanic that I am familiar with and trust for inspection and repair.
The independent mechanic performed a full evaluation, cleaned the affected components, and identified the cause of the failure as an improperly installed or defective O-ring. The mechanic has documented the condition of the vehicle, the diagnosis, etc. I have photos and videos of the improperly installed o ring as well as how much oil leaked onto the bottom of my car that had to be cleaned.
Based on the timing of the failure, occurring within a week of purchase (only 300 miles) and the nature of the defect, the issue appears consistent with improper servicing or faulty installation existing at the time of sale or delivery (aka negligence).
The vehicle experienced a major loss of oil that, had it occurred while driving long distance, could have resulted in complete engine failure and left me stranded out of state. Thankfully when I went out of state my brother drove us in his car instead of taking mine (I purchased it on Tuesday and we left that Friday, got back Monday night).
I contacted the dealership to request coverage of the repair costs and associated expenses. The dealership has refused, stating that since the vehicle was not brought to them for service they are not required to compensate. I do not believe this is reasonable given the circumstances, the safety risk involved, and the need for independent diagnosis after a mechanical failure immediately following purchase as a result of their negligence.
7
u/Upbeat-Armadillo1756 1d ago
That's how it works at any dealership I've worked at. Bring it to us and we'll take care of it. Bring it elsewhere and you can pay your mechanic for the pleasure.
5
u/vestigialfree Former F&I Manager 1d ago
PPI. Pre purchase inspection is for these exact scenarios, so next time you buy a used car take it to your trusted mechanic first.
2
u/Budget-Celebration-1 1d ago
How is a ppi going to catch that?
4
u/vestigialfree Former F&I Manager 1d ago
If there’s a loose o ring and it caused a leak I’d imagine when it went on the lift it would show.
Of course there’s a chance it wiggled loose or something but PPI is needed for all used cars regardless of issues that may pop up.
2
3
u/trentthesquirrel Ford Sales 1d ago
Why didn’t you take it to your mechanics before you bought it?
-5
u/PopularGrapefruit150 1d ago
Lady selling it was hot. I got caught like a deer in the headlights. But in reality it was my first time buying a car, wasn’t sure what I was really doing. At the end of the day I can cover it, I learned a lesson, and I really do like the car! Mechanic is a good guy I’ve known for years and said he will help me out financially with the next problem I run into.
4
u/trentthesquirrel Ford Sales 1d ago
I get it dude. If I had tits I would absolutely work my dealership like it was a hooters.
2
7
u/PabloIceCreamBar Former Lexus/Chevy Sales 1d ago
I can smell the chat GPT giving you all the exciting buzz words.
-7
u/PopularGrapefruit150 1d ago
You have a keen nose brother. I just plugged in the basic info and let it have a field day.
4
u/ShevanelWozzeck 1d ago
So we are just letting AI erode conversation skills now? Don't do that shit.
-1
u/PopularGrapefruit150 1d ago
Yes I let AI write a Reddit post. How terrible. Sue me. I can talk to people just fine, doesn’t mean I want to spend 10 minutes writing a throwaway post on Reddit. Go lick a telephone pole or something.
8
4
u/PabloIceCreamBar Former Lexus/Chevy Sales 1d ago
You should have sent it back to the dealer you bought it from. Now you’re screwed.
0
u/PopularGrapefruit150 1d ago
How will I ever financially recover from this. Might need to sell my house.
7
u/DavefromCA Former Sales 1d ago
You left out the most important detail, was the car bought "as is?"
3
u/rick707 1d ago
To OP: this is a really shitty situation and you should factually (not emotionally) document your experience (keep it short and concise) on all review platforms.
Also, view this as a cheap (compared to what’s possible) lesson that you should NEVER buy a used car without a competent third party inspection as “as-is” means as-is
Here is a nice documentary about how As Is worksAS-IS
5
u/PopularGrapefruit150 1d ago
Acutally I just found it in the contract. It was not As-Is. Dealer Warranty, valid for 60 days or 3,000 miles.
5
u/rick707 1d ago
I’m glad you found that but the dealer warranty is not valid elsewhere. They should have at least done something for you, they clearly suck. Did your trusted guys inspection find anything else wrong? If so, go use whatever you can on the dealer warranty now.
1
u/PopularGrapefruit150 1d ago
Roger that, appreciate it! And no he didn’t. At the end of the day it’s a lesson learned. I also do really like the car, just not a fan of how they handled this.
2
u/DavefromCA Former Sales 1d ago
Well there you go! Great news! YAY! I am happy for you....we have to break so much bad news I am really happy you found that,
2
-2
u/PopularGrapefruit150 1d ago
Honestly not sure if that's how it was phrased exactly, I had my parents review everything since this was my first car purchase. But there was a document that showed they did an inspection prior to selling it and they claimed there were no problems.
3
u/rwhockey29 1d ago
shitty situation but stuff gets missed occasionally, and something like an O-ring would be easy to miss. seems weird that it only dumped oil out while you were gone, seems like that big of a leak would have been noticeable right away. Dealership COULD be nice and help you out here but they arent required to, and since you took it to a 3rd party shop instead of back to them their warranty wont apply.
2
2
u/Micosilver FormerF&I/GSM 1d ago
That is not a warranty or guarantee of any kind. Any car can break down from one mile to the next.
If there is a dealer warranty - you take the car to dealer service.
Also while it's too late for you - an inspection should be performed on used cars before purchase, not when things go wrong.
2
u/Grandpas_Spells 1d ago
I think it's fair to say you may have scored a bit of an own goal on this one.
Your vehicle was almost certainly under warranty, so the OEM would have paid the dealer to fix the car. However, the dealer's not going to cut you a check when you take the vehicle to an independent mechanic. Independents are great for out of warranty cars.
Dealers do not pay anything around warranty issues, the warranty issuer does.
1
u/PopularGrapefruit150 1d ago
It would appear so! My only previous car was an 06 Avalon (rip) I drove for 10 years so this whole experience was new to me. Parents told me to bring it to the mechanic we know and said they would cover it (clearly did not happen, they must’ve had a much friendlier dealership). But lesson learned!
1
u/GatorWok 1d ago
Practically every dealership has some in-house 130 or 100 or 150 point 'inspection.' It's to a great degree marketing. And as I mentioned in another abrasive (sorry) comment, some ratio out of millions and millions of used cars - supremely complex pieces of machinery - will break down shortly after the sale even with that. That's just math.
Your job is to lessen that risk by always getting it thoroughly inspected on your own (a PPI).
2
u/Benzhead BDC manager 1d ago
Check with your states inspection process. Where I am there is no such thing as “as is”. The car has to pass safety and emissions for 30 days. Many states have a minimum warranty on cars under 100k miles. Used car rules are different in every state.
1
u/PopularGrapefruit150 1d ago
Yeah, I just found it in the contract. It's under warranty for 60 days or 3,000 miles.
7
u/Upbeat-Armadillo1756 1d ago
And it will probably say that all work must be done at the originating dealer.
3
u/Benzhead BDC manager 1d ago
You really are at their mercy right now. If you had it towed to the store they would probably cover the tow but they won’t pay another shops bill. I would go in and just try to kill em with kindness. I wouldn’t accuse them of anything either. Stuff like that happens, cars come in trade and a lot of time problems like that don’t show up until someone drives them for awhile.
2
u/Square-Wild 1d ago
There are a couple answers to this question.
In terms of the law, in perfect world, honestly you're probably right. There's negligence, asymmetric information with the contract- the dealer knew or should have known about the defect and didn't disclose.
The issue is you're going to be paying $400/hour to recover $500. Unless there's a statute that gets you attorney's fees as well, this is a waste of time and money. (If you can get attorneys fees, then this suddenly looks a whole lot better.)
The other potential legal bell you could ring is fishing for a class action. If the dealership is claiming to do these inspections and not actually performing them and/or not honoring their warranty, there may be a bunch more similarly situated plaintiffs. That would be a big problem, and the typically aggressive/defensive posture that dealerships take would really work against them there, if there is actually meat on the bones.
Short of all that, as others have said, you could always threaten to leave an accurate, but negative, review all over social media. The idea that the dealer is threading the needle between claiming to have inspect the car, missing something relatively obvious, offering a warranty, but also refusing to reimburse you for expenses due to taking it somewhere else, is kind of crazy and not the kind of thing that other customers are going to want to read.
-1
u/AerieSubstantial1437 1d ago
"Many states have a minimum warranty on cars under 100k miles" no offense but that sounds absurd to me. My instinct is to say thats not true at all for any state. Where I am "as-is" is literal and there is no such thing as any warranty at all that is free of charge, let alone required. I want to educate myself though if this is actually true. Can you provide or reference anything I could read that says something about that ? for any state
1
u/Upbeat-Armadillo1756 1d ago
Just google it?
1
u/AerieSubstantial1437 1d ago
sure, I did ... and nothing.. other than some have "safety and/or emissions" an O-ring has nothing to do with either. Thats why I asked if this person had any information that I did not find on google.
1
u/Benzhead BDC manager 21h ago
My state has a 30 day warranty on cars under 100k miles sold by a dealer. The items included are state inspection items. A check engine light is one item that will fail a car. Things like ac and stereo are not. I used to be able to sell parts cars and write as-is, towed from lot. Can’t do that any more. Every car needs an inspection sticker issued within 90 days of sale. It sucks, a cheap used car on my lot is $15k now. I’m a dealer in RI, been doing this 25 years. It’s stricter here than it’s ever been.
1
u/AutoModerator 1d ago
Please review our most Frequently Asked Questions to see if your question has already been answered.
You may find these sections particularly useful;
- How to pick a car? You might also have luck in the /r/whatcarshouldibuy subreddit.
Also remember to add flair to your post by clicking the "Flair" link beneath it. This lets us know where you're located so we can assist you better.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
1
u/AutoModerator 1d ago
Thanks for posting, /u/PopularGrapefruit150! This comment is a copy of your post so readers can see the original text if your post is edited or removed. This comment is NOT accusing you of anything.
Dealership is an absolute pain to deal with, I just want to know if I have a leg to stand on here or if I'm SOL. It's a minor bill ($500 including towing), but I feel like this isn't something I should have to deal with 300 miles after buying a car. Just looking for a second opinion, I don't care about the money, I can afford a $500 bill, but I'm just pissed about the situation.
Anyways here goes...
About two weeks ago, I purchased a used vehicle from a dealership. The vehicle was represented as being in proper working condition at the time of sale, passed their 10 point inspection. I purchased a 2023 Hyundai with 39,328 miles. I ran into this problem at 39,600 miles.
Shortly after purchase, I was away for several days. Upon returning, I discovered the vehicle’s engine oil was practically empty. Given the severity of the issue, the vehicle was immediately towed to an independent mechanic that I am familiar with and trust for inspection and repair.
The independent mechanic performed a full evaluation, cleaned the affected components, and identified the cause of the failure as an improperly installed or defective O-ring. The mechanic has documented the condition of the vehicle, the diagnosis, etc. I have photos and videos of the improperly installed o ring as well as how much oil leaked onto the bottom of my car that had to be cleaned.
Based on the timing of the failure, occurring within a week of purchase (only 300 miles) and the nature of the defect, the issue appears consistent with improper servicing or faulty installation existing at the time of sale or delivery (aka negligence).
The vehicle experienced a major loss of oil that, had it occurred while driving long distance, could have resulted in complete engine failure and left me stranded out of state. Thankfully when I went out of state my brother drove us in his car instead of taking mine (I purchased it on Tuesday and we left that Friday, got back Monday night).
I contacted the dealership to request coverage of the repair costs and associated expenses. The dealership has refused, stating that since the vehicle was not brought to them for service they are not required to compensate. I do not believe this is reasonable given the circumstances, the safety risk involved, and the need for independent diagnosis after a mechanical failure immediately following purchase as a result of their negligence.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
1
u/11I1I1 F&I Administrator 1d ago
What was the $500 bill for? This doesn't sound like a $500 issue.
1
u/PopularGrapefruit150 1d ago
I rounded up, it came out to 436. Included labor, towing, filter, etc. the biggest chunk of that was the tow (just under 200)
2
u/11I1I1 F&I Administrator 1d ago
I don't think the o-ring was improperly installed... it more than likely failed.
You're not going to drive 300 miles spewing oil all over your engine bay. You would have at least seen/heard/smelled something, or seized your engine.
No engine is running for at least 5 hours (likely much more) while hemorrhaging oil.
15
u/bsizzle_99 Lender Sales 1d ago
I see your point but the dealer does not have to compensate you. You likely had a 3-6 month warranty from the dealer but that is only good at the dealership. You chose to go outside of that process and lose the benefit.
However, if you reach out to the GM and explain your position and politely let them know you would be leaving a review the dealer may be more motivated to help you. Such as maybe split the bill.