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Comments
Now the WHOLE transmission has to be rebuilt. They are quoting me $6,100 and that was AFTER they discounted parts and labor.
This is not acceptable. Will never buy a ford again!
Filed a complaint that it was a LEMON and got rid of it under the Lemon Law. Now have a 2010 Lexus RX-350 - no problems. Just bring it in for routine maintenace, oil changes, etc.
It is a shame, nice looking car, Ford has been making cars for how long? what can I say - lesson learned.
Thanks,
I purchased a 2008 Nissan Pathfinder in March 2011. By August 2011 it was decided that they were buying it back from me which I could only assume was to get rid of me. It appears the car was Christine, reversed. The problem I experienced was only happening to me. CarMax threw up their hands and passed it to Nissan. I sat in the car with the Service Manager at Nissan and was told what I was experiencing was ‘normal’. Feeling as though the car was going to stall while at a stop and watching the RPMs go under 500 is normal? Ok. The difference between my complaints and others was that my car did NOT turn off while I was driving it! In my opinion, nobody wanted to be on the receiving end of that call.0
Please see the records to understand how many times I had that car in and how many hours I wasted in that waiting room and how much gas I wasted driving up and back along with ‘test drives’. Even the loaner cars I was given were subpar. I had one taken away on a flatbed!
On a positive note, CarMax did make good on the car. Brandon and Deborah were wonderful to work with. Because of them it was easy for me to walk in each time saying, ‘maybe this time will be the last’. So ends the positive note
In September, CarMax buys back the 2008 Pathfinder. Keep in mind; this was the car I wanted. I found it. It had everything I was looking for. It was perfect. Now, I’m faced with searching all over again AND given a $200 transfer fee limit. I found a car that was $299 or $250, which they took care of for me. Thank you. The car was finally delivered. It was rainy. Ryan, my great salesman x2, drove me in it, per my request. I commented that I wasn’t too thrilled about the treads of the tires or the noise of the breaks. I also found a service report in the glove box with a complaint of noisy brakes. I brought this to Ryan’s attention when he returned and was told it shouldn’t have been in there. I was told CarMax would put on cheap tires and Pirelli tires were a good name. The brakes were explained away by ‘sitting for awhile’ or ‘rain’. I let it be since I knew I had 30 days to gather up all of the bugs. Who wouldn’t expect me to be a little hypersensitive to issues?!
I drove the car to work and experienced a vibration at highway speeds. The vibration was in the steering wheel and seat. It also pulled to the left. Since I have driven a car before, I assumed it would be the alignment and the tires would need to be balanced. Here starts lemon experience #2. I made an appointment, the alignment and balancing were supposedly done, the car was taken for a ‘test drive’ and my name was called. One would only assume the problem had been fixed when the technician gives back the keys. When I was taken to my car I was told the technician commented on the size of my tires a few times. I found this a little disturbing since the size of tires should not be something new or noteworthy to a person who works on cars in a dealership, especially a dealership that has such a variety of cars!
I decided to show Deborah the many scratches I noticed once I got it home. I explained it had been raining when I got the car so I didn’t notice the imperfections. She looked at them and brought a guy out. It was a simple fix and would be scheduled. This was all discussed while both were wiping excess wax from the crevices! Great attention to detail—White wax on a navy blue car! I leave feeling happy. Within 10 min I’m ill at the fact that my new car is still vibrating. I call back to deliver the news. I’m not sure of the appointment dates/times, but I’m sure you can find that. I do know, however, I left for vacation on 10.1.
Under complete understanding of the 30 day rule, I called. Please note, I did discuss this situation with Deborah during my last appointment and I realize I misspoke. While sitting at a rest area around Raleigh on 10.1, I decided to call and leave a message with the issues I was having. There was a note pad in my console where I was adding things as I found them. During lemon experience #1 with my Pathfinder I was told the issue did not have to be fixed in the 30 days, just documented. I assumed the same was true for this car.
1. The vibration was still there
2. The steering wheel made a horrible noise when turning it in either direction
3. There was still a noise with my breaks
4. Rattling noise when on and in park
5. The A/C and heated seats would not stay on in the front, each side
I misspoke with Deborah on 1.2 in that I was so flustered that she had no idea what I was talking about that I didn’t recall the entire situation. I try not to leave messages as some were not returned or acknowledge during the Pathfinder fiasco. However, that day, I knew the department was closed and figured it would be good to have it on record. I assumed this would be documented in my account. Apparently, this did not happen.
Back to the current situation. October 1 I went on vacation for a week. I was also in AZ for an entire week for work, October 17-21. I work in Columbia, SC Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. This is 86 miles, one way. I am traveling 3 hours/day. Mondays and Fridays I work from home. Please consider holidays. I moved starting November 15 which lasted until mid December. On November 29, I also started a three week trip around NC for work, coming home on the weekends. Then there was prepping for Christmas and dealing with a sick toddler. I went into that timeline for a reason which you will see below.
Toward the end of December, I decided to take my car for an oil change and tire balancing. My thought process was this.
- I have already taken it to CarMax for this same problem and it was not fixed. I am going to go to a tire shop, have them do it right and get an oil change.
I’m sitting in the waiting room speaking with the manager and see my car be taken out. He explains the route it will be run on and intricacies of what was done. I look up to see the garage door going back up. The manager leaves to speak with the tech. I then see the car being lifted and tech putting out his hand and making a vibrating motion with it. Three guys, including the manager, are looking at my tires. They were spinning and feeling each one. After about 10 minutes of this, the manager pulls me out and tells me they’re out of round. He took me to each of the 3 tires and showed me. He also told me the tires were so far from balanced that they had to put an ‘abnormal amount of weight’ on them. I asked, ‘abnormal for ’ and he said, ‘any car’. I asked for a bottom line and was told I had three (3) defective tires and needed four (4) new tires. He wrote up everything for me, along with handwritten notes. I explained I appreciated what he did for me and that I feel the dealer should be accountable for this. He gave me his suggestions for tires, but I needed time t
Anyone had any better luck than I have?
Go to NHTSA to file a safety complaint.
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