Used-Car Lemon Laws
Edmunds.com
Member, Administrator, Moderator Posts: 10,316
Used-Car Lemon Laws
Lemon laws protect new car buyers in every state in the nation, but it's far more common for used-car buyers to get stuck with an unreliable vehicle, or to incur repair bills that cost more than the car. For such unfortunate consumers, it often goes downhill from there.
0
Comments
There's also Yelp, DealerRater, Google....
If I could give zero stars I would! I purchased a 2018 Nissan Murano at the end of July 2021 and I have had nothing but problems since I purchased the vehicle. I spoke with the salesman “R” over the phone and told him I was interested in purchasing a brand new Venza. He said he would call me back once he got me approved. The next day I received a call from salesman “R” letting me know that I had been approved and to come in and sign the paperwork. I get to the dealership and test drive the car, only to find out that I have been approved for a car payment of $750.00, I could not believe it! There was no way I was driving off the lot paying a $750.00 a month car payment. I would have never driven an hour to the dealership had I known those were the figures he came up with. Oh, I planned on leaving the dealership since they really didn’t have any other cars on the lot to choose from, the lot was almost empty at that time, and I didn’t want any of the smaller cars they had available.
Salesman “R” informs me of a 2018 Nissan Murano that they had available. I didn’t know this car was available at the time, since it wasn’t on the lot. He asked me if I would like to take a look at it, and I told him yes. He brought the car around, gave me the keys and told me to take it for a test drive. I gave the vehicle a walkaround, and took it for a test drive. I enjoyed the ride and I didn’t notice any problems at the time. So, I decided to make the purchase, the vehicle had everything that I was looking for and I was happy. Salesman “R” processed the paperwork, and I headed over to finance. After I was done with the paperwork, Salesman “R” advised me to wait so he could have the car washed.
About 20 mins goes by and he comes back with the car and he hands me the keys. We opened up the trunk to look inside and I noticed there was water running down the walls of the trunk. Salesman “R” informed me that the service department may not have closed the trunk properly, which may have allowed water to get in. I was a bit skeptical, but I went ahead home with confidence in what he said.
August 28th, while I'm out running errands, I decided to go and get my car washed. After leaving the car wash I stopped off at Walmart to do a return. I opened the trunk of my car to get the item I was going to return, and noticed water running down the sides of the trunk. I was pissed! I know now that the service department hadn’t forgotten to close the trunk, there was a legit problem. I thought back on what Salesman “R” told me before I left the car dealership, that’s when I knew I had a very serious problem.
I texted Salesman”R” that same day to address the water leak, also to let him know that I was very unhappy, and I did not want to come out of pocket to repair the leak. Salesman “R” agreed and assured me that he would have someone call me to remedy the issue. After the text, he ended up calling me about an hour later, and I explained to him the issue. He had the audacity to say “I told you, you should have bought the Venza”. It took everything in me not to give him a piece of my mind, as I explained to him that it doesn’t matter which car I purchased,the car shouldn’t have water seeping down the walls of the trunk.
Salesman “R” advised that he would have someone from used car sales reach out to me, so that I can have the repairs done. I waited a week with no response, so I texted him again to let him know that no one had reached out to me. He assured me once again that he would have someone call me. He reached out to me a week later and told me that the girl that handles the used car issues had been fired and that he would have someone else reach out to me. Well, I waited another week with no response, so I decided to call. It just so happened that he was in the office with the supervisor that I was supposed to speak to. He put me on speaker phone and assured me that they were working on how they were going to resolve the issue. I waited once again, and a week later a nice young lady reached out to me and scheduled an appointment for me to come to the dealership and meet with service manager “I”. I was scheduled to go to the dealership on 9/25 and have the vehicle looked at and or resolve the issues.
9/25 I met with the Service Manager “I”. I explained to him the issues I was having with the car, and he advised that I get in the car, and go for what I thought would be a test drive. Instead he told me to put the car in reverse a couple of times, and then put the car into “park”. That was the end of the test drive/diagnostic...WTF?! He then advised that I leave the car for 2 hours and he would come to the waiting room to get me when he was done. I was a bit puzzled but I obliged.
I walked down the street to have lunch and when I came back my car was parked in the front parking lot, the car was dry! I was confused as to what they had done while I was gone for 2 hours. How can you fix a leak without taking the car through the car wash, or at minimum hose down the trunk? I headed into the office to pick up my keys, and a nice Asian man told me that the car was fixed. I asked what they had done, and he said he didn’t know, and that he was told by the service manager to let me know the leak was fixed.
Sunday, 9/26 around 4pm, I take my car to the car wash, I drive off and I hear water dripping. I look in the trunk and water is everywhere! Water is leaking in two new areas and the trunk won’t open! The key fob won’t open the trunk, the button on the dash won’t open it, and I can’t open it manually. They actually made the issue worse! I am beyond pissed off at this point, as it is confirmed I was sold a lemon.
Oh, the issues don't stop there! They were supposed to check out the transmission and the air conditioning issues. I am convinced there is a problem with the transmission that the service manager just glossed over as if nothing is wrong. The air conditioner does not blow at the footwell. They knew what was wrong with this vehicle, there's no doubt in my mind. I now have to spend $200.00 for a diagnostic to get an honest analysis of the vehicle to see what my future expenses will be.
I ended up taking the car to a body shop a few of weeks ago, and they confirmed the car had been in an accident. The tech at the body shop shook the rear passenger door because he noticed the window had been replaced, it sounded like a baby rattle, as there's still a ton of glass left inside the door panel! They didn't even bother to clean it out! The carfax didn't show any accidents, but that doesn't mean much. I'll go back to the body shop and get everything they told me in writing! I will never trust this dealership again, not the salesman, and definitely not their scamming service department...liars! What a horrible experience.