It was a blistering sunny Sunday, The temperature is up to the nineties, I walked towards the main street to get our mail in our rural mailbox cluster, I know that Sunday is a no mail day, but since I didn't get the mail yesterday (busy preparing for a party here at home) I am just now going to check the surprises in store for me in the mailbox.
Being the curious person as I always have been, I cannot wait till I get home to browse through our mail; junk, junk, junk, catalog, junk, junk, catalog, "Car Auction Sale! Hurry!, Hurry!, while supplies last!"...hmmmm, that caught my attention.
As much as I hate to admit it, my Old Ford Explorer is in its last leg, I have been really really good to it, The first year I bought it, it had a whole make-over, New paint job, Sway-bars, Fender trims, Deflectors, Sound system, I mean the whole creature comfort enchilada, Maintenance is always in check however as nice as it is to look at and with all the additional accessories I added to it, My old '91's internal organs are dying; leaking power steering fluid, a/c blower is shot, aggravating noise especially on the freeway, doors, seats and quite a few more on the list...sigghhhh.
A couple days later...
...Here I am sitting at a Hyundai Car Dealership Office, " How can I help you today Sir?" asked the nice gentleman (Car salesmen are generally nice AND persistent). " I am looking to replace my Ford Explorer, something more up to date", "I got a flyer from the mail last Saturday that you are having an Auction/Used Car Sale today" and the story goes on and on, my Explorer got traded in for a reasonable amount (seriously I almost got teary letting "Ole Fordie" go) but to make the long story short...I bought a Fire Engine Red 2000 Oldsmobile Bravada.
Oldsmobile Bravada's are considered luxury SUV's, it is a step above Chevrolet Trail blazers and GM Jimmy, It ranks the same as a Buick with Cadillac as the next step above it.
The Interior is in Excellent condition, Good A/C, All Power ( Seats, Window, etc.),Auto Trans., and very well detailed. It has all the creature comfort that I could really enjoy and I think the thing that I will like the most is that, there is very little road noise inside when I'm on the road.
Ok, after the negotiations and so many $$$$$$, we finally agreed on a price that meets my budget, this baby is paid in full (ouchhh, my pocket hurts so bad)...It's time to bring the latest addition home.
The following day...
...After running around town for a while, buying groceries and stuff, I felt confident and happy driving this Bravada, it rides and handles really well and again being redundant - there is less road noise, I looked at the fuel gauge to see how much fuel I have left, The fuel gauge says "full", In my mind I thought "Cool, this car is very fuel efficient" thinking about it now, The day I took it out of the dealers lot, the fuel was also full...hmmmnn... After a few more stops, I decided to come home, I was happy and just enjoying my new ride and then it happened...
...The Bravada just stopped...
...What the heck?!, the fuel gauge says full - then half a tank, then zero, then full again...now this is scary, Used car guarantees are different from a brand new car guarantee - based on my research, Idaho Law only protects NEW cars from cases such as this...so...this is a bit scary for me especially after shelling out thousands of dollars for this SUV.
...After messing around with it, I realized that my fuel gauge is broken, with the pointer pointed to full, I kinda have this notion that I'm ok and of course that the fuel is full but unfortunately that was not the case, I called the dealer yesterday and told them what happened...
..."I had to be rescued today, the Bravada just stopped, the fuel gauge has gone cookoo" anyway, They took the car to be serviced and repaired and they called me today asking " Oh, the car's fuel gauge will cost $600.00, are you willing to split the fee?" Ok, I was frustrated and infuriated so I just let this guy have it, I told him "You know what, I don't want to pay another $600 for something that you guys could have prevented, I bought this car with the thought that it is in decent shape and for you to ask me this amount of money is just ridiculous.., I think I'll just get my Explorer back, will that be Ok?!?!?!" he replied "Ahh...let me talk to my boss", the boss called me back and said that he'll take care of everything.
Obviously they don't wanna lose business and I am not one of those guys who will simply keep their mouth shut if treated unfairly, I will report their ass to the BBB.
Sigghhhh...Now I am worried, I traded in my Explorer hoping to get a decent, good-looking, nice SUV, after spending so much money...I am afraid that I might have bought a lemon...Oh gosh, I hope not!
1 comment:
I'm glad that I found someone else that bought a lemon.
I bought a 2004 ford taurus from a used car dealer. This person knew that I was a single mom, homeless (just became at the time)2 kids, girls, ages 14 & 6, and that I could not get around unless I had a car that was reliable.
ok, so I couldent get the loan with $900 down, so I had to call a friend to co-sign for me. The apr is 29% nonetheless. The car was supposed to have a warranty, as the owner stated, and suprise! there is none. So 4 days later, driving on the interstate with my 6 year old, in rush hour, the car that was so "reliable" dies. A month later, after 5 of the worst cars were given to me to use, everyone was defective, I get my car back, 2 days later, something is burning under the hood, and i call the finance company, and explain the situation to them, in turn they call the used car place. well, when i called to tell them to pick up this piece of "you know what", the owner states to me, is the reason that you called the finance company and complained because you cant make the car payment? talk about the audacity of some people. I told him that the "car" is at my job and they can come and get it. Now, i am trying to contact a lawyer and find out what I can do, if anything.
Post a Comment