About 8~9 months ago we (myself helping a good friend, aka. The elderly retired veteran Al) purchased a new advertised Suziki Verano from Bob Lewis San Jose for around $13K. Soon my friend Al starting having trouble with the car. First it was a brake light switch recall which continued to cause dead batteries.
Next (and more serious) the car started intermittently suddenly just dieing while driving causing what feels like a locked steering wheel and slamming transmission. After taking this to the dealer they found nothing after testing and driving the car for 1 week. So Al took the car back and it happened 2 more times. Finally I looked @ the car and noticed the check engine light on, So I advised Al to take it back to the dealer and they WILL find something this time based on the check engine light.
Al had already had enough of this car as he had already used up all of this AAA benefits with this car by now already, but decided to try the dealer one more time. So yesterday (7-25-05) he took the car in another time to finally fix these issues. (I should note Al is around 80 years old, is very impatient and does not know how to deal with dealers,) A very bad combination especially at this dealer.
After waiting at the service center for a long time they told him it would take at least a week or so. Then Al asked what he will do to get around in that time. They suggested a rental car. Al being very frustrated by this time mentioned he is tired of this car and being stranded by all of these problems and would like a refund. At which time the Vultures ears perked up and they immediately started to circle
Soon Al found himself surrounded by smooth talking salesmen telling him his safety is the main concern and that he should trade up to the latest model of the same car (05 model). After the dealer did the usual smooth talk showing Al that the difference would only be about $1000 dollars or so, and that his safety is more important.
Al finally said fine, I want to just go home.By this time Al had been @ the dealer for 4 hours now and was extremely sick of the whole mess. (Note: his car is in the shop, and no other means of transportation has been offered at this point). So Al, just wanting to go home and forget the whole mess signed the papers and drove home in the new 05 model of the same car.
This is where I found out about this and told him to go back immediately to the dealer in the morning and I would try to help him straighten this out. We arrived @ the dealer around 11:00am. I looked over Al's paperwork while waiting the usual 1 HOUR before being able to see the manager.
This is when I noticed that first the dealer gave Al only $9000 for his trade in (Which he paid almost $15K 8 months ago), with less that 3000 miles on it. (In perfect condition). Next the dealer charged him OVER $26,000!!! For the new (exact same lemon) car that he just gave them! OVER DOUBLE what he paid for the first new car!!! Now that is customer service with a smile! *&^%$#@!
After finally meeting the manager and explaining the history with him, then telling him we DO NOT want the new car (which Al drove home and immediately back to the dealer the next day about 35miles) and would like the old car fixed the final time.
Rather than being helpful and trying to make the customer happy, at NO expense to him The manager Bart Nollenberger, told us in a nut shell too bad, not our problem as he pointed at the cold feet law conveniently posted on EVERY wall of the dealership. Which basically stated that once you sign you are screwed.
So now Al is stuck with the same lemon car, just one year newer, and it only cost him around $34,000 for a car that is worth around $12,000 (including dealer profit). (Lost over $6,000 on the old lemon car, not counting AAA towing and inconvenience, Charged over DOUBLE!!! The price of the same original car = around $34,000!!! For a Suzuki Verona!!!
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