I own a 2004 Dodge Neon SRT-4. During July I drove through a large puddle sucking water into the engine of my car and destroying it. I had the car towed to Bonneville and Son, the dealership where I bought the car. They took the car into their garage and told me that work would begin on it right away, and they offered me a rental car free of charge because I had paid for that service when I bought the car.
They did not begin working on the car for a very long time, they say they were hassleing with my insurance company but my insurance company tells me they authorized the work much earlier than it began and that Bonneville was lying. About three weeks after I had recieved the rental they called me to tell me that the rental would not be free and that I had to pay for it even though I accepted under the terms that I would not have to pay for it. Appearently this was because the damage done to my car was not covered under warranty, but I was never informed of this until later.
I returned the rental shortly after I was notified that I would have to pay for it. Before returning it I took it to a local car was, cleaned it, and inspected it for any damage and the car was in perfect condition. After I returned it however they called me and told me there would scratches in the trunk and that I would have to pay an additional $800 dollars for that damage! I argued with them that the car was not damaged and they told me we would settle it when I came to pick up my car, which they still had not begun working on.
I called them about once a week to check on the progress of my car and another three months went by before they had finished it, totaling four months my car was in the shop When I picked it up they gave me the bill for $4351 dollars for the engine replacement (which my insurance company was going to pay for) but also added an additional $2065 for rental charges totaling $6416 dollars. I told them that I would pay for the engine replacement but would not pay for the rental because I accepted it under the terms it was free and that no damage was done to it. They could not furnish proof of this damage and at this point they had changed thier story from scratches in the trunk to dents all over the car. When I asked why it was now dents instead of the scratches they origionally claimed they said it was dents AND scratches.
Despite taking the issue all the way to the general manager the out come was that in order for me to get my car back I would have to pay for the rental and the alleged damages. They were not willing to be the least bit flexible. As one could imagine I was outraged but with no other options I wrote a check for the rental, and they returned my car to me.
When I got my car back I noticed right away that it was lacking a large amount of power so I pulled over to inspect it. I opened the hood to find that the air hose leading from the turbo to the engine had not even been reconected! Being extremely reluctant to return to them I bought a socket set and fixed the problem myself. I noticed later the same day that some sort of horrible noise was coming from the engine and I still need to have this inspected to see what it is.
I also notice that a fuse on the power cable for my sub had been blown even though it was in perfect working order before I brought the car to them. I replaced the fuse to find that my sub had also been blown along with one of my back speakers. I am sure these items were working perfectly before I brought my car to them as I take great pride in the condition of my sound system. The only way this could have happened is if someone who works for them screwed around with my system and blew the speakers.
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