My husband found a nice Dodge Dakota Sport Ext. Cab pickup truck from this dealer. We purchased this truck on February 23.
The vehicle seemed to be in good condition physically and mechanically when we purchased it. The day we took it for a test drive and the day it was picked up were spring-like days. Within a couple of days after we purchased this vehicle the temperatures went south (right around the zero mark or slightly below). My husband noticed the transmission appeared to be slipping and he also experienced the engine shutting off after he put the truck in drive after putting the truck in reverse.
He contacted Bill Kay Chevy and informed the sales manager of the problem. He was told to bring the truck down and their service department would look at it. My husband dropped it off and left it overnight (fortunately he was given a loaner car). The dealer acted as though this would be done at no charge to my husband.
The next day my husband picked up his truck and there were no charges. When my husband took the truck to work the next day he walked around the truck and noticed some scratches that were not there before he dropped the truck off at the dealership. These scratches ran along the length of the passenger side of the truck.
My husband was a little upset about this and called Bill Kay Chevy once again and talked to a manager who told him to bring the truck in and they would buff out the scratches. My husband went on his lunch break to Bill Kay to have this done.
I receive a phone call at work from my husband who sounds frantic stating that the dealership won't return his keys. I asked what was going on. Apparently, there was a bill from when my husband brought in the car for the transmission. The amount: $1300. We were never advised of any cost to work on this vehicle. We were never called and told of the cost and whether we would like to proceed with the repairs... The service department proceeded to work on the truck without our knowledge of the cost of repairs nor our permission to agree to the amount and proceed! My husband complained and the dealership offered to pick up half the cost of the repairs. My husband having no way to get back to work agreed and charged $648 that we could not afford on his credit card.
If we were advised of the cost before anything was done, we certainly would have taken the truck elsewhere for if nothing else, a second opinion and estimate. Unfortunately, we were never given the chance to do so.
We also found out that Bill Kay sent the car to an outside transmission shop. After much haggling to get the contact of the shop, my husband spoke to the shop and they were unaware of the charges that were charged to us.
To make matters worse, after all this, the truck was still not repaired. The trans place would take the vehicle and work on it (this was covered by their warranty for the work they performed), my husband would get the vehicle back, and it still was not fixed right.
My husband took the vehicle to a Dodge dealership and paid $80 to have them determine what the problem was and he also took it to a local trans mechanic to figure this mess out. The mechanic found the problem, but wanted to charge us $480 to fix the problem. My husband took this diagnosis back to the original trans shop the dealer used and finally, the problem was solved.
This dealership and their service department was very deceitful. This is truly a violation of the consumer repair laws. Any repairs with costs involved should have been brought to our attention with our consent granted before proceeding. It is also very strange that the truck was released to my husband without any charges one day and after he brings the truck in the next day for the scratches that were the fault of the dealership to be buffed out, suddenly there is a $1300 repair bill that we had no knowledge of and coerced into paying in order to get our vehicle back.
Stay away from this dealership unless you want to get ripped off!
Debbie
Bartlett, Illinois
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