In june of 1998 i was involved in a car accident in Carlsbad New Mexico. It in the intersection of Canal and Blodgett streets with Ross Hyden Auto Superstore on the corner. I was greeted by a salesman who offered a card for when i settled my claim.
Long story short...
I purchase a used 1990 Mitsubishi Galant GS-X right at 100k on the odometer from them in july of 1998. Within 2 weeks of buying the car, i noticed it would not stay in 5th gear. An attempted trip to Albuquerque NM ultimately failed because i lost use of the 5th gear in my car.
I immediately called the dealer and requested assistance. I was told that i would have to pay for the towing back to Carlsbad from Roswell (which is approx 73 miles). I declined a tow truck. I drove my car back to Carlsbad in 4th gear and dropped it at the dealership. They said they would check it out. After 2 days the car had not been moved or even looked at. I called and aske to speak with Gary Melton (used car manager at the time) as to who this had happened. He said he would take care of it. I was called within 30 minutes he was saying that the car needed a new transmission. I had just purchased it 2 weeks prior and driven it 800 miles.
Gary Melton advised me that they would proceed and pay for the parts. I was to be responsible for the labor (close to $1700). I went and picked up the car and took it to a shop o my choice and was called in that day by the mechanic.
The mechaninc (who had a very difficult time finding parts for my car) had proceeded to start work on my car and drained the transmission fluid. Less than half a quart poured out of my transmission, and was mainly metal shavings and sludge. I was advised by him to bring the mechanic who had worked on it prior to the sale to me (Bill Davis) who is no longer employed by the dealership due to poor workmanship and lots of customer complaints.
Bill Davis said "i was supposed to fill that but i forgot to."
At this point i told the mechanic i hired to stop working on my car until i get an answer from the dealership. I went thru the New Mexico Attorney Generals office to try and get some binding arbitration but to no avail, they wouldn't help me.
After four months, an ulcer, stress to me, my mother, my father, and my grandmother i had to take an additional loan out on the car to pay to fix the problem that could have been easily detected by the dealer had they had properly trained their mechanic, and wanted to make a customer happy.
I had to spend over $2,250 to get my car running again, and still am paying the reprecutions for it cause of negative equity caused by the extra money financed, that was placed on a new car note.
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