I went to Seacoast car club to buy a van on June 11th. I did an application and because I have no credit and only $500 down, they told me there was one van out of the entire inventory that would work. It was a 99 Chevy Astro. So I test drove it with the salesman, Tom Doyle. The AC wasn't working correctly, but they said they would have it fixed the next morning. He had me put a $200 deposit on it. On June 12th, my dad went to the Somersworth location to look at the van, but the dash was all torn apart because they were fixing the AC. He talked to the salesman over there about the van. They told him, nothing was wrong with it and it was a good running van. So that night I went to give them the other $300 down and took the van home.
On June 15th, I tried to put gas in the van, and it wouldn't take any. It was if the tank was already full, but it was almost on empty. I tried multiple gas stations, thinking it was the pumps. Still I couldn't get it take more than 3-5 cents at a time, and then the check engine light started coming on.
On Monday June 16th, I called Tom Doyle in Rochester and he spoke with Dave the Manager and they told me to call Somersworth, because that's where the service station was. I called over there and talked to Wayne, the service manager, and I asked him if he knew the drama with my van, he said no, so I explained to him what was going on. His exact words were "That's too bad" I was like "Excuse Me???" I told him I've had the van less than a week and I've already started having problems with it. He said they couldn't take the van in to look at it that week because they were booked.
So here I am, a single mom of 3 young children, and I can't get gas into my van, the check engine light comes off and on all day long. So I end up pumping $10 in the van daily, because it takes so long to get gas into it and half the time I'm pumping gas, the van spits it back out at me and it runs down the side of the van. With these gas prices, I can't afford to waste gas on the ground either.
On Thursday, June 19th, My dad and I went to see Tom Doyle in Rochester and told him they wouldn't see me in Somersworth until the following week and he went in to talk to Dave, the manager who never showed his face and doesn't give a care, and told me "Off the books, I would call the state, because I'm getting sick of this" So I guess he knows more than I know about that place. Tom was trying to help, but said that Dave, his manager was an "axxhole" and not willing to do anything for me. He said he would pick the van up at my work and bring it to Somersworth so they can look at it. He also told me that because I called about the issues and if they don't get to check it out right away, that even if my warranty expires, I will be okay, because I informed them while my warranty was still good.
So on June 20th Tom came to get the van and a few hours later, Wayne called me to tell me I needed to pay $10 for gas they are going to pump into the van. I said "Fine". Then I called them back that afternoon to see what the deal was and Wayne told me that it would cost $278 to fix the fuel hose and I would have to pay $178. They would pay $100. They proceeded to do nothing about my check engine light. So I told them not to touch it, it was broken before they sold it to me and I wasn't paying $200 to have them fix it.
On June 22nd, I brought the van to another garage in Rochester, Matt Scott's Auto
67 Gonic Rd
Rochester, NH 03839 332-4330
I left the keys in the key slot because they weren't open yet. So I called them from work and told them about what was going on. So they looked at it and after work I went to go pick it up and talked to Matt, and he confirmed it would need a new hose, and told me that he scanned the check engine light and 5 codes came up. 1 was an O2 sensor and the other 4 were for the fuel system. He told me that the van should NOT of passed inspection. If the place I bought it from did their own inspection, they probably didn't even look at it, and if they weren't willing to fix it then I should call the DOT on them.
I've called the Rochester dealership and told them if they don't fix it or put me in another vehicle than I was returning the van.
I called Wayne on Thursday June 26th and told him that I want my van fixed. I have a 30 day 1000 mile warranty and I feel that they are trying to push back when they can look at the van so my warranty expires. Wayne told me they can't take the van in to do their own scan on the check engine light until July 7th because he will be on vacation and the other service techs don't know what's going on with it.
On June 30th, I called Brad the manager is Somersworth and told him about my situation and he said he would look into it and call me back, but I didn't hear from him, so I called him back later that day and he said he's been busy and didn't have a chance to do anything about it, but he would call me back.
Yesterday, July 1st, I went to the Somersworth location and spoke with Brad, and told him what was going on. Again and what I wanted to be done. I also mentioned to him that when I make a sharp turn in either direction, the wheels make a thud or rubbing feeling. He told me this was "normal" because it's All-Wheel wheel drive. I told him that "I'm not stupid" - Either they fix it at no charge or I will be returning it. He told me that if Dave offered to use my warranty, which is 50/50 with them then that will probably be all he will be able to do too. And he said they shouldn't even do that because the warranty is for transmission only and these things aren't covered. He said he was going to talk to someone, who was not there yesterday and then he would call me. I shouldn't have to pay to fix a vehicle that passed inspection just 2 days prior to all this going wrong. They knew what was wrong with that van, that's why they were so anxious to get it sold. They saw me, a single mom, with little money and in need of a vehicle and took advantage and now that something's wrong with it, they don't want to help. Rochester won't even talk to me about it, they just tell me to call Wayne.
I don't think this van should have been sold in its present condition. Pumping 3-5 cents at a time & having gas spit back out on the ground is ridiculous. The check engine light is on daily and something is wrong under the 2 front tires.
I want the dealership to fix what is wrong with it at their expense. This van never should have been sold. Obviously the dealership is taking advantage of me. I'm not stupid. It should be illegal for them to continue selling vehicles.
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