I purchased a used 2004 Saturn Ion, with 36K miles on it, from Damerow Beaverton Ford. Before even getting home the coolant light came on. When I got home, the vehicle was low on coolant. A few days later, the coolant light came on again. Again it was low on coolant. I contacted Damerow Beaverton Ford regarding the problem. I was told the person I needed to talk to was not in, but someone would call me back. No one did.
Over the course of three weeks, I made several calls to the dealership regarding the problem. Each time I was given the run-around, each time someone would call back and no one ever did.in the meantime, I had to add a total of over 5 gallons of coolant to the vehicle.
After three weeks, I was finally able to talk to one of the manager's. He checked with a supervisor, then phoned back and asked us to bring the car in that week so they could check it out.
Later that week, I took the vehicle to Damerow's service dept. I had to arrange to take an unpaid day off from work and also arrange for someone to go with me on the 80 mile round trip so I had a ride home.
Late that afternoon, I received a call from someone in the service department who told me they could not find anything wrong with the car. I told them they needed to check again, because you don't go through that much coolant in that short of a time without something being wrong.
The following week, the manager I had spoken with called to say they couldn't find anything wrong with the vehicle and I could come pick it up. Again, I told them something is wrong! This scenario continues until I go in after three weeks and they went over the car with me.
At this meeting, with everyone's permission, a tape recorder was used to capture the conversations. They went over the vehicle saying there are no external leaks, no coolant in the oil and in checking for exhaust gases found none. They said they were baffled why I was going through so much coolant but couldn't find any problems or anything to explain it. At this point, the general manager, Joe Folkerts, spoke up. He said that he wants me to be happy with the car, and if there's a problem, they would take care of it. He even offered to "trade out" the car for another one. Then he suggested we take it to an independent mechanic for a second opinion. If they found a problem, then we would take it from there.
So, following Damerow's suggestion, I did take it to an independent mechanic, who tested the vehicle and found exhaust gases in the coolant and was quick to observe the sweet smell of coolant coming from the exhaust system. He was able to determine that there was either a blown head gasket or a cracked head. When he was asked if it was possible that Damerow added stop leak to the vehicle so it would pass the test, he indicated it was possible.
I called Joe Folkerts, the general manager of Damerow Beaverton Ford, and told him of the findings from the independent mechanic. He asked if it was okay if he contacted the mechanic. He was told sure and provided with the phone number. He said he would get back to me.
Well, after the independent mechanic's diagnosis, when Joe got back to me, everything went downhill from there. All of his promises and fluff talk, that were tape recorded, he back tracked on. Even though the problem remained the same, a continuing loss of coolant, he claimed that they didn't know how the car had been driven after it left their service department and they didn't find anything wrong. So if something was wrong it must have happened afterwards and he was no longer willing to repair or "trade out" the vehicle for another one.
I informed Mr. Folkerts that I had since run a carfax report on the vehicle and found out that it had previously been in an accident. After the accident, the three previous owners all only kept it no more than few months. One only 19 days. Then is was sold at auction, where Damerow Ford purchased it to sell on their lot. I also told him I had someone from a collision repair shop look at the vehicle. They confirmed it had been in a front end collision and repaired. They also noticed a mark on the supercharger that rests on the head and said it was likely that the mark was from the accident and that perhaps that was overlooked when the vehicle was repaired. The supercharger being hit could have caused the problem with the head.
I also let Mr. Folkerts know that I thought it was illegal for them to sell an unsafe vehicle. Four times now, on the highway, the vehicle has lost power, leaving me with no power brakes, no power steering and a sudden loss in speed. Dangerous at 55 MPH. This was likely caused by the coolant combusting thru the exhaust system.
I am now stuck with a vehicle I paid over $14,000.00 for, that now just remains parked in my driveway because it is too dangerous and unreliable to drive, while I try to figure out a way to come up with $1700.00 to have it repaired.
So BEWARE of DAMEROW BEAVERTON FORD! They buy DAMAGED USED VEHICLES from auctions then sell them to unsuspecting customers as a good "used" car. Don't believe any promises they make. They have no scruples and will LIE in a heartbeat. Also, check with the Better Business Bureau and you'll find they have an unsatifactory rating with them. When I told Mr. Folkerts I would have to proceed with a complaint to the BBB, he said "go ahead". So, they don't even care about a bbb rating!
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