I purchased a 2007 Dodge Caliber in apparent pristine condition with only 8,000 mi on the vehicle. My husband and I were told by Whitten Brother salesman that the unusual smell inthe vehicle was new car smell and the chemicals they used to detail the car and would fade. It never did.
We bought the car in June when its close to 100 degrees and 100% humity. We noticed condensation building under our plastic floor mats (we had to buy all new mats as the car came with none and the center console was broken) We thought it was jsut a humity thing until about two months later we noticed the entire back floorboard was so wet the carpet actual squished when you touched it.
During the four months we owned this vehicle I became very sick. I have asthma and that went from mild to moderate and I missed several days of work. I took antibiotics, steriods, and nothing helped. The doctor even tested be for TB because my cough was so bad. We didnt think water leaks were covered under the warranty and while at carpool for a car wash asked their restoration department to look at our car. It was then they discovered a major leak with the moon roof and everytime it rained or there was high humity the water would run behind the door panels and into the carpet below soaking up from the bottom. It went unnoticed at Whitten who had the car for almost four months before I bought it. When Carpool pulled up the carpet the smell from when he bought it intensified 100 fold and it was MOLD all over the carpets. I am allergic to mold and that was had been making me so sick for almost four months. I was planning my wedding and barely fit into tmy wedding dress thanks to the steriods I was on. It took three weeks for the mold to completely clear my system after staying away from the car.
Whitten took possession of the car to fix it as it is under warranty. They replaced the carpet and refused to replace the seats or air filter claiming they did a visual inspection of the seats and saw no mold. There was no mold to be seen anywhere in the car and yet it was filled with it when I brought it to them. The car is under warranty and yet they refuse to fix it. They did not spray any mold killer in the car before installing the new carpet so the mold is free to regrow. I also had bolts from the driver side door all the way back to he hatch back were rusted all over and instead of putting in new bolts they shaved the rust off.
I then asked Whitten to take the car back and refund me my money since they were not going to fix the car and gave it back to me moldy. They refused to take it back or replace it with another car. They have a "rigorous" 125 point check point that they claim this car went through and yet #125 specifically states the car will be free from moisture leaks and odors. It was sold to me with both. They also have door panels on their list and carpets and rugs. Had they checked any of those four items this problem would have been caught from the beginning instead of selling me a toxic car. They garauntee the checkpoint but yet they dont honor that either b/c they havent fixed my car!
My car has sat in their lot for 2 months and I picked it up yesterday and in just the ride from their dealership to the gas station and home I started coughing and my nose started running. The car is still filled with mold. I didnt even ask for reimbursement for my medical costs. I only wanted them to take back the car. I cant even get it fixed. I cant drive it b/c i'll get sick again. Im paying payments and insurance on a car I cant even get into. I believe the previous owner (it was a leased car before I bought it) had the same problem and the dealership put in new carpet, thus breaking the center console; and threw away the molding mats explaining why there werent any in the vehicle. I too have to throw away all the mats in the car and the center console had to come out to replace the carpet. According to carfax, Whitten purchased the car at a dealer auction.
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