I didn't know there was a site like this till I just stumbled upon it. I see here I am not the only person whom CA has screwed over.
In January I needed a car and my credit isn't the best, so I filled out for a second chance loan. I was contacted by Premier Nissan of Metairie (Louisiana) and told they had received a loan for me through a second chance loan company, and coould guarantee I drove off their lot with a car that day.
So, desparate for transportation, I got a friend to take me down there (as I lived in Covington at the time). I put down $1,500 on a 2004 Mitsubishi Lancer with 94,000 miles on it, and drove away.
Right before Thanksgiving I was taking my kids to school when my check engine light came on and the car died! I was told that my timing belt had broke which threw my engine off it's timing causing over $1,000 in repairs to the valves and head.
I was down for over 3 weeks! I'm a delivery driver for a Pizza chain here in LA. It cost me over $1,000 to fix and over $2,000 in tips and salary as I was unable to drive my car!
A week goes by after getting it repaired. On Christmas Day, my family and I were going to my fiancee's family's house for Christmas dinner when it happened AGAIN!!!
My mechanic thought it may just be my water pump going bad, so we set to work a week later (more lost time from my job) fixing it. We then notice the timing belt was STRIPPED!!! Again, my timing had been thrown off and about to cost ANOTHER $1,000 to get it fixed. (Let me say here that because of the first problem, I was behind a payment on the car and CA was calling me day and night about it.) There was nothing visible wrong with the water pump itself. We then went to searching for the REAL problem... And found it!
There were nicks and grooves in the cylinder where the water pump is housed and rotated by the timing belt. The water pump locked up on one of these nicks causing it to freeze up. On the Mitsubishi Lancer the water pump and timing belt are connected (the pump is rotated by the belt). This was an obvious problem to someone who was SUPPOSED to make sure the car was fully operational before it was sold! The entire block had to be replaced.
I did a voluntary repo on the car because I could not afford to have it fixed again! They told me the same thing they told Harry in Michigan, "We have a list of dealers you can bring it to who will take it as a trade in and put you in something better". I told them that no self respecting dealer would touch this car because half the engine was in the back seat, and even if it was all under the hood, it wouldn't run.
Never did they offer to try to have the problem corrected! They sent someone to get the car. A few weeks later, I got a letter from them saying they were going to have the car fixed and resell it and I would be charged the final difference! Recently, I got a letter from them saying they sold the car and I owed them over $6,000 they wanted immediately! A week after that, I got another letter saying they were offering me 25% off to settle now.
Just yesterday, I got a call from them saying they are in the process of sending my case to claims for processing.
I just wanted to share this story because I stumbled across Harry from Michigan who had a similar situation with the same people. Are we the only two, or are there more out there? Please post your complaint! With enough people we may be able to get something done against CA for there unscrupulous ways in doing business with less fortunate people.
If you would like to contact me personally, my email is [email protected]. And to the person who bought that white 2004 Mitsubishi Lancer in Lousiana through Crecit Acceptance... I feel for you. Get rid of it as soon as you can... It's a lemon!!!
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