I bought a 2007 Dodge Caliber SXT from Calvary Cars in mid September. Within the first couple of days of purchasing the vehicle, I noticed that it was not driving right. I took it back up to the shop and the first thing out of the mechanic's mouth was "there shouldn't be anything wrong with this car." After some persuasion, he put the car up on the lift and discovered that there was a tear in the rear motor mount.
They kept the car in the shop for about three days and replaced the rear motor mount. The same day that I picked the car up, I was on my way to a meeting and the car overheated on me. I immediately called Wilson Washington, the gentleman that sold me the car, and he told me to let the car cool down for a couple of hours while I was in my meeting and bring it back to the dealership so that they could see what was going on. The car did cool down, but started to overheat again as I approached the dealership.
They discovered that the water pump needed to be replaced. I had to leave the car in the shop for about a week. I was provided with a loaner car. Once that was repaired, about a week later the check engine light came on. I took it back up to the shop and they said that there was something wrong with the fluid levels. They topped off the fluids and said that everything should be fine.
About two weeks later the car overheated again and the check engine light came back on. They said that the diagnostic machine was reading a problem with the fuel emissions. I was told that if the light came on again, to bring it back up to the shop and they would probably have to do some sort of fuel emissions test.
It happened again about two weeks later and now my right front tire was leaking air, and the brakes were squealing. They weren't sure why the light came back on but they plugged the tire and told me that I would need to replace my brakes very soon. I was told to just bring the car back if the light came on again which it did about two weeks later. They put some more fluids in it and sent me on my way.
On December 6, the check engine light came on again, the car overheated, and the heat was not working properly. It was very cold this day and you had to drive the car for about 15 or 20 minutes before the heat would kick on.
At this point I was so frustrated that I wanted to find out how to trade out of the vehicle. I was told to talk to Steve McDonald, the sales manager. I told him about the issues that I was having and he said at this point I would need to talk to the owner, Tony Cerza.
Mr. Cerza told me to bring the car in the next day and they would see what was going on. He said that the first step would be to find out what was wrong with the car so that they could determine the value prior to it being traded in.
I brought the car in and I was told that I would have to leave the vehicle because it wasn't going to be a quick fix. I asked for a loaner but they would not give me a loaner vehicle this time. I was also told that I would be charged for the diagnosis.
Mr. Cerza and I got into an argument because he then tried to blame me for all of the issues with the vehicle. He said that there was probably something wrong internally with the car since I drove it hot the initial time that it overheated on me even though I was told to do so by his salesman. He told me that the work would not be covered and I needed to read my warranty.
I called the dealership on December 16 and asked for copies of my work orders. I was told that there invoicing was done internally and they were not allowed to just hand out copies. I was told that I would have to talk to Mr. Cerza regarding the work orders as well.
I went to this dealership looking for a reliable vehicle after my previous vehicle was totaled due to a flood. I do not feel safe and I have to drive my son around in this car and make payments on a vehicle that has problems that can't be fixed.
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