A resident of Brooklyn, purchased what he THOUGHT would be the "car of his dreams" in 1998: a 1998 Cadillac Seville on 3/26/98 for in excess of $55,000 from Conte Cadillac in Freeport. I should tell you that Mr. L maintains the car in mint condition and takes supreme care of his 'baby".
On or about 3/18/03 Mr. L makes an appointment to bring his car in for service because several "codes" were lighting up & he noticed smoking from the engine while driving it. He brings the car into Kristal Cadillac near his home when they told him to: 8 days later on 3/26/03. On 3/27/03, the service manager, David Ramoutar told Mr. L that the car needed "a new head gasket, oil pan gasket, water pump, engine mount, a major engine tune-up, oil change, anti-freeze." He's informed that the bill will be "over $4,000" and that he'd need to "come down & pay a deposit before they could start work." Mr. L brings $2,000 down the following day on 3/28/03. On 4/4/03, Mr. Ramoutar calls Mr. L and tells him the "car is done." Mr. L pays the balance of the bill: $2,201.77 and was told that some of the problems he reported to Kristal "couldn't be found & no codes were found, so no repairs were done."
5/5/03 Mr. L calls Mr. Ramoutar to report that his car is smoking once again, but worse than the month before when he took it in for that same problem. Mr. L is told to bring the car back in on 5/13/03, which he does, and again reports error codes to Mr. Ramoutar & asks that he check them again. Between 5/15-5/27/03, Mr. L calls Mr. Ramoutar & is told that they "haven't gotten to his car yet."
5/28/03 Mr. L calls & is told by Mr. Ramoutar that they are working on his car & "the starter is bad & needs to be replaced." Mr. L tells him to "go ahead and replace it."
5/29/03 Mr. Ramoutar calls Mr. L & tells him the "2 head bolts pulled out" & they "had to repair them" They also re-charge Mr. L to re-do oil, coolant & filters, which he just paid for on the last visit when the car was supposedly "fixed." Mr. L pays $648.15 and is then told by Mr. Ramoutar that the car is "still smoking, but it's just anti-freeze in your exhaust system, so take your car & give it a good ride & blow it all out." Mr. Ramoutar tells Mr. L to "drive it over the weekend & let him know Monday, June 2 if it's cleared up.
6/2/03 Mr. L calls Mr. Ramoutar again & tells him it hasn't improved. He tells Mr. L he needs to "have his entire exhaust system replaced for the smoking to stop." Mr. L asks how much THAT will cost & he is told he'd have to "get back to him" but if "that didn't fix the problem 100%, he wouldn't have to pay for the new exhaust system."
6/3/03 Mr. L calls Cadillac & is told by the service rep that 'she will get back to him." She doesn't.
6/13/03 Mr. L mails a certified letter to Cadillac detailing the problems. No reply.
6/19/03 Mr. L brings the car back to Mr. Ramoutar with a list of the problems now happening w / the car. He says that it's the THIRD time bringing the car back & he needs the car & is Kristal offering him a loaner car? He's told that the car will be ready the NEXT DAY, 6/20/03.
6/20/03 When Mr. L calls for the status of his car, he's told they 'didn't look at it yet, but he "MIGHT NEED A NEW ENGINE..."
6/20/03 Mr. L AGAIN calls Cadillac and gets no relief.
6/23-7/8/03 Cadillac offers Mr. L $2,500 off any new Cadillac. Mr. L is insulted. He has invested $5,000 in repairs on a car with an $18,000 book value & must now spend $60,000 on a new car, lose $23,000 (book value plus repairs) to get $2,500 "off"!!!
Cadillac calls Kristal to find out what they're doing with the car & is told "half the engine is apart." Mr. L calls Kristal to see what's goin on & is told by the service manager, a Mr. Anthony, that nothing has been done with the car yet because the guy is "on vacation, and there's 2 cars ahead of his."
7/8/03 Mr. L calls & is told 'they still haven't looked at the car yet" even though this last time, he took it back to them 6/19/03!!! Mr. L is told "it's been too hot the last couple of days to work on it, and because of the heat, his mechanics weren't feeling good."
7/9/03 Mr. L takes the unrepaired car out of Kristal & brings it to the dealership where he bought it—Conte in Freeport.
7/14/03 Mr. L tells Conte what happened, tells what he needs done & is given a "loaner car" by Conte.
7/15/03 Conte calls Mr. L & tells him "the engine is no good, and needs to be replaced." he's also told that his "power steering unit is no good & also needs to be replaced." The cost of this would be in excess of $6,500! He's told it would take 5 days to 'get an engine & 18 hours to install it."
7/25/03 Conte calls to say the engine is in & the car should be ready by 7/30/03.
7/28/03 Mr. L calls the Better Business Bureau.
8/1/03 Conte calls & says the car should be ready this day. As soon as Mr. L gets in the car, the power steering felt wrong. He reports same to Conte, who tells him there might be "air in the line" & have to be bled out."
8/1/03 Better Business Bureau called & asked Mr. L for paperwork.
8/3/03 Power steering making noises when turning.
8/4/03 Conte called & said the power steering hose was "bad" & they "had to order the part."
8/6/03 Conte called & said they were "having a problem getting the power steering hose part."
8/8/03 Conte called & said they were working on the car & it needed a steering sensor. Cost for THIS repair visit: $771.91!!!
8/12/03 Same service lights and codes come back on!
12/03/03 Mr. L receives a Discover Card BILL from Enterprise Rental Car for "loaner" car from Conte, which, on the Conte Invoice in July and August says "$0.00" Mr. L is billed $199.00 for the "loaner car" back in July & August!
12/12/03 Conte is called regarding this new unauthorized charge & is told "Conte paid THEIR part of the loaner car to Enterprise. Take it up with Kristal!" Mr. L never made ANY loaner car dela with Kristal! Mr. L contacts the FTC to report this consumer abuse. Nothing, to date, has been done by any agency to help remedy this injustice! In excess of $13,000 was paid on one "service" of a well-maintained 5 year old $56,000 vehicle!!! And the problems persist!!! When is enough enough for these scam artists???
Frank
Brooklyn, New York
U.S.A.
0 comments