I bought a vehicle from Auto World Sales and Service in Whitehall / Allentown PA. The dealer/owner (Bill) was very nice to me, calling me friend, and saying my wife and I were very nice people. The vehicle was a 2001 Jeep Cherokee XJ which seemed to be in great condition, including the Carfax. We elected not to purchase the warranty... Our mistake, but it doesn't excuse the dealer. Listen on.
The vehicle drove great for 7 days with no problems at all. On the 8th day of ownership, the vehicle began overheating on my hour drive to work. The temp never went into the red, so I coaxed it in. During the last 15 minutes of the drive or so, the engine began knocking/pinging intermittently. Once at work, I looked under the hood and didn't see any smoke or liquid leakage.
I attempted to drive the vehicle home after work, keeping the temp below the red mark. 20 minutes into the drive, the engine started making loud sounds and the temp spiked to the maximum limit. Quickly after that the engine quit and I pulled to the side of the road. I opened the hood and the car was belching oil and smoke from the engine.
I had the vehicle towed to a mechanic and called the dealer the next day. He said that it was a shame I didn't buy the warranty... He was right... And that he would fix it "if it was cheap" and if I had it towed to his garage... An hour and a half away. I told him I would call him back after speaking with my mechanic.
I spoke with the mechanic the following day and he told me that the engine was blown and that he couldn't fix it, so I took it to an engine mechanic. THIS IS WHERE THE STORY GETS GOOD! The mechanic listened to the story and agreed that the engine was fried. Long story short, I spoke to him while he was beginning to remove the engine from the vehicle and he said the engine had definitely been "opened up before, " and that there were a "bunch of bolts missing." The starter was only held on by one bolt.
I called the dealer the next day and he said he could not believe what I was saying (that's fair). I told him I would have my mechanic sign an affidavit stating what he found and he said it still didn't matter... He was not at fault and took no responsibility for it. He kept saying that I drove it for 8 days with no problem. That's my point exactly... I ONLY DROVE IT FOR 8 DAYS AND IT BLEW UP!
He said his mechanic had "looked the vehicle over" and found no problems and that the vehicle didn't come from him in that condition. My mechanic can attest that it did. The dealer said he was not responsible and that he would not compensate me in any way.
I believe I have two cases against him. The first is that he sold me a vehicle that was clearly a bucket of bolts... HALF A BUCKET I suppose! The second is that he sold me an unsafe vehicle. The vehicle had a PA State Inspection sticker on it and it clearly was not safe to drive. I was not surprised to find that the same dealer was involved in litigation of the same sort in 2010. Go to http://citysquares.com/b/auto-world-service-sales-1655410 and read the bottom comment if you want to see for yourself.
A long story to make a short point: Auto World Sales and Service in Whitehall / Allentown PA ripped me off! If anyone can provide any advice, it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
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