Phillips Chevrolet of Frankfort, Illinois sold me a defective
1998 Acura Integra for over $13,000, including a worthless warranty. I found out that it was sold to me on the same day it had come in, with none of their so-called "rigorous safety & drivability inspection" to quote from their own ad copy. On the way home, the vehicle reaked of cigarette smoke, had a burned out headlamp, exhaust rattle, and worst of all, the "check engine" light came on. All on the way home! The next day, the rear brakes began to squeal and grind.
I took it back wanting a refund, but was talked into allowing them to fix everything for free. When I picked it up, the warning light was still on and I was told that".. It is a fawlty sensor and nothing to worry about." It ran alright for the short time that my wife drove it to and from the grade school where she works as a nurse. She never took it over 45 mph. Four months after the sale, I took it on a business trip 300 miles away. It only made it half way back. It started missing, then had short bursts of power loss, and finally, nothing, except alot of blue, oily smoke.
I activated the "gold package" bumper to bumper warranty I had purchased from Dimension Service Corporation, Dublin, Ohio through Phillips Chevrolet the day of the sale. The warranty company inspector told me that, after his inspection, the claim had to be denied since the car never qualified for a warranty in the first place, due to the excessive amount of after market parts on the engine. Mike Porter, the used car manager at Phillips, had rattled off a litany of after market parts as a selling tool, and then in the next breath, offered up the pricey warranty the day of the sale, knowing full well it was worthless. This violated the Magnuson/Moss Federal Warranty Act, Section 2306.
After 45 days of fruitless negotiation with Phillips to fix the vehicle, I was forced to pay for fixing the vehicle myself, taking another 45 days due to the scarcity of VTEC engines. I had recieved, and was relying on the validity of, a letter issued by Phillips Chevrolet promising to pay for ALL of the damages to my vehicle and a refund of my worthless warranty. Repairing the vehicle revealed that it had had nitrous oxide run through it, had been raced and abused, had blown it's timing chain previously, the repairs not done properly by vacuuming the broken pieces of piston out of the cylinder, and then putting it back together long enough for it to run until it could be dumped on some unsuspecting consumer. That was 10 months ago and I have yet to recieve a dime!!!
I was asking only for what the warranty covered. The repairs were $6752.58,3 months of car rental at $1600, and a refund of my warranty cost of $1200. Jamie Pascerella, General Manager of Phillips Chevrolet, offered me a mere $4000, less than half the amount I had paid out. I was forced to hier a lawyer with a $1500 retainer, so that Phillips lawyer could avoid his calls and ignore his letters. That brings it to the present day.
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