Going against the advice of local friends and family members, I bought a car from Tom Hodges Auto. Big mistake! I was told that I was buying a great little car. A copy of the carfax and blue book value were in the glove compartment and the inspection sticker was displayed on the windshield along with the most recent oil change date. Everything seemed on the up and up.
Well I drove off the lot and noticed later that night that I had a headlight out and the lights that indicate which gear you were in weren't working. I brought the car back and they fixed it. Less than a week later the headlight went out again. When I brought it back they said it must be the wiring or electric and they fixed it again. Question... Would these items have passed a legitimate inspection? A friend of mine who is a mechanic said "NO".
One of those times I brought it back I mentioned that the radio buttons weren't working and that the dashboard had a dark sticky substance all over it. The serviceman said "oh yeah, somebody must have spilled a soda on it. Question... Wouldn't they have cleaned that off before putting it out in the lot? Or offer to clean it after I brought it to their attention?
The next problem I had with the car was that it wasn't always starting correctly. It would turn over but it wouldn't start until like the fourth or fifth try. When I brought the car in they couldn't figure it out and said to bring it back when it happened again. Well it happened again and I called AAA and had them tow it in to Hodges. Apparently the engine had blown up... The car had a bad timing belt.
Unfortunately this happened right after the 3000 mile, 90 day warranty. Too bad - so sad. After a petty discount they charged me almost half of the REAL value of the car to replace the engine.
By the way, I checked for the blue book value and found the actual value to be thousands of dollars below the printout that they placed in the glove compartment. I wonder how that happened. A couple weeks later, the other headlight went out and of course they charged me to fix it. A week later it went out again. And now the engine they put in is leaking oil on my driveway.
0 comments