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Forum Thread
Engine mysteriously died in a new car - how can I turn it to my advantage?
May 14, 2013 at
08:36 PM
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Brief version, without any names:
Six weeks ago, I bought a brand new car, with warranty and all that other good stuff. Two days ago, as I was driving on a highway, the coolant light came on, followed by an engine light, followed by my car dying just a minute later.
After it got towed to the dealership, they said the cause was a leaking radiator hose. (Keep in mind, the car is 6 weeks old and has only 850 miles on it!) After they replaced it, it kept acting up, so they decided to hold it a bit longer. (They got me a rental car in the meantime.)
When I called them earlier today to see if they had any updates, I was told this: "Oh, hi there. Uh, we don't really know what's wrong with your car, so we decided to replace the whole engine!
We'll get a brand new one tomorrow and it'll be good to go by Thursday! "
When I asked what exactly was wrong, they just kept repeating the same thing. I don't know a whole lot about cars, but a friend told me that getting a replacement engine pretty much destroys the car's resale value because people will wonder what else might be wrong with it. Is that correct? Logically, it would seem that, for example, a 10-year-old car with a 1-year-old engine is better than a 10-year-old car with a 10-year-old engine, but consumer psychology is a strange animal.
Personally, I plan on driving the car for 10 years and 120,000 miles (it's got an extended warranty) before I trade it in, so the resale value isn't a big deal for me. That said, is there any way I can spin this to get some major freebies (e.g., get the car company to shave off a few grand off my loan balance) or something along those lines? Right now, they're just paying for my rental car and nothing else. Given the sheer immensity of this colossal fark-up, though, it seems to me that they owe me a lot more than that.
Got any comments, advice or suggestions?
Thanks!
Six weeks ago, I bought a brand new car, with warranty and all that other good stuff. Two days ago, as I was driving on a highway, the coolant light came on, followed by an engine light, followed by my car dying just a minute later.
After it got towed to the dealership, they said the cause was a leaking radiator hose. (Keep in mind, the car is 6 weeks old and has only 850 miles on it!) After they replaced it, it kept acting up, so they decided to hold it a bit longer. (They got me a rental car in the meantime.)
When I called them earlier today to see if they had any updates, I was told this: "Oh, hi there. Uh, we don't really know what's wrong with your car, so we decided to replace the whole engine!
We'll get a brand new one tomorrow and it'll be good to go by Thursday! "When I asked what exactly was wrong, they just kept repeating the same thing. I don't know a whole lot about cars, but a friend told me that getting a replacement engine pretty much destroys the car's resale value because people will wonder what else might be wrong with it. Is that correct? Logically, it would seem that, for example, a 10-year-old car with a 1-year-old engine is better than a 10-year-old car with a 10-year-old engine, but consumer psychology is a strange animal.
Personally, I plan on driving the car for 10 years and 120,000 miles (it's got an extended warranty) before I trade it in, so the resale value isn't a big deal for me. That said, is there any way I can spin this to get some major freebies (e.g., get the car company to shave off a few grand off my loan balance) or something along those lines? Right now, they're just paying for my rental car and nothing else. Given the sheer immensity of this colossal fark-up, though, it seems to me that they owe me a lot more than that.
Got any comments, advice or suggestions?
Thanks!
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On my 2006 Corolla the engine computer went out on a Friday night, I limped it to the dealership and got a ride home from a friend, on Saturday they called me to tell me they didn't have any real mechanics on duty that day (darn small towns), on Monday they determined the engine computer was dead, and needed to ship from California. Shipped on Tuesday, installed on Wednesday, got my car back Wednesday after work. Because this was "only a one day fix" they didn't even give me a rental car, I was just SOL all weekend and getting to work Monday - Wednesday.
Then a little more than a year later, while moving from Nevada to Texas, the check engine light came on in Las Vegas, 400+ miles into my journey. Thankfully I got into the dealership Friday afternoon before they closed, but it took them until after 5pm to figure out what the problem was - my 27,000 mile, ~3 year old corolla had a cracked engine case, they poured coolant straight through engine onto the floor after they had to push it into a service bay (somehow, it drove to the dealership). They did give me a rental car, and I got the car back the following Thursday morning, but I was SOL on extra hotel costs for those days (most of which were cheap, but some of which weren't, like Saturday in Vegas on the NASCAR weekend). I didn't feel put out - they could have given me a rebuilt engine, but it was brand new. Things happen, as they say
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The answer is on post seven.
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Six weeks ago, I bought a brand new car, with warranty and all that other good stuff. Two days ago, as I was driving on a highway, the coolant light came on, followed by an engine light, followed by my car dying just a minute later.
After it got towed to the dealership, they said the cause was a leaking radiator hose. (Keep in mind, the car is 6 weeks old and has only 850 miles on it!) After they replaced it, it kept acting up, so they decided to hold it a bit longer. (They got me a rental car in the meantime.)
When I called them earlier today to see if they had any updates, I was told this: "Oh, hi there. Uh, we don't really know what's wrong with your car, so we decided to replace the whole engine!
When I asked what exactly was wrong, they just kept repeating the same thing. I don't know a whole lot about cars, but a friend told me that getting a replacement engine pretty much destroys the car's resale value because people will wonder what else might be wrong with it. Is that correct? Logically, it would seem that, for example, a 10-year-old car with a 1-year-old engine is better than a 10-year-old car with a 10-year-old engine, but consumer psychology is a strange animal.
Personally, I plan on driving the car for 10 years and 120,000 miles (it's got an extended warranty) before I trade it in, so the resale value isn't a big deal for me. That said, is there any way I can spin this to get some major freebies (e.g., get the car company to shave off a few grand off my loan balance) or something along those lines? Right now, they're just paying for my rental car and nothing else. Given the sheer immensity of this colossal fark-up, though, it seems to me that they owe me a lot more than that.
Got any comments, advice or suggestions?
Thanks!
http://metro.co.uk/2013/05/15/ang...r-3760150/
http://metro.co.uk/2013/05/15/ang...r-3760150/
May show up on carfax I have no idea how carfax works though.
To be really rad, I'd get them to smoke those tail lights, and put flames up your hood, as well as install one of those over the top speakers in the trunk; that way you can be super cool & know you got sumthin' over on the dealer
It's not a lemon, it's a fluke. A lemon is when they put 3 new engines in it and keep it for over 6 months and still can't fix it (happened to a friend). We were given vouchers for a few free oil changes as you are supposed to change it a bit more frequently in new engines plus we were towing with it.
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