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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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The other people are right.
Most dealers would've fixed the leaky antifreeze and replaced whatever part was needed to make the engine light turn off. They would've returned the car to you with a damaged engine.
At least this dealer is being honest and actually making things right.
Please don't make them regret being honest by turning the screws to them to get free stuff
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!
Emotionally, however, I want the f**kers to pay. The dealership's manager was a total dick to me the first time we spoke. He never once apologized, but he did imply that maybe it's all my fault; refused to pay for a rental car, saying it's a complicated process that takes several days (the horrified customer service rep I called the next day said they'll reimburse me for everything after I pay for the rental); said it's a-okay for brand new cars to have huge defects because "all mechanical parts break down. It could have broken down after just 10 miles!" (Yes, he really did say that.)
And to satisfy everyone's curiosity, the car is 2013 Kia Rio LX sedan.
emotionally, however, i want the f**kers to pay.
In case my OP didn't make it clear - all these events happened within minutes of one another. I'm still working on my ability to manipulate the time-space continuum, but FYI - the whole thing took less than 5 minutes.
Nope, I can't imagine why they might try to insinuate that some of the fault lies with you.
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So a radiator hose failed on your car, causing it to lose coolant. The coolant light comes on to warn you that the coolant level is low. The light is there to warn you because continuing to drive with too much coolant lost may seriously damage your engine. Even in just a minute you can start seeing things like blown head gaskets or a cracked head. Yet you continue to drive admittedly for up to five minutes. Even after the check engine light came on as well you continue to drive until the engine quits.
Nope, I can't imagine why they might try to insinuate that some of the fault lies with you.
At least in our case we noticed a noise, started to pull over, oil pressure dropped to zero and we were stopped. The truck would still start but a Duramax should not sound like a Powerstroke on a winter Alaskan morning.
I'm sorry if my posts do not satisfy your Benghazi-style questioning, but just FYI - I got off the highway as soon as the "check engine" light came on. Otherwise, the car would have died in 70mph traffic and probably would have caused an accident.
Is there anything else I can help you with, oh high and mighty inquisitor?
I'd say they are doing all right in replacing it up front without hassling you. Which is what most dealerships do in cases like this (hassle you). They normally just cobble a fix, give it back, it works for a short time and you bring it back. Over and over until they wear you out so you don't come back.
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