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Engine mysteriously died in a new car - how can I turn it to my advantage?

1,185 414 May 14, 2013 at 08:36 PM
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! Smilie Smilie Smilie We'll get a brand new one tomorrow and it'll be good to go by Thursday! Smilie Smilie Smilie "

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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Zoe Moon
05-14-2013 at 08:51 PM.
05-14-2013 at 08:51 PM.
Quote from Storyteller :
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! Smilie Smilie Smilie We'll get a brand new one tomorrow and it'll be good to go by Thursday! Smilie Smilie Smilie "

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!
QPLR and Dontknow
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dzap
05-14-2013 at 08:53 PM.
05-14-2013 at 08:53 PM.
Sell it to a British person. They haven't made good cars in decades. They won't know the difference.
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Hello, My Name is Mike!
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MikeBear
05-14-2013 at 08:56 PM.
05-14-2013 at 08:56 PM.
How would anybody in the future KNOW the engine's been replaced, if you don't tell them?

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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mokarney
05-14-2013 at 08:57 PM.
05-14-2013 at 08:57 PM.
Quote from Storyteller :
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! Smilie Smilie Smilie We'll get a brand new one tomorrow and it'll be good to go by Thursday! Smilie Smilie Smilie "

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!
Lemon buyback!
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Iaaaiws
05-14-2013 at 08:58 PM.
05-14-2013 at 08:58 PM.
Why would anyone else be aware that the engine had been changed unless you told them?
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Iaaaiws
05-14-2013 at 09:04 PM.
05-14-2013 at 09:04 PM.
Quote from Storyteller :
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.
So you continued driving after the coolant light came on, then continued driving after the engine light also came on until the car died? And now you feel entitled to some sort of reward because you damaged the engine beyond repair?
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MikeBear
05-14-2013 at 09:06 PM.
05-14-2013 at 09:06 PM.
Quote from mo.karney :
Lemon buyback!
Lemon Law states you have to give them 3 chances to repair the car over a specific amount of time.
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Original Poster
Storyteller
05-14-2013 at 09:19 PM.
05-14-2013 at 09:19 PM.
Quote from Zoe Moon :
QPLR and Dontknow
What does QPLR stand for? Even the almighty Google doesn't know...

Quote from mo.karney :
Lemon buyback!
Is that something dealerships actually do? I have a pretty aggressive facebook friend from another state - she says I should storm into the dealership and demand a brand new car, since they obviously sold me a lemon. OMG

Quote from Iaaaiws :
So you continued driving after the coolant light came on, then continued driving after the engine light also came on until the car died? And now you feel entitled to some sort of reward because you damaged the engine beyond repair?
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.
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mokarney
05-14-2013 at 09:43 PM.
05-14-2013 at 09:43 PM.
Quote from Storyteller :
What does QPLR stand for? Even the almighty Google doesn't know...


Is that something dealerships actually do? I have a pretty aggressive facebook friend from another state - she says I should storm into the dealership and demand a brand new car, since they obviously sold me a lemon. OMG


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.

Not only should they give you a new car, they should give you a model up free of charge or the same model at a discount. I remember some dude that bought a Benz won a $800,000 lawsuit for getting a lemon.
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mokarney
05-14-2013 at 09:46 PM.
05-14-2013 at 09:46 PM.
Quote from MikeBear :
Lemon Law states you have to give them 3 chances to repair the car over a specific amount of time.

Doesn't it also kick in if the owner is without the car for X period of time in a Y period of time? Like 30 days out of 1 year?
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dzap
05-14-2013 at 10:10 PM.
05-14-2013 at 10:10 PM.
Quote from Iaaaiws :
Why would anyone else be aware that the engine had been changed unless you told them?
This would show up on a Carfax, no?
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awake
> bubble2 1,185 Posts
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Original Poster
Storyteller
05-14-2013 at 10:20 PM.
05-14-2013 at 10:20 PM.
Quote from mo.karney :
Not only should they give you a new car, they should give you a model up free of charge or the same model at a discount. I remember some dude that bought a Benz won a $800,000 lawsuit for getting a lemon.
Quote from mo.karney :
Doesn't it also kick in if the owner is without the car for X period of time in a Y period of time? Like 30 days out of 1 year?
According to the Nevada Lemon Law [carlemon.com], it's officially a lemon if the same part died 4 times in a row ("The same nonconformity has been subject to repair four or more times") or if they had to spend 30+ days getting it fixed - all within a year of purchase.

That's the official definition - I'm not sure if they'd be willing to do the lemon thing if it's "only" an engine failure with 4 days of repairs... Worth a shot, I guess.

In the worst-case scenario, I still have a 10-year warranty on the damn thing, but I do want them to make it up for me somehow...
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JustARandomGuy2015
05-14-2013 at 10:37 PM.
05-14-2013 at 10:37 PM.
Things happen, shit breaks. If they fix it, and take care of you I don't see an issue.
I would see a horrific issue if they didn't take care of you.


The engine may be solid, but there could be one faulty piece inside that could of broke etc.. its a chain effect. Doesn't mean they sold you a bad car. I've seen brand new cars break down right down road (well once) but still it happens.
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Zoe Moon
05-14-2013 at 10:44 PM.
05-14-2013 at 10:44 PM.
Quote from Storyteller :
What does QPLR stand for? Even the almighty Google doesn't know...


Is that something dealerships actually do? I have a pretty aggressive facebook friend from another state - she says I should storm into the dealership and demand a brand new car, since they obviously sold me a lemon. OMG


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.
Google worked just fine for me when I typed in QPRL meaning, brought it up on the first link.

https://slickdeals.net/f/3067971-Qplrb?v=1

The answer is on post seven.
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