Badger Johnson
Regular Member
This isn't a tale of woe so much as a wake up call. Man's inhumanity to man in a very real sense.
My friend (I won't call her my partner because people seem confused by that) bought a 2004 used Ford Truck (Ranger Edge).
She was looking for a particular color and low mileage. Because of this she looked out of town.
We found one about 55 min from here, went out, dealer said (First clue) 'Truck has had two inspections. Clean Carfax. We didn't quite get the info it was bought at auction.
I noticed a 'thrub-thrub' sound and said 'something's wrong in the back rear wheel'. The dealer tried to fix on the spot. I noticed a headlight without a clip to the frame. He said 'oh we discovered it was one of the rear hubs - actually it was both of them (Second Clue) - we replaced them both.'
I thought 'oh, nice, he didn't even raise the price' (Third Clue).
Then I noticed the brakes grabbing. I thought - 'well I don't know how trucks drive, but this seems wrong'. My friend was being impulsive.
We drove the truck home and I learned later that there were no brake pads. I mean the dealer didn't even look at the truck and make it driveable and highway safe. I didn't know they could/would do that. This is extremely blatant and it risked our safety.
Then we went to a store and the truck would not start upon return. We learned it was the alternator and the battery. While we were there, we asked about the extreme static coming from the radio when turn signal was in the off position. Turned out to be severe water damage. Both of those got replaced.
On the way home from a store a few days later, I noticed the horn would not work.
Naively, I said 'well if the airbag is on the same circuit as the horn', it may not work either. We're driving around in a death trap.
My little buddy (I call her the "Were Werewolverine"), who was a bit of a gov't employee but a trusting person emailed the dealer and to my utter surprise, got the dealer to take the car back and write us a check for all the repairs, including new seat covers, and some accessories, minus $300 for the use of the truck for a week.
We just came back from the dealer, where the receptionist/business manager gave us a check and we have the title to be turned over when the check clears.
These guys tried to get us killed, essentially. I wanted to confront the guy, but we decided to remain calm. The dealer announced they were going to tow the truck back to their location. We were going to have our insurance Co do it and add the charges. (I suspect the dealer had a minion do it - they don't speak English there - forget the nationality but family owned). The truck was at the local Ford dealer.
I'll be amazed if the check clears, but my friend said they seem truly afraid and she offered to call the State Police on them for doing a fraudulent inspection.
I think we should have charged them for our labor - fixing stuff, hanging out at the shop, struggling putting on seat covers and spending a lot of time getting them online, and getting fobs and a spare key. Charge at my going rate of $40/hour. But she didn't want to have a win-lose situation she said that gets more cooperation.
We had to sign a 'no further action' paper, but it wasn't notarized. I have no idea if we have further legal recourse except for small-claims court.
My REAL beef is we are allowing another unsuspecting person to get a truck with no horn, and maybe no air-bags (it was unreparable except for a several thousand dollar output). The truck looks much cleaner than when we got it - virtually no evidence of a front end crash since light is now perfect. Signals and radio work.
Air bag may be defective - I insisted my buddy have that verified but it got stopped in its tracks when the extensive water damage was found by the last shop (the local dealer). Sat in the river in mid-America for a week, looks like. Was a salvage auction we didn't know. Price was 'too good to be true' at $8900 75K mileage.
Moral - listen to your instincts and your boyfriend
Don't buy low end. Look at middle and high and always buy middle. We should have spent twice that, and gotten a later model but she wanted red.
So, don't buy on a 'color' or any emo reason.
My friend (I won't call her my partner because people seem confused by that) bought a 2004 used Ford Truck (Ranger Edge).
She was looking for a particular color and low mileage. Because of this she looked out of town.
We found one about 55 min from here, went out, dealer said (First clue) 'Truck has had two inspections. Clean Carfax. We didn't quite get the info it was bought at auction.
I noticed a 'thrub-thrub' sound and said 'something's wrong in the back rear wheel'. The dealer tried to fix on the spot. I noticed a headlight without a clip to the frame. He said 'oh we discovered it was one of the rear hubs - actually it was both of them (Second Clue) - we replaced them both.'
I thought 'oh, nice, he didn't even raise the price' (Third Clue).
Then I noticed the brakes grabbing. I thought - 'well I don't know how trucks drive, but this seems wrong'. My friend was being impulsive.
We drove the truck home and I learned later that there were no brake pads. I mean the dealer didn't even look at the truck and make it driveable and highway safe. I didn't know they could/would do that. This is extremely blatant and it risked our safety.
Then we went to a store and the truck would not start upon return. We learned it was the alternator and the battery. While we were there, we asked about the extreme static coming from the radio when turn signal was in the off position. Turned out to be severe water damage. Both of those got replaced.
On the way home from a store a few days later, I noticed the horn would not work.
Naively, I said 'well if the airbag is on the same circuit as the horn', it may not work either. We're driving around in a death trap.
My little buddy (I call her the "Were Werewolverine"), who was a bit of a gov't employee but a trusting person emailed the dealer and to my utter surprise, got the dealer to take the car back and write us a check for all the repairs, including new seat covers, and some accessories, minus $300 for the use of the truck for a week.
We just came back from the dealer, where the receptionist/business manager gave us a check and we have the title to be turned over when the check clears.
These guys tried to get us killed, essentially. I wanted to confront the guy, but we decided to remain calm. The dealer announced they were going to tow the truck back to their location. We were going to have our insurance Co do it and add the charges. (I suspect the dealer had a minion do it - they don't speak English there - forget the nationality but family owned). The truck was at the local Ford dealer.
I'll be amazed if the check clears, but my friend said they seem truly afraid and she offered to call the State Police on them for doing a fraudulent inspection.
I think we should have charged them for our labor - fixing stuff, hanging out at the shop, struggling putting on seat covers and spending a lot of time getting them online, and getting fobs and a spare key. Charge at my going rate of $40/hour. But she didn't want to have a win-lose situation she said that gets more cooperation.
We had to sign a 'no further action' paper, but it wasn't notarized. I have no idea if we have further legal recourse except for small-claims court.
My REAL beef is we are allowing another unsuspecting person to get a truck with no horn, and maybe no air-bags (it was unreparable except for a several thousand dollar output). The truck looks much cleaner than when we got it - virtually no evidence of a front end crash since light is now perfect. Signals and radio work.
Air bag may be defective - I insisted my buddy have that verified but it got stopped in its tracks when the extensive water damage was found by the last shop (the local dealer). Sat in the river in mid-America for a week, looks like. Was a salvage auction we didn't know. Price was 'too good to be true' at $8900 75K mileage.
Moral - listen to your instincts and your boyfriend
Don't buy low end. Look at middle and high and always buy middle. We should have spent twice that, and gotten a later model but she wanted red.
So, don't buy on a 'color' or any emo reason.
