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Calamity Kris

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My wonderful used car is turning out to be not so wonderful.  It appears the first owner had made some aftermarket modifications to it, WHILE IT WAS ON LEASE.  I purchased it unaware of the modifications.  Since my purchase it has been to the dealership twice for problems related to the modifications.  One was to replace the interior lighting to return it to manufacture standard (because the lights were flickering when the doors were opened).  The other was to return the headlights to OEM because they had been modified, causing them to go out when I hit a bump in the road.  After this last trip to the shop, I found out the modifications voided the manufacturers warranty and nullified the extended warranty I purchased.  The service writer at the dealership also told me I might want to consider trading it in because there is no way of knowing if any other modifications were made, like replacing computer chips, that will give me more problems down the road. 

 

Any thoughts on what I should do from here?  This is turning into an expensive situation really quickly.

 

Thanks,

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Make your complaint to the dealer and if you don't get satisfaction ask them for the phone number to the regional sales and service office. A call to them has been known to work at getting problems solved.

A friend of mine had to make a field repair to a 4 wheel drive truck to get out of the woods. The local dealer gave him the run around until I told him to contact the regional office. The local dealer decided to repair his truck. The regional office told my friend to take the truck back to the local dealer and it would be remedied. It was.

 

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I think we're all working under the assumption that you bought the lease return vehicle from the dealer...  is this the case?  Or did you buy it through the lessee at the end of his lease...?  :huh:

 

 

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You likely have some sort of Consumer Protection laws to aid you. 

Get to a lawyer dealing with those types of cases. 

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7 hours ago, Hardpan Curmudgeon SASS #8967 said:

I think we're all working under the assumption that you bought the lease return vehicle from the dealer...  is this the case?  Or did you buy it through the lessee at the end of his lease...?  :huh:

 

 

I purchased the vehicle from a dealership, but not the one that the car was leased from.  It was leased from a Honda dealership and returned to a Mazda dealership.  I also found out the assistant sales manager at the Mazda dealership is the father of the guy that leased the car.  He may have known something which is why it was returned there.

 

 

10 hours ago, Subdeacon Joe said:

Get an attorney.   Seems like the dealership should have caught those modifications,  disclosed them to you, and told you that they voided all warranties. 

 

The Mazda dealership may not have found the modifications because the vehicle isn't a Mazda.  (The service writer at the Mazda dealership told me for anything other than oil changes, I would have to take it to a Honda dealership because they aren't equipped to handle it.)  If they did know about it, I should have been informed.

 

Additional note, the original owner is a sheriff's deputy from the county sheriff's office.  The Mazda dealership told me that when I purchased the car, I'm guessing to give me some confidence that the car had been cared for.

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Howdy,

Seems like the most direct path would be  to find  the original owner and

see if he or she would tell you what was done.

Sometimes the original parts might be sitting in a box in someones garage?

Its possible your car might be put back to original without much trouble.

Plan B might be unwinding the deal but dealers don't like doing that.

Just because of the timing another idea might be to trade that car in on

a new 2018 if they have something that you would like.

This sort of depends on how much you like the car given that it could be 

straightened out.

Best

CR

ps a good friend of mine bought a certified car and soon found out it

had been crashed and repaired and the crash was hidden.

That dealer did a swap for a new car from inventory.

And the fix could be as simple as tightening some loose wires......

Ive personally seen one loose wire stop a car cold.

One loose vacuum hose can too.

 

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Avoid the hassle and trade it in on a new one!  Life's too short to be wasting time on a vehicle!

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4 hours ago, Rye Miles #13621 said:

Avoid the hassle and trade it in on a new one!  Life's too short to be wasting time on a vehicle!

 

Calamity:

     IMHO it would depend on the Make, Model, year and mileage on the vehicle and if none of these are of significant value then I would go with Rye's suggestion. :rolleyes:

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7 minutes ago, Michigan Slim said:

See if your state has a 'Lemon Law'. 

 

Michigan Slim:

      Here in Florida the "Lemon Law" does not cover modifications, and also applies only to new vehicles not resale leased ones.

      I thought the same thing you did until I checked.

 

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Here is what I would do:

Go to the Mazda dealer and tell them about the problem then demand that they sell you a new (or different) car and take the Honda at full trade-in value. Better yet, what they sold it to you for. If they balk, take them to court. Find an attorney that knows the lemon laws (if any) in your state and knows the laws regarding automobiles. Tell the dealer that is what you plan to do, should you wish to go through with a lawsuit.

 

The problem is, if you go to court, you are stuck with the car until settlement. If the dealer is “an upstanding member of the community” and you live in a small community, you may be wasting your time.

 

Sounds to me like some BS has been going on with that dealer and his son. How can a Honda on lease be turned in to a Mazda dealer? It sounds really fishy to me.

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11 minutes ago, Michigan Slim said:

Ah. Need to check here. I was thinking it covered some used, dealer sold also.

 

Michigan Slim:

        So did I at first.

        853003021_FloridaLemonLaw.JPG.660b9065543507edbfd161763fcc3eb7.JPG

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I'm curious why the Mazda dealer was selling a Honda lease return.  Same business owner perhaps?

 

Now... I fared well when I sued the local Mazda dealer last year...  :rolleyes:

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26 minutes ago, Hardpan Curmudgeon SASS #8967 said:

I'm curious why the Mazda dealer was selling a Honda lease return.  Same business owner perhaps?

 

Now... I fared well when I sued the local Mazda dealer last year...  :rolleyes:

 

That's a good question.  My only guess is because the lessor's father worked at the Mazda dealership.  The only other thought I have is because if the lessor returned it to Honda, they could find out about the aftermarket work and he would be in trouble......

 

10 minutes ago, Eyesa Horg said:

Seems pretty lame to void a warranty for changing a light bulb or 2.:unsure:

 

It's a lot more than changing a couple of bulbs.  For the type of headlights that were added to the car, they had to make some modifications to the electrical system.  That is what voided the warranty.  The Honda dealership gave me the parts that were removed.  I'll post a picture when I get a chance. 

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This sounds sketchy on the dealership's part. They knowingly (probably) sold a bad product and are suggesting you buy again from them? Look at your contract and talk to a lawyer. Sometimes all it takes is well written correspondence from an attorney to the dealership to get results.

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Howdy,

It sounds like the dealer has started changing the deal by backing out on

the warranty.  Your best bet may be to  just go for unwinding the deal completely.

Its possible the dealer was unaware of these modifications at the time they took in the car.

Very fishy deal.

Best

CR

 

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WOW!!! You guys are awesome!!!

 

51 minutes ago, Whiskey Business said:

And the Honda dealer seems complicent since they did the work, how else would they have the original parts? 

Just see a lawyer and tell these ne'er do wells that they talk too much.

 

The Honda didn't have the original parts.  I had to pay to replace them.  They gave me the aftermarket parts to show they had removed them.

 

51 minutes ago, Finagler 6853 Life said:

I did a quick search.  If you bought your car from Boniface Heirs Mazda, they own the Honda dealership among others.  I'd go raise someone's scalp.  Call the owner, get and attorney.  Let them know you mean business.

 

Great sleuth job!!!  Southeastern Honda is the dealership that did the work on Saturday.  The service writer is the one who advised me to get rid of the car. 

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4 hours ago, Calamity Kris said:

It's a lot more than changing a couple of bulbs.  For the type of headlights that were added to the car, they had to make some modifications to the electrical system.  That is what voided the warranty.  The Honda dealership gave me the parts that were removed.  I'll post a picture when I get a chance. 

 

Sounds to me like the previous owner tried to do a HID headlamp conversion. I've read forum threads on doing those and it's not a simple parts swap, meaning a DIY-er shouldn't attempt it unless they're really good at modding cars. I don;t know if that's what they did, but in any event the dealer who sold you this thing is at fault for not disclosing the modifications. You may have to lawyer up but in the end it should be their headache, not yours.

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4 hours ago, The Original Lumpy Gritz said:

CK-Have you had a sit down with the HMFIC of the dealer you bought the car from?

I would start there.........

Be the 'Pitbull with lipstick'. ;)

OLG

 

I did that after work this evening.  The sales manager remembered me and was quite surprised when I told him about the mods and the troubles I was having with the car.  He was with another customer and so he couldn't chat with me for long (I went in unannounced) but he promised he would take a look at my file and call me tomorrow.  I will go back to the dealership after work if I don't hear from him. 

 

To the good, he chatted with me out on the sales floor in front of customers and staff.  No back office, no hush hush.  He was very open and came across as being honest.  (It's really hard to BS me.  I WILL see through it.)  If this doesn't get resolved to my satisfaction, the dealership owner posts his personal phone number in his bio on the dealership web page.  I won't hesitate to call him if I'm not happy.  AJ Hiers is a pillar of the community so he has a reputation to uphold.

 

3 hours ago, Finagler 6853 Life said:

The Honda dealership Boniface owns is in Melbourne.  Car dealers move inventory to their other locations all the time.  Go get them.

 

That Boniface Honda dealership actually sells motorcycles, not cars.  The Honda car dealership is only a few miles away from the Mazda dealership.

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Without getting into any of the boring details, I picked up my new 2019 Honda Pilot today.  They gave me a fair deal on the 2017 and worked hard to make sure I was happy. 

 

My new baby. 

 

Thanks for all your support and advice.  I appreciate it.

2019_Pilot.jpg

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Just now, Calamity Kris said:

Without getting into any of the boring details, I picked up my new 2019 Honda Pilot today.  They gave me a fair deal on the 2017 and worked hard to make sure I was happy. 

 

My new baby. 

 

Thanks for all your support and advice.  I appreciate it.

2019_Pilot.jpg

Glad it worked out for you!!

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