InsaneJournal

Current location:	Irwin House
Current mood:	moody
Current music:	Fuel - Won't Back Down
Entry tags:	bad dave, car dealership, front crossmember recall, horrible service, kia sorento, suzuki vitara

You want me to pay for your mistake now?
Getting up at seven thirty am is not my idea of fun. I don't like getting up early. But I had to, in order to get the stupid car over to the Courtesy Suzuki to get this recall thing fixed up.


So kissin' Neko good-bye, I head out. After wadin' through the construction, I end up at the wrong side of the dealership before being told where the real service place was. I find it easily, via BIG RED signs 'n at. So I go in, tell them my name, that I only want the recall thing fixed. They tell me an hour, so I nod and go off to wander around. I'm on the prowl for a new car. I've been dying for the past few months to trade in my craptastic car and figured I'd finally get around to it today.

It takes me all of fifteen minutes to see their used section. Not much, but I see some prices I like and roll it into my head as I go back in. Another customer waiting for his car to be fixed sits in front of me and we chat a bit. He's a nice guy, has a super sweet old Chevy as his baby, showed me a pic and everything.

So when this Dave guy walks over and informs me about my car, I listen up. He takes great care to inform me about the recall part that was broken. As follows;

-My car is one of the many that didn't get the correct amount of corrosion protection in my front suspension crossmember.

-He tells me that in order to fix it, they might have to take off the brackets that are connected to the crossmember, and if they do, it'll be $80.

I stare at him and reiterate what he tells me. "So in order to fix something that's on recall, you're going to charge me eighty bucks?"

"That's only if we have to remove the brackets. You see, they have massive corrosion damage, so seperating them from the crossmember will be very difficult."

I think for a moment, then narrow my eyes, "is there anyway to fix it without removing the brackets?"

"We'll have to see," he replies.

This doesn't sit well with me, as I read that letter from "Dear Suzuki Customer" to the squiggly signature of the person. I was not to be charged for anything that deals with the recall, but here they are telling me that I have to pay for bracket replacement even though it's the ONLY way to fix the crossmember? (and sure he said "if", but the tone he was using made me nervous that they WERE going to take it off, needed or not)

No dice, Dave.

I tell him to wait a moment, as I didn't have the money, and picked up my cell and immediately went outside to call my dad. After playing phone tag for fifteen minutes, I finally get a hold of him and tell him what they just told me. My dad sounds furious.

"No. Do not pay that," is what he said. With a firm nod, I tell him I'll call him back and head in.

Dave looks at me as I stare at him in the eyes and give him a curt smile. "I'll just take my car back, please."

"Then you want to reschedule?"

I should've said "yes" and then made up some schedule date. But I was nervous and simply told him that I was going to take the car to MY mechanic. He stared at me a good five seconds, to which I sweated and kept his stare as I have been told by several people when you're dealing with car salesmen and the like; be tough and be a bitch.

"Sure, Laura, just go ahead and sit."

I give him five mental points for saying my name correctly but don't take a seat. I stand and simply stare around. The nice guy didn't say anything else to me, which was fine. I was nervous, as this pretty much is my first time dealing with a car dealership by myself.

Dave came over and asked me to come with him to the shop area. My alarms immediately went off. "Scare tactic" is what came to mind. So with a hard look on my face, I followed him.

The car was up in the air and the mechanic showed me my rusted bottom. I could see a hole in the right bracket, but I knew that had been there for at least a few months. As he pointed to the rusted area, the mechanic at least sounded like a nice guy.

"You see this crack?" he said, pointing to what vaguely looked like rust with a ring. "If you hit a medium pothole, that's gonna break and hit into your engine. You're gonna loose control. It'll be dangerous."

I stare at the two of them and give them another smile, "I'd just like my mechanic to see it, but thank you."

The two gawk at me (Honest) before Dave pipes up, "well, then, you're going to have to sign a form saying that your car isn't safe to drive."

My heart thuds in my chest as I simply nod. My head's going a mile a minute; what the fuck is going on? My car's survived thousands of miles, but maybe what they're saying is right. Maybe the next pothole will be my last. I shouldn't sign that paper, what'll it do for my insurance. Fuck, I have NO clue what to do!!!!

They tell me it'll be a few minutes to get my car off of the suspension and I turn to return to the waiting room. But I head straight outside to call Schweikarth's, my family's mechanic for the past upteen years and explained the situation to them. I probably sounded a bit shaken to them, but they were nice as always.

"...and I just don't know about this, I really would feel more safe if you took a look at my car."

"Yeah, that don't sound right, bring it in," Larry assured me. There was a pause before he asked if I still had the recall letter. I did, thankfully, and he told me to bring it. I agreed and hung up.

When I came back in, I waited for about fifteen minutes before Dave called me over. He told me to sign some papers saying that they looked at my car and I refused it to be fixed. I read those papers and didn't care that he kept shuffling beside me and kept assuring me that the papers read what he said. I didn't trust him at this point.

I shot him a look and asked if it would affect my policy or anything like that. He replied that it wouldn't, but when (when) my bracket fails, I can't blame Suzuki. Satisfied with that, I signed away and headed straight to Schweikarth's.

When I saw Larry, I told him how they showed me the car and the shop and just how it didn't sit right that they wanted to charge me something when it was the ONLY solution to fix my car. He nodded, silently took the letter and left to go look at my car.

A few minutes later, he put my mind to rest.

"What they do, it's called Double Dipping," he explained. "Y'see, the big offices pay the dealerships for anything that they have to fix in order to fix a recall. And so they figure they can squeeze a few bucks outta those who don't know. Now, your car's fine. A few years, yeah, bracket might break. But defintely not now."

I knew it!! The nice mechanic suddenly wasn't so nice anymore.

"I want you to call Suzuki and ask 'em for the District Zone Manager. You tell him what you told me. If they ask for any money, don't pay. You tell me what answer you get and if they still tell you to pay, you get me and I'll investigate into this."

I felt like I could hug the oil covered man. I wasn't paranoid! I did the right thing! Thanking him with a big smile, I head on out. I pull into the Lumpy's parking lot and give Suzuki a call.

What I should have done was ask directly for the District Zone Manager. But the lady on the line sounded like she could help me, so I told her my problem.

What I got was interrupted a lot. Every time I'd go to explain my fear, she'd immediately tell me that at times repairs of recalls don't cover everything.

"But they told me that they'd HAVE to remove the-"

"It was with Courtesy, correct ma'am? I'm going to give them a call, so hold on."

Before I could tell her no, she placed me on hold. Now I defintely felt like it was two against one. Undoubtedly the Dave guy would spin something different and since she barely listened to a word I said, I felt that she was going in uninformed and probably assumed that I was another weasel trying not to pay for something.

My cheeks flushed as I waited. I knew what she would say when she got back.

"Okay, so I spoke with Dave. Now, as the letter states, corrosion is inevitable on the front crossmember and it will spread to the brackets, causing damage. If your car starts-"

"Shaking, yes ma'am, I have the letter right here," I talk over her (for a change). "Look, I just find it... Argh, I'm just cautious because I have to pay to remove the brackets in order to fix the crossmember, which is covered under the recall. So why-"

"Yes, just as the letter states ma'am, it-"

"Thank you so much for your time," I speak over her and wish her a good day before hanging up.

And then it hit me.

I reread the letter just to be sure and yes, the lightbulb was right.

The letter itself states "The corrosion may advance and cause rust-through perforation of the crossmember in the area of the left and/or right front lower control arm attachment brackets. As the corrosion progresses, the crossmember will become thinner and the perforations will grow in size. If there are a substantial amount of large perforations, the left and/or right front lower control arm attachment brackets will become weakened and begin to flex. ... Corrosion may progress over time until the front lower control arm bracket separates from the crossmember."

That's right. Because they didn't protect the crossmember correctly, it rusted faster. And because it rusted faster, it caused the brackets to accelerate in their rust as well. And they still wanted me to pay to remove the brackets because they had corrosion damage and because of that corrostion damage it would be hard to remove the damaged crossmember and you see the circle here? I know they said maybe, but when they took me to the shop, it really looked like it would be the beginning of a domino effect.

After the bracket removal, undoubtedly I'd have to pay for new brackets. And then the labor to put in the new brackets. And then perhaps something would be wrong with the steering or with the wires and who knows what else. But that simple $80 could've turned into $1000 or higher. I saw some of their paperwork. Nothing was under $900.

I was fuming and vowed to never get a car from there or even take my car back. I'd rather drive to the other side of Pittsburgh to get it fixed.

So after helping Granma out and cleaning her house 'n at, I headed over to #1 Cochran. A lot of people told me not to go, but I figured that's where I got the Vitara so maybe the trade-in will be simpler.

Long story short, I WANT a 2003 Kia Sorento. I wanted it so bad, but kept that inside and simply gave the guy who was helping me a cold smile and a "maybe, depends on the price, Rick". All went through a-okay, but when it came to the payment, I refused to move from the $200 mark.

So I didn't get it. *sob* Stupid banks...

But Rick said he'd keep me updated, so I'll just have to wait. Good news is at least they'll take my shitty car back and that'll add to the price of a car. When Rick calls, I'm gonna tell him to keep an eye out for a Kia Sorento. OMG I want a Sorento.


All-in-all, a very disappointing day. I really wanted a new car, but I guess that'll have to wait. At least I know I can hold my own and do it pretty swell. I marched in and told the guy what I wanted and he stayed to that, didn't sway from it.

But shit if I ever buy a Suzuki again.

.