Hey all,

Need some help of someone with some knowledge of the automotive sales world. I know the parts and service side inside and out pretty much, as I work in the field, but sales it kind of a mystery to me still. Reason I am asking, I am having some issues with my recently purchased 2005 G35 coupe. They replaced my clutch under warranty for the sale, since the flywheel and pressure plate were junked. Since the replacement I have heard a lot of chatter, sounds like the throw out bearing, and I have taken it to two different Infiniti dealers, owned by the same people though, and both said that the noise was normal. My personal mechanic said that it did not sound normal, a few of my co-workers (mechanics) say it is not normal, as well as numerous friends who are well educated in the automotive field. Now take a second from that portion of the problem and move on to the second part of the situation. There was a painted personal pin stripe on the car, the salesperson and myself agreed that it would be taken car of as part of the purchase. Their detail department did not feel comfortable performing the work, so I asked if I could get it done elsewhere and bring them the bill to refund me, which they agreed to. I gave the dealership the invoice for the removal of the pin strip almost a month ago and have yet to receive a refund check. Not to mention they tried to sell me a "Certified" vehicle with tires that all fail Pennsylvania State Inspection and with a bad clutch and flywheel. Not to mention a few problems that are fairly consistent that they somehow can not seem to replicate; such as a power window that gets stuck down often, and as I said I work in the field so I realize problems are not always easy to replicate, but all my problems are distinct, I told them all the specifics to make them occur, and they commonly occur in my daily usage. Now to combine the two and ask my question. I am a bit fed up with the fact that I know my transmission has an abnormal chatter and they will not do anything about it, and that they have not refunded my money yet. Is there anything I can do to try and return the car and break our legal binding? Thanks for any and all help.

Rob

 

unless the pin stripe removal is in the paperwork, they dont have to pay up. Sounds like they tried to correct the clutch problem but may have failed to install a new throwout bearing. In these penny pinching times it may have visually looked ok. If the electrical problems cannot be re-created within the warranty period, there isnt much they can do. But stay on top of them to get any parts replaced under warranty. Keep close records of all work done and any issues with the car, research lemon laws, research your rights buying a certified vehicle.

 

Sucks bro ..sorry to hear that ..

Hope it all works out in the end ..and your happy .

 

I work in car sales and what they have said is correct. If there is no paperwork on the pinstripe then there is nothing binding them to pay you. However, if they are any kind of decent business you should talk to the sales manager. Explain what was agreed to between you and the salesman and see if he is willing to step up and make it right. When you talk to him just be calm and have everything laid out so you present a decent case, you wouldn't believe the way some people act when they are trying to get something done. Being confrontational right away won't make things any easier. As far as the windows, I know it's frustrating to have an intermittent problem but dealers are not allowed to replace parts under warranty that they cannot verify are faulty. For the clutch issue I would take it to another Infiniti dealer to get a second opinion outside of the franchise you purchased the car from. If things are not resolved that way you can ask for the contact information for the Infiniti zone manager where you live and see what he can do for you.

If all that fails you can look at lemon laws or consumer protection laws. They are different for every state as far as the stipulations to qualify. I had a 2004 GTO that spent 47 days in the shop in 11 months. Needless to say I was not happy. There are usually two ways to go with this. First is the lemon law where the manufacturer buys back your vehicle. What you need to watch out for on this is that they can deduct for the mileage that you put on the vehicle since it was purchased. The other route is the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, which is what I used. Basically it is used to determine damages based on a faulty product. My attorney explained it as "if someone knew the product had said problems, how much would they have paid for it." I paid $24,000 for the GTO and after the negotiations it was determined that the problems were worth $6,000 in damages. In this case I kept the GTO and was awarded $6,000 from GM. The nice thing also is that if you prevail, the losing party has to pay your legal fees. For my case that was $2,250. Most consumer protection law firms examine your case for you and won't even take them if they aren't sure you have a very good shot at winning. Hopefully things will not have to go that far for you but if they do you can pm me and I will let you know who I used, they handle cases all over the country.