Auto dealership ethics and a question

[encorehunter]

Last year I purchased a packet of coupons for 8 oil changes for $125. I took my truck in for the first one and they changed the oil and called me when it was ready. I went to pick it up, and the guy behind the counter told me the front end needed a complete rebuild and it was unsafe to drive. This was a shock to me as the truck is older, but it only has 48K miles on it. I told him I would take it to my normal mechanic and let him do the work. He does the front end work on all of my vehicles. The guy at the dealership told me I could not drive MY truck off the lot or he would call the police on me. I called a friend, went and got my car hauler and my big truck, went and picked up my truck and went straight to my mechanic. He looked at it, told me one of the ball joints had a torn boot, he could order the parts and have it fixed in a day after getting the parts. I asked him if it was safe to drive, and he told it should be fine to drive for months. Everything else was fine except for the one torn boot. When I mentioned why I brought it on a trailer, he said he has had several people come in from the same dealership.

Is it legal for them to threaten to call the police or even keep you keys? I have already paid them for their service. I have to take it in for another service soon, and I am wondering if I should call the police if they try and keep my truck again. I was thinking about reporting it stolen if they refuse to give it back.

[ray1970]

That's messed up.

its your property and they have no right to tell you what to do with it.

i think I would ask to speak the the general manager or owner of the dealership.

i had a salesman try to keep the keys to my vehicle once. I test drove a vehicle and when I came back I told him I wasn't interested and he didn't want to give me my keys until we had a chance to discuss a deal. I told him, in no uncertain terms, that he had twenty seconds to get my keys before I drove his new car right into and through the showroom.

needless to say, I had my keys in hand in about ten seconds and I left.

[tmleadr03]

Not legal.

[streetglideok]

Not legal.

+1
Should have dared them to call the police. If they did, they would likely find out they were in the wrong for trying to detain your vehicle once your bill has been paid. What kind of vehicle is it? There are a small number of vehicles with rather cheap OE front end parts prone to failure at an early age. Torn grease boots do not constitute a safety hazard or out of service order. With non-greaseable joints, it usually means the joint will fail sooner than later, as moisture will collect in it.

[Wulf202]

142-9-111. Prohibited acts.
(1) No motor vehicle repair fac
ility or any employee or contract
laborer of such facility shall:
(a) Charge for repairs which have not been consen
ted to by the customer
or charge for repairs
in excess of amounts allowed by this article;
(b) Represent that repairs are nece
ssary when such is not a fact;
(c) Represent that repairs have been
performed when such is not a fact;
(d) Represent that a mo
tor vehicle or motor ve
hicle part being diagnosed is in dangerous
condition when such is not a fact....
any motor vehicle repair
facility or any employee of such facility who violates section 42-9-111 is guilty of a
misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a
fine of not less than fivehundred dollars nor more than
one thousand dollars per violation. No portion of the
minimum fine for repeat offenders shall be suspended...


42-9-113. Civil penalties.
In any civil action for the enforcement of
this article, the court may award reasonable
attorney fees and costs to the prevailing pa
rty, and a customer sha
ll be entitled to treble
damages for failure of any moto
r vehicle repair facility or an
y employee of such facility to
comply with this article, except for clerical
errors or omissions; but in no event shall such
damages be less than two hundred fifty dollars
. The customer shall first make written
demand for the customer's dama
ges from the motor ve
hicle repair facility
by certified mail at
least ten days prior to the f
iling of any such action, exclusiv
e of Saturday, Sunday, and any
legal holiday. Such action shall
be brought within the time peri
od prescribed in section 13-
80-103, C.R.S

http://www.ahaautomotive.com/documen...Repair_Act.pdf

[encorehunter]

http://www.ahaautomotive.com/documen...Repair_Act.pdf

Thank you for that. I printed it off to have on hand when I take it in next. The truck is a 1989 Ford F-150 I purchased from the original owner. I do not remember the techs name as it was almost a year ago I got my oil changed. I normally do most of the maintenance on my vehicles, but when they were willing to do the work and provide supplies for almost half of what I can purchase the supplies for, I jumped on it.

[streetglideok]

Thank you for that. I printed it off to have on hand when I take it in next. The truck is a 1989 Ford F-150 I purchased from the original owner. I do not remember the techs name as it was almost a year ago I got my oil changed. I normally do most of the maintenance on my vehicles, but when they were willing to do the work and provide supplies for almost half of what I can purchase the supplies for, I jumped on it.

Those older fords do often need balljoints, etc with due mileage on them. With the low miles you stated, I doubt it would need them due to wear. I've seen too many service writers, or techs, or both at the stealerships that auto-write stuff on estimates of vehicles, for common problems whether it needs them or not. Case in point would be a Chevy Blazer comes in with the 4.3L engine. Either the tech or service writer puts down that intake gaskets are leaking, because it has 105k miles on it, and they are always leaking by then. They never popped the hood to see the customer had it done the last visit to an independent shop. Another one I saw a lot, they would automatically assume it needs brakes after 60k miles, and never bother to actually confirm this. Seen plenty of what tmleader has seen, customers wanting a second opinion or a better estimate with wads of cash in hand, only to find out it needs nothing.

[Ah Pook]

It amazes me the horror stories coming from dealerships. I wonder if they have ever actually called the cops and what proof they had to show? Sounds like a good way to kill repeat business.

My parents only deal with dealerships. They were charged over $300 to change the spark plugs and plug wires on a 15k motor. I told them that I would fly in and do their maintenance if that is what they would pay me.

[BigDee]

You should mention the name of this dealer so we all know what place to avoid like the plague.

[roberth]

The guy at the stealership probably tore the boot.