rant on

Ben West

Ben West

rock corps
Joined
Oct 6, 2005
Location
candler nc
took my wifes new car(CX-7, had it around four months) back to the dealership (Skyland automotive in Asheville) this week because the fuel milage was dropping rapidly.
went from averaging 19-20mpg around town, to 16 now its down to 12-13mpg, with only 6k miles on the car. the "computer screen" in the cars says it and doing a calculation by hand (which i did before ever taking it in) says the same thing, the mileage is dropping.

now, i have bought 4 or 5 new cars from this dealership in the last 15 years, so i am/was a repeat customer.
well, we told them that we would like to just get a different car and that they should give us the high trade in value for the car (which would keep us from going under on another) and we would pick out something different.

soooo....this is the first thing that made me unhappy with them.

the sales manager came back and offered us 4k less than trade in value. fuck him

the next thing was that the service guys try and tell me that is getting 30mpg, and that there was nothing wrong with the car. They said they did a manual calculation, so i had to ask if they even knew how do simple division.
i have never seen a AWD Turbo CX-7 that gets even close to 30mpg, the base models dont even get that kind of mileage. fuck them

then they wanted us to pay for the gas they used doing the warranty work. i was done with them after that.

i am going to trade this car off next week and get something else from a different dealership and i will never buy another car from Skyland Automotive in Asheville.

rant off
 
Some dealerships are just sorry. There is a reason the old saying goes "The warranty is only as good as the dealership". I have been fortunate to have a great relationship with my local GM dealer and even though I buy all my trucks used they still treat me like I bought them new from them.
 
Everyone looks rosy when there collecting money from you. When you need something from them is when their true colors shine through.

I've seen it with sales people & college Enrollment staff. I'm a pretty straight forward person so I try see through their tactics. I find calling them on it quickly leads to really knowing what kind of service your going to get. I guess enough people like the special attention that it's still a popular method.
 
Them asking you for fuel money is BS.
Expecting them to give you a new car because your fuel mileage is not as good as it was new is unrealistic on your part. They should fix the issue if there is one, but they do not owe you anything towards a trade in.


I always heard great things about skyland, but then again my tie there isnt there any more.
 
Ron my thoughts were the same, but I re-read - YoterBoy said he only asked for high trade-in value, not a replacement car. He's pissed that they offered even substantially less than KBB trade. My interpretation is that the only "benefit" he expects is a little "loyal customer" payback. Which, these days... may or may not still be unrealistic...

Now... I see it like this, though. If you wanted a decent trade value for the car - you shouldn't have told them there was something wrong with it!
Sales guy is thinking the value of the car is lower b/c it obviously needs some work, so he's taking that off your bottom line. While that sucks... it IS technically his job to do that.

Re telling you the MPGs are fine - that's just retarded. THAT's a good reason to be pissed.
 
I'm shocked that it ever got anywhere close to 20mpg on a city cycle. 13 sounds more realistic.
 
Sucks man. I might have tried Skyland if Jody was still there, bummer you don't have any pull. I guess they have to make lota of coin so they can pay for a tv commercial every 15 minutes.
 
"Expecting them to give you a new car because your fuel mileage is not as good as it was new is unrealistic on your part."


i totally disagree with you on that part.

when your fuel mileage has went from 19mpg to 12mpg in three weeks time. there is something wrong with the car, and if they cant fix it they need to trade me out for something else without me taking a big loss on it.
i do not believe that it is unrealistic that the car should get the same fuel mileage as it had 6000 miles ago when i bought it, the car is brand new and only has 6000 miles on it total.
if you bought a new car that was advertised as getting 19-20 mpg, and got 19-20mpg for the first three months. are you telling me that you wouldnt be upset when one month later it was getting 12mpg.

at this rate it will be getting 5 gallons to the mile in a couple months.

and no a 12-13mpg average, is not realistic at all. this isnt a city cycle , 80-90% of my driving is interstate.
my 8.1 crew cab gets 10mpg on the interstate, thats realistic. i expect more from a 4cyl that was advertised at 19-20.

and i didnt ask for a new car, i asked them to fix it, under the warranty. when they apparently couldnt fix it, i asked for them to trade me out on something else.
 
I agree with you, for what they have made on you over the years, they should have made a better deal than you asked for just to keep the repeat business.

We bought an Escape from Martin Family Ford in Morganton. It was a factory demo with about 6000 miles. After we got it home and was trying to reset the keyless entry, we realized that the card with the original code wasn't in the car. Understandable since it was a demo. I went back to the dealership the following Monday and asked that they read the code for me. They said sure for $50. To quote you FUCK THEM! After about 10 minutes arguing with the service manager.... I left. I will never buy from them again.
 
Ben, lemme know if I can help you guys out at all. I stay in contact with the service dept there and still know who to "bitch to". Just holler.
 
thanks jody, i wish i had just dropped the extra coin and bought that grand cherokee now.

i have cooled down some now and will run another tank of fuel through it and take it back if it hasnt improved any.
been researching lemon laws and apparently they get four chances to get it fixed, then i can look into forcing a full refund or a new car from them.
i dont want to go that route, i wish that they would just do the right thing and work with me.
 
Last edited:
yoderboy said:
been researching lemon laws and apparently they get four chances to get it fixed, then i can look into forcing a full refund or a new car from them.
i dont want to go that route, i wish that they would just do the right thing and work with me.
Click to expand...

FYI I have a friend who went through this, and said at the end of the day it was hardly worth it, if a buy-back is what you're after. Expect to lose $.50-1.00 more per mile on the odometer since you've had it. Now that was in MD, so rules may be slightly different but I wouldn't count on it.
 
FWIW, now you are more in line with my way of thinking. They absolutely owe you a car that is working properly. The channel for that is warranty repair. Warranty work costs the dealership as they liekly wont be able to back charge the manufacturer if their tech did a failed diagnosis. IMHO nothing entitles any owner to any trade value. You are entitled to get it fixed though. thats the point I was hoping to make.

RatLabGuy said:
FYI I have a friend who went through this, and said at the end of the day it was hardly worth it, if a buy-back is what you're after. Expect to lose $.50-1.00 more per mile on the odometer since you've had it. Now that was in MD, so rules may be slightly different but I wouldn't count on it.
Click to expand...

Obviously a different state and case but when Ford/Dale Jarrett Ford bought my 6.0 back....I came out well to the good. I bought the truck on an X plan deal, and got reimbursed invoice (which was about 3-5% above X plan) plus I got about $600 for add ons (bedliner and steps, I think) Plus an allowance for time and expense in dealing with the repairs.
 
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