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Banned from a dealer

8597 Views 26 Replies 17 Participants Last post by  Sharky
As some of you know, I have had many problems with the dealer I bought my car from, especially about the paint. Recently, I finally had them agree to fix my lip spoiler and a chip in the door they caused. I gave the car to them and they took it to their body shop while I got a rental paid by the dealer. Today, I went to pick up the car.

I took a look at the car. The corner of the lip spoiler where they had damaged it was fixed but everything else was the way it was or in worse shape than when I brought it in. They had applied the spoiler incorrectly before I bought the car and it was still on wrong. I assumed they would take the spoiler off and repaint the whole thing, but all they did was tape it off and did that one little corner, maybe 2cm x 2cm. On the rear bumper, they left a scratch about 3 inches and a scrape just below that. On the passenger side door, they chipped the paint similar to the driver side door and they put a bunch of touch up paint on it. It looks awful. They tried to touch up the driver side and although not as bad as the passenger side, it still is pretty bad. When I told them about the extra damage, they told me that I had done that.

I had checked the whole car before I left my house and I took pictures of all the damage I could find. All the ones I had mentioned were not there before dropping the car off. They claim that they took pictures of the car after I dropped it off and that the damage was there before they touched it. I asked for the pictures and the lady said she'd have someone email them to her. I couldn't take it anymore and I started yelling and cursing at them. She called some other service person over and they were both telling me that the paint damage was there before they touched the car. He went inside and came back out and told me that I was no longer welcome back into the dealership at all for service or anything else. I laughed and said **** you.

I called a lawyer and she recommended I contact a person called Clark Howard. The service lady kept bugging me about giving back the rental keys and I gave them back after she said that I would have to pay for another day of rental if she doesn't have the keys. She also kept bugging me to sign the service papers so I would leave. The lawyer said I should sign the paper but write on the bottom what I mentioned above. I wrote that and signed and the service lady wrote that she tried to show me pictures or something. I didn't read what she wrote but signed off on it anyway. (I couldn't think straight. Just wanted to get out of there). I took my keys and left.

Also, when I bought the car, I pre-paid for maintenance for three year (which was very very stupid I know. please don't post about how dumb that was) and seeing as how I am banned from that dealership, I want my money back. Should I make them pay me back for that? I am left with a car that has scratches and swirl marks of a 10 year old car and the perpetrators who damaged my car are total ass hats. I definitely plan on taking legal action. What are my chances of winning what is owed to me? They are probably going to use the fact that I drove the car and I did it as a defense.
How can I make the dealer suffer? Am I allowed to post signs and stuff like that informing people of the crap that dealer hands out, as long as it is truthful?

Quite honestly, I know it's the dealer's fault but this experience will definitely keep me from buying another Kia. I love my car but this is unacceptable. I will be contacting Kia Corporate and see what they do. This car was made in my birth country and I am ashamed that there are dealers like this that Kia would sell cars to.
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Could you possibly obtain previous owner info through your dmv by tracking the vin? Freedom of information act maybe?
Some of life's lessons are more expensive than others. Best wishes.
Could you possibly obtain previous owner info through your dmv by tracking the vin? Freedom of information act maybe?
you should be able to have the DMV to help you out. at least they would be able to confirm or deny it and with a lawyer there is a much higher chance you could get the documents released to vs yourself. do you have all of the documents from the times you have taken the car back to the dealership? if so this will be helpful to show its an ongoing issue. the pics could help even without a timestamp to show as a time log IF you can see work done to the car. its not solid proof without a timestamp on the photo's but its better than nothing! as for the dealership "banning" you is a crock of ****. i would call up the general manager and file a complaint with him. i would also take your lawyer to the dealership and make them provide all of the documents to you. photo's, written reports, ect. also since they have now voided your contract with them for repairs you can easily get your money back from them. also i would contact the better business bureau and get an investigation spinning up. bring as much heat to those fools as possible :). never let them win!!! also get quotes for the damage and i would file a law suit for that cost + an extra 1,000 or so for the hassle and stress they have caused. if the dealership sent your car off to some other shop but you turning it over to the dealership they are still responsible for it. sure, you yelled at them. big whoop, they ****** your 30,000 dollar car up. if they want to handle their job like this they should be fired. ***NOTE TO ALL***: when taking cars in to dealerships for body work take a polaroid camera with you (30 bucks, the kind that spits the photo's out). time stamp them on the back and have you and a manager sign them for your records. also in the paper work write down every mark and request the dealership/shop to do a walk over also and make all notes and then you sign it in agreement. this way when something else turns up and its not noted now they have no grounds one bit. if a shop is not willing to do this go elsewhere!good luck man on the car, dont quit and once a lawyer comes to the shop to tell them they are going to face a lawsuit i bet they will become more willing to fix the issue CORRECTLY!
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dumb military computers... removed my spacing for the post above. will fix it when i get off work to make it easier to read.
Could you possibly obtain previous owner info through your dmv by tracking the vin? Freedom of information act maybe?
They usually wont give out the previous owners information, that interferes with the privacy laws.

you should be able to have the DMV to help you out. at least they would be able to confirm or deny it and with a lawyer there is a much higher chance you could get the documents released to vs yourself. do you have all of the documents from the times you have taken the car back to the dealership? if so this will be helpful to show its an ongoing issue. the pics could help even without a timestamp to show as a time log IF you can see work done to the car. its not solid proof without a timestamp on the photo's but its better than nothing! as for the dealership "banning" you is a crock of ****. i would call up the general manager and file a complaint with him. i would also take your lawyer to the dealership and make them provide all of the documents to you. photo's, written reports, ect. also since they have now voided your contract with them for repairs you can easily get your money back from them. also i would contact the better business bureau and get an investigation spinning up. bring as much heat to those fools as possible :). never let them win!!! also get quotes for the damage and i would file a law suit for that cost + an extra 1,000 or so for the hassle and stress they have caused. if the dealership sent your car off to some other shop but you turning it over to the dealership they are still responsible for it. sure, you yelled at them. big whoop, they ****** your 30,000 dollar car up. if they want to handle their job like this they should be fired. ***NOTE TO ALL***: when taking cars in to dealerships for body work take a polaroid camera with you (30 bucks, the kind that spits the photo's out). time stamp them on the back and have you and a manager sign them for your records. also in the paper work write down every mark and request the dealership/shop to do a walk over also and make all notes and then you sign it in agreement. this way when something else turns up and its not noted now they have no grounds one bit. if a shop is not willing to do this go elsewhere!good luck man on the car, dont quit and once a lawyer comes to the shop to tell them they are going to face a lawsuit i bet they will become more willing to fix the issue CORRECTLY!
8 times out of 10 law suits are settled in mediation or out of court. I would also file a complaint with the Attorney General's office for your state. I did that against a insurance company when a girl hit me and her insurance company didn't want to pay for it. As soon as they know that the AG has started looking into the case they'll straighten their act up.
Update!!

So, slowly, I've been trying to get things done about the car and a couple days ago, I got a return call from Kia corporate. When I told them about the scratches on my car, the lady said, "Well that might be possible with a pre-owned car, and we can't do anything unless it is a manufacturing defect."

Now when I bought the car, the dealer told me NEW car. I asked where the 965 miles came from and they told me "test drives." When I told the lady that I bought the car new, she said that their (Kia's) records show that the car was purchased previously and that it might have been a deal that fell through before a title was issued.

I'm no lawyer but shouldn't that be something the dealer should have mentioned even once out of the many times I asked? And they also don't report anything to Carfax.

I feel like I have a pretty good case against them and is supported by multiple other complaints filed to the BBB by other people who purchased or dealt with cobb county kia.
I wonder if the local news would help your case. FOX 5 I-Team | myfoxatlanta.com
My dad was always an expert at playing the lawyer card. "Walk softy, but carry a big stick." You might be surprised how many folks will re-evaluate the situation when they think legal action may be warranted...as long as they think you are serious and you intend to follow through.

It's a tough situation and my heart goes out to you. I hope everything works out for you.
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