I meant to do a wrap up on my tale of woe involving my Mazda3.
Shortly after my post, I contacted a couple of lemon law attorneys about my situation. It turns out that the lemon law only applies to manufacturer defects, not dealer mishaps. I read the actual text of the statute and the fluff PDF the state puts out for the public and couldn't find any such distinction, but I'm no attorney so what do I know.
I also checked 'the Google' for word combos like 'Ricart' and 'Fraud' and the first page that came up was this one, a page dedicated to Ricart (which hasn't been updated in years and they didn't return my email). According to that site, I was pretty much out of luck. It turns out that filing a complaint with the Attorney General's office would get me referred to a mediation board run by the dealer's association and staffed by car salesmen. Mr. Ricard supposedly sits on the board of said group. I have no idea if this is still true, or if in fact it ever was true, but even so it was going to be me against one of the largest dealers in the country. Not good odds.
I then took the car into Ricart and talked over my situation with the service manager, the body shop manager and their boss. I showed them the problems I had, the issue with the door seals and how I felt lied to. The big guy did all the talking and seemed generally concerned that I be taken care of. Maybe he's just good at his job.
We made an appointment and the car went in the following Monday. I got a rental Corolla (yawn). Part of the deal was that I was to get to see what they found out when they opened up the doors. I went down there and it was a very dissatisfying experience. There was no smoking gun, no place you could point and say "See! That's not right!" The body shop manager tried to play it off in several ways. Looks like someone tried to break into the car. The right and left trim were different. We even checked a very ratty Mazda3 on their used lot and found that not to be the case. He then called Mazda to see if the parts had changed causing them to fit differently. Nope.
In the end, after another week in the shop I'm told my car is done. They did not replace the door skins, they were able to straiten everything without that. I'm skeptical, but when I show up to get the car, they look pretty darn good. I'm pleasantly surprised. They reworked the putty that was a mess and somehow got the seals to line up like they should. I'm not sure how, and I'm not sure I want to know. I decided it was time to move on.
So I now have a car that I'm more or less OK with. I still love the looks, interior and how it drives. One good thing was that they also replaced my stolen rear emblem and touched the paint up for free.
I learned 2 lessons from this saga:
- Never buy a car from Ricart. Maybe I'm over generalizing here, but it seemed that this was par for the course for them. I'm not just talking about their reputation as evidenced by that web site. I'm talking about the demeanor of the staff. For the most part, they were not alarmed that this had happened. Nor did they even remotely share my feelings that this was out of line and even fraudulent. If anything, their attitude showed that I was a thorn in their side and they simply wanted to do what they needed to get me to go away.
- never buy a car with 'minor damage'. If a dealer tells you that, run and don't look back. If you must chase that savings, get a detailed report of that was repaired and look that area over very carefully. Even better, have an independent body shop look at it. Had I gotten a detailed report, I believe that I would have noticed the problems with those doors. I would have also known that the damage was not minor and would have likely passed on the car.
Well, you live and learn. I suspect that this isn't over completely. Oh, I won't have to deal with Ricart again, but as the car ages I suspect that those doors and the other repairs will not age as gracefully as the rest of the car. There's really nothing more I can do and dragging it out further with legal action is only going to keep me emotionally worked up until it's done. I'd rather just let it go. It's only a car, after all, it's not going to last ultimately.
I have several thoughts now that the whole story has been told, as epic as it was.
You get what you pay for. For trying to save some money, you ended up with, what, a year or two of heart ache? Yikes dude, its been a serious drag.
Second thought is that while I have read up on your various blogs on the issue, I just kept thinking, "wow, it would sure be nice to have a new car at all!"
That Richart fraud website shows quite a bit of info. I hate shopping for cars anyway, (ours our 97's and still running good thank God!).
P. - I understand your point that hey he should be grateful he has the money to buy a new car when many can't afford one. And, many around the world still walk. This goes into the whole "we're spoiled brats living in America" thing. Still, whether you buy a $15000 car in America or a $15 bike in Africa if you are lied to and feel cheated it's still the same. Though perspective should help some.
You are both right.
In hindisght, was the roughly $1,500 - $2,000 saved worth all the pain? Well, in short, no. But there's more to consider. As a car guy, what I drive is more important to me than for most folks. This particular car was spot on to what I wanted to get. Good looking, pretty economical, quick, nimble and versatile. No other new or fairly recent used car fit the bill as well. Without that savings, I wasn't able to get into this model. It was new in 2004 and even prices on used ones were out of my reach. The next best option was the 2003 version of the previous model, the Mazda Protge5. It has less power, is less refined and a much more mundane look.
Factoring all that in, I'd say I'm happy to have gotten into a Mazda3, even with the pain I've gone through. Without the extra discount, I couldn't have.
As BEG said, It's never fun to be cheated, no matter what the value. That said, I have something most in the world, and many in this country, don't get to experience - a brand new car. The perspective is a valuable thing. I have no greater right than anyone to have such a thing. At the end of the day, it's still a new car with lots of bells and whistles and a lot nicer than my old car. Keeping that in mind helps.
No offense, but it sounds like the dealer ended up going out of their way to fix the problems, and your final recommendation was to tell people not to buy from them? What incentive do dealers have to solve problems if that is your attitude. You can say you did not enjoy your experience, but ultimately you were take care of - but to say don't buy there - you're just a jerk.
Ken,
Maybe you should read his other posts before passing judgement.
Your right, dealers have incentive to fix problems so people recommend them and hopefully come back. I would think most cars have problem and most dealers admit there's a problem and fix it. If you find a dealer that lies to you, swindles you and tries to say the problem is due to your fault when it was clearly theirs you would not recommend them even if they did fix it. Why go there when there are many other dealers with good service records?
Also, if you look at Salgouds' record he has had even more severe problems with his Honda and they fixed it and went above and beyond the call of duty. And, I know he'd buy from them again.
Thanks BEG!
To sun up the prior post (for those who don't click through):
- Car is seriously damaged on the lot and repaired poorly.
- Damage is disclosed to me as 'minor' and 'to the RR'. In reality, the entire R side of the car had been replaced or reworked.
- Car spends 6 weeks of it's first 14 months in the shop (that's 7 trips to 2 different dealers) correcting the repair.
- During that time, I have to repeatedly point out obvious flaws to the dealer and even bring the Mazda rep in to force the dealer to replace the bumper they maintained wasn't flawed.
In the end, I guess you could say they made it right. You can't say they went out of their way to do so.Beg, thanks for that, I guess I wasn't thinking perspective as much as myself. I mean, don't get me wrong, IF I could buy a new car, I WOULD! Well, maybe, I am kinda a used car guy. I figure that at three or four years old, the trany and brakes have already recycle once, and well into the second round, and it is ready to go. BUT that is because I have NEVER had a new car, not even my parents growing up.
Ken, please read the whole journey! This brother has really put up with a lot from those guys. I know him personally, and he's not a jerk. Me however, sometimes under my breath...
Sorry about the bad experience with the dealer. I've gotten so many "how's the new car working for you?" calls that I'm starting to wonder if they are stalking me.
Funny I'm still learning how stuff works so I was looking a the dashboard diagnostics thingy in the car while waiting for my Burger King drive thru and it honked, the guy opened the window and started to apologize to me for the wait I was trying to explain that it's a new car and I wasn't honking the car was. I don't think he bought it. My kids were laughing hysterically at me. I gotta read the manual again. Sunroof not the light switch. . . .