Bought a new car, turns out it's crap. Advice?

Lankysean

So I bought a pre-owned Acura TL, it's a 2010 with 31,000 miles on it. I got it on October 17th and since I've had it I've had to replace all the tires, all the filters, belts and breaks and it broke down. Today the car refused to start and once I did get it started every error message indicator light has popped up on the dash and the car refuses to turn off when I hit the button. I have to hit the start/stop button 5 times to get the car off. Also, didn't notice this when I bought the car, someone pointed it out the other day, but the passenger mirror is way larger than the driver side... almost like it's off a different model car. So here I am with this car that's just over 60 days since I got it and I'm sick of all these problems. I've spent more repairing the car than I've spent paying for the car. The car is under warranty but they wouldn't cover and of the belts and such are they are wearable items... but I am brining it in for service tomorrow to get this thing repaired. Anyway do I have any options in terms of getting rid of the car? Can I return it? There's gotta be some kind of "it's a piece of junk" return policy. I was thinking about trading it in, which will probably cost me a ton of money... I really hate this car right now.

Anyone got any advice for me? I'll check back here when I get back from work around 1am est.

zagdrob

Lankysean wrote: »

So I bought a pre-owned Acura TL, it's a 2010 with 31,000 miles on it. I got it on October 17th and since I've had it I've had to replace all the tires, all the filters, belts and breaks and it broke down. Today the car refused to start and once I did get it started every error message indicator light has popped up on the dash and the car refuses to turn off when I hit the button. I have to hit the start/stop button 5 times to get the car off. Also, didn't notice this when I bought the car, someone pointed it out the other day, but the passenger mirror is way larger than the driver side... almost like it's off a different model car. So here I am with this car that's just over 60 days since I got it and I'm sick of all these problems. I've spent more repairing the car than I've spent paying for the car. The car is under warranty but they wouldn't cover and of the belts and such are they are wearable items... but I am brining it in for service tomorrow to get this thing repaired. Anyway do I have any options in terms of getting rid of the car? Can I return it? There's gotta be some kind of "it's a piece of junk" return policy. I was thinking about trading it in, which will probably cost me a ton of money... I really hate this car right now.

Anyone got any advice for me? I'll check back here when I get back from work around 1am est.

Check on lemon laws for your state. Depending on where you live and the type of purchase (dealer vs. private party) you may be able to return it.

If you haven't already, do a Carfax on it.

Normally consumable stuff like tires, belts, etc are just a part of owning a car, and things you accept when you buy it. However, from the damage and type of car, it's possible it got beat on really bad by the previous owner. Lemon laws usually don't cover small stuff like that, but if you have a lingering problem that the manufacturer has repeatedly attempted to fix (like it not starting reliably) they may be obligated to accept a return.

You may also want to talk to the service and / or sales manager at the dealership. Bring up your issues, and tell them that you aren't happy with this car and want to know what your options are. Make a record and save any correspondence / receipts.

zepherin

It might still be under warranty, check that and see if you can get a warranty repair on it. If it's not because it has been totalled out or some such, take it to a good mechanic, you'll need to pay to get everything checked out. And see if the cost is worth it, also how much it would cost to buy the parts and DIY.

Wezoin

Also, if the first dealership (presumably the one you bought it from) you take it to for service won't acknowledge the problems with it (potentially to save themselves from having to admit its a lemon) then remember that another Acura dealership should look it at it under warranty as well.

Djeet

Check your state lemon laws, but usually it only applies if there are multiple attempts to fix the problem over a period of time, but the issue persists. Document everything so that if the issue persists you have the info to make a claim against the lemon law. You're out of luck on the wearable items; if you do choose to exchange for another used vehicle youll want to do as much inspection of wearable items as you can so you can get them to discount the purchase price.

For the mirror, as I understand it sellers are not required to disclose much outside of issues that resulted in a title status change (even then, titles can be washed).

Wezoin

They may not be required to disclose if a new mirror is on there (Although there should presumably be some record of the accident that led to the original mirror disappearing to begin with) you would expect that 'mirror not intended for the vehicle' would be something a warranty would cover.

zepherin

Wezoin wrote: »

Wezoin wrote: »

They may not be required to disclose if a new mirror is on there (Although there should presumably be some record of the accident that led to the original mirror disappearing to begin with) you would expect that 'mirror not intended for the vehicle' would be something a warranty would cover.

Except it is a used car, and the odd looking mirror was probably a junk yard fix.

Hawkstone

Lemon laws can be a very taxing process but you may have to go there. How reputable is the dealer where you bought this car? Many boast of a multipoint inspection on all cars they sell, if its truely that bad its possible you could threaten to lawyer up over it, sighting the inspection and see if that gets you somewhere. 31k is not a lot of miles so you may be able to recover some of this through the factory warranty...but like many said wearable items...you out of luck. Pretty much if its made of rubber consider it your problem. Its a scummy thing to do, selling a car that way, but they are within their rights to do it.

Lankysean

So Acura has the car right now, I'll see what they say caused the problem and report back here. I checked all my fuses and unplugged the battery hoping that would reset the computer before I had it towed in but it's still broken. I also checked the New Jersey lemon law and it's 3 repairs of the same system in under a year so basically I'm screwed.

zagdrob

You are pretty lucky, New Jersey has one of the best lemon laws in the country. Most places you are pretty much screwed with a used-car purchase.

nj.gov/lps/ca/brief/used.pdf

This pdf has a number that you can call for the New Jersey Lemon Law unit. They will be able to tell you if you qualify and they can help you. It looks like you probably won't, but it's worth a try.

I'm assuming you did buy this as a certified pre-owned vehicle from an Acura dealer. You should have some paperwork showing the results of their XXX point inspection, and get with the sales / service manager if the car passed inspection but had all of these issues with it. They should have some flexibility in helping you out, possibly even out of the car. If anything was reported fraudulently on the inspection, you may be able to convince them to take the car back and give you something else.

Tofystedeth

Hawkstone wrote: »

Lemon laws can be a very taxing process but you may have to go there. How reputable is the dealer where you bought this car? Many boast of a multipoint inspection on all cars they sell, if its truely that bad its possible you could threaten to lawyer up over it, sighting the inspection and see if that gets you somewhere. 31k is not a lot of miles so you may be able to recover some of this through the factory warranty...but like many said wearable items...you out of luck. Pretty much if its made of rubber consider it your problem. Its a scummy thing to do, selling a car that way, but they are within their rights to do it.

31k is not a lot of miles for tires though. The mid-range ones I buy are rated for like 60-70k.

illig

Lankysean wrote: »

So I bought a pre-owned Acura TL, it's a 2010 with 31,000 miles on it.

ok, a Honda that new should have very few issues - it's likely a lease return that was driven pretty much the national average of 12-15K miles / year.

so let's look at the issues you've had:

Lankysean wrote: »

I got it on October 17th and since I've had it I've had to replace all the tires, all the filters, belts and breaks.

these are all wear items, but in my experience very few of what you replaced wears out in only 31K miles

1. modern all season tires are typically 50-70K (unless you have winter tires? or summer performance tires? those wear out much more quickly)

2. brakes last damn near 100K now

3. air filters - sure

4. belts - again last near 100K

So you either got a really abused car or you just looked like a clueless mark when you went into the mechanic (guessing Acura dealer?), and they just took you for a ride. Were the tires bald, brakes squealing and belts squealing? (and if they were - why would you buy that car?)

Lankysean wrote: »

and it broke down. Today the car refused to start and once I did get it started every error message indicator light has popped up on the dash and the car refuses to turn off when I hit the button.

Now this is much more serious - but that's exactly what the warranty is for. Bring the car in and don't leave until they fix it.

Lankysean wrote: »

Also, didn't notice this when I bought the car, someone pointed it out the other day, but the passenger mirror is way larger than the driver side... almost like it's off a different model car.

If you really want to return the car, this would may be a good thing. To me, this indicates poorly fixed accident damage. Did the dealer that sold it to you give you the background check? did it show any accidents? if not - and you can run your own check (CarFax, AutoCheck, etc.) showing an accident, that may be fraud (depending on local laws, etc.

ceres

illig covers it well.. if the car were at a hundred k miles, sure. 31k? Either the previous owner trashed it somehow or offloaded it cheap because it was manufactured in the pit of hell.

MichaelLC

Or a rental car, which I think means it was driven by multiple Hell demons.

Donovan Puppyfucker

I could see tyres wearing out in 30,000 miles. But a serpentine belt? Nope. And all the filters? Oil filter yeah, maybe. Intake air filter, probably not. And the fuel filter is usually changed every 45,000 or so. The mis-matching mirrors is a concern (crappy repair workmanship), but not as big a concern as the ECU apparently taking a huge shit and dying.

Take a very close look at your purchase contract, specifically the clauses about you being protected from having a beaten up piece of crap offloaded on you..

darqness

See if you signed an arbitration clause. Sometimes that's what will fuck you. It should be on the purchase order.
If there's a disagreement then instead of taking it to court the dealership will hire a mediator who will decide who is in the right.
The catch is that these mediators are inclined to side with the company hiring them, otherwise they would never get hired.