New Car (What Would You Do?)

Ohio

Sorry for the novel!

We got a new car last Saturday. Actually, it wasn't new, it was a used 2006. It's a Hyundai Sonata.

So the buying process went fine, salesman was polite, sales manager was polite, finance guy was polite, everything was great.

Until we pulled off the lot. My wife drove it home, so the first thing I wanted to do was put in a CD, because it has a good sound system. So I go to load the CD, and it's a in-dash 6-disc changer. Immediately I get a message, "Load error" or somesuch. Played around with it for a while and the realized that whoever owned this car before us had gotten a CD jammed in the first slot and it isn't coming out. So we turn around and drive straight back to the dealership.

We'd been gone less than 10 minutes so I run in and find my salesman who looks as if he's already forgotten my name. Already knowing what the problem with the CD player is, I decided to play dumb. "Hey," I say, "Can you come out and show me how the CD player works?" So he comes out and fiddles with it and finally says, "Well you'll have to bring it back Monday, I'm really sorry." (This was Saturday afternoon and they're closed Sunday.)

So fine, the car was great otherwise but still, that just soured things a little for the rest of the weekend.

So Monday, I take a half-day off work so I can take the car in at 2PM. I get there, drive it into the service area. The service guy fiddles with it for literally 20 seconds, says "Yep it needs a new one" and tells me to bring it back Friday. The end. So I took a half-day off work for that.

So fine. I'll wait until Friday to listen to a CD.

Then on Tuesday, the airbag light came on. I'm driving home for work and a light comes on on the dash that just says "air bag." Now I have a good feeling that it's just a small problem with some electronics in the dash so I don't worry too much. I'll just mention it when I take it Friday.

So Friday comes, I take in the car. I mention about the air bag light and they say they can fix it, no problem.
BUT. The service guy ordered the wrong color radio, so he's going to have to order another one, which would take until Monday (today). He said we could either take our car and bring it back again, or take a loaner for the weekend and leave the car with them so they could fix it first thing Monday morning.

We were annoyed but we take the loaner while our car just sat their all weekend. This morning, they call and say they though the radio would be coming from Illinois, but really it's coming from California so they need another day to fix it. So now it's going to be tomorrow (hopefully!). They did fix the airbag light, though.

Anyway, we bought the car last Saturday and now the dealer has had it longer than we have. It's really annoying but I can't decide whether to be mad or just let it go.

The jammed CD wasn't their fault, exactly, but they obviously should have tested the CD player before they put it on their lot for sale (and yes, we should have tested it before we bought it). It just makes me wonder what other features of the car weren't tested before they sold it, you know? Plus, I took a half day off work for nothing.

Wezoin

Well, I take it this is all warranty work, so I'd say the only real thing to do would scrutinize EVERY detail of the car, and look for every little problem, and get them to fix it. I dont think you can really return a used car all that easilly, so really it'll just require a ton of handing over the car for repairs. I'd say keep it with you a couple weeks and make a list of everything thats wrong with it, give them a copy (keep one for yourself) and hand over the car for all the repairs at once.

Also, I'm not sure if Hyundai does this, but I know ALOT of car brands will send you a survey after you receive service asking about how it went (how quick, if they fixed it all first time, ect ect ect) so if you get one for this one fill it out honestly, and you can use it as incentive for them to do well when you take it in with your list (all dealerships are ranked based on the scores their customers give them, which can earn them "rewards" (essentially, lower prices on cars).) That is, assuming this is from an official Hyundai dealer, and not like "Bob's Used Car Lot" or some such..

Ohio

Yes, it was a Hyundai dealership. And yes it's all warranty work. Thanks for the tip.

Feral

I'd politely but firmly tell the dealership that this was a huge inconvenience, and it's also troubling to see a problem light for a safety feature (the airbag) so soon after purchasing the vehicle. I wouldn't bitch them out or anything, but I'd see if they could compensate me for the inconvenience - maybe they could give you a couple of free oil changes down the line.

Fristle

Hope it's not airbag fraud.

If you continue to have problems, you should check your state "lemon laws" to see what rights you have.