CASE CLOSED:
In May, Roxanne Guartuche's attorney sent the Calallen Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram dealership a demand letter asking for a refund of the money she'd put down for her car since it was dirty and wasn't working properly. They told her they were willing to fix the car. When we recently spoke to Guartuche, we found out that they indeed did fix the vehicle.
ORIGINAL STORY:
On today’s Troubleshooters, a single mom asks for help with a used car she bought.
She says the vehicle hasn’t run right since she drove it off the car lot.
She’s also hired an attorney to help her.
Roxanne Guartuche of Skidmore bought a 2015 Ford Focus Hatchback from the Calallen Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram dealership in March.
Her aunt co-signed for her and Guartuche put $2,000 down.
Little did she realize her problems with this particular vehicle were just beginning.
Guartuche told the Troubleshooters she was never asked to test drive the vehicle.
"No they did not," she said. "They insisted to do the driving, which, they literally did a circle in their own parking lot."
So, according to Guartuche, she was never given the opportunity to test drive the vehicle.
She further told the Troubleshooters, she didn’t get to drive the car home that day because the dealership told her they were going to clean it up for her.
"The car needed to be really detailed," she said. "It was really nasty inside."
She remembers having to wait about a week before she finally picked the vehicle up from the dealership. And she further claims she immediately had to buy tires for it.
Plus, it just didn’t run right.
And still doesn’t, she said.
It could be transmission problems, she says.
She remembers signing a bunch of paperwork but was only able to show us a receipt, a piece of paper she has, to prove she bought the car.
She still doesn’t have the title or a contract showing her what her monthly payments would be.
This whole situation is especially frustrating for her because she says she’s hasn’t had a vehicle for a year.
And now that she thought she had one, she’s let her kids down.
"And the vehicle’s the thing that I need to keep providing for my kids," she said. "And if I don’t have a vehicle, I feel like I failed them."
She says she has to pay for rides to get to work and home.
Before contacting the Troubleshooters, she asked attorney Tony Bonilla for help.
And on May 24, his office sent the dealership this demand letter.
It was not asking for a different vehicle, but for a full refund of the $2,000 she put down for the car.
The Troubleshooters went to the dealership and spoke with General Manager Zach Lindberg and Jesse Nuncio, the dealership's used car director.
They said they knew nothing about the transaction with Guartuche, but wanted her to bring the car in so they could determine the best course of action.
Bonilla has advised her not to do that.
We’ll keeping following this story, and let you if and when it gets resolved.
Here is the letter the dealership sent to Mr. Bonilla outlining their preferred course of action:
Dear Mr. Bonilla,
We take pride in servicing our customer's transportation needs. When there is an issue with a recent purchase of a previously owned vehicle, we would like the opportunity to repair the vehicle so our customers are not without needed transportation.
We are offering to bring the vehicle to our service department for evaluation and, if necessary, address any repairs. We will keep you informed of our findings after the evaluation. We do need to know if the vehicle can be driven or if it needs to be towed to our service department.
I am sorry they are having issues with the vehicle and wished they had said something to that effect when they picked up the vehicle's plates.
Please let me know if the vehicle can be driven so I can make arrangements to have it delivered to our service department.
Sincerely,
361-420-6123
Zach Lindberg, GM
Lithia CDJR Calallen
