My brother recently purchased a 2002 VW Passat Wagon from a car dealer in NH. The dealer did not inform my brother about serious problems already exsisting with the car prior to purchase.
It has had exhaust problems from the beginning (May 2010) along with left front wheel that was out of alignment. He recently found the heater not working in November. He brought it in for repairs. The service department “replaced” the radiator, but when my brother got the car back, it still would not heat. He’s brought it back in for service to heating issue 3 times now. Most recently repairs were made before Christmas. He picked the car up yesterday and they severely damaged the gear shift and dashboard. I’m wondering how this happened when they were repairing the heating under the hood? When my brother picked up the car, the service manager said the gear shift was damaged prior to him bringing it in for repairs in December. There was nothing wrong with the dashboard or gear shift prior to this happening. NH does not have a lemon law. The service department said they’d order new gear shift and dashboard. They obviiously do not know what they’re doing or have never repaired a VW.
When my brother went to start the car this morning nothing worked. It took him several times to start the car, before he could get it to shift (it’s an automatic transmission) but none of the dashboard lighting or features work, neither does the heat.
What recourse does he have at this point? Any advice you can lend is greatly appreciated.
Best,
Erin
Oh an ad on - this dealership in Portsmouth has had NUMEROUS BBB complaints filed against their service department. NH doe not have a LEMON LAW, so what else can be done? Thanks! Erin
The car is not a Lemon. It’s a 9 year old used car with ? miles and as the case with most used cars they should be inspected BEFORE the purchase. Failure to perform an inspection can often leave one up the creek without a paddle and even an inspection is no guarantee that problems won’t occur.
The dealer is accused of knowing about serious problems and not telling your brother. The dealer is simply the person selling the car and may have known nothing of the problems. The car may have been purchased at auction, taken in trade, etc., sent to detail for cleanup, and then put up for sale. Your brother apparently bought the car without noticing them so why should the dealer be blamed for doing the same.
As to the shift knob and dash that’s impossible to comment on without knowing what the damage is or seeing pics of it.
As to not starting this morning that could be due to a faulty battery cable connection or faulty neutral safety switch/ignition switch all depending on the exact symptom.
Sounds like he bought a well used (polite terminology for thrashed) vehicle and it may be time to get rid of it, although he will take a financial hit on it.
Why does your brother continue taking the car to this particular dealer? They obviously don’t understand VWs.
I suggest he find an independent VW specialist and take the car there.
By the way, there are heating components under the dashboard. They probably damaged the gear shift and dashboard in an attempt to reach these parts. Again, because they don’t know what they’re doing or because they were attempting short cuts.
Go elsewhere.
First of all, even if you were in another state, Lemon Laws do not apply to vehicles that are this old.
Prior to purchase, the dealer did not inform him about mechanical problems that existed in the car?
Truthfully, I have rarely heard of a dealership that does inform customers of the flaws in a used car!
That is why a prudent customer will disbelieve everything uttered by a used car salesman (also by a new car salesman!), and will demand the right to have the used car inspected by the customer’s own mechanic prior to purchase. No car of this age will be flawless, but if you know exactly what the flaws are, it is possible to make a better decision regarding purchase. A pre-purchase inspection report can also be used as leverage for a reduction in purchase price!
Exhaust problems would certainly not be unusal in an 8-9 year old car, nor would alignment issues.
However, these are two items that would likely have been found in a thorough pre-purchase inspection.
As to the damage to the dashboard, it is very likely that this took place when the dashboard was removed in order to access the heater core. This is a relatively inexpensive part that takes an incredible amount of labor to access on most vehicles.
Please understand that I am not defending sub-standard work by the dealer’s service department, but I believe that both you and your brother are at least a bit unrealistic regarding the potential problems when one buys an 8-9 year old car. Then, when you factor in the reality that this model is not noted for its reliability, that increases the inherent risks even more.
In 2009 (the last year when Consumer Reports had stats on the reliability of the '02 Passat), the car was rated “Worse Than Average” for reliability, overall. You did not tell us whether this is a 4-cylinder or a 6-cylinder Passat, and the problem areas vary a bit from one model to the other, but in general '02 Passats are rated by their owners as being Much worse than average in the following areas:
Engine
Cooling system (that includes the radiator, of course)
Drive system
This model was also rated as “Worse than average” in the following areas:
Electrical system
Brakes
Power equipment
This dealership may well be less than ideal, but if the limited warranty for the car has already expired–as I assume that it has–then there is no reason whatsoever to take this car to the dealer for repairs. Overall, I think that you are mostly looking at a situation where the purchaser did not do sufficient due diligence prior to buying the car.
If the car is under warranty (not likely), and as long as the dealership is continuing to attempt to repair the car, you may not have any recourse, but I do suggest that you speak with someone from the New Hampshire Office of Consumer Affairs (forget about the Better For Business Bureau). Perhaps someone from Consumer Affairs can suggest a legal remedy.
And, next time, be sure to have your brother actually do some research on a model prior to going car shopping, as well as urging him to have a candidate for purchase inspected by a mechanic of his choosing before laying out his hard-earned money for purchase.
Experience is a very effective teacher, and I believe that your brother has now learned what not to do when purchasing a used car.
"Please understand that I am not defending sub-standard work by the dealer’s service department, but I believe that both you and your brother are at least a bit unrealistic regarding the potential problems when one buys an 8-9 year old car. Then, when you factor in the reality that this model is not noted for its reliability, that increases the inherent risks even more.
In 2009 (the last year when Consumer Reports had stats on the reliability of the '02 Passat), the car was rated “Worse Than Average” for reliability, overall. You did not tell us whether this is a 4-cylinder or a 6-cylinder Passat, and the problem areas vary a bit from one model to the other, but in general '02 Passats are rated by their owners as being Much worse than average in the following areas:
Engine
Cooling system (that includes the radiator, of course)
Drive system
This model was also rated as “Worse than average” in the following areas:
Electrical system
Brakes
Power equipment
This dealership may well be less than ideal, but if the limited warranty for the car has already expired–as I assume that it has–then there is no reason whatsoever to take this car to the dealer for repairs. Overall, I think that you are mostly looking at a situation where the purchaser did not do sufficient due diligence prior to buying the car."
Yes, my brother of course unfortunately did not do his homework prior to purchasing this car. He did not get it independently inspected before purchasing it, so most everything commented on is to some degree true.
As far as blaming the dealer? The dealer the car was bought from has a horrible track record with service repairs, but my brother was unaware of this before first taking the car in for repairs. And lastly he has unfortunately learned a grave, hard and costly lesson.
I am the one in the family who tends to research things well before purchase, including cars. I’ve suggested my brother contact the NH Office of Consumer Affairs via the AG’s office.
Thank you for your reply.
There is a VW dealership in Greenland he can go to. I at this point, do not know why he continues to bring the car back here, as even when you drive by they have hardly any VW vehicles on the lot. My mother’s owned VW’s for quite a while and bought hers directly from the VW dealer. It’s been gently suggested to my brother already he bring the car elsewhere. We’ll see how things go. Thank you for the advice!
Are these warranty repairs from dealer or just paying them to fix the car?
European Auto Service in Rye NH is beyond reasonable, fair, knowledagble and decent. When I owned a VW nearly 15 years ago they made it a pleasure. Everyone I recommended there has loved them AND actually enjoy their VW’s. These guys know them.
Seacoast VW in my town is also very good but expensive out of warranty.
What dealership? Bournival?
Yes, it was Bournival across from Fresh market – plus their overall staff need “customer service training” … I’ve heard of European Auto in Rye. I will let him know. These parts unfortunately are not under warranty and so really he has no obligation anymore to go there. I know, Seacoast is very expensive. Ugh. That’s where my Mom bought her car. I’ll also let my Mom know about European Auto in Rye the next time she needs repairs. Thanks!
Maybe a gentle slap on the back of the head would be better? Why not print out this discussion and send/show it to him?
VW dealerships by and large don’t have good track records when it comes to repair service, based on surveys I’ve seen. Find a good independent mechanic. You don’t need dealers to work on a car that is this old and out of warranty.