Van had engine/transmission problems. Wouldnt honor warranty - commonman
I bought an 07 Chevy Express 3500 van VIN#1GAHG35U571189625. It looked nice and drove fine on the test drive. When I drove it home - 50 miles - a service light came on and the transmission started shifting hard. Got it checked and the code was 0894, a serious problem with the torque converter requiring a trans rebuild.
Ken had given me a written 30 day drivetrain warranty, but when I called him he first insisted that there is likely no problem and I could have the code cleared and probably never see it again. When I told him what I found in my research (garage, transmission shop, and online) he told me he wouldn't believe what my mechanic told me. He said I should bring the van back for a refund. (That's when I first got suspicious that he had already known about the problem.) And he refused to agree to honor his warranty. He also tried to convince ME to BUY an extended warranty "to protect us both." I looked up the warranty company he used and found 3 pages of bad reviews on Yelp. He acted surprised about that, and also admitted that they had "sifted through" various warranty companies before they started using this one. (Yeah, warranty companies will drop dealers pretty fast for selling warranties to cover known problems.) I told him that he already gave me a warrranty and I want him to honor it, but he refused to and insisted on me returning the van for my money back.
Then I saw that the van was also pushing radiator coolant out the overflow pipe. Uh-oh, engine head gasket problem.
Well, some more research (thanks Carfax) and I learned that the previous owner had taken it to a Chevy dealer to diagnose a service light and transmission shifting problems.(thanks for the info, Apple Chevrolet of York, PA) He chose not to repair it, and about 6 weeks later Ken at Plymouth Meeting Auto Sales had purchased the van. I also learned that Ken had the van for almost a year before I bought it. It's a far stretch to think that he knew nothing about the problem(s).
I really liked the condition of the van otherwise and offered to keep it for a partial refund. Ken offered me $1,000. (The trans rebuild alone is nearly $2,000.)
I did take it back and he refunded the purchase price and notary fees. I had lost several days to research, buying and returning the van, and the hassle of filling out forms and sending them to the state to get a refund of the sales tax. I'm still waiting for that.
Bey (his salesman) was nice but didn't seem to know much. He referred questions to Ken. Maybe there's a reason. Ken came across as nice, honest, and reasonable before and during the sale. After the problem showed up, he was completely unworkable except for refunding the money.
The price would have been right for the vehicle in roadworthy condition. But as he sold it, the price was $3,000-$4,000 too high.
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