e-man

Hey guys. I could use some advice here. I'll try to keep it short. On Wednesday, August 10, 2011, I got an alignment. I have the printout showing the car was within specs as of that date.

On Monday, August 15th, I test drove a 2008 RL at an Acura dealership. In order to appraise my car, they said they needed to test drive it. I allowed them to take my car for a drive alone. As the person drove off the lot, they screeched the tires. Honestly, I didn't care all that much, but only mention it for some context leading up to what I'm about to say.

The test drive lasted all of 10 minutes. When the person returned, he parked the car and I immediately noticed 2 things: (1) although it was a bright sunny day, there was an inordinate amount of water dripping from the right rear wheel well; and (2) the black plastic trim piece that's attached to the underside of the car right in front of the right rear wheel had broken loose and was dangling down towards the ground. I immediately said something to the salesman, who, of course, said that it must have been like that when I came in. I knew it wasn't, but really didn't care all that much because I had some extra plastic pegs to re-attach the trim piece.

Anyway, fast forward 3 weeks to last Tuesday, August 30. I'm driving along on the highway and feel a harsh vibration followed by a loud bang. I posted this picture up in another thread, but will repost it here. I blew a large chunk of tread off my right rear tire. I made it home, and when I removed the tire, I noticed that not only was a large chunk of tread missing, but the entire inside shoulder of the tire was completely worn down.

I took the car back to Lexus on Thursday, September 1st, to check the alignment on that corner. Now remember, the car was just aligned 3 weeks earlier. The right rear corner was toe out -.15. Now, I'm no expert when it comes to alignments, far from it, but I'm pretty sure that's bad, really bad. And, at least according to Lexus, the only way that corner could have been so far out of alignment was if there was an "impact," a "harsh impact."

So, the question I have is this: what, if anything, should I do? I realize now that it was stupid to allow them to test drive my car, or at the very least, I should have gone along for the ride, but I can't change that. There's a part of me that wants to call or write to the GM of the dealership just to let him know that this happened, but it'll probably frustrate me more.

Thanks for any thoughts.

e

Oh, and here's the picture of the tire:

Arcadian

Oh my God. I hate to say it, but you'll likely get no justice here. It looks like you've documented everything as best you can. Try and get a meeting with the dealership owner. But calm and state your case, ask what they are going to do to fix this. Again you'll likely get nowhere. Tell them you are taking your story to everybody who'll listen - Acura of USA, BBB, the local dealer assoc. the local TV station consumer advocate. They'll tell you they'll take you to court. Agree that's a good idea.
I worked in a dealership for 12 years and was lucky that it was an honest, ethical shop. I said I would never work in another dealer ever again, and when I left, I completely changed careers so I wouldn't have to go to a sleazeball joint like you encountered. Sorry to hear about your bad experience in an industry I used to like.

4eign

try to keep your cool best you can and hopefully they agree to repair....chances are slim but you never kno...just dont give them a reason to write you off as a nut bag lookn to get new tires.

gl!

luda42688

iTrader: (2)

If you buy that acura, give them all your proof and reasoning and say you want an additional g for the bull**** they caused you....

Chin

iTrader: (34)

Anything could have happened during the time span of Acura test driving your car and you having the blowout. That will be Acuras argument and it's a pretty good argument. You can't win on the facts, but you can try kindness and see if that works with the manager at the dealership.