In May 2011, I decided to purchase a more fuel efficient car. Knowing that I did not have a lot of money to spend on the down payment, I found a 1998 Saturn SC2 at DJ's Auto Sales in Lake Wales, FL. I test drove the car and other than a little vibration, I didn't notice any issues. It was late as I had worked all day and checking the fluids slipped my mind. I took the car home that night and everything still seemed fine. A day or so later, I started noticing the transmission was shifting a little funny. I decided to check the transmission fluids. The fluid to my surprise was about twice as full as it should be. I immediately drained the fluid and changed the filter. The container I used to drain the fluid holds 7 quarts of fluid and over flowed onto my driveway from all the fluid that was in the car. After changing the fluid, the transmission seemed to shift ok. Not 100% like it should, but it was not nearly as bad as before. I mentioned this to Maria the woman who sold me the car, the next time I was in the office. She seemed surprised, but unconcerned. As a manager, myself, this bothered me.
In August, the car was shifting worse and worse and one day would not even start. I replaced the neutral safety switch and a week later the starter. Between the two repairs, I spent over $400.00. I know there is a cost involved with owning a used car especially one that is nearly 14 years old. However, now the transmission is extremely worse. Now it is September and the car will not shift at all, if you put it in Drive. If you start the car out in 3rd gear, once it begins to shift, I can occasionally shift up into Drive successfully other times, it's like that gear does not even exit and the engine just revs. I've checked the fluids weekly since the first time the fluid was overfilled after I purchased the car. So it is not a fluid issue.
On September 21, 2011, my sister took some insurance papers by the car lot to drop them off for me, as I work late and was unable to. She spoke with Maria about the problems we have been experiencing with the car starting with the fluid being over filled. Maria acted as if she had never heard of this from me. My sister inquired about possibly trading the car in for another vehicle with hopefully less issues. She was informed that I would have to pay another $1500 into the car and then I would be able to trade it in. While I understand in most circumstances, this would be a fair request. In this case, I think they should take some consideration into what has happened. In the past 4 months, I have put $2,200 into this car in repairs and payments. Approximately $1,800 in payments, which is more than what they paid for the car, I'm sure! As a hotel manager, when I'm dealing with a guest who has had a problem, I take into consideration many things. Maria refused to even consider any other option than what they offered. I think this is not the way to handle the situation what so ever. I would be willing to pay extra payments, maybe a little more down if they asked. But to pay $3,300 into a car that is not worth half of that is ludicrous. I will not recommend this place to anyone else and I just wanted to post this publicly so that other consumers can see what happens when you try to address a problem.
Sincerely,
Slipping in a Saturn read more
