Things seem to have sorted themselves out with the car....or at least my dad did most of the sorting out for me.
I left the car back in Oshawa because i didn't want to risk damaging the engine by bringing it back to Ottawa.
We weren't sure exactly what we were going to do with it, but our options were to get it fixed or cancel the deal.
Cancelling the deal seemed like the safest answer, but it definitely would have been the most difficult and time consuming. I spent a good chunk of Monday morning trying to figure out what my rights are as a consumer (very hard to tell) and seeking advice from my lawyer colleagues.
Cancelling the deal would have had the most repercussions including the bank having a lien on the car because they gave us the loan. I was also worried about being charged with theft since i had the car in my possession (i would have returned it obviously) but cancelled the cheque.
It was all so very confusing.
In the meantime, my dad took the car to a mechanic to have the etest redone (he was suspicious that the results the dealer gave us had been doctored). The etest came back exactly the same as the results the dealer gave us. Afterwards, they hooked the car up to the car computer thingy and determined what the problem was.
In the end, i talked with my dad and Mat and we decided that the repair that needed to be done did not indicate that the car was a lemon or that it had been abused or misused. It could have happened to any car and it was probably (hopefully) just a terrible coincidence that it showed up the day i drove it away.
We decided to go ahead and get the car fixed (still hadn't heard back from the dealer at this point) and try to get the money back for the repairs from the dealer.
I know it was very hopeful and naive of me to think that the dealer would pay me back for repairs that i did to the car before giving him the opportunity for him to fix it himself, but i didn't want him to fix it anyway and if he wasn't going to reimburse me the $380 for the repairs, then i could - if i wanted to - take him to small claims court or swallow the cost and still have the car for a decent price.
When the repair was done, i called the dealer. He answered my call (!) and i started to explain everything that happened. How the misfiring started before i even got back to Oshawa, how the check engine light was on, how we tried to call him and left 3 messages, how i had to leave the car in Oshawa, how we took it to a mechanic, what was wrong with the car, and how i decided to have the car repaired. I told him it cost $380 and just as i was going to tell him that i expect him to pay for the repairs, he interrupted me and said "not a problem. Please send me the bill and i will send you a cheque for the cost."
Ummm
That was not what i was expecting. I was ready for a fight and an argument. It had taken me almost 10 minutes of staring at the phone and deciding what my argument points were before i picked up the phone and called him.
"ok...." i responded. "thanks".
He apologized and again said to fax him the bill and he would send me a cheque.
After that, it made me feel a lot better. I sincerely hope this guy is as honest as he seems and now i'm just glad to have a nice new car.
Thanks for all your support, guys. It means a lot :)
I left the car back in Oshawa because i didn't want to risk damaging the engine by bringing it back to Ottawa.
We weren't sure exactly what we were going to do with it, but our options were to get it fixed or cancel the deal.
Cancelling the deal seemed like the safest answer, but it definitely would have been the most difficult and time consuming. I spent a good chunk of Monday morning trying to figure out what my rights are as a consumer (very hard to tell) and seeking advice from my lawyer colleagues.
Cancelling the deal would have had the most repercussions including the bank having a lien on the car because they gave us the loan. I was also worried about being charged with theft since i had the car in my possession (i would have returned it obviously) but cancelled the cheque.
It was all so very confusing.
In the meantime, my dad took the car to a mechanic to have the etest redone (he was suspicious that the results the dealer gave us had been doctored). The etest came back exactly the same as the results the dealer gave us. Afterwards, they hooked the car up to the car computer thingy and determined what the problem was.
In the end, i talked with my dad and Mat and we decided that the repair that needed to be done did not indicate that the car was a lemon or that it had been abused or misused. It could have happened to any car and it was probably (hopefully) just a terrible coincidence that it showed up the day i drove it away.
We decided to go ahead and get the car fixed (still hadn't heard back from the dealer at this point) and try to get the money back for the repairs from the dealer.
I know it was very hopeful and naive of me to think that the dealer would pay me back for repairs that i did to the car before giving him the opportunity for him to fix it himself, but i didn't want him to fix it anyway and if he wasn't going to reimburse me the $380 for the repairs, then i could - if i wanted to - take him to small claims court or swallow the cost and still have the car for a decent price.
When the repair was done, i called the dealer. He answered my call (!) and i started to explain everything that happened. How the misfiring started before i even got back to Oshawa, how the check engine light was on, how we tried to call him and left 3 messages, how i had to leave the car in Oshawa, how we took it to a mechanic, what was wrong with the car, and how i decided to have the car repaired. I told him it cost $380 and just as i was going to tell him that i expect him to pay for the repairs, he interrupted me and said "not a problem. Please send me the bill and i will send you a cheque for the cost."
Ummm
That was not what i was expecting. I was ready for a fight and an argument. It had taken me almost 10 minutes of staring at the phone and deciding what my argument points were before i picked up the phone and called him.
"ok...." i responded. "thanks".
He apologized and again said to fax him the bill and he would send me a cheque.
After that, it made me feel a lot better. I sincerely hope this guy is as honest as he seems and now i'm just glad to have a nice new car.
Thanks for all your support, guys. It means a lot :)
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