I purchased my used car on June 02, 2007 from Cars on Parade, 259 Culver Ave, Jersey City, NJ 07305. The vehicle was an Audi A4 1997 2.8 Quattro, with 118,000 miles. Twenty-seven days later, on June 29, 2007 the vehicle died on the highway. Before I decided to buy this car, I did all the research and asked all the right questions. The day before I decided to by this car, I asked Artur (of Cars on Parade) if something happens to the vehicle during the first 30-60 days, who is responsible. He told me it would come out of his pocket, yet the day of the purchase Artur wasn't around, but his partner Brian closed the deal. Before signing the sales receipt, we asked Brian to make sure, if something happens to the vehicle during the first 30-60 days, who is responsible?
Brian replied with the same answer, they are responsible. I asked about the warranty, and they said the warranty was for 30 days or 1000 miles. At the end of the sales transaction, Brian offered me an additional extended warranty from a company named National Automotive Distribution Network (N.A.D.N.) for $800 for 3 years. The first week I didn't drive the car very far given that it was a 10 year-old car and I wasn't comfortable yet. The vehicle was issued a 20-day temporary license plate from date of purchase; it had to be inspected by New York State.
On June 16, 2007 I took the car for an inspection, and it failed because of holes in the catalyst converter and check engine light was on. I decided to buy the catalyst converter because I needed the car to work. I knew that with a 10-year-old car some repairs would be needed. I asked the gas station attended to check to see what else would be needed; he said minor things like a water pump, air filter, gas kit seal and a full tune up. I wasn't sure if this was the right thing to do because the sales receipt waiver states that if the car doesn't pass inspection, the dealer is responsible for a full refund or repairs.
For most part, I would try to resolve any issue that I could afford, so I actually ended up buying some of the parts needed to fix my car from Audi like the water pump, gasket etc. On June 21, 2007 Artur called me to tell me that the extended warranty from N.A.D.N was rejected. He told me not to worry because he found a better warranty company.
He asked that I stop by to sign the paperwork on Tuesday June 26, 2007. The weekend of June 23-24 2007 I drove the car to south Jersey for a couple hours of driving. The car drove then like it would die out; I knew this was related to needing a full tune up.
When I finally saw Brian on June 26, 2007, I asked Brian if they would fix my car, and his reply was, it would be a lost cost to them and I should hold out for a couple days until the warranty kicks in. A few days later my car died on the highway. I had the car towed to the Audi dealer in Brooklyn for a diagnostic to see what happened. Their diagnostic came back with the timing belt snap and damages to the cylinder head. The extended warranty from Eagle warranty only covers the timing belt failure but not the cylinder head. This whole engine failure could have been prevented if they had only fixed my car as agreed upon. I was angry and frustrated; I called Artur to find out what they are going to do about it.
He was on vacation that week so I had to wait until he came back the following week. When I did speak to him the following week, he told me about how he didn't make any money selling my car and kept stalling and stalling. He also said he never offered any warranty, but if they did, it would be for the first 30 days or 1000 miles. I try to return the car to the dealer so that they can fix it, when the tow truck driver called him to let the dealer know he is on his way. The dealer (Artur) said he doesn’t know me plus they are also closing early. I was really frustrated and angry, and I started to loose my cool. I just bought a car for $5000 and this man was telling me how he didn't make any money on my car after I paid him $5000 and now I am stuck with a dead car that didn't last 30 days. I contacted the NJ Attorney Generals Office, BBB, Auto trader, and the NJ DMV. I sent an email to all those places and copied them. Artur finally decided to help but only if I would buy a used engine and he would pay for the labor.
I had just paid them $5000 and he wanted me to spend $2000 more for something that could have been prevented by them. The worst part of this nightmare is that I didn't have the funding to buy this car. I took out a personal loan to buy this car and now I am paying for a car I can't drive. When I accepted my current job six months ago, a car was the requirement. I had to buy the car, as I needed it to perform my job and I figured it should be an investment that pays for itself in the long run. I like to have this dealer expose in the media so that they don’t do this to consumers
If you have any questions, please feel free to call me.
Kind Regards
ndatt@earthlink.net
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