“Would you like some water with your lemon?” -A Question no one wants to be the victim of when talking cars! Okay, so what if it’s not quite a lemon, but problematic enough to drive you insane? Unfortunately, I know this first hand because of one vehicle I owned, brand new, a few years back. ..And what good is a car, even if they fix it for free, if you have to have a rental from them every other week?! With this article topic, I’m assuming it’s a car that is under the factory warranty and was purchased at a dealership, and that the problems were not caused by the customer. I mean, come on.. you can’t plow into a curb head on at 35 and expect them to repair it, but I digress. ..You get the point.. The first thing is, persistence. Go through the proper channels of authority first, of course starting with calling the service department and talking with one of the technicians. Jumping straight to the top (management, owner, etc.) right away just makes you look bad, somewhat like a trouble-maker, even if you’re not. When talking to the service guy, you can usually get a feel whether the conversation is going to actually be heard and corrected, or if it’s going no where quickly. If that happens, that’s where the hostility seems to set in. You know the gentleman you’re speaking to was trained to fix NOTHING for free, be rude to you, blow you off as quickly as possible, then help the guy behind you who’s there for his three-hundred dollar routine maintenance package. -Or so it seems. So what next? Ask for the service manager. Chances are, he is going to be more rude than the guy you talked to, but who knows; you may get lucky! Make sure you have your “ducks in a row”, so to speak. Make sure you have a list of everything that has gone wrong with the vehicle, state it all calmly, then explain the frustration it has caused you to have to come back to the dealership on a weekly basis (or however long the duration). If he is no help, I’d then go to the sales manager. He’s the one that’s behind the whole reason you bought the vehicle, right?! ..Now, you have all your channels used up! You’re still frustrated.. no one has helped you, and in the meantime that horrible scraping noise that you were told was “normal for that vehicle”, has gotten even louder, and your clutch won’t even work! You are stuck on the side of the road in your shiny new worthless car, and you’ve HAD IT! If it’s under warranty, call the roadside assistance people or your AAA, or whoever you choose. Get it to the dealership, and call the company directly. The numbers are somewhat easy to find, and easy to use. I’ve done this many times, and they are actually pretty helpful. You explain to them exactly what has happened with this vehicle from start to finish, dictating the names of the rude folks you spoke with, because they will ask! Then let them know that it’s there, in need of repair, and that you’re NOT going away.. and that you apparently know more than their own technicians, because you took it in BEFORE the issue got severe, and now it fell apart, after being told “it’s fine!” Even if your vehicle doesn’t “break down”, and the noises or problems are just non-stop, the last paragraph still applies. Documentation is everything, and going through the right channels. I also found that taking your car to the dealership for it’s oil changes and one or two of the scheduled maintenances is EXTREMELY HELPFUL! And oil changes from the dealership are pretty well priced, and it looks really good on your records. TRUST ME! It’s like a hidden key to the warranty game. I even had parts on a car replaced for free, six-thousand miles after the warranty expired because the ‘generous motors’ company saw my history on their computers, and saw that I took good care of it. I also had a car payment paid by them after things went terribly wrong, all because of them! -Things will happen if you just keep your cool, and don’t let up. Be persistent, everyone. Don’t abuse the system, but use it like it’s meant to be used. After-all, you spent a lot of money on that car, and the warranty is there to protect YOU…not them. These service people seem to lose sight of that, and all respect factors. Remember, YOU are the customer.. THEY are there to help YOU and your car. I’m currently in a situation where these guys ended up catering to me, but now that the warranty ran out (three weeks ago), they’re rude and even hang up on me. -My ABS light came on the DAY AFTER the warranty expired! They wanted no part of it. -Guess what? It’s fixed.. and I paid NOTHING! So don’t give up… Thanks for reading! Category:Home › Autos • Will the trend toward economy-size car models lead Americans back to buying smaller-sized cars? — part 2 • You should never use after-market auto parts when maintaining or fixing your car • Should a new car be rust-proofed? • Will the trend toward economy-size car models lead Americans back to buying smaller-sized cars? — part 1 • Five safest cars in North America • How to ensure your teen drives safely after getting a license • Pros and cons of using an hydrogen generator for your car • DIY automotive maintenance: How to change the oil