Somewhat lengthy, maybe hard to follow, story but here it is. After a decent amount of warranty thread trolling, and at the advice of a fellow beast owner I decided to drive to a dealership (which remain nameless for now) and see about their extended warranty. Talked with the Financial Manager (FM) and decided on a 4 year 48k mile warranty. The FM said the car would need to be inspected and that they would pay for that. Did a key read and they got all the info on the car, he drafted a warranty contract, I called my credit card company to make sure the sale would go through, he called the warranty people to make sure the SMG was covered (which it was), and then I signed the warranty as did he, we went to the cashier and I paid for it. He said the inspection would take about an hour, so I went to get some coffee.
2 hours later received a call from the SA telling me the car was ready to go, and everything was good. Went and sat in his office, he handed me the invoice; no charge to me, and this is where the fun began. As I'm reading the text I see that it says "FAILED WARRANTY INSPECTION DUE TO VANOS NOISE" At this point I'm like "WTF is this?" He looks at it and says he's going to go talk to the tech that did the inspection. Comes back and tells me the vanos pump is going bad based on a noise, and maybe a code it threw (i can't remember specifically if it threw a code too) He said the vanos pump may be bad, or it's a line thats bleeding down causing a low pressure. Either way he says that it is a $3-5k job to fix.
At this point some wheels start to turn in my head and I look down at the signed contract I have in my hand. And I say, "I've got a signed warranty in my hand, shouldn't this be covered by the warranty?". SA says the warranty isn't valid until the vehicle passes the inspection, which it just failed, and I leave it at that. Go back to the FM's office, and the SA is going to see if they have the parts to fix it. FM and I discuss refunding the warranty, since they said it wasn't valid until it passes, and also fixing the vanos problem. I decide to fix the vanos, and keep the warranty. They get me a loaner and I leave.
On the way home I call my lawyer and tell him the whole story thus far, he says fax him the contract. I do. He says as soon as the dealership signed it and I signed it that I have a valid warranty, and the fact that they did the inspection afterward is their problem. I call the warranty # on the contract and they said the same thing, and also told me the Vanos should be covered. I tell this to the SA the next day, he tells the Service Manager, SM calls me and says that even though it wasn't written down that I had a verbal agreement with the FM that the car had to pass an inspection for warranty to be valid. My lawyer says there was no actual verbal agreement, just mention of an inspection, and also that the contract is the only thing that will stand up in court.
Basically, dealership wont budge right now, so I'm going to pay out of pocket to get my car fixed, and then have the lawyer file a lawsuit suing the dealership for not honoring a signed warranty. It looks like it has to go to arbitration first.
Does anyone have a similar experience? And what are people's general thoughts on this?
2 hours later received a call from the SA telling me the car was ready to go, and everything was good. Went and sat in his office, he handed me the invoice; no charge to me, and this is where the fun began. As I'm reading the text I see that it says "FAILED WARRANTY INSPECTION DUE TO VANOS NOISE" At this point I'm like "WTF is this?" He looks at it and says he's going to go talk to the tech that did the inspection. Comes back and tells me the vanos pump is going bad based on a noise, and maybe a code it threw (i can't remember specifically if it threw a code too) He said the vanos pump may be bad, or it's a line thats bleeding down causing a low pressure. Either way he says that it is a $3-5k job to fix.
At this point some wheels start to turn in my head and I look down at the signed contract I have in my hand. And I say, "I've got a signed warranty in my hand, shouldn't this be covered by the warranty?". SA says the warranty isn't valid until the vehicle passes the inspection, which it just failed, and I leave it at that. Go back to the FM's office, and the SA is going to see if they have the parts to fix it. FM and I discuss refunding the warranty, since they said it wasn't valid until it passes, and also fixing the vanos problem. I decide to fix the vanos, and keep the warranty. They get me a loaner and I leave.
On the way home I call my lawyer and tell him the whole story thus far, he says fax him the contract. I do. He says as soon as the dealership signed it and I signed it that I have a valid warranty, and the fact that they did the inspection afterward is their problem. I call the warranty # on the contract and they said the same thing, and also told me the Vanos should be covered. I tell this to the SA the next day, he tells the Service Manager, SM calls me and says that even though it wasn't written down that I had a verbal agreement with the FM that the car had to pass an inspection for warranty to be valid. My lawyer says there was no actual verbal agreement, just mention of an inspection, and also that the contract is the only thing that will stand up in court.
Basically, dealership wont budge right now, so I'm going to pay out of pocket to get my car fixed, and then have the lawyer file a lawsuit suing the dealership for not honoring a signed warranty. It looks like it has to go to arbitration first.
Does anyone have a similar experience? And what are people's general thoughts on this?