Consumers Guide to Auto Repair

About three months ago my wife and I bought a new 2007 Nissan 350Z. It was our first new car and we were both eager to get it. Since neither of us know cars very well and we had no previous car shopping experience we probably assumed too much, which made us easy targets for hungry car salesmen and financiers. At any rate, the deal is done.

After spending almost $40,000, I expected our new car to be perfect or close to it, but it isn’t. Now that some of the newness has worn off I’m seeing all sorts of defects, predominantly with the body. The fenders and doors have uneven gaps between them; the hood flutters like the wings of a hummingbird at 60MPH or faster, and wind noise in the car is so loud we can hardly hear the radio when driving on the interstate.

The powers that be at the car dealership have told me I’m being too picky. It’s not that they can’t see the trouble when I point it out. Both service advisors that have test driven the Nissan admit the car is far from perfect and they would be unhappy also. But, instead of fixing the car the service manager is telling me that the complaints I have are characteristic of Z cars and there is nothing more under warranty that can be done to make them better.

Since this is a new car and we will probably have to drive it for quite some time, do you have any suggestions that I can use to leverage the dealership to take my complaints seriously and get this car fixed? Better yet, can I make them take it back under the Ohio lemon law? I hate to think car dealerships can blow new car owners off so easily when they have legitimate complaints.

Brandon
Marietta, Ohio

David Williams writes:

I’m sorry to hear of the trouble you are having with your new car, Brandon. In an effort to get you the best answer possible given the limited information we have, I ran your question by well-known consumer advocate lawyer, Ron Burdge.

Burdge is no stranger to auto repair problems like those you have described. He hears them from consumers everyday as he goes to bat for them.

For four consecutive years, Burdge has been named as the only Lemon Law Ohio Super Lawyer by Law & Politics magazine. The “Super Lawyer” status is only awarded to the top 5% of Ohio attorneys. In addition, Burdge has received the prestigious Consumer Law Trial Lawyer of the Year award from the National Association of Consumer Advocates. Burdge maintains a Consumer Rights Law Blog as a part of his legal firm’s website at www.Ohio LemonLaw.com

Here is the response to your problem courtesy of Ohio “Super lawyer,” Ron Burdge:

The Ohio Lemon Law has four definitions of what a lemon can be, as long as the problems you are complaining of have occurred within the first year or 18,000 miles, whichever occurs first.

1. Three times in the shop for the same problem and it does not get fixed, or

2. A total of 30 days out of service because it is in the shop (count weekends and holidays too), or

3. Eight or more different defects with the vehicle, or

4. Only one chance to fix a deadly defect, something that is so serious that it could cause an accident or someone to get hurt. If it is not fixed on the first repair attempt, then it is a lemon.

The problems you are having are what car dealers often call “fit and finish” which means they do not want to work on it. They typically will call these things “characteristic of the model” or just say that you are being “too picky” just like they have done with you on your Nissan. Nissan usually builds a pretty good vehicle. However, with the problems that you are talking about, it sounds like the vehicle may have suffered some kind of body damage before it was sold to you. That does not happen often, but every once in a while someone takes a vehicle on a test drive and has an accident, or the vehicle gets damaged on the dealer lot, or even during transit when the vehicle is on its way to the dealership. Any of those events could cause the vehicle to be repaired at one dealership and sent to another without notification of the injury so the second dealer, without knowledge, can sell it for more than it is actually worth.

The only way to know for sure is to have an experienced body man look at your vehicle very carefully. The uneven gaps, unusual wind noise, etc. are all things that could be the result of prior damage, or it just might be the result of poor workmanship at the factory. Either way, you need to know.

You can find out about known customer complaints and defects by checking the federal government’s NHTSA database online by clicking here.

Assuming it is not prior damage, all you can do for the moment is continue to take the vehicle back and ask the dealer to fix it. If your dealer will not fix it, then take it to a different dealer and make the same complaint (but do not tell them that you were over at the other dealership first and they would not fix it, because then they will also turn you away). You need to try to build a documented “repair history” that shows that you have been complaining about the same thing and it has not been fixed. Until you fit the definition of a lemon under the law, you are only in a position of being able to argue. Argument may be nice, but it does not make the car fit together or run any better.

If your vehicle happens to have previous body damage that you were not told about before it was sold to you, then, basically, “the sky opens up” in terms of what your options are. Ohio law requires full disclosure of any significant damage and repair or defect repairs to a vehicle when the retail repair cost is more than 6% of the MSRP window sticker price, not counting bumpers and glass.

Also, you might want to have an experienced lawyer look at your paperwork. Quite often the paperwork has problems in it, even when the car does not. When the car does have problems, the paperwork might be the easiest way to get you out of the mess.

Whatever you do, remember that for every legal right you have, you only have so long before the time runs out and you are stuck with things just the way they are. Generally speaking, the shortest time limit for a sales issue is two years from when you bought the vehicle. Under the lemon law, it is five years from when you bought the vehicle. Other laws have shorter time limits. No matter what, of course, the best thing to do is to figure out what your situation is right now and do something about it.