Claimant says: "Purchased a brand new Toyota Highlander from Riley Chevrolet (0 miles). I drove it two days and the transmission had to be replaced on the vehicle. I argued the lemon law with no results. I requested my other vehicle back with no results. Riley said after the initial trade I no longer had any rights. After several days of arguing that I would not accept the vehicle I was told they would get another new vehicle with an even trade if I would pay another administrative fee. I accepted th”
...Show more »
Claimant says: "Purchased a brand new Toyota Highlander from Riley Chevrolet (0 miles). I drove it two days and the transmission had to be replaced on the vehicle. I argued the lemon law with no results. I requested my other vehicle back with no results. Riley said after the initial trade I no longer had any rights. After several days of arguing that I would not accept the vehicle I was told they would get another new vehicle with an even trade if I would pay another administrative fee. I accepted their offer thinking they were trying. After another week they traded for a car similar to mine and added on the extras. Read below and hear the rest of the story!
1. Thursday, 5/25/2017 Purchased New Toyota Highlander 0 miles on car's arrival to dealership. Took automobile directly home and placed in garage. 45 miles from dealership. Salesman Ben McGrail.
2. Friday, 5/26/2016 Vehicle stayed in garage.
3. Saturday, 5/27/2016 Drove vehicle to Boonville casino and ate dinner. We then went to Camdenton Mo for a Dwight Yocum concert. My brother and his wife rode with us . We left the concert and I attempted to take my brother and his wife home. Just before I entered the driveway the car stalled and a light came on the dash telling the owner to see the dealer. I parked the vehicle at my brothers house and borrowed his pickup for my wife and I to get home. The car had less than 180 miles on it.
4. Sunday, 5/28/2017 Dealership Closed
5. Monday 5/29/2017 Memorial day holiday. The closest dealership from my home was located in Columbia Mo. I drove our other vehicle to their service department hoping for assistance with the issue. The service department was closed their and I called Jeff City's with the same outcome. I attempted to call Ben, our salesman, but he was out for the rest of the week over personal problems.
6. Tuesday, 5/30/2017 Started calling Riley Toyota Service department for assistance. Started calling at 8:00 AM. The dealership picked the car up at approximately 2:00 PM. The service department called me later the following day and said the issue could be the transmission. Would let me know after further analysis.
7. Wednesday, 5/31/2017 Service department called and said it was definitely the transmission and it must be replaced. I told the employee I didn't want to accept a vehicle that I had only drove for two days with major issues already. He sent me to the service Manager, Sales Mgr Brian, and then to Kyle Riley. When I requested my trade in vehicle be returned, and cancel the purchase of the new car I was told it couldn't be done. I was told Riley Toyota owned my old vehicle now and there was nothing I could do. These discussions went on for a couple of days.
8. Thursday, 6/1/2017 (discussions & arguments)
9. Friday, 6/2/2017 Sales Manager Brian finally contacted me and said they would be willing to trade my new car for another identical new car if I would pay another $75.00 administration fee. I accepted his offer and thanked him for his effort to finally resolve the issue. He asked me if we wanted the same color and I said if possible. He said he would attempt to find one and lend me a loaner.
10. No contact on Sat. 6/3, Sunday 6/4, or Monday 6/5.
11. Tuesday, 6/6, I reached Brian and he said they found a vehicle at another dealer and was in the process of making the trade. He said any extras on my old vehicle would be on the new one. Brian said the vehicle they traded for should arrive later today.
12. Wednesday, 6/7, I called Brian in the AM and he said the vehicle had arrived. He contacted me approximately one hour later and said it was the XLE auto they were trading for my limited. He said mine should be arriving later today. I didn't say anything at the time, but it seemed very strange they would be able to trade a XLE vehicle of lesser value for my limited vehicle.
13. Thursday, 6/8, Brian called and said the other vehicle had arrived and we could pick it up in the PM. My wife and I came to get the 2nd car at approximately 2:00 PM. Ben, the salesman from the first car met us at the door. He had returned from his time off. Ben said he had been putting miles on the car and making sure no issues would arise in the future. This car had over 150 miles on the speedometer already. New car with zero mileage had been a big issue with me and Ben on the first car purchase. However, I didn't complain because I had put approximately the same mileage on the first car before the transmission went out. Ben took us into the lady administrators office and we filled out the trade paperwork. We also paid her for the sales tax on the 1st car. She said they would send it in for us causing less confusion of the two purchases.
We never saw Ben again during this switch over process. On the initial purchase he went through the car and discussed any questions. However, He did take the car somewhere for a few minutes while we were in the administrators office. This car had not been cleaned nearly as good as the first car. I don't believe this car had been detailed since arrival at Riley dealership. The interior had smudges on the dash. The car was in the garage next to the administrators office which was not well lighted. My wife and I also had sunglasses on.
We left the garage headed home. On our was home we stopped at a gas station in Ashland Mo on route home to purchase a soda. I noticed the rear license plate was vibrating with the music. Evidently, the rear door of the vehicle had a base speaker. I told my wife we would get the vehicle fixed in Columbia at the closer dealer next week under warranty. This overall purchase had already been extremely stressful. Little did I know it was going to get worse.
14. Friday, 6/9/17 The car set in the garage
15. Saturday, 6/10/17 My wife and I went to Argosy Casino in Kansas City accompanied by my brother and his wife. We went to the casino for a concert by David Allen Coe. I was very careful finding a large parking as I always do. The car that I traded in was a 2013 Rogue Nissan. It had a little over 20,000 miles with no dings or scratches on the vehicle. I take tremendous effort to stay away from other vehicles at all times. No matter how far I need to walk.
16. Sunday, 6/11/17 I pulled the car out of the vehicle to wash it. Whenever I take a vehicle out at night and bugs are in the air I always clean the vehicle the following day. My wife assisted me washing and wiping the vehicle down. When we were wiping the vehicle down I found two scratches. One was on the top of the left side of the hood and the other was in the back near the license plate. I only put 185 miles on the vehicle the previous night and only parked it in one place. When I returned from the casino to retrieve my auto, the same two cars were parked beside me. Neither scratch was anywhere near another car could have made them. This car is a dark brown and unless you were looking for these scratches you probably not see them. The one located on the left side of the engine hood was the worst. None of these scratches could have been caused by another vehicle.*” ...Show less »