Just found this forum and thought I would ask some advice from you experts.

Yesterday my wife and I bought a 2005 Magnum SXT Special Edition. I noticed during the test drive that the red air bag light was on. Totally understand that they could not give us the car because of the safety issue and we were told they would have it in the shop first thing in the morning. Also the driver side mirror was cracked.

Around 11am I got a call that the car was ready and that it was going to detailing and I could pick it up when I got of work. When I got there at 5:45pm I found out that the car was not ready. They told me that they don't have all the diagnostic tools they needed to trouble shoot it.
They think it is the coil in the steering column but although they have the part they could not do it today because they needed the diagnostic tool first to make sure that is the problem (although they called me earlier it was ready...). They would TRY to get it done tomorrow but can't guarantee it. Is it really such a big deal to fix an airbag light that they can not do it in one day?

I think we also got cheated on the price but don't know if I can still do something about it? When the financing guy explained us everything about the price he said he had to split up the price because accessories had to be seperate. That would be the $1000 for a DVD system we want installed but he also said he had to put on there $995 for etching the windows. We didn't ask for that but he said it was on the car already, that he just had to seperate it. I thought all of that together would be the total price and on his computer screen it looked like that.
When I looked later last night over the contract I noticed actually that he had added the $995 on top of the actual price.

Also when we did all the paperwork I had to sign a due bill that said Install 7" DVD system, complete safety inspection, replace driver mirror and one free detail. When I went back later that afternoon to give him the title I forgot from my trade-in he came up with a new Due bill that had in addition on it "Security etch $995".
When I asked why it was on there and if that Due bill was not only something for work that still needed to be done why he put it on there since he told me it was done already. He responded that it just shows what all has been done to the car when we pick it up so we know that it also has the security etching.

In the showroom is a Charger and on the price sheet it shows that etching the windows is $199. The financing guy from yesterday wasn't there and I asked another one why I got charged $995 for etching the windows on the Magnum and the Charger costs only $199 and we didn't even ask for it since the guy told us it was on the car already. He had no answer for me and nobody at the dealership seemed to want to explain it to me.

What do you all think? Please some advice. Thank you very much!!

 

Hey alve, sorry but i don't have any good advice for you but i thought i would add my 2 cents about dealers(not just Dodge either), 1st of all YES i think they are trying to rip you off no doubt about it , and NO it will do you no good to ask anybody else at the dealership ( they are all in it together). I to just bought an 05' SXT a few months ago , financed it through them (Ford dealer) and had to sign my name about 50 times, went back the next week to pay it off in full and on the bill of sale they gave me their was a spot on the bottom for a signature , you think anyone at that dealership would sign it saying i paid it off in full? LMAO not a chance i asked 4 or 5 differnt people from the sales mngr. to the clerk who gave me the reciept and they said "don't worry about it we never sign that". Bunch of crooks if you ask me. What is it with auto dealers why do they have to be such A-holes?

 

Got even better! Now we are told that they don't know if they can have it fixed this week. They don't have the diagnostic tool and it won't be at the dealer until Friday afternoon. Isn't this great, you buy a car and have to wait a week or even more to get it because they need that long to fix an airbag light! [:@]

 

Hey sorry to hear that alve but if it makes you feel any better it will be worth the wait that Magnum is a sweet ride i feel like a kid at Christmas every time i take it for a spin.
p.s. 995$ for window etching is outrageous iv'e heard of it to be around 200$ and that was on a Magnum i saw for sale on ebay

 

You should of held the title of your trade in. Told them when the Due bill was corrected, you would turnover title. Otherwise pay for a title search!

 

Wow what a bunch of crooks. The dealer where I bought my Dakota was amazing. They didn't have it cleaned when i came and looked, so I drove it and ended up getting it. They let me take it for the long weekend to my hometown (2 hours away) and let my mechanic inspect it first. It checked out and so I called them back and told them I'd bring the rest of the money in and pay for it (I left a $200 deposit) and so I drove back, gave them my money, gave they're dealer plate back, and it was a bank draft so they took it and I got the bill. I signed it, they hadn't. I asked and they said the draft would have a paper trail, but they signed it to make me feel better. They gacve me a courtesy cleaning so I brought it in, it was done with no questions. When I talked to the manager he said that since they are the biggest Dodge Dealer in our province (Alberta) that they couldn't afford to screw around and ruin they're rep so they never have write off's or any other garbage vehicles and they won't argue over a $300 cleaning so...that was one instance that a dealer didn't try to screw me around. Your situation is really aggrivating. Where do these guys get off. I would demand to have my bill signed and if not threaten to go to a Better Businees Bureau or some such organization....or at least get them to stamp it or somehow acknowledge it

 

You have three days to back out of any car deal, but looking at the dates on these posts it looks like that has come and gone, although if you haven't actually received the car your 3 days may not have started.

Magnums are everywhere. Find one thats not broken at a different dealer.

 

sorry to here that, but you have to do your searching on these dealers i went to at least 2 dealer before i found one and know 4 cars later in 16 months still perfect. when i had a problem with a car it was handle right and i had a few things that need to be handled. like MattRobertson said used and new magnums are everywhere and you just got to be comfortable with the dealer. always keep some on your side like the title of the trade. you may wont to talk to your lawer if you have one just to see if theres anything they can help you will. always get things in writing and copys of everything. good luck.

 

bump, what ever happined alve

 

Some Ohio dealers had all their new cars glasses etched with serial numbers and were charging that to all the customers. They lost a class action lawsuit on the issue. They more or less shoved that cost down your throat without 'offering' it as an option. They had to issue customers with cars included in this, a voucher toward future purchases or maintanence from them. The court found it illegal to do the option and forcing buyers to pay it.