Dealing with Dealer Service Depts.

[Hawaiianbasshead]

get the car evaluated by as many shops as possible as ammunition...

[dksfowler]

I live in chillicothe ohio. ok with that i bought an 05 cc 4x4 in feb07 in columbus and had to get the front pinion seal fixed in may and called the dealership in chillicothe and they said i had to have the truck they for them to look at by 2pm, but they said this after i told them I dont get off work till 3:30. so i took it an hour north to buckeye nissan and they was good even done the 2* for me. so now my rear axle seal is leaking so i call chillicothe and they said they only have 1 guy for nissan trucks and it was 2 weeks out. what is with this bull**** so I gotta take it an hour north agian on tues. cant believe they only have 1 guy for nissan trucks and they r a big dealership too. sorry guys just venting. my wife also called them a month ago to buy me seat covers and they siad they was not an authorized dealer. dont understand that either seeming they r a nissan dealer and all. bottom line this place sucks so if anyone is in the area do not go to nourse nissan of chillicothe

[memsu]

I've had to lemon law a vehicle before.

1. Write down exactly your description of the problem and hand that to the dealer. Keep one copy for your records. In court if what you described is different that what is written on the service report the manufacturer can claim they tried fixing a different problem. Ford tried that with me, but didn't work because I gave the dealer my description of the problem.

2. Summarize any conversation you had with the dealer representative (phone and just normal conversations).

3. Demonstrate the problem to the dealership if possible. I drove around with a transmission tech for 30 minutes till my truck grinded the gears. This is so they can't say "couldn't duplicate the problem."

4. Try taking video recordings of what is happening. My truck then had a grinding transmission noise. The dealer sent that information to Ford for review. The videos are also helpful in lemon law precedings (It was the reason I won my case).

5. I had a very intermittent problem so I started keeping logs of when it happened. Write down the conditions of the road, stop go driving, after driving for a long distance, etc.

Every state has different lemon laws. So check your state's dept of transportation website for more information on what is required to file a lemon law. In most cases you will have to write a letter to the manufacturer. The Texas dept of transportation has a sample letter you can modify to fit your problem. Also in Texas you don't need a lawyer to help you out. In fact I couldn't get one to represent me. Guess there just isn't enough incentive to help. However, they all said if you lose they'd be glad to help.

On your court day just state the facts. The manufacturer is there to prove you're causing the problems or that it isn't a defect, but normal operation of the vehicle. Ford said my problem was normal and all F150s did that. Basically that kills your case if they have the documents to prove it's normal and doesn't cause longevity issues. Well, Ford had all that information. However, my videos were pretty damn convincing to the Judge. So, I won my case.