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Discover Infiniti, Carlsbad CA

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Andy of El Cajon, CA, writes:
We bought a used car at Discover Infiniti Carlsbad with a warranty that was to include loaner cars and free tows. Without this guarantee we would not have bought the car. Having a loaner car was one of the most important parts of the warranty that Mr. V, the salesman, guaranteed to us as we drove 100 miles a day, plus travel on the weekends and ill health concerns that required us to be mobile.

We put all our money into the Infinity M30 we bought and paying for a rental car was not financially possible for us, and this was emphasized.

Within 2 weeks of buying the car, I found 3 things that needed to be fixed, or at least looked at. A transmission shudder, a "clunk" in the front end, and peeling paint on the front end of the car from an accident that we were unaware of (although the accident is not at issue, the repairs to the car were done well except the peeling paint on the front air dam).

I tried 2 times under warranty to have the car repaired. Both times we were told no loaner cars were available. The third time I called, Infiniti had loaner cars but we were 100 miles over our 3,000 mile warranty. I called Mr. V and asked that they still look at the car under warranty, but he told me that our warranty had expired and we would have to pay all costs.

When I confronted him about the 2 times we tried to take the car in he said we should have bought an extended warranty and we were out of luck. This is the treatment we received during our warranty period.

A year has gone by. We've put 25,000 of our miles on the car, documented all maintenance and babied the vehicle since the day we bought it. For the record, the transmission shudder did not get any worse over the year, but the front end "clunk" is getting worse (more on that later) and the paint is gone in an 8" square area on the front air dam.

The next set of facts has me completely puzzled as to how the responsibility could be turned on me and why we were denied our reimbursement. On April 14, 1999, on our way to a doctor's appointment our transmission started to slip, and I quickly realized we were losing transmission fluid. We were able to safely stop and tow the vehicle to the dealership before all the fluid left the car. However, we were forced to use one of our own AAA tows because when we called the dealer we were told there was no free tow available.

This, according to the literature I received by Infiniti, is a FREE 24/7 service.

Although I had enough emergency fluids in the car to refill the transmission and drive, I chose to protect the car and have it towed as the leak was as bit too much for comfort. All this was with less than 25,000 miles since we bought the car. At first, the Infiniti mechanic crew told us we probably had a major seal leak. I watched the mechanic drain the fluid (NICE RED, NOT BURNT), then pull the pan and try to tell me there was metal in it as he was rubbing and rubbing that pan trying to stir up any debris that could have settled in NORMAL transmission life. He even rubbed the magnet that collects any small mechanical parts during the life of the transmission and rubbed what little there was BACK INTO THE FLUID that he showed me.

Then a few minutes later, he told me the torque converter was bad. He did not pull it. How did he know -- is he psychic? Forty five minutes later, we were told the ENTIRE TRANSMISSION AND RADIATOR were bad. From a major seal leak, to having 100% of the transmission and radiator broken?

Our Infiniti lost transmission fluid, we were able to pull over and stop before the fluid was totally drained, but saw a large leak. We had it towed to your dealership (on OUR AAA), and within 45 minutes with no diagnostics (I was there watching my car the entire time) we were told the ENTIRE transmission and radiator needed replacing. I had the common sense to call a friend while the staff was adding up the damages, and he informed me that he knew a transmission specialist in the San Diego area. Over the phone the transmission specialist was able to tell me that I was being deliberately ripped off as the diagnosed bad torque converted CANNOT be diagnosed without being removed and NO DIAGNOSTICS had even been done on the transmission (basically backing my opinion). And the worst part is we brought our car in DRIVABLE (we towed it to protect our investment) and they would not return it to us that way. Pay $3,500 or we would have to have it towed again.

A couple of months ago I came out of a 6 year health crisis and was doing very well for 2 months before the stress of Infiniti's fraud, and the financial ruin, has again stricken me health-wise. There is no single word or combinations of words that describe the type of human beings I encountered.

Financially ruined and they took my victory in health and flushed it down the toilet as I am now again unable to function as I was for 2 months before this happened. I wish I could sue them for pain, if pain = money, I would be the richest man in the world (yes I do realize I am not alone)

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