Don’t blame the dealer when the manufacturer won’t authorize repairs.  We hear it all the time. People getting extremely mad at their dealer, blaming it for not fixing their car under warranty.  But I tell them I’ve never met a dealer who didn’t want to get paid by the car company to fix their vehicle and make them happy.  Sounds obvious, but why would a dealer not want to get paid all so it can be yelled at by its customer?

So my advice is to be nice to the dealer.  They would like to help, and get paid to do so.  Usually the only reason they can’t help is because the manufacturer won’t authorize the needed repairs.  So put yourself in your dealer’s shoes, imagine if you boss told you to come to work on a Saturday and told you they won’t be paying you for that.  That’s the same thing the dealer faces, being told by a customer to pay for a repair. But if the manufacturer won’t reimburse it, the dealer would go out of business if it had to give away parts and pay its Technicians and Service Writers all without getting paid.

Finally, I’ve seen instances where the customer got so mad at their dealer the dealer actually wrote the customer’s threats on the Repair Order.  Why give the manufacturer ammo to avoid paying for your needed vehicle repairs? Likewise, I’ve seen where the dealer who liked its customer wrote on the Repair Order that even though they may not have duplicated the problem they believe their customer, ultimately leading to the repair being authorized by the manufacturer.  I’ve even seen a case where the manufacturer liked the customer so much they agreed to buy back a vehicle despite not once verifying the problems!

So be nice to people.  When there’s a problem under warranty, do bring the car in for repairs, and even if they are not fixing it, do be nice to everyone involved.  We’re here to help, so if you’d like to see whether we can help you call us at (916) 663-6400 or (951) 526-2444 for a free case evaluation. There is no charge to talk to us, and if we accept your case we don’t charge you attorney fees and we cover all your legal costs so you won’t get a bill from us.

– Jon Jacobs, Esq.