Question: I bought a vehicle from a car dealer, and before I had a chance to pick it up they put almost 400 kilometers on it. What can I do?
March 14, 2007
Hello Tony
I purchased a 2006 PT Cruiser last month. In short, the day
that I test drove it and signed the Vehicle Purchase
Agreement, the odometer reading was at 22,521 km (which I
not only saw with my own two eyes, but the dealership's
Salesman and Business Manager saw it, and this is what is
quoted on the actual Vehicle Purchase Agreement).
I was
advised that the vehicle would be ready for pick up five
days later. When I picked up the vehicle on the fifth day,
I noticed when I drove it home that there were an additional
379 kms on the vehicle.
I was also advised this date (by
the dealer's salesman) that there was no second key but to
go back the following Saturday and they would have one ready
for me to program. I contacted the salesman the next day
and told him about the odometer discrepancy, and he said we
could discuss it further on the Saturday.
Well, at this
point it was basically my word against the dealership;
however, I started going through all my documents and found
that the Safety Inspection Certificate (which was processed
the same day I picked up the vehicle) noted the kilometers
as 22,848.
I have since spoken with the dealership in
person, and sent them a registered letter, but they continue
to deny any wrong doing. By the way, when I went in on the
Saturday to pick up the second key that was apparently being
made, the original second key had magically shown up. I
wonder who had it all that time?
I have been going through
the motion of investigating my options (i.e. lawyer, OMVIC,
etc) but was wondering if you had ever heard of any such
thing. I don't know if it's illegal (for a dealership to
drive around a purchased vehicle) but they must be liable
for something.
Your feedback is greatly appreciated.
Thanks . . .
Ana
Answer:
Hi Ana,
Well, they obviously used the car for something. Maybe they
loaned it out or used it for some other purpose. I don't
know if it's legal or not. Clearly it wasn't the right
thing to do!
Either tell them you don't want the vehicle now, or tell them
they need to compensate you in some way.
Good luck . . .
All my very best...
Tony Iorio
For 