Thomas Dodge - 9600 Indianapolis Blvd, Highland, IN

Thomas Dodge - 9600 Indianapolis Blvd, Highland, IN

September 7, 2005

BEWARE - We bought a Volkswagen Jetta, used, from Thomas Dodge and paid cash for the car. I test drove the car as well as my husband, who has a permanently dilated pupil which affects his ability to view things well in bright light. It was daytime when the purchase was made and the car seemed fine during the test drive. Thomas Dodge took possession of the car for about an hour as we completed paperwork. My husband drove the car home and I wanted to take it for a spin around the block. Immediately upon getting into the car, after I had already test driven in one time, I noticed a warning light that was NOT on during the test drive. The warning light was an airbag notification light. I drew my husband's attention to it and he couldn't tell that it was illuminated but, upon the sun setting he could clearly see that it was illuminated. My husband called Thomas Dodge first thing in the morning to let them know that a warning light was on and it was noticed by me immediately upon our arrival home and that he couldn't detect it when he left the dealership because of his dilated pupil but it may be important to our safety. They told us this is as is, no warranty and there is nothing they could do. Upon pressing and prompting they only were willing to do something for us if it was a "cheap part" and that is it. We knew that the light only was illuminated AFTER the test drive, it must have been disabled for all test drives. Once we found out that the wiring harness for the airbag was dysfunctional (from Volkswagen) and that it was a $450.00 repair we knew that they had no intention of fixing this prior to selling it. This repair was a factory dealer necessary repair so Thomas Dodge would have had to send it to Volkswagen prior to putting it for sale on their lot and they would have to "eat" the problem. I am certain that they didn't have any intention of doing that as their actions made this very clear. The light not being on during the test drive and becoming illuminated immediately following the purchase and their contention that they would only fix it if it were a "cheap part" tells me they knew exactly what was wrong with this car. WORD TO THE WISE - If you choose to trust them with your car purchase (which I never will again - I have since purchased a brand new BMW X5 from Levin BMW in Highland and couldn't ask for a more responsible dealer), then you MUST re-inspect your car following the point where they have it without your supervision (while you are signing paperwork) because a warning light may become enabled! We did everything possible, including going to the BBB to no avail. It turns out that thanks to this disabled air bag harness, during the time that it took us to get the car evaluated and fixed we had no airbag - do you think Thomas Dodge cared at all about that? Their response to take no responsibility for this was indication enough.

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