I Hope Someone Here is a Lawyer
 

I bought my rx-8 from a mom and pop shop and it came with bad 2nd gear synchros (cant shift into 2nd gear if im over 6k RPM in 1st) and the warranty said that if anything in the powertrain goes bad within 30 days/1,000 miles, they would cover half the costs.

weeelllll, they're being assholes. They wanted me to drive it up 50 miles to take it to THEIR guy as opposed to taking it to my guy down here (neptune speed - who only work on rx8's and rx7's. well known on the west coast. does bridgeporting, etc.) but nowhere in the warranty does it say I have to take it to a location that THEY specify. I'm not about to take it to their guy because, well, I'm sure all of you know what dealers will try to do to prevent having to pay $1,000 to honor a warranty, AND it's 100 miles round trip.

So after threatening to sue these guys, they put me in contact with the owner (after 2 weeks of hassle) and after giving him an earache he finally said this...

"take it to YOUR guy, get the work done. Show me proof that the work is done, and I'll send you a check to cover half of the costs" which sounds REEEEEAAAAAALLLLYY sketchy.... Stupid me, I didn't record the conversation

Here's where the lawyer part comes in:

All I wanna know is if I call him back and say a really quick "this call is being recorded" in the beginning and take a recording of him SAYING that he'll spot me half of the money AFTER the repair, will that hold up as viable evidence in court if the guy doesn't spot me the money?

I know this isn't really the right place to ask a question like this... but I'm getting pretty desperate here. I paid 15k for this car and I expect the damn transmission to work, and I'm not about to pay 2k+ out of my own pocket to fix a problem that isn't my fault unless I absolutely have to.

Thanks in advance! :)

Call your local Bar association. They will point you to a lawyer that has experience in this field. The first one hour consolation with this lawyer will be free.

My advice, in the future, is to never use the word SUE. Don't even talk in legalese. Once you use the word sue, you then (if they are smart) will only be able to talk to their lawyer. Talking legalese can get you in trouble if you don't know the exact meaning of the word and use it while conversing with the other party.
Also, getting advice from someone in another state can lead you down the wrong path.

No, I'm not a lawyer, but I have been around the block a couple of times.

Well, the exact wording I used was "i guess i'll see you guys in court then" haha

I knew the state I'm from would definitely have something to do with it, but I'm hoping someone who is a lawyer would be smart enough to read my location on my bio to the left and in my signature and only give advice if we share the same location..

thanks for the suggestion about the bar association. didn't think of that!

cheers! :)

Why not write him an email and ask him to confirm the arrangement? When he replies you will have a written agreement. Im no lawyer though...

I only have his cell phone number for a contact

For 15k I assume its a low mileage newer model. Sounds like the previous owner didn't know how to drive and you may run in to other power train problems as well. I'd attempt to return the 8 and find a better maintained one. That warranty is shit, you could do much better at a larger dealership.

little over 60k miles. I couldnt find a better one in my state. I want a series 1 post-2007. I cant return it. It was a bad deal. I didn't do much reading up on it before I bought it. Carfax looked fine.

I'm getting shit gas mileage but I'm going to go through and see what I can do. I was shifting rather high (5-6k) before. Now I'm gonna start shifting between 3-4k. Gonna clean my MAF. Might get a compression test done soon.

Does the 5 year/100,000 Mile engine warranty from Mazda transfer with owners?

Its 8yrs/100K miles, and yes it does transfer with owners.

Do you really need 3 threads to talk about the same sychro?

https://www.rx8club.com/new-member-f...er-job-249801/
https://www.rx8club.com/new-member-f...inding-249425/

Read more. Post Less.

And tossing around a threat of a lawsuit when it's utterly uncessary is a great way to really not get what you're looking for.

I posted this because I felt it didn't fit the first thread I posted a month ago. I should've posted it in the 2nd thread though, I agree. I forgot about that one.

"read more. post less" if only you knew how much I read on this forum....

"when it's utterly unnecessary" it must be nice to have $2,000 to flush down the toilet on a transmission that you didn't break. Necessity is completely subjective. They're not honoring their warranty, what other option is there besides a lawsuit...? I'm not just "tossing around" a threat. I've been playing games with this stupid dealer since the day I got the car. I've never threatened to sue anybody in my life until now lol

This is technically not a repost and he's looking for legal advice so there was really no need for him to combine threads.

And there is no need to do a search and repost his previous threads, we have moderators that moderate the forums and this post is a little unnecessary unless you're trying to me a moderator here :P

In his defense he did post on the 1st thread I made so he already knew about it. I'm not sure how he found the 2nd one though, probably did a search lol

I'm definitely not attacking anyone and didn't mean to seem like i was. :uhh:

ah, my apologies, seemed like you were wagging your finger at him a bit. my bad! this is the first non-music production related forum I'm part of. the etiquette here is quite different xD

Proper prior planning. Synchro issues are fairly common with higher mileage RX-8's.

In Texas you can record a phone call without the other party being aware that the call is being recorded (only one party needs to be aware and that party is you). But, that is likely not the case in California so call an attorney withe experience in lemon law cases if you end up going that route.

But if the warranty is in writing then you don't need to record anything and if it does not state that they get to choose the repair shop then they really cannot force you to do that. You would be the party in favor if it came to a suit. But if they tell you to fuck off then your only choice would be small claim or to hire an attorney and that will cost you time and money because no attorney would waste their time with a case like this on a contingency fee arrangement, it's just not worth it. Being a hard ass will get you no where, just tell them what you want in a polite manner and if they refuse then do what you gotta do.

But FYI, you can get a used working series I trans for $400.00 or so. I also don't think Neptune (I know of them) does trans work and the 6 speed RX-8 trans is not so easy to rebuild due to the specialty tools needed to do so.

I would just drive your ass up there and let their guy fix it, this would also be a time to install a new clutch and save on that labor so it might be a blessing in disguise.

I was thinking about taking them to small claims but everyone I've called said the court can say they owe me the money, but I still have to collect it, they aren't forced to pay it. You can see where that'd go wrong.

You're right, Neptune doesn't do work on trannies (awesome you know of them btw!), they were gonna send it out to one of their guys and get the work done. If I can't get this all to work out, I'm just going to get a used trans and get neptune to install it.

I WOULD drive my ass up there, but do you see how sketchy that is? Like, why would they make me take it to their guy when I have someone who works on rx-8s for a living give me a quote? I have a REALLY strong feeling they're gonna find a cheap way to make it go away. And I'm not gonna get cheap parts and cheap work on my car. I'm gonna take damn good care of this car. I mean, they won't even tell me who their damn "guy" is! Won't even give me any information lol. It all seems really sketchy....

its the same as insurance, they dealer probably has their trusted mechanics, just like you trust your mechanic, most likely they have a deal that reduces costs and they can trust the diagnoses of their preferred repairer more.

You on the other hand, dont trust their mechanic and trust the one that you prefer, swings both way mate.

For example, your mechanic pulls out trans, finds a fked clutch somewhere, take a few snaps and suddenly you quote them for the syncro and the clutch...

Right, of course we all have our trusted mechanic, but nowhere in the warranty does it say I have to take it to THEIR trusted mechanic. If they wanted me to take it to their mechanic if something like this happen, maybe they should've thought of putting that in the warranty haha

Seems like a pointless battle to me. I can understand if you lived on the other side of the country, driving back to Cali would be unreasonable. However, driving less than an hour seems pretty reasonable imho. To me this warranty matter comes down to a difference of interpretation. You seem to believe that their warranty should cover repair at any shop regardless of cost. I am sure they disagree.

detectiveorange...where is your warranty contract?

Can you post the text of it here? either snap pics of it and upload them, scan it in, link us to where it is in the web?

Forget what people are telling you, we need to know what your warranty says. The whole thing, small print and all.

I didn't search for anything. It's not exactly difficult to remember someone conversing about the same issue, 3 times in the same subforum. And I'm not pretending to be a moderator, never want to be. This is about a single member's issue with purchasing a car nearly a month ago. The grinding was obvious when he bought the car, and is now considering small claims court to solve the problem when the dealer already agreed to do so, albeit at a mechanic of the dealer's choosing.

I agree $2,000 is a terrible price for a synchro job. But you've been told multiple times that you can find a used transmission for cheap! Even though you should've taken this issue straight to the dealer as soon as you noticed it nearly a month ago and returned it! No one would've balked at a car return, happens all the time.

But now we're venturing into legalese when you could either:
1. Agree to get the damn thing fixed with the dealer covering some of the cost.
2. Get a used/rebuilt transmission and ask the dealer to cover the cost.
3. Waste your time (and money) in small claims court.

They are honoring the warranty they provided you, while looking out for their own interests where they can. Yes, they did not specifically mention repairs must be done at approved locations. You said it yourself: they are pointing you to their "trusted mechanic". The last thing they want is for you to come back with more transmission problems, especially after you threatened to sue.

There was no point in threatening to sue them considering the ample time you had to work out an amiable solution. Now that you've gotten hostile, they are especially unlikely to do what you ask of them. Hopefully in the future you'll discover this is the wrong way to get what you're looking for.

I think this is beginning to fall away from the point of the thread. The owner has agreed to give me half of the money in the form of a check when I take it to my guy. But only AFTER I get the work done.

So what I'm afraid is going to happen is I'm going to get the work done and he's gonna say "cool bro, I'll get that money to you.....eventually" and then never give me the money.
I'm 100% happy with this arrangement as long as he holds up to his end of his own agreement, my question is can I record him saying that so that I have proof he told me he'll spot me money?
Edit: I'm going to call the local bar association today like Al suggested

The reason I'm so sketched about this is....well....lemme put it this way, this is their motto...

"Todos Califican" - Everybody qualifies
"Facil Financiamiento" -Easy Finance
"Mal Credito, No Credito OK" -bad credit, no credit okay
"Su Trabajo Es Su Credito" -Your work is your credit (no idea what that means lol)
"Especialistas En Mal Credito" -We specialize in bad credit

This should have set off some red flags in my head, but unfortunately I don't speak spanish and had to use the gift of Google Translate when I got home. The dealer is located in a place with a high mexican population so I figured it said things like "we have the best cars!" and stuff like that, just in spanish. Nope lol.

RIWWP, I'll post pictures of the warranty as soon as I can here in a couple hours.

Tpb7463, please stop responding to the thread, you're being of no help and quite frankly, you're throwing around a lot of summarized information that is borderline not true. Thank you.

https://www.rx8club.com/members/dete...anty-39081.jpg

Here is the warranty. Now, some additional info.
It says "ask the dealer for a copy of the warranty documents for a full explanation..." I've asked repeatedly for this "additional information" both while I was there and since I've had the car, and every time I've been told "there's no additional information." In that case, the only things specified in the warranty are they have to pay 50% parts/labor.

and also, you can see the last few words of the sentence but at the top of the page it says
"Important: Spoken promises are difficult to enforce. Ask the dealer to put all promises in writing." which is why I'm so sketched out about this guy telling me he'll pay 50% parts/labor AFTER I get the work done.

Yeah, legally the dealer has to have the rest of that contract. Legally, you have a right to that documentation. Your own copy, not just being able to see it.


However, regardless of those details, that 50/50 will hold true, regardless of where you take it.

Exactly. What I think has happened is they probably copy/pasted some other dealerships warranty contract to use as their own (they're a REALLY small dealer. Just opened a couple months ago) without writing any "additional information."

I don't think they realize that they're the ones being screwed by not showing me the additional information. If there's "no additional information" then that means they have to pay %50 no matter where I take it.

I've never been the type of guy to get every nickle and dime I can out a business or anything. I'm as fair as I can be with business and such. I just like to be treated fairly like everyone else. I guess I forgot car dealerships aren't a place you find good business lol