Premier Motor Car NY, Inc.

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ***, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below
The van was purchased
with the understanding that no warranty was included, and that fluids, belts,
tires and other wear-and-tear parts are the responsibility of the buyer. *** had nothing to gain by removing the check
engine light bulb, as I had attempted to start the van at my residence prior to
having it towed, most likely causing the damage at that point. If a check engine light bulb existed in the
van, it would have been an indicator to check for a code rather than trying to
start the car. I did not check for this
because if there is no light, there would be no code.
The damage almost
certainly occurred in my presence, however was due to trying to start a van
that gave no indication of a problem. This
should show that I also had nothing to gain from removing the bulb, nor do I have
the skill, knowledge or instruments to perform such work. *** invoiced me for one hour of labor after
giving me the choice of opening up the cluster.
If I had not authorized the labor (an additional cost to this ordeal),
they would not have taken the cluster apart and found that there was even an
issue. This should show that *** had
nothing to gain by removing the bulb Both
parties had nothing to gain from removing the bulb
Regards,
*** ***

Please see attached for additional documents. The customer [redacted] called Premier the last week in April 2014 and stated that he knew there was no warranty on the 2004 [redacted] but would like to have the vehicle towed in because he believed that the fuel pump went bad. [redacted] stated...

that the vehicle would turn over but would not start. [redacted] was advised by me [redacted] to have the van towed in so I could take a look at it. A week later [redacted] called me to ask my opinion on what was going on with the van that was taken to another repair shop [redacted] Auto. He stated that the other repair facility [redacted] Auto removed the timing belt and reinstalled it after which the vehicle only turned over once then the engine seized. I advised him that if the timing belt was installed improperly that it could damage the engine. The engine in this vehicle is called an interference motor, meaning that if a problem with the timing of the pistons and the valves occurs then they wall collide with each other and cause damage. Improper installation of the timing belt is a guarantee of this situation happening. The fact that the engine was turning over before it was worked on means that valves and pistons were not colliding with each other. Once the belt was installed and the engine was turned over is when the issue of the engine becoming seized due to the pistons and valves hitting. After explaining this to [redacted] he agreed that vehicle went to the repair shop with a common no start situation and now had a very serious situation commonly referred to as a " crashed motor " A couple of days later [redacted] called again and stated that they disassembled the engine and found that the valves were bent as result of the timing belt issue. [redacted] then told me that [redacted] auto advised him the there was codes stored in the cars computer but the light was not working. This is when they took out the speedometer cluster to find that the check engine light bulb was missing. It is my opinion that the only way that the bulb could have been missing between when the vehicle left my facility with a known working bulb is if [redacted] or [redacted] Auto removed it, possibly to try to cover up the damage that was caused by inadequate work quality. [redacted] then threatened to sue premier if I did not refund the entire cost of the vehicle. Stating that [redacted] auto told him that I removed the check engine bulb on purpose and that was why the engine seized. Premier motorcar purchased the 2004 [redacted] on 2/25/2014 with 107170 miles on it. When Premier purchased the vehicle it had a check engine light on. The check engine light was on for p0420 code, which is a code for a catalytic converter inefficiency. Premier motorcar has receipts for all the repairs that was done to the 2004 [redacted] prior to vehicle being put up for sale. One of the items on the repair invoice is catakleen. Catakleen is a chemical that is made for cleaning out gummed up converters. The solution is placed into the gas tank and the check engine light is cleared and the vehicle is driven for multiple miles. Premier drove this vehicle 192 mile in between the repairs and the sale of the vehicle. The check engine light never turned back on. Also when a vehicle is hooked up to the NYS DMV inspection computer if the bulb is missing for the check engine light or if there are codes pending in the vehicle the machine will fail the vehicle for NYS inspection and will turn the code on for missing bulb. At no time was the check engine bulb removed at this facility or removed by anyone working at this facility. Clusters are never removed unless the unit itself is malfunctioning. I have never removed a check engine bulb or any dash bulb in that matter in the twenty years of my career. Vehicles must pass NYS inspection prior to delivery to the customer. The vehicle was inspected on 3/11/2014 with 107362 miles on it. The vehicle passed inspection with no issue what so ever. Which proves that the bulb was in place at time of delivery. [redacted] picked up the vehicle on 3/11/2014, which he stated in his complaint. Mr. [redacted] signed all sale and warranty papers' knowing the vehicle was over 100,000 and there is no NYS warranty on vehicles with mileage over 100,000. The mileage at the time of pick up was 107,362. Belts are also not required to be warranted under NYS even if he had bought the vehicle with lower miles and a warranty. All customers are also told at time of pick up that any vehicle maintenance that in required is their responsibility. Including all fluids, belts, tires and any other parts that go through wear and tear. [redacted] acknowledged this at time of pick up and said he understood this. Account number [redacted]