Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:02/27/2024

  Type:Customer Service Issues
  Status:

  UnansweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  On 22 JUN, 2023, I bought a 2016 ******** GLE 350 from Rainbow Luxury Imports. No warranty was offered, bought with "no warranty as-is".When I looked at the car, I asked for the CarFax. I was told that it had one minor accident, but that it had been completely repaired, that the air filters had been changed, and that "we changed all of the fluids". From that, I had confidence that I was receiving a quality repaired, serviced, and SAFE car.I went to sea a week or so after I bought the car, and within a couple of days of my return from sea in late July, the compressor and battery died, so I spent over $1,478 having them replaced (labor was $300 in cash). Soon after, I discovered the accident avoidance feature, and that it required a front camera that I did not know about and that had not been working since I had bought the car. I took the vehicle to the ******** dealership to address a recall and to get an estimate on the camera. They did a courtesy inspection, and found that the timing cover was leaking heavily and had been for a long time. I had these issues fixed, but a series of additional concerns were found and addressed (indicated on the invoices). In November, the transmission began to fail. Eurotech did the needed maintenance, and a copious amount of water was found in the transmission fluid, which had caused the slow damage to the transmission and would have been found had Rainbow truly done the maintenance that they claimed. The dealership inspection had revealed other issues, including that the transmission maintenance, due every ****** miles, had never been preformed for the life of the car. At this point, I had spent $5,397 on repairs, and the required transmission replacement, ongoing since 11 JAN, will ultimately cost an additional $7,500. I have been immobile as a result.Over these months, Rainbow has been dismissive of and unresponsive to my concerns.Further details that will not fit here I wish to discuss further with the BBB.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 02/27/2024

  The most important details are in my complaint I think, but I think that what I want to also convey is that because I bought the vehicle with no warranty and as-is, I understood that I might have to repair components on the vehicle more likely than if I had bought the vehicle new.  That having been said and understood at the time, having to fork over a total of nearly or about $13,000 to maintain the vehicle's function and ability to operate safely is beyond egregious.  

  
  

  Most of these issues that I have had to repair could have been fixed had Rainbow done the inspection and maintenance on the vehicle that they told me that they had done when I bought the vehicle. 

  
  

  During the process of getting the front camera replaced and the timing cover repaired, Eurotech found that the bolt that held on the front bumper was barely screwed in, only being held in place by a couple threads on the s**** Multiple wire bundles were hanging and not in their proper place inside the body of the bumper, some of the wires dangling dangerously close to the front wheels.  They were additionally concerned about evidence of rodent activity within the engine compartment, evidence in part by stray pieces of insulation, a photograph of which was submitted in my complaint.  

  
  

  Following these repairs, I had resolved to absorb the expense for the very reason that it was just bad luck and not totally breaking the bank.  However, when the problems with the transmission began in late November, I began reaching out to the dealership to express my concerns that the expense of this additional repair would entail the replacement of the entire transmission, which would more than double what I had spent in repairs so far, and I needed a resolution to the problem.  

  
  

  I spoke to ***********************, the sales manager first, and discuss some options. He immediately rejected the dealership covering the cost of the repairs, but when I suggested that maybe I could swap out the vehicle I purchased for one of similar or equal value, he said that this may be an option. I came into discuss it with him and management, but the owner was not available and was out of town dealing with a family medical emergency. I eventually met with a co-owner / investor of the dealership who made copies of my receipts and the photographs that I had from Eurotech, and said that there was nothing that they could do to help me. I asked who else I could speak to, and they said that the overall owner will be back in town the week after, and that I could talk with him. 

  
  

  On Monday of the following week, 11 DEC, *********************** told me that the owner, a man named *****, was back in town but was too busy to meet with me.  He said that he would see about getting an appointment for me. I had to go to sea for work offshore the next day, so I was unable to address this matter any further until I came home in early January.  

  
  

  I contacted the dealership multiple times in January, being told by **** that he would work on getting an appointment with *****, but I never got any feedback. I patiently waited but never received any responses to multiple texts and calls.  My fiance reached out and demanded to speak to the owner, *****, and was actually able to speak with him.  ***** told her that he knew nothing of the situation, but that my car should have been sold with a warranty, because the majority of the cars there are sold with one.  He did not understand why my car was not sold to me with a warranty.  He told fiance that he would talk to ****, and that I needed to get in touch with him myself.  I made several calls back to Rainbow with no reply from *****, until after a week or so at which time the business manager, ***, called me, frustratingly instead of ***** himself.

  
  

  *** dismissed the claims by Eurotech of what was wrong with my car. He said that he did not trust their assessment because Eurotech was once the company that Rainbow sent their vehicles to for addressing warranty issues.  He accused Eurotech of fabricating problems with people's cars so that they could make money, stating that this is why that they no longer deal with Eurotech. He was under the impression that Eurotech was handling the transmission replacement.  I explained to ***, that ******* Transmission was doing the transmission replacement.  I further clarified that Eurotech had addressed the transmission symptoms that I was having by doing the maintenance first to see if it solved the problem. It did not, but they did discover the cause of what was wrong with my transmission. They found water comingled with the transmission fluid which was corroding the metal parts inside the transmission compartment. This was caused by an internal water leak from the separate radiator that cools the transmission.  Eurotech completed the service by changing the fluid and filters in the transmission to make it drivable so that I could get the transmission replaced by someone else because they were not able to do it.  

  I had my vehicle towed to ******* and ****** *********, on 11 JAN, and the owner of that garage agreed with Eurotech's assessment, and began the replacement.  He estimated that the overall cost would be $7,500, and I put down $4,000 to begin the work.  

  I explained all of this to *** at Rainbow.  I further explained that transmission maintenance is due every ****** miles, and the inspection done by the ******** dealership stated that no maintenance head been done for the life of the car. I told *** that I bought the vehicle at nearly ******* miles, at which point it was nearly due for its second transmission maintenance, and it had not even had a first one.  Further, their claim that they had "changed all of the fluids" before I bought the car would have included transmission fluid and thus a transmission maintenance, which clearly was not done before I bought the vehicle.  If Rainbow had done this maintenance that they said they did they would have found the problem with the transmission and either fixed it, or not sold the car to anyone to drive, but rather for parts.  They would have lost money from their purchase of the vehicle, and because they sold it to me, being accountable for the repairs that I have had to do would not have them out any more money. In fact it seems to me that they would still have made more than they lost if they assisted me with the expenses that I've had to incur.

  
  

  I briefly explained these things to ***, who told me that he would get back with me after speaking to *****, and while he could not promise anything, he would get back to me either way. After several days I heard nothing from either *** or *****, so I began calling again. I got no responses whatsoever from either *** or *****.  After multiple calls and voicemails, I realized that I was not going to get any further response and that I had to seek assistance elsewhere.
  

  
  

  It is now almost the end of February, and my vehicle is still being worked on because of various logistical issues with parts delivery and the need to program the transmission electronically to make it communicate properly with the car. I have been immobile for almost 2 months and have now spent about $13,000 on a vehicle that I put a $2,700 down payment on, to acquire a loan totaling almost $28,000.  That ~$13,000 is nearly half of my auto loan amount, and I have spent that in repairs over about 6 months after having purchased the vehicle.  This is an egregious amount of money and effort spent on repairs after a used car purchase, and I am seeking some kind of reasonable reimbursement from the dealership for these costs.

  
  

  Thank you for your time in receiving my complaint.

  
  

  Respectfully Yours,

  
  

  
  

  ************** "****" Green, III

  ************

  Customer Answer

  Date: 03/18/2024

  [A default letter is provided here which indicates that the business has not responded to you directly.  If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]
  
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  At this time, I have not been contacted by Rainbow Suzuki Imports regarding complaint ID ********.  I have also submitted complaints to the ********* ******************************************************* as well as the **********************************.  I have not received any response from the dealership regarding the same complaint sent to any of the three agencies.  
  
  Regards,
  
  *************************