OAK PARK, Mich. – A Detroit senior living on Social Security bought a car in December, but he’s only actually had the car for 10 days. That’s because it won’t stop breaking down.
Senior David Cook says he bought a 2015 Chevy Suburban from Coolidge Highway Motors on Dec. 15. Proud and excited to have a new ride, he drove it off the lot. 48 hours later, the new car glow was gone, and the trouble rolled in.
“Two days later, it did it again,” Cook said. “I asked for my money back, ‘We gonna fix it. We gonna fix it.’”
It kept happening. The dealership said they’ve offered him a loaner multiple times.
“On the 18th, boom, it shut off on me,” he said.
Two days later, the same shutdown happened. Cook says it was shutting off in the middle of him driving on the road.
“I got it back, I drove it for four or five days, and then again on the 19th, it did it again,” Cook said.
The cycle has continued, even up until Friday night. He’s been keeping track of what’s been happening in a notebook.
“The whole dash, everything – all of it just goes to zero,” Cook said.
He says he wants all of his money back.
“Each time I got it, I filled the tank up,” Cook said. “Every time I got it back, it was on ‘E,’ so that’s another 60 dollars. I am on a fixed income. I get Social Security, that’s it. It’s killing me.”
Local 4 called the dealership. They confirmed they sold Cook the car, and it’s been brought in multiple times. They also say Cook will get his money back if his car is not fixed by Monday.
“This morning, when he came here, I told him, ‘If you want your money back, we can check with the finance company, we can cancel the deal, and we will give you your money back,’” the dealership’s manager said.
“I am paying for something I don’t have,” Cook said.
From the time the customer reported the issue, we brought the vehicle back multiple times, attempted repairs, and provided transportation at no cost so he would not be without a vehicle. We also offered to unwind the transaction, and ultimately have now fully refunded the customer and reversed the financing.
The issue with the Suburban was intermittent and difficult to diagnose, which contributed to the extended timeline. Throughout the process, we acted in good faith and worked toward a resolution, which has now been completed.
We understand the importance of consumer advocacy and wanted to make sure the full outcome and our efforts were accurately reflected.
Coolidge Highway Motors