The vehicle was acquired by the Company on July 5, 2006 and was sold to us as being accident and lien free from South London Infiniti Nissan, located on at 1055 Wharncliffe Road South, in London, Ontario. The sales representative was Chad Towsley. Safety standards and emissions test certificates were also provided during the delivery of the vehicle.
The vehicle was sold to us with approximately 43, 000 km on it and during the initial purchase period, we report that we had no problems with the vehicle until early August 2006, at which time we returned the vehicle to South London Infiniti Nissan due to paint flaking off the drivers side of the rear bumper. Adam Krawczuk, a sales representative, inspected the bumper and obtained management authorization to paint the rear bumper free of charge. I personally visited the body shop while the bumper was being repainted and they advised me that the reason it started flaking in the first place was because the bumper had been replaced with a non-OEM bumper that was not primed before being painted. We also then discovered that vital stickers, namely, the drivers door vehicle information sticker that includes gross vehicle weight, tire size and pressure, was missing along the side-airbag warning sticker. The drivers door appeared to "stick out" slightly from the contour of the car. We contacted Mr. McCarville to address whether the vehicle was in a prior accident and to address other concerns; his response was "no".
In late August 2006, we brought the car in for a window leak, a clutch rattle and squealing coming from the rear wheels. None of the issues were resolved on this visit although they did install a new window regulator to attempt to resolve the window leak issue.
In mid-October 2006, we reported a problem with the manual transmission in the vehicle, due to a grinding noise in 3rd gear while engaging. The vehicle was brought to South London Infiniti Nissan and the transmission was subsequently replaced due to a fault. We received the vehicle back with the new transmission and everything appeared to be OK. Furthermore, we also made the dealer aware of irregular wear of the passenger side leather seat. No action was taken as staff at South London Infiniti Nissan claimed it was normal. Approximately a week later, we returned the vehicle to the dealer due to a clunking noise coming from the front suspension. A technician brought the vehicle into the service bay and tightened components of the suspension. No invoice or work order was opened for this. We report no further problems at that time.
In January 2007, the vehicle was brought in for service for numerous issues, none of which were taken care of. Furthermore, Chelsea Wakefield, Warranty Administrator, advised our VP that because the car was being driven by someone who is younger, they feel that it has put more wear and tear on the car as a result. When asked why the vehicle has had so many faults, Ms. Wakefield responded, Because G35 Coupes get driven hard by young guys with rich fathers who have nothing better to spend their money on When asked to repeat herself, Ms. Wakefield remained silent. This unethical behavior was pointed out to Bill Francis, Service Manager, Mark McCarville, Dealer Principal all of South London Infiniti Nissan. Furthermore, Bonnie Boyd, of Nissan-Infiniti Head Office was made aware of this; the issue was subsequently brushed off by each individual named above.
In mid-February 2007, the vehicle had its 6-disc in dash CD player replaced under warranty due to a fault. We reported no problems initially after the replacement unit was installed.
In March 2007, we contacted Nissan-Infiniti Canada, to get a District Manager to look at the items on the vehicle, as we felt they were not being addressed properly by the staff at South London Infiniti Nissan. After a great deal of time, Bonnie Boyd, of Infiniti Canada, contacted us and arrangements were made to meet with her at the dealership. We had also spoken to Mark McCarville, who is the dealer principal and he was aware of the situation.
In April 2007, we met with Bonnie Boyd from Infiniti Canada, at which time we expressed our concerns about the vehicle and allowed her to inspect the vehicle in person. It was determined at that time Nissan-Infiniti would be replacing the components related to the clunking noise in the suspension and also covering half the cost of repairing the leather seat that wore irregularly on the passenger side.
In approximately May 2007, the dealer replaced the front compression rods which are essentially stabilizer bars for the suspension system, under warranty only as a result of authorization from Infiniti Canada.
In early September 2007, we notified South London Infiniti Nissan of an issue with the vehicle, whereas it was consuming excessive amounts of oil between oil changes. A service appointment was made with South London Infiniti Nissan.
Shortly thereafter, Nancy Drummond of the Service Department contacted Matt Greenaway and advised him that she had spoke to Bill Francis, Operations Manager of South London Infiniti Nissan regarding the appointment and was told to advise us that the vehicle is out of warranty and all charges would be at our expense. The vehicle had roughly 105, 000 KM on it at that time, although the original warranty contract book states that the power train is covered until 110, 000 km or Jan 31, 2008, whichever comes first. We advised that we would be in touch with the dealer principal, Mr. McCarville, to discuss the matter.
The VP of Operations for our company left two voicemail messages for Mr. McCarville with no returned calls for many days. When we contacted Mr. McCarville again, he was available and the concerns about the warranty not being honoured were brought up. Mr. McCarville failed to address the issues and became very irate, using foul language near the end of the conversation. He advised that the vehicle was not allowed at South London Infiniti Nissan and stated we are not to return to the dealership ever again. He further stated that we can take our vehicle to another dealer, although never specified where the dealers were or gave contact details. He then slammed the phone down and ended the conversation. He was uncooperative with Better Business Bureau and even stated "In regards to the above case number, its time we stop wasting everybody's time. I am not prepared to do anything more for this customer, I wish that I would of done less".
Another member of senior management on behalf of the Company was informed about the incident and proceeded to contact Mr. McCarville to find out why he had been so rude and turned away the vehicle for service. Mr. McCarville denied becoming irate and reiterated that the vehicle was not welcome at their dealership and offered no further assistance.
In September 2007, a service appointment was booked with Kathy Learn, Service Manager at Guelph Nissan, to diagnose the situation with the oil consumption problem. Guelph Nissan verified the vehicle was within warranty and honoured it accordingly. Guelph Nissan advised us that in order to proceed with an oil consumption test, we must first pay for an oil change to begin. We authorized the work and they told us to come back every 1, 000 km for a reading to check the oil level. This was to happen for the next 3, 000-4, 000 km.
The vehicle was returned about 1, 100 km later, which the service advisor said was fine, as we had attempted to get the vehicle to them earlier; however, Guelph Nissan was booked with appointments. When we returned for the checkup, the oil level was down 1.6L, which the advisor said was excessive.
We were told to return in another 1, 000 km. We were told not to add any oil during the process, as the results would not be accurate.
On September 22, 2007, while en route to Guelph Nissan mid-day, while approaching Exit 250, on Highway 401 East, the vehicle cabin began to fill with smoke, while the sound of flying metal objects, bouncing off the undercarriage of the car lingered in the background, the sound of an explosion occurred, which ended up being a thee-inch hole in the engine block as later diagnosed by Guelph Nissan. The highway was extremely busy at the time of the explosion. Once the situation was under control, we contacted the Service Department at Guelph Nissan and told them what had happened. They sent a flatbed tow truck from Guelph, which arrived about an hour after the incident. Ontario Provincial Police attended the scene as the flatbed arrived at the roadside. The company incurred out-of-pocket expenses as a result of the failure and was not reimbursed as per the warranty guide.
We were contacted on September 24, 2007, by Kathy Learn of Guelph Nissan and told that there was a three inch hole in the engine block. Ms. Learn further stated that the engine was completely seized and no oil was present in the motor. Guelph Nissan obtained approval from Nissan-Infiniti and a new engine was installed one week later. While the vehicle was at Guelph Nissan, they further stated to us that the air conditioning was not working after the new engine was installed and when we told them that we would take care of the air conditioning problem locally, they later said, the air conditioning started working on its own again.
We received numerous calls from the Service Department at Guelph Nissan, advising us that the car was running, although the Service Engine Soon light was on. We were later told by Kathy Learn, that it was a result of a tooth that had not been installed in the clutch properly. The problem was corrected and we picked the vehicle up from Guelph Nissan on October 10, 2007. While returning to London, the Service Engine Soon light illuminated on the instrument cluster. Once again we contacted Guelph Nissan the next day and was told to bring the vehicle back within a week or so for inspection.
Within a few days the engine light turned off on its own and we advised Kathy Learn at Guelph Nissan, who acknowledged. Within three days of having the vehicle back we began to have problems whereas the vehicle would not always start, which has left various members of our organization stranded in numerous locations. Guelph Nissan has since become very difficult to deal with and claiming all the items not functioning on the vehicle are simply not covered. We now have a vehicle that we cannot use at this point. It was later determined that the battery required replacement almost directly after the engine explosion incident.
When we inspected the engine bay on the vehicle since the new engine was installed, it was discovered that various wires and electrical boxes were hanging throughout the engine bay.
It was discovered through investigations involving our legal counsel that South London Infiniti Nissan represented the vehicle as accident free, as per NO disclosure on the bill of sale, as required and industry practice to do so and the repeated claims that were made that the vehicle was not in an accident. Well, this simply was not the case. It turns out that the vehicle had been in at LEAST 1 prior accident, in July 2005, totalling $7, 000 in damage. According to CarFax, the costs were associated with a rear impact, involving the left tail light and rear bumper. This does not explain the stickers missing in the drivers door pillar and door sticking out from the body. We strongly believe that the vehicle was in another accident and repaired in an "underground shop". We are still investigating.
South London Infiniti Nissan was sent a Demand Letter from our legal counsel; Nissan Infiniti Canada was also CC'd a copy of this letter. It has been nearly a month (now Jan 13, 2008) since Mr. McCarville received the letter and has failed to respond. I think this clearly shows his position on the matter and reflects his credibility as a businessperson.
In closing, it is strongly advisable to avoid this dealership at all costs. This matter will end up costing our company a great deal of money and we have been left "take the fall", due to the malicious acts performed by Mr. McCarville with respect to complete misrepresentation involving the accident history. Had South London Infiniti Nissan disclosed the prior accident history, which was fully within their power to obtain, we would have never purchased this vehicle. It has been nothing but a nightmare that seems to never end!
In fact, we originally test drove and planned to purhcase a brand new 2006 model until we were induced to purchase the pre-owned as it was essentially the same car! Stay far, far away, these people will take you for all you have - especially if they know you have it.
To date, our legal counsel is still working on the matter and costs are escalating everyday!
Persons of Interest:
Mark McCarville, Dealer Principal, South London Infiniti Nissan Inc.
Bill Francis, employee, South London Infiniti Nissan Inc.
Bonnie Boyd, employee, Nissan-Infiniti Canada
Chelsea Wakefield, Warranty Administrator, South London Infiniti Nissan Inc.
Kathy Learn, Service Manager, Guelph Nissan
Contact Information:
South London Infiniti Nissan Inc.
1055 Wharncliffe Road South
London, Ontario
(519)-685-5497
Guelph Nissan
805 Woodlawn Road West
Guelph, Ontario
(519)-822-9200
Corporate client
London, Ontario
Canada
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