I bought a new car today. Brand new. 29 fucking miles on it. Signed papers, put plates on it, drove it off the lot 1/4 mile, it exploded - overheating and blowing probably a gallon of coolant all over the engine and ground. Now it's in for repairs, and I've got a loaner (a trailblazer to replace my 4 cylinder Aveo? I am NOT putting gas in this fucker!)

So I guess my question is:

Has ANY of you ever heard of a car blowing up like that because the coolant was overfilled? That's the excuse the dealer gave me, and it's honestly something I have never heard of. He said he's got a new mechanic, and this is the third car he's done it to. Comforting, since I bought an extended service warranty from them, glad to know the caliber of people that will be working on my car.

new cars are gay.... buy a mid 90's honda civic. way cheaper, better on gas, most likely more reliable, cheaper to fix. seriously.

well if they say some bull shit like ya... you put too much coolent in your car, you have to pay.
fuck that!

I bought. Past tense. Already done.

Thing is, though, if there's something wrong with this I want a new car. I don't want a repaired car. I can understand if some tard overfilled something, but I've never heard of over-filling coolant causing a car to overheat and erupt like that after 5 minutes.

I don't care about paying. I bought a warranty, everything is covered and such. I just don't want a broken car. I paid for a new car. I want that experience. I don't want to start right off the bat in a vehicle I had to repair, you know?

overfilling it could do that. when coolant heats up it expands. thats why coolant tanks in the car have that line that read "hot level" or whatever. when the car is warmed up that is where the coolant should be. not when its cold.

yes the dealership in theory should say, sorry for our goof on selling you a car with problems here is a new one.

So would overheating have damaged anything? Does scalding hot coolant have any log term fucked up effect on the innards of a car?

Also, when we popped the hood after it erupted, we noticed that one of the parts under the engine had rust on it. The dealer said that it was normal, and offered to show me other brand new cars on the lot that have rust, and that the EPA doesn't allow certain parts to be painted. HUH? Is it normal for a brand new car to have ONE single part rusted up like that?

Paranoid, ignorant, whatever, I still just feel unhappy about the whole deal. I wanted the whole new car experience. It's why I took on a payment instead of buying a used car outright. I never even got it home. I went from the dealership to the atm down the street, and when I ran in to get $$ .... SPLOOOOOOSH! Where the fuck is the "new car" fun in that?

Fuck this dealer, get another car.

Can I do that after I sign the papers? I don't know if the lemon law covers this, since it might just be an idiot overfilled the coolant.

It irks me because when we towed it back, the dealer said "don't worry. If anything is wrong with this car, I can send it to GM and get a new car. It doesn't cost me anything." So I called him back like 40 minutes later, expressed my hesitation, and said we should just go ahead and order a new car. He got all pissy, said they had to run it through the shop first, yadda yadda, call him monday.

Now I'm all bent up, don't have my new car, don't have my old car, and no answers to anything until monday. Way to ruin the last two days of an otherwise awesome vacation.

Unless someone I trust can reassure me that coolant WON'T damage the engine in any way then I might take that car back, but I'm pretty sure I want a different car. And to think I had to wait a day to take it home so the mechanic could gas it up and fill up the fluids. GAHRAHRHAAAHHHHHHHGGGGGGHAHAHAHAHHHHHGGGGR. . . PLLLT.

ya i doubt the car overheated. i bet the new mechanic just filled up the coolant to the line without running the car. which is pretty dumbfounding since any mechanic with any amount of training should understand how the coolant reservoir works, even supper inexperienced ones. Hell even i know how that works and i know dick about cars.

As far as hurting anything....probably not. I'm sure they'll give the engine a good wash and check all the belts for you....or at least they SHOULD.

Also.....this is why i will never buy a brand new car. New cars need to be broken in and all the faulty parts need to be replaced. You can expect that the first 2 years or so you'll have to bring it in a couple times to get recalled parts replaced. Also little minor things will probably break and need to be replaced under warranty.

My girlfriends mom bought a brand spankin new beamer and has so far had to take it to the dealership at least 4 times to get little minor things fixed like the mirrors wouldnt tilt, the lights wouldn't tilt (it's one of those fancy ones that tilt the mirrors when you're in reverse and changes the angle of the headlights based on the speed) Also the glove box handle broke and one of the seatbelt motors wasn't working right.

And that's a $90,000 car from a very reputable regional dealership.

I swear i'm only going to buy pre-owned....they have all the bugs worked out and won't lose half their value once their driven off the lot.

I agreed with you 100%. I set out to buy a used vehicle.

Sales people are good at this shit. I hate em. I had a plan, I went to like 12 dealerships, no problem. Then the sweet lady that reminds me of my mum talks me into a new car, and this happens.

Always stick to the plan.

sucks for you

i didnt read the rest of the thread but im sure you have a warranty..so its not going cost you anything anyway

yeah, you can blow something with too much coolant on a hot day. your coolant is pressurized, but too much coolant that gets too hot could expand too much (and the air in there) so that it blows. today was exceptionally hot, but I thik that you might have heating issues on this car in the future.

you would blow a line and probably not destroy anything. it should be $25 to fix.

cars do have rust under the hood. after a year in new england weather, you are going to get that. I had it under the hood of my brand new car after a year.

you have 72 hours from the time you sign the papers to return the car and call the deal off.

aveo's are cheap pieces of crap. lowest grade of all parts possible. wouldn't suprise me if something where rusted on the lot.

yes overfilling coolant could cause overheating as the car is working extra hard and there is lots of pressure built up till a hose pops. most likely did not do any permanant damage unless coolant found it way inside the engine block. as someone else said they should wash the engine. you'll most likely smell it if they don't.

go to the dealership. flip out. threaten to pull the deal sice you have 72 hours to do so. insist on transfreing the down payment to a slightly better car like the cobalt argue a crazy deal. make them lower your interest by 1 percent and extend the loan a year so you get the more expensive car at the same monthly payment. these guys kiss your ass to buy a car. then treat you like shit once you are trapt but will kiss your ass even harder to save a deal since they already counted their commision and don't want to lose it.

new car dealers suck. bend them over any way possible. I bought a new car last year and will never do it again.

THIS IS WHY THE DEALER WANTED TO MAKE YOU WAIT A DAY "SO HIS SHOP COULD GO OVER THE CAR." He wants you to lose that 72 hours. If you want to call off the deal, do it now, because you won't be able to do it tomorrow.




Luxury cars with millions of extra gadgets and systems that are unnecessary suck for this very reason. All that shit fucking breaks. that shits not a luxury, it's just more to maintain.

i would yell at you for buying an american car for starters...


anyhow.. this just happened right?

i think you live in MA

call a lemon law layer right away and tell them what happened and what you want .. it's a FREE call...you get your initial visit for free so there's nothing to lose in asking a professional..here's a link i found
http://autopedia.com/html/LemonLaw/MA_lemonlaw.html

don't wait...give a couple of firms a call and see what they say..ANY LAWYER gives you the first consult for free...see what they say then take it from there.

Anytime you buy something, and it immediately fucks up, you have the right to claim breach of contract. Whether the court will honor that is another story, but the dealer will usually try to avoid the disaster that's coming.

So far, everything about this dealer has sounded bad. I would claim lemon, say they've driven you mad, and be a real polite but insistent bitch about it until you get your money back.

GRAAGRGHRAAAAAAAHHHHH!@

Sorry, just a bunch of shitty stress I didn't want to wake up to. You guys got some really good advice here.

Lemon law won't help. It states clearly that damage/repairs would need to equal at least 10% of purchase price. I doubt spilled coolant costs even CLOSE to $1200.

However, if I have 72 hours to walk away that gives me a lot of leverage. Consevationist is onto something, but as usual he's not quite sure what he's talking about. The dealer is obviously stalling, but monday would NOT be over the 72 hours. It IS, however, the day the check for $7000 I wrote them clears the bank.

The dealer's a smaaaaaaaht guy, alright. Too bad the check was drawn on the bank that my sister manages (Lolz, she runs the whole DISTRICT). There's no way he's cashing that check until I'm a happy man.

I'm charging up my camera right now. I'm going to go visit chevy dealers today and ask to see under the hoods of some aveos. Unless every single Aveo has that SAME PART all rusted to shit, I'm going to the dealership monday and demanding a new car. If all the cars I find ARE rusted out, then I'll chalk it up to the fact that I bought a shitty car (which I already accept, I mean - it's a fucking AVEO!) and be happy I got the warranty.

I've seen plenty of overfull coolant tanks, I've even overfilled coolant a few times because I wasn't paying attention, and yet I still have yet to receive a complaint like this.

What do you mean?

Lemon Law, Get your money back and buy somewhere else!!Lemon Law, Get your money back and buy somewhere else!!Lemon Law, Get your money back and buy somewhere else!!Lemon Law, Get your money back and buy somewhere else!!Lemon Law, Get your money back and buy somewhere else!!Lemon Law, Get your money back and buy somewhere else!!Lemon Law, Get your money back and buy somewhere else!!Lemon Law, Get your money back and buy somewhere else!!Lemon Law, Get your money back and buy somewhere else!!

Or Lawyer!!!!