Bobby Rahal Jaguar ripoff, thieves, liars, cowards We are forced to abide by our contracts but they have the luxury of ignoring their responsibility. liars Wexford Pennsylvania

I leased a Jaguar X-Type from Bobby Rahal Jaguar. From the time I took possession of the vehicle it was in the shop 25 days. I have the service orders to prove it. At first the problems were not that major. The seats rocked (both sides), the gas lid would not open, the doors would not unlock, the trunk would not open, etc.

Then the major problem occurred: When you stepped on the accelerator the vehicle would not respond. I was in nearly a couple of accidents. I also had other people in the vehicle.

They attempted to fix the problem twice but it continued to happen. They had the vehicle for two weeks attempting to fix this problem. I feared for my life, the life of my family, and the lives of everyone on the road.

These problems occurred within the first two months that I had the vehicle. The Pittsburgh Jaguar representative made the suggestion about a goodwill reimbursement of two lease payments to make up for all the problems and inconveniences I experienced. These include the many trips I made to the dealership and the stress that I have endured.

Every time the car was in for service I was given a rental car to drive. Some of them included a small Toyota, a van, and a pickup truck. I was not paying for these types of vehicles. I should have been given a comparable vehicle. I stopped at the dealership on one occasion to get something out of my vehicle and found that they didnt even lock the car doors. I made them aware of this.

These are the types of things the goodwill payments were to cover. The payments were not a replacement for their faulty vehicle and did not mean that accepting the payments meant I accepted the car with all its faults. I made this perfectly clear.

I felt I was owed the payments and another vehicle that I felt was safe. I did not feel safe in that model. This promise of the lease payment was written on paper and given to their service manager to give to me. Bobby Rahal later claimed that they offered me a replacement vehicle and I refused to accept it.

If they offered me a replacement vehicle they would have made me sign a statement proving that I did not accept their offer. This does not exist because the offer never existed. They knew I did not want another vehicle of that same model and I made it perfectly clear. I made it perfectly clear that I would work with them to replace this vehicle with one from another manufacturer they carry. The Pittsburgh representative of Jaguar actually said to pick the vehicle up in its current state and just warm it up until they could resolve the problem.

When I brought the vehicle in for this problem they said they needed to drive my vehicle to see if they could duplicate the problem that I was having. I told them they could do whatever was necessary to duplicate the problem. When I called later for an update they said that I did not give them permission to drive the car. That doesnt make any sense. How could they find the problem without driving it? I received another phone call shortly after this call from another service person and they said they drove it around for a good part of the day and duplicated the problem. They put over 70 miles on the vehicle. If you look at the service papers they tried to replace a part to fix the problem. When this didnt work they decided it was a software problem. It seemed they were trying to buy time. I didnt care what they had to do just so they fixed the problem. They had the vehicle for approximately two weeks in their attempt to fix the problem.

The last time that I was bringing the vehicle in for service the tire blew out on my way there. They said that Jaguar did not cover tires and that it needed to be sent to the tire manufacturer to determine the cause. They wanted me to deal with the tire company but I stressed that it was their job. I was leaving for vacation in two days after this incident. I stated again that I did not want the vehicle and that I would like another vehicle from a different manufacturer. I was told to go on vacation and when I came back they would work with me on getting out of the vehicle. When I returned I was informed that the person I was working with was on vacation for two weeks. I contacted their service advisor, and he said he was never informed about my situation. He did mention that people from Jaguar called and requested service records concerning my vehicle. Jaguars Consumer Affairs Department was examining my vehicle to see if they would take back the vehicle. While this individual was on vacation a general manager contacted me and said that they were waiting until they heard something from Jaguar.

When my representative returned from vacation I went to the dealership and stresses again that I did not want the vehicle and that I would lease another vehicle from a different manufacturer that they carry. He said he would get back to me the beginning of the week with some numbers. Around the beginning of the week I received a call from the general manager. I told him my position and he said that Jaguar offered me either two lease payments back or a new X-Type. When I told him that I was never offered a new X-Type, and that I did not want one, he became irate and said that they were fighting for me but now they were through with me and he hung up. When I called him back he hung up on me again. He did call me back the same day to inform me that Jaguar would do nothing else for me. He said that if I returned the car for another vehicle that I would assume a loss. When I told him I was having the same problems with the accelerator he told me that they all do that and if I wanted to come down and test-drive any of them I would find out for myself. I

mentioned that I contacted the BBB and Attorney General's office because all of my options have been exhausted. He said that since I contacted these agencies they were severing all ties with me and would not fix the vehicle. Isnt this why there is a warranty? What gives them the right to choose what they will repair? I felt lost from this point and my only object was to get out of the vehicle. I tried calling about the tire but I was given the run around and no one would get back to me. I ended up trading the Jaguar for another vehicle and taking a $3,576.51 loss. In addition I had to pay approximately $1,200 in acquisition fees, etc.

Before I leased the vehicle I had a conversation with the representative concerning their policy on someone else assuming the lease. He told me that they had to pass a credit check and that after a fee of $50 is paid the lease is out of your name. When investigating my options when I was trying to return the vehicle I called Jaguar Credit and asked them the process about having someone else assume the lease. They told me that if someone else assumed the lease I would still be financially responsible for the vehicle. When I brought this to his attention he was surprised and said that this did not sound correct. He had to make a phone call to Jaguar Credit to discover that I was correct. This was a very important issue because I would not have leased the vehicle had I been told the truth in advance. Also, it would have been unfair to have someone else assume the lease of an unsafe vehicle. And even if I pursued this option, everyone around me knew of the problems I was having with the vehicle and could not believe that they would not take it back.

I went through the BBB and they told me they couldn't do anything because Jaguar wasn't a member. The Attorney General's office said they couldn't do anything because Bobby Rahal said they did all they would and did not want to negotiate. The person from Bobby Rahal that responded to the Attorney General's office wasn't even involved with any of the proceedings.

In the majority of my conversations and contact with Bobby Rahal and Jaguar I had a witness present.

Stay away from this dealership. When I was there they made it clear that they only care for customers who purchase their high-end vehicles. The problem is that we are powerless to do anything to these organizations. We have to do all the legwork and spend outrageous amounts of money to try to protect our rights, which get trampled in the end. We need a real consumer protection group that works. They have no accountability. We are forced to abide by our contracts but they have the luxury of ignoring their responsibility.

Roger
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
U.S.A.