Purchased a lemon from a licensed dealer
 

I recently traded in my Audi A5 for a Town and Country Van because I needed more space to haul stuff around and after less than 1000km and 1 week later, the van suddenly went into limp mode after it didn't shift into gear. I called the dealership and they had it towed back to their mechanic.

After a week with no vehicle and some parts replaced, the car was still not shifting and they believe it is the transmission. They say they are trying to find me a different vehicle that suits my needs but it has been 2 weeks now with no progress.

On the original ad that I have they offer a 30 day powertrain warranty, and the salesperson also told me this when I test drove the vehicle. I only remembered this warranty recently, but they have never brought it up during the time they have had my car after it has been broken. Having them fix the transmission under this "warranty" would be ideal, but who knows how long they are going to drag that.

I traded in my Audi for the sole reason of the tax benefit of the transaction, but a refund would totally negate the amount I had saved. I had a buyer ready for the Audi for the same amount that I saved on the purchase but now that is hindsight.

I need advice on what can be done, should I pursue this with legal action? have them fix it? what can VSA do for me in this situation? or what other options could be viable here?

Thanks in advance

Did you cross shop with either a Honda Odyssey or Toyota Sienna?

And also which dealership did the Town and Country come from?

I have but for the options and price point the town and country looked the best bang for the buck. It is a 2015 and only has 123,000km so I didn't think much was going to go wrong for a while..

I don't want to disclose the dealership yet, but it's one on No.3 Rd

Ugly situation for both parties...

Dealership may have gotten a lemon and not even know it, often time trade ins are driven around the block and that's it.

Hopefully they find what destroyed the transmission, often times something else knocks it out, and get all issues fixed

IF you have warranty, you have warranty. Walk into the store like a man, ask for the manager, tell him what's up without making a scene. Tell him you need a car asap (loaner, or other car, payout, etc), hopefully come to an agreement. If he goes into sleazebag dealership mode, then you start making a fuss infront of all the other customers, and leave them honest reviews online

I had the same situation, bought a truck with the dealerships "certified" form, took it to my mechanic a week later for an oil change, and he straight up told me to return the car because it was so bad.
So I did, I walked in, told them to take their car back, owner of dealership told me he would fix all the major issues, and it worked out for the both of us. Huge time waste on both ends, but that's unfortunately the price you pay buying used.

Can't comment on legal action / VSA etc, i hope everything works out

First mistake was buying a Chrysler product. The T&C/Caravans are well known for transmission failure. The 3.6 pentastar engine has its own list of issues. Try to return/exchange the vehicle if possible, and dont buy another Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep/Ram vehicle. Also due to the uaw strike in the US it will be a quite while before they can get
Their hands an a reman transmission.

Yes that tranny is a known failure point. Always has been.

That’s why the rental companies ditch their caravan fleets as soon as the warranty is up

Get a lawyer. Start waving legal papers around and make them Honor that warranty

Hard to believe this shit is still a problem witn Chrysler lol

I remember my uncle bought a Chrysler mini van in the 90’s and the transmission literally fell out of the motor while driving on the highway.. lol

Shit ain’t changed

We had two caravans in the family they both didn't have anything catastrophic

This is definitely the first step and let us know how it goes

My Dad was a Chrysler mechanic at a dealership till he retired. When we bought a minivan last year, he said, "Don't buy a Chrysler."

He's still driving an early 2000's minivan. He said those were the last ones that were ok. He still installed a transmission intercooler though.

my brother in law had a 2022 Pacifica and had the same problem you described. They threw in a new transmission but then he ended up giving it back and got the plug-in version

Jesus... he got fucked and then got out of it, but then he doubled down on the same shit???

Seems like the right thing to do.

"Double down on your stupidity and own it!" - Badhobz

OKAY LEE!!!