Submission Number: 00017 

Received: 5/30/2011 9:53:03 AM
Commenter: Chad Bowman
Organization: 
State: Minnesota
Agency: Federal Trade Commission
Initiative: Public Roundtables: Protecting Consumers in the Sale and Leasing of Motor Vehicles; Project No. P104811
Attachments: No Attachments
Submission Text
I purchased a used car in January 2009 from a local dealer. Within a few months I started experiencing problems with the brakes. When in a quick stop situation that causes the ABS brake system to activate it locks up the rear passenger wheel until either the car stops and then you need to restart the car to get it to release the brakes or in dry road conditions the caliper will break in two from the pressure and then the brakes release but become inoperative. The caliper has been fixed multiple times under warranty, the ABS vacuum system has been replaced underwarranty and after the warranty was expired I paid to replace the hydrollic control module. The problem persisted and I had to get the Hydrollic control module replaced under its warranty but I still had to pay for the labor. Now the car locked up on Saturday, May 28th, 2011 and is sitting at the dealer who fixed it last time waiting to be fixed again. They have already informed me that the warranty on the part is now expired. This time the brakes locked up on me on the freeway at 65 miles per hour and caused significant damage and a dangerous situation that could have resulted in an accident. The caliper is broken, but not before the tire was locked for quite a while which has left a flat spot in the tread of that tire and an extended loss of control of the vehicle. I have spent over $2000.00 on this issue myself and their has been many warranty claims and nothing has fixed the problem. At this point I can't afford to fix it again, and I can't trust the car until I know it is fixed, correctly. I don't know what to do.