“give Me My Old Car Back”: Woman Says Ford’s Air Conditioner Broke While She Was Test-driving It. Now The Dealership Is Charging Her $1,300 To Fix A Car She Doesn’t Even Own

Most car buyers wish that the experience of purchasing a vehicle would be as simple as going into a dealership, choosing the car you’d like, making a payment, then driving off the lot.

Unfortunately, this isn’t the case. Car dealerships employ all sorts of tactics to get you to pay more money than you were expecting, and even if one manages to get a car off the lot without breaking the bank, there’s always a possibility that something about the car was misrepresented—or that something will go awry with the vehicle soon after it enters their possession.

In this woman’s case, problems began before she even fully owned the car. Despite this, she claims that the dealership is still trying to make her pay for it.

What went wrong with this woman’s car purchase?

In a video with over 33,000 views, TikTok user Kaelyn (@kaelyng23) explains how her new car came with a bill for $1,300.

According to Kaelyn, she went to a Ford dealership on a Saturday with the intention of buying a car. When she was there, she says she was told that she could test drive a car until Tuesday, but to do so, she would have to sign to get “pre-approved” for a loan. If she decided to keep the car, she claims she was told, the financing would kick in. If not, she could simply return the car.

Satisfied, she left her trade-in with the dealership, though she says she never signed it over.

While everything seemed fine at first, she says that soon after she began driving the car, the air conditioner stopped working.

A broken A/C on a test drive

“So I emailed them, I texted them, everything, telling them,” she recounts. “They're like, ‘OK, bring it in Monday when we're open.’”

On Monday, Kaelyn brought the car in, only to be told that the car required $1,300 in repairs—and that she was on the hook to pay it, despite, in her view, not actually owning the car.

“I said ‘No,’” Kaelyn recalls. “I said, ‘Give me my old car back, because I am not paying for a car that I haven't even bought.’”

“And he's like, ‘Well, you have a loan on it,’” Kaelyn continues. “I'm like, ‘No, you've made me get pre-approved so I could take it home this weekend, and you said you are not going to submit it to the bank unless I don't bring the car back.’”

Kaelyn then insisted that she get her old car back, only to be told that “that’s not how it works.” 

“They're basically just holding my car hostage, I guess,” she details. She also states, “I don't even want the car now, and I'm wondering how to just get my old car back.”

What are her rights?

One cannot be sure about Kaelyn’s rights in this situation without viewing her specific contract. 

However, if her story is accurate, it appears that Kaelyn did sign an agreement to purchase the car, only under false pretenses. If she cannot work out the situation with the dealership, many commenters recommended that she report them to the Better Business Bureau and that she consult legal counsel regarding a potential claim against the dealership.

For the time being, if Kaelyn did not sign the title of her trade-in vehicle, the dealership does not have legal ownership of her trade-in vehicle. Holding her vehicle without a proper title transfer could be considered illegal, depending on the specific situation, as without the title, the vehicle is still technically owned by Kaelyn.

Regardless, Kaelyn says the dealership “completely lied” to her and that they have admitted to doing so in subsequent conversations, giving her a potential case against them should she choose to pursue legal action.

@kaelyng23 What do I even do???? @Ford Motor Company #ford #cardealership #carsales ♬ original sound - Kaelyn

"You need to stand up for yourself."

While Kaelyn appears to believe that the car is simply in her possession now and that there’s nothing she can do about it, commenters encouraged her to go further in resolving the situation, perhaps bringing in legal counsel to prevent the dealership from causing any further issues.

“Bring the cops in to get your car back,” wrote a user.

“Tell them you are getting an attorney and you want your car back. They can either comply or talk to an attorney,” offered another.

“Call you state’s Dept of Motor Vehicles. Leave this car there,” suggested a third. “I’ve done this before and next thing I know, I got a check from the dealership to pay for my issue (that they lied about).”

The Daily Dot reached out to Kaelyn and Ford via email.

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The post “Give me my old car back”: Woman says Ford’s air conditioner broke while she was test-driving it. Now the dealership is charging her $1,300 to fix a car she doesn’t even own appeared first on The Daily Dot.