I bought a used 2011 vehicle at Bergey's in Colmar with - Chad T.
I bought a used 2011 vehicle at Bergey's in Colmar with an odometer reading of only 88,125 miles on 3/17/2026 through the salesman named Guy.
Because the vehicle had very low mileage given its age and the extensive CarFax history of it having been diligently serviced over the years, I felt very confident that it would be reliable given all of the aforesaid.
However, after only 3 months later from the date of purchase, the vehicle sputtered and stalled in my driveway as I was leaving to go somewhere. The "check engine" light came on and I did not dare to continue my intended travel for safety reasons given the dysfunction of the car.
I attempted to restart it which it did not immediately do, but rather struggled and continued to sputter for 30 seconds until it did eventually turn over and start. I then tried to drive it back into my garage but it did not have enough power to even get over the small 1 inch lip of my garage bay.
At that point, I gave up, left the car a few feet from the garage and called AAA to tow it to my local auto mechanic which they did.
On 6/17/2026, again only 3 months after the original purchase, my local auto mechanic ran a diagnostic test and determined that the battery was near dead, all of the spark plugs were bad and misfiring and the evaporative canister purge solenoid and FEL-PRO fuel injection plenum gasket set were bad as well.
All of the aforesaid had to be replaced as well as the cleaning of the battery terminals and tray at the cost of $1,520.31 out of my pocket not to mention having the inconvenience of coordinating the tow and ultimate pickup of the vehicle via my spouse driving me there and back 10 miles and 20 minutes both ways.
When I called Bergey's to bring this to their attention hoping that they would stand behind their vehicles and reimburse me, they instead told me that since I did not purchase the "extended warranty", which I obviously did not do given the low odometer reading and extensive CarFax history of diligent maintenance and of course to save a few dollars, I was told by both the head of their sales department as well as the original salesman Guy that without that additional coverage they would simply wipe their hands of any responsibility and not reimburse me whatsoever.
In essence, it was my problem, not theirs.
However, there are a few things to consider in their response or lack thereof. Those being number one; I am retired and barely used the car since I had purchased it on 3/17/2026 as I had very little reason to go anywhere, and in the few times that I did go somewhere, it was a very short distance from my home.
In fact, the invoice my local auto mechanic provided to me and which I provided to both Bergeys head of sales and the actual salesman documented the odometer reading at the time of their service to be 88,656, which is only 531 miles from the date of purchase and is a super low amount of travel within a 3 month period of time.
The second thing to consider is that most used car dealers DO inspect batteries and spark plugs as part of their standard vehicle inspection process before listing a car for sale.
Standard inspections
For general used inventory, dealers typically perform a basic safety and compliance check that includes:
Battery and cables — checking for corrosion, proper charge, and secure connections.
Spark plugs, wires, and distributor cap — inspecting for wear, damage, or carbon buildup.
Other electrical system checks, fluid levels, and obvious mechanical issues.
With all of that being said and documented, it would appear that not only was Bergeys negligent in their basic inspection, safety and compliance checks, but also completely dismissive of any responsibility for their ineptitude and what their customer had to inconveniently endure as a result as well as paying $1,520.31 out of their own pocket.
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