NHTSA Complaint #705641 — 1994 DODGE SHADOW

WHEN I FIRST PURCHASED THE CAR I DID TEST THE AIR CONDITIONING SYSTEM AND IT SEEMED TO BE IN PROPER WORKING CONDITION AND FUNCTIONING PROPERLY. ALSO, SINCE A/C WAS AN OPTION I PAID FOR I EXPECTED TO GET IT. FOUR DAYS LATER I TURNED ON THE A/C AND ALL THAT WOULD BLOW OUT WAS WARM AIR. I HAD PURCHASED AN EXTENDED WARRANTY SO I WAS NOT TO ALARMED. I TOOK IT BACK TO THE DEALERSHIP AND THEY SAID THEY TESTED IT AND EVERYTHING WAS WORKING CORRECTLY. I THEN TESTED IT MYSELF AND AGAIN ALL THAT BLEW WAS WARM AIR. I PROCEEDED TO TRY TO WORK WITH THE DEALERSHIP AND ENDED UP BRINGING THE CAR BACK 4 OR 5 TIMES FOR THEM TO LOOK AT THE A/C. BY THEN I WAS EXTREMELY FRUSTRATED AND DECIDED TO TAKE IT TO AN INDEPENDENT AUTOMOTIVE SHOP TO HAVE THEM PERFORM A FULL CHECK OF THE SYSTEM. THEY DID DO A THOROUGH INSPECTION OF THE ENTIRE COOLING SYSTEM AS WELL AS A CHECK FOR ANY LEAKS AND ADDING ONE AND A HALF POUNDS OF FREON. THEY REPORTED THAT THEY COULD NOT FIND ANY LEAKS AND YES THE FREON WAS LOW SO THAT COULD POSSIBLY BE THE PROBLEM. WHEN WE TURNED ON THE A/C, NOW WITH THE CORRECT AMOUNT OF FREON, IT STILL WOULD NOT BLOW ANYTHING OTHER THAN WARM AIR. I FEEL THAT IF THE DEALERSHIP HAD CHECKED IT THOROUGHLY ALL THOSE TIMES THE CAR WAS IN THEIR SHOP THEY WOULD HAVE KNOWN IT WAS THAT LOW ON FREON AND WHAT'S MORE I FEEL LIKE I WAS SOLD THE CAR WITH THE A/C OPTION AND THEY EITHER KNEW FROM THE START IT DID NOT WORK PROPERLY BUT NEVER DISCLOSED THAT TO ME OR ELSE THEY FOUND IT DID NOT WORK AFTER THE FACT AND RATHER THAN DO THE CORRECT THING AND REPLACE IT, SINCE IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN COVERED UNDER THE EXTENDED WARRANTY, OR REPAIR WHAT WAS NOT FUNCTIONING THEY CHOOSE TO PLAY GAMES AND GIVE ME THE RUN AROUND. ONE OF THE DECIDING FACTORS IN MY PURCHASING THIS CAR WAS THAT IT WAS EQUIPPED WITH AIR CONDITIONING, SINCE THE AVERAGE TEMP. IN THE SUMMER HERE IS 110 DEGREES, AND HAD I KNOWN THE CARS AIR CONDITIONING DID NOT WORK I WOULD NEVER HAVE BOUGHT THIS VEHICLE!