New car, bought from dealer, who swear they did not install it and are blaming another dealer from whom they acquired the vehicle.
As far as the dealer goes I intend to make a lot of over-the-top demands and threats until they replace the wiring with all-new OEM parts and a lifetime warranty, but I think I'll start from just pointing to California Penal Code 637.7, demanding a completely new vehicle, and seeing what happens.
I encourage heavy demands, and talking with an attorney if they so much as twitch about it. “All the warning lights on” in a brand new car is a special hell.
Then, regardless, perhaps file a complaint with the appropriate state agency # they’re probably quite interested in what a prior dealer might’ve done…
> I think I'll start from just pointing to California Penal Code 637.7
I would strongly advise not doing that until you can prove that this was in fact a tracking device. I think a remote start/cutoff is much more likely, c.f.:
You’re better off just disconnecting it than getting new wiring. Wiring harness replacements are notorious for requiring obscene amounts of interior disassembly, and you might just end up with annoying squeaks and rattles.
Depending on the car it may not even be possible, some Volvos for instance are notorious for being complete write offs if the wiring loom is faulty because it ends up being sandwiched in between the bottom shell plates prior to welding and there is simply no good way to replace it without wrecking the car in the process.
New car, bought from dealer, who swear they did not install it and are blaming another dealer from whom they acquired the vehicle.
It's possible. Something like that happened with my wife's car. We only found out about the tracking device when they sent us a bill in the mail to activate the tracking service.
Did they (or will they) tell you who the other dealer is? If they won't, then maybe the "other dealer" is a fiction to try to make you stop blaming them.
(I would expect that they would be reluctant to name another dealer that was actually innocent, knowing that it could turn into a libel lawsuit.)
My Honda dealer back when I had crummy credit "included" a gps but it was never explained why and I tried to say I wasn't really interested. Somehow I ended up agreeing, likely due to some interest rate bait and switch as referenced elsewhere.
They couldn't "install" it there so I drove off the lot. They started calling the next week to schedule the installation and I wasn't very eager to go quickly. It became apparent they really wanted this installed and eventually bothered me enough that I acquiesced.
This brought no gps functionality to the car itself so I quickly realized this was because I had ~ 610 FICO and they expected to repo the thing at some point.
I paid it off but never bothered to remove it and the whole thing really bugged me. Nobody mentioned anything the last time I bought a car with an 800+ FICO so this is either for bad credit buyers or they just do it without asking now.
As far as the dealer goes I intend to make a lot of over-the-top demands and threats until they replace the wiring with all-new OEM parts and a lifetime warranty, but I think I'll start from just pointing to California Penal Code 637.7, demanding a completely new vehicle, and seeing what happens.