Southside Mitsubishi

charged for warranty work On January 31, 2017, I took my fiancé’s 2014 Mitsubishi Outlander into Southside Mitsubishi Edmonton because one of the rear taillights was not workin On January 31, 2017, I took my fiancé’s 2014 Mitsubishi Outlander into Southside Mitsubishi Edmonton because one of the rear taillights was not working. I had attempted to replace the bulb myself, but this did not fix the issue, so I felt that since it was on warranty, the vehicle should be repaired under warranty. Before I brought it in, I called Northside Mitsubishi Edmonton, where the vehicle was purchased brand new to ask if I should bring it to them, or if I could go to Southside, since I live closer to Southside Mitsubishi now. I was told that I didn’t need to bring it to Northside, and that any dealership in Canada could do the warranty work. The vehicle was taken to Southside Mitsubishi and I instructed them of the problem and asked them to look at it and determine if it was a warranty item or not and call me back. I received a call around noon, telling me that there was a car starter installed and that they couldn’t troubleshoot the issue unless they disconnected it. I told them to go ahead, as long as it was re-connected afterwards. They then called me back at around 3:00 pm, saying they had found that the issue was that a non-OEM taillight had been installed and that it was connected improperly and wrapped with electrical tape. They refused to put it through as warranty for this reason. I talked to the service manager for half an hour, insisting that I knew the entire service history of the vehicle and that the taillight had not been touched, save for my attempt to replace the bulb, and their own service on the vehicle. The service manager even had the vehicle pulled back into the service bay, had the taillight removed and he pointed to the sticker and said, “see, it’s a non-OEM manufacturer’s taillight.” I was told there was nothing they could do and that I had to pay the bill and then argue with Northside Mitsubishi about why the taillight was non-OEM on a new vehicle purchase. Additionally, I had authorized them to troubleshoot this as a warranty repair, but I did NOT give them authorization to make any repairs that were not covered under warranty. I contacted Northside Mitsubishi. The service agent spent a day trying to trace the service history of the vehicle prior to it being sold to me. She came up with no records of the taillight being replaced or modified and she took the stance that there was nothing they could do to help me. After further discussions with them, I sent the service manager a picture of the taillight. He looked at the sticker and the Mitsubishi part number right on the sticker and said that this was definitely an OEM taillight and that the service Manager at Southside Mitsubishi was mistaken. The manufacturer’s name that was on the sticker of the taillight is the one that manufactures this assembly for Mitsubishi, and he even opened up a box with a new taillight that they had in stock and it had the same sticker and Mitsubishi part number on it. At this point, I asked if he could please contact the service manager at Southside Mitsubishi and explain to them that this was an OEM taillight and that it should have been covered under warranty. He called me a day later and told me that the service manager at Southside Mitsubishi was not returning his calls. I received an email from the service manager at Northside where he states that he feels this should have been a straight forward warranty repair. I then called Southside Mitsubishi back and asked to talk to the service manager again. At this point, knowing that he was incorrect in his allegation that the part was non-OEM, he still insisted that it was still tampered with because it had electrical tape wrapped around it at one point. I assured him that no modifications like that had ever been performed and that the taillight was working fine from when it was purchased in 2014 up until a few weeks ago. He insists that it was tampered with, which is completely false. As I said, I know the entire history of the vehicle and before this, there was no reason for anyone to remove that taillight. He’s asserting that it must have been done before I purchased it, which still makes this Mitsubishi’s problem; however, neither he, nor Mitsubishi is willing to stand behind their product. The service manager stated that he originally submitted his review of the situation (non-OEM taillight with electrical tape on it) to Mitsubishi technical services and let them decide if it was warranty or not. He says they indicated it was not; likely based more on the fact that they were told it was a non-OEM part. He did not indicate that he was willing to resubmit this claim based on the new information, that it was in fact an OEM taillight; he just kept insisting that the electrical tape makes it a non-warranty claim. At this point, I even doubt whether that assertion is true or not, as it seems like the service department is entirely incompetent in identifying anything. When I took the taillight off, I don’t remember seeing any electrical tape. I called Mitsubishi Canada, and after explaining the whole situation, they indicated that they simply trust the dealers, who are the “eyes and ears” for them. In this case, the dealer can’t even tell the difference from an OEM taillight and a non-OEM taillight, so I’m not sure how they can use them as their eyes and ears at all. I was told there was nothing they could do and that I had to try to resolve the dispute with the dealership. So on the one hand, the dealership says that Mitsubishi makes the call on warranty (and they’re not even willing to resubmit the actual facts) and on the other hand Mitsubishi says it’s basically up to the dealership to make the call. What I do know absolutely for certain is this: • The vehicle was bought brand new and no work by anybody has been done on that taillight, and yet I’m on the hook for $270.00 to fix a warranty item. • This is the first time I’ve ever had to deal with a Mitsubishi service department. I will never take the vehicle to Southside Mitsubishi again or have anything to do with that dealership. • This is the third and last vehicle that my fiancé and I will ever purchase from Mitsubishi. I would think it would be considered a shame to lose a long time customer over something like this, but nobody seems to care. So be it. • I have owned Honda vehicles my whole life. I have never had this kind of dispute. Items were always fixed under warranty with no questions asked. I couldn’t ask for better service. • I am going to take every opportunity I can to share this experience with everyone I know, every online dealership review website (there are many), the better business bureau, the media (Global news Troubleshooter comes to mind) and anyone else who will listen. This is a prime example of a dealership and auto maker not taking care of its customers. The general manager ignored my complaint for 5 weeks, then said, he needs more information from me including the VIN and my fiancé's name despite the fact that this information was present both in my original complaint and in their own service order for the repair. More