First Time Car Buyers

Shortly after we moved back to Rexburg, we decided to upgrade to an SUV. We loved our car, but wanted to get something four wheel drive. You know — for driving in the snow, and up steep/muddy mountains.

The biggest reason we decided to do this was to build our credit. We both have pretty good scores, but we don't have much history. So even though we didn't want to add a car payment to our list of monthly bills, we decided it would be worth it. Hoping it would make it easier to get a loan on a house someday.

We were nervous/excited. Loans are scary, and interest is super lame. Sheesh.

John has a friend who is related to the guy who owns Murdock Hyundai, so we stopped by the one in Lindon, Utah while we were visiting my family one weekend. We spent a long time negotiating at the dealership, and ended up trading in our car. We made sure to buy an extended warranty as well, because the SUV we bought was at 55,000 miles, very close to the 60,000 original warranty expiration date [***remember the previous sentence, it will be important later].

We signed the papers and drove home in our very own 2007 Hyundai Tuscan!

[This is the only picture I've taken of it, sorry you can't see the whole thing. I'd take another, only it's at the shop as I type, getting a new engine installed...........]

I had a little episode of buyers remorse after everything was final, and we got into the car to find the check engine light on. Why hadn't I asked for the car facts!? Could they assure us that it was a good buy? Had the previous owners taken good care of it? I hadn't asked any of these questions! What the heck!?

They made me feel better when they told me that the light was only on because the gas cap wasn't screwed on tight enough. Hello, you have to keep turning until you hear three clicks!

For a while, we were happy with everything. But then things started going wrong…

I won't go into all the dirty details here, because they are long and you won't want to read all about them. All you need to know is this: the previous owners of our beautiful SUV didn't care much for it. The engine is completely ruined, because they weren't fond of changing the oil. The dealership who sold us the car failed to mention this very CRUCIAL AND IMPORTANT DETAIL! By the time we figured out this huge problem, we are at 59,200 miles. 800 short of the expiration.

As you probably know, problems caused by owners not taking proper care of the vehicle aren't covered under the warranty. You can see where I'm headed can't you? We were in trouble.

But a miracle happened. Hyundai custmer service is amazing. The dealership we are taking it to now in Idaho Falls is replacing the motor for us because they know we had nothing to do with the damage that was done. Murdock Hyundai should NEVER have sold us the car in the first place. This replacement is costing them $4,500. We agreed to pay about $1000 for routine maintenance that needs to be done at the $60,000 mile mark anyway. So it's not going to be free, but seriously. Go Hyundai.

I'm still planning on writing a very strong letter to the owner of Murdock Hyundai to let him know how upset we are that his dealership sold us a car in terrible shape.

An adventurous first time car buying experience, don't you think?