Car Problems Sure Rotate This Guy’s Tires
Next time this poor guy shops for wheels, he might consider something along the lines of a rusty Ford Pinto.
No car-napper would be tempted to swipe an old beater and take it on a wild joy ride to the coast.
Unfortunately, Randy Buell’s automotive tastes run more to the sleek and supercharged.
But the former stock car racing champ thought his $26,000, 1993 Mazda RX-7 would be safe and secure when he took it to Spokane’s Appleway Mazda for repairs.
After what happened, Buell says the thrill is gone from his sculpted black dream car that will do 180 mph.
The Spangle man is suing the dealership, claiming someone “borrowed” his rare twin-turbo Mazda without permission while it was in the dealership’s care last year and put nearly 1,700 hard miles on its odometer.
“I’m sick about it,” says Buell, 36, a bachelor who works in a furniture parts factory and keeps photographs of the gleaming car in his wallet. “This isn’t some rattletrap piece of junk you drive back and forth to work.”
Buell’s lawsuit sounds like part of the story line from the movie “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” particularly the hilarious scene where two parking attendants roar off in the red Ferrari that Bueller and his pals foolishly leave in a downtown Chicago garage.
How Buell learned his car was allegedly roaming without him belongs in a movie script.
The tip-off something was wrong came in the mail. It was a survey on road conditions sent to Buell while his sports car was supposedly in the shop.
The Washington Department of Transportation obtained Buell’s name and address when it randomly scanned the Mazda’s license plate - 138FXX - five days earlier on the Tacoma Narrows Corridor.
Tacoma? A stunned Buell called the dealership to find out what in the name of Henry Ford his car was doing near Tacoma.
A service worker, he says, assured him the vehicle was fine. On June 27, when repairs were done, Buell picked up his hot wheels and learned otherwise.
According to work orders, the car he checked in had an odometer reading of 25,124. The car he drove out showed 26,812, which Buell authenticated the same day at Downtown Toyota.
Buell says his car reeked of cigarette smoke. Someone had flicked ashes on the carpet and left a pack of matches.
Buell is a Seventh-day Adventist. He doesn’t smoke.
There’s no reason to suspect a customer’s car isn’t safe at Appleway any more than any other dealer.
It would be great to get Appleway’s explanation on this bizarre story. Too bad nobody there will talk about Buell’s claims.
Pat Shine, the dealer’s attorney, spoke briefly.
The case, he says, is under litigation. None of the allegations is proved. Facts are still being investigated.
Shine’s legal response to Buell’s lawsuit, filed in February, denies every allegation except one: Buell did take his RX-7 to Appleway Mazda for repairs on May 23, 1996.
“I really don’t understand why they don’t settle with this guy,” says Paul Mack, Buell’s attorney. “It seems pretty clear to me.”
Figuring out damages isn’t easy. Other than the extra miles, it’s hard to determine what exact harm was done to Buell’s fancy ride.
An analysis of the oil and brake disks does suggest that whoever took the Mazda drove it like a maniac, Buell says. The engine overheats, he claims, and it won’t shift into fifth gear.
Mack wants Appleway to buy back the Mazda. Buell purchased it there in January 1996.
Unless the two parties come to terms, a jury may have to sort it out. The case is scheduled for trial in August.
“I’ve spent a lot of nights climbing the walls over this,” says a frustrated Buell, who no longer drives his dream car. “I’d like it to be over.”
, DataTimes