Re: STAY AWAY FROM AVIS!!!!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Hunter
If you rent a car in Miami and get no fault collision insurance and buy it from Avis. You get on highway and engine seizes...you are not liable for that. Avis is going to replace that car. Now if you refused there no fault collision insurance then your fucked and have to get your credit card company to pay and that is nightmare.
Its DR maybe there laws are different. I still stay Avis must have some documents that back the claim that Corrado owes that money. I would hire a lawyer if it really looks like you have to pay the 6k.
If its as scam....and it is, why would they document it?
Re: STAY AWAY FROM AVIS!!!!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Corrado
I want to be perfectly clear. I never hit anything, at any point in time, ever.
They did not claim anything......just an itemized bill. I assume a mechanic would be able to surmise the problem based on looking at the parts, but I could not. I drove from Santiago to Esperanza, then to POP. The oil light came on 3-5 seconds before the car failed. There was not even time to pull over between the light and the failure.
I'm not a mechanic and my ability in automotive science only extends to changing the oil. I would not know what it was he pulled from under the car even you showed it to me again.
What did the guy SAY ? the guy who pulled it from under the car.. what exactly did he SAY to you ? he didnt go into any detail ? just said " u wrecked it"
I am just curious WHAT caused this massive failire.. as it can happen to anyone, especially if you didnt hit anything...
Not being suspicious of what you are saying.. but I DO have mechanical knowledge, i fix my own cars, in fact noone touches them.. but I am now TOTALLY confused as to what happened to you, ESPECIALLY the light coming on SECONDS before the engine seized...
Did you hear ANY NOISES ?
Re: STAY AWAY FROM AVIS!!!!!
@
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Hunter
Thanks Dquick. Making more sense to me now. I guess Corrodo should of got police report no matter what even if no accident and payed the cop off if he had to.
I cant believe the tourist board would let something like this go on. That is outrageous and illegal what is going on. I guess you cant apply logic in the DR.
Not an option. The police would not make a report, and I did offer to assist the for the effort. But not for the accident, it was for the credit card fraud. The police indicated that since the charge had not gone through....and the bank issued a fraud alert that there were no damages to me from Avis......so they could not do a report.
There are a couple of things that people keep missing.
1. Even if I had a police report......I'd be filing a false police report for insurance purposes....insurance fraud.....
2. The Dominican franchise gave me a car they knew was mechanically unsound. They knew it would eventually go out on a customer (not specifically me), who they would then charge.
3. They do not want to commit insurance fraud with their carrier, buy filing false claims. They want to charge a customer who will pay them.
4. If I had elected their 100% coverage for any and all accidents, collisions, acts of GOD, terrorist attacks, and the end of the universe............Its still a scam.....they want my money......they would still be billing me no matter what, because that was the plan......"cut our maintenance budget, save money, car dies, bill client for premium parts and service, get money, fix car using used parts good for 1 year.......repeat"
Re: STAY AWAY FROM AVIS!!!!!
For some reason multi quote does not work.....And I cannot use thanks either.....But thanks to all the replies, it really means a lot :iconTU:
Re: STAY AWAY FROM AVIS!!!!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by
JudgeSmails
What did the guy SAY ? the guy who pulled it from under the car.. what exactly did he SAY to you ? he didnt go into any detail ? just said " u wrecked it"
I am just curious WHAT caused this massive failire.. as it can happen to anyone, especially if you didnt hit anything...
Not being suspicious of what you are saying.. but I DO have mechanical knowledge, i fix my own cars, in fact noone touches them.. but I am now TOTALLY confused as to what happened to you, ESPECIALLY the light coming on SECONDS before the engine seized...
Did you hear ANY NOISES ?
Dominican mechanic with limited English, I speak Spanish, but he insisted on speaking English, to keep communication limited, I assume.
"Mira thees!" pointing to a small black cylindrical object in his hand
"You rec dee car" pointing to the object, then pulling the front bumper (that had no marks on it)
"Here, you mira" pulling harder on the bumper
"You rec dee car" pointing to the part again
"You rec it"
That was what he said.
There was a hard grinding sound very briefly (seconds), I took my foot off the gas, the emergency and oil lights came on, everything shut down. Less that 10 seconds total.
Re: STAY AWAY FROM AVIS!!!!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Corrado
If its as scam....and it is, why would they document it?
I meant Avis USA must have some documentation to back them up because you said they are making you pay and ruled against you...Avis USA....
Re: STAY AWAY FROM AVIS!!!!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by
blg100
I agree with the op. NEVER rent from Avis in the DR. Im a Avis Chairmans Club member, the absolute highest reward level that they have. I once rented a car from the pop airport and the girl at the counter told me that she had to put a $1000 hold on my card. I thought that was crazy because I was paying with a AMEX and it wasn't a debit card, but fuck it, I agreed. I kept the car for 10 days everything went ok and I returned the car with no problems. I came back to the us and returned to pop 1 week later. Same girl, same vehicle. This time she said that she needed to put a $5000 hold on my card. A number that she just pulled out of her ass. I was like WTF? She said that she had to put that hold on in case I did not return the car. Once again, WTF? Right then and there I called the Chairmans club dept at AVIS and I swear on everything that my rep at Avis told me that it is not a good idea to rent from Avis in the DR because they are independent operators that have no real regulations. Avis in the DR is nothing more than a tourist trap. If something goes wrong Avis in the US will not help u. This came directly from my rep at avis
This right here! Affiliated with Avis in name only. So you feel comfortable doing business with them.
Re: STAY AWAY FROM AVIS!!!!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Hunter
I meant Avis USA must have some documentation to back them up because you said they are making you pay and ruled against you...Avis USA....
The franchise sent them the bill. Thats all. A franchise sends a bill, the Avis collections dept in the U.S. attempts to collect it.....thats all. Collections does not investigate the validity of the claim, they work for the client (whoever sends the bill to be collected). You could send a bill to a collection agency saying somebody owed you and they would try to collect on it.
Re: STAY AWAY FROM AVIS!!!!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Corrado
This right here! Affiliated with Avis in name only. So you feel comfortable doing business with them.
So they LEASE THE NAME only, ? WOW .. So the insurance THEY SELL us , IS totally WORTHLESS.. now I see why.
So The car rental owner could be some Drug Dealer, laundering Money.. or who knows who you even really dealing with..
and the Insurance $$, who even knows where the fuck that $$ goes.. I'm guessing right in his pocket Too.
They really are laughing at us Gringos..
and the whole contract then is fucking WORTHLESS, except when they can use it against us .. ..
Damnn.
Have you thought about threathening AVIS USA, to go to the MEDIA with this Bullshit ?
Do they really want to risk havingh their Name tarnished this way.
It might work.
Re: STAY AWAY FROM AVIS!!!!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by
JudgeSmails
So they LEASE THE NAME only, ? WOW .. So the insurance THEY SELL us , IS totally WORTHLESS.. now I see why.
So The car rental owner could be some Drug Dealer, laundering Money.. or who knows who you even really dealing with..
and the Insurance $$, who even knows where the fuck that $$ goes.. I'm guessing right in his pocket Too.
They really are laughing at us Gringos..
and the whole contract then is fucking WORTHLESS, except when they can use it against us .. ..
Damnn.
Have you thought about threathening AVIS USA, to go to the MEDIA with this Bullshit ?
Do they really want to risk havingh their Name tarnished this way.
It might work.
You are right, it probably would get some traction. BUT, the media exposure of an American businessman, with several Dominican families, in a world renown sex tourism destination is a bit more than I would like...... I have to keep this administrative and/or legal for as long as possible.
Re: STAY AWAY FROM AVIS!!!!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Corrado
You are right, it probably would get some traction. BUT, the media exposure of an American businessman, with several Dominican families, in a world renown sex tourism destination is a bit more than I would like...... I have to keep this administrative and/or legal for as long as possible.
But as I recall,, ( without goin into specifics on open forum) but, You already have a LEGIT REASON for being in the DR. .. a VERY LEGIT reason.. a Humanitarian reason in fact..
Does Avis really want to deal with such a P R nightmare ? I would guess NO... just a thought, but I guess you gave it some thought already.
Re: 12/2013 - STAY AWAY FROM AVIS!!!!!
This sounds like it's a purely "mechanical failure" issue, and it sounds like it was due either to very low oil, or no oil in the motor, as you did mention the oil light came on. So, the real issue is whether you have some liability as the result of the rental agency owner's lack of proper maintenance, for which they are notorious. One would think not but, as the saying goes "This is the DR."
Re: STAY AWAY FROM AVIS!!!!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by
JudgeSmails
What did the guy SAY ? the guy who pulled it from under the car.. what exactly did he SAY to you ? he didnt go into any detail ? just said " u wrecked it"
I am just curious WHAT caused this massive failire.. as it can happen to anyone, especially if you didnt hit anything...
Not being suspicious of what you are saying.. but I DO have mechanical knowledge, i fix my own cars, in fact noone touches them.. but I am now TOTALLY confused as to what happened to you, ESPECIALLY the light coming on SECONDS before the engine seized...
Did you hear ANY NOISES ?
I know (with 99% surety) what happened!!!!!
My background: Between the ages of 17 & 29 I never resold a car I owned. I destroyed a total of 17 cars through various means including 2 of them starting on fire and burning up while I was driving them! Heck I owned my first car for 12 whole days!
One of the 17 was destroyed on a country road in Southern Illinois visiting a college buddy. I shot a rock through the oil pan, what Corrado described is EXACTLY what happened to me. 2-3 seconds of the oil pressure light and then the engine seized. Sounds like a foreign object went through the oil pan.
Sounds like bad luck to me. As for responsibility sadly I would say you are liable, as for the insurance well I didn't read what it covered. I know my credit card doesn't cover non paved AND non maintained roads which any decent lawyer would argue a mountain road in the DR would fall under non maintained.
Finally as for the cost, that amount would be about right for a new engine.
Re: STAY AWAY FROM AVIS!!!!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Don Tomas
Finally as for the cost, that amount would be about right for a new engine.
I want to clarify this, you are still getting ripped off...
Yes $5,000 is about right for a brand new crate engine, but they will put an engine from an accident wreck into the car. Probably $1,200 total for labor and the engine, basing that off what a transmission cost me in the DR once and the difference between an engine & trans in the states.
Re: STAY AWAY FROM AVIS!!!!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Don Tomas
I know (with 99% surety) what happened!!!!!
My background: Between the ages of 17 & 29 I never resold a car I owned. I destroyed a total of 17 cars through various means including 2 of them starting on fire and burning up while I was driving them! Heck I owned my first car for 12 whole days!
One of the 17 was destroyed on a country road in Southern Illinois visiting a college buddy. I shot a rock through the oil pan, what Corrado described is EXACTLY what happened to me. 2-3 seconds of the oil pressure light and then the engine seized. Sounds like a foreign object went through the oil pan.
Sounds like bad luck to me. As for responsibility sadly I would say you are liable, as for the insurance well I didn't read what it covered. I know my credit card doesn't cover non paved AND non maintained roads which any decent lawyer would argue a mountain road in the DR would fall under non maintained.
Finally as for the cost, that amount would be about right for a new engine.
I respectfully disagree, IF what Corrado is telling us is accurate..
Even a SMALL ROCK, when it Bounces up or hits under your car, is VERY VERY LOUD..
and He says he hit NOTHING.. I take that to mean, he didnt hear anything hit the car either..
Also he didnt bottom out.
so its a mystery..
IMO, 2- 5 seconds is also not enough time to drain the entire Oil pan , AND seize the engine..
In fact a Friend of mine (we worked on cars since we were about 16).. His little brother DROVE the car OFF the Ramps, with ZERO oil in it.. he got about 1.5 miles before she seized.. AN engine with ZERO oil, will still drive a little ways. definitely more than a couple seconds.
If you take a severe HIT, then YES it may shut down in seconds .. If you throw a ROD, then also it will shut down with lots of colorful smoke..
I had the prettiest BLUE smoke when I seized a Chevy small block ...One of several Engines I have seized.
NONE of this happened to Corrado.. according to him.. or at least not as he recalls.
So I am thinking Timing Belt again..
but who knows.. There is not enough info to go on..
Re: STAY AWAY FROM AVIS!!!!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by
JudgeSmails
I respectfully disagree, IF what Corrado is telling us is accurate..
Even a SMALL ROCK, when it Bounces up or hits under your car, is VERY VERY LOUD..
and He says he hit NOTHING.. I take that to mean, he didnt hear anything hit the car either..
Also he didnt bottom out.
so its a mystery..
IMO, 2- 5 seconds is also not enough time to drain the entire Oil pan , AND seize the engine..
In fact a Friend of mine (we worked on cars since we were about 16).. His little brother DROVE the car OFF the Ramps, with ZERO oil in it.. he got about 1.5 miles before she seized.. AN engine with ZERO oil, will still drive a little ways. definitely more than a couple seconds.
If you take a severe HIT, then YES it may shut down in seconds .. If you throw a ROD, then also it will shut down with lots of colorful smoke..
I had the prettiest BLUE smoke when I seized a Chevy small block ...One of several Engines I have seized.
NONE of this happened to Corrado.. according to him.. or at least not as he recalls.
So I am thinking Timing Belt again..
but who knows.. There is not enough info to go on..
I bought a van at the auction with a knocking motor to part out and didn't care if it croaked so I drove it almost 100 miles with it getting more and more noisy until a rod came thru the side of the oil pan and dumped the oil immediately but I continued driving the rest of the way home.....it never rolled over after I shut it off though:lol:.......
Re: STAY AWAY FROM AVIS!!!!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by
JudgeSmails
I respectfully disagree, IF what Corrado is telling us is accurate..
Even a SMALL ROCK, when it Bounces up or hits under your car, is VERY VERY LOUD..
and He says he hit NOTHING.. I take that to mean, he didnt hear anything hit the car either..
Also he didnt bottom out.
so its a mystery..
IMO, 2- 5 seconds is also not enough time to drain the entire Oil pan , AND seize the engine..
In fact a Friend of mine (we worked on cars since we were about 16).. His little brother DROVE the car OFF the Ramps, with ZERO oil in it.. he got about 1.5 miles before she seized.. AN engine with ZERO oil, will still drive a little ways. definitely more than a couple seconds.
If you take a severe HIT, then YES it may shut down in seconds .. If you throw a ROD, then also it will shut down with lots of colorful smoke..
I had the prettiest BLUE smoke when I seized a Chevy small block ...One of several Engines I have seized.
NONE of this happened to Corrado.. according to him.. or at least not as he recalls.
So I am thinking Timing Belt again..
but who knows.. There is not enough info to go on..
As far as hearing nothing, are you going to tell me that the radio wasn't on and probably cranked up? If so his was probably the only car on the entire island riding that way.:rofl:
As far as the time it takes to drain it depends on the hole, the rock I hit put a hole the size of a grapefruit in my pan. Also the distance it will go depends on many factors one of them being the current temp of the engine at the time you lose the oil, a nice cold engine will go farther. When the engine is hot the metal parts are already expanded. In my case it was very hot outside and I was pushing the engine going up a hill, sound familiar?
Very true about throwing a rod, and sometimes they will continue on as what happened to WNM. Also it depends on what type of rod you are talking about, people tend to sum them up together just saying "rod", push rod vs connecting rod. I have thrown both, FYI push rods make pretty cool looking volcano shaped dents in your hood!
As for the timing belt, the oil light led me away from that and to what happened to me.
PS. On another note of how "long" it takes to seize an engine. I seized a Buick 231 (the late 70s/early 80s revision) where the oil pressure was measured in single digits most of the time. All I did was pass a car on a bridge over some railroad tracks, going up hill (oil pickup in front), the auto trans did downshift so I was probably at 4500+ RPM. Mind you we are talking less than a 1/4 mile and I seized it. Again the light was on for a couple of seconds, but I foolishly disregarded it since that light being on was very common for that Buick engine.
PPS. Just relaying what I have experienced, again like you said we don't know everything.
Re: STAY AWAY FROM AVIS!!!!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Don Tomas
I know (with 99% surety) what happened!!!!!
My background: Between the ages of 17 & 29 I never resold a car I owned. I destroyed a total of 17 cars through various means including 2 of them starting on fire and burning up while I was driving them! Heck I owned my first car for 12 whole days!
One of the 17 was destroyed on a country road in Southern Illinois visiting a college buddy. I shot a rock through the oil pan, what Corrado described is EXACTLY what happened to me. 2-3 seconds of the oil pressure light and then the engine seized. Sounds like a foreign object went through the oil pan.
Sounds like bad luck to me. As for responsibility sadly I would say you are liable, as for the insurance well I didn't read what it covered. I know my credit card doesn't cover non paved AND non maintained roads which any decent lawyer would argue a mountain road in the DR would fall under non maintained.
Finally as for the cost, that amount would be about right for a new engine.
How does a rock shoot through the oil pan (seriously I have no idea what that is)? If this is what happened, how long does it take for all the oil to drain? Also why would the oil light come on a few seconds before total failure, it should show as the oil is draining, right? The road was paved. If a rock shoots the the oil pan isn't that an act of GOD? Like a tree limb falling, or a bird flying into a window.
Re: STAY AWAY FROM AVIS!!!!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by
JudgeSmails
I respectfully disagree, IF what Corrado is telling us is accurate..
Even a SMALL ROCK, when it Bounces up or hits under your car, is VERY VERY LOUD..
and He says he hit NOTHING.. I take that to mean, he didnt hear anything hit the car either..
Also he didnt bottom out.
so its a mystery..
IMO, 2- 5 seconds is also not enough time to drain the entire Oil pan , AND seize the engine..
In fact a Friend of mine (we worked on cars since we were about 16).. His little brother DROVE the car OFF the Ramps, with ZERO oil in it.. he got about 1.5 miles before she seized.. AN engine with ZERO oil, will still drive a little ways. definitely more than a couple seconds.
If you take a severe HIT, then YES it may shut down in seconds .. If you throw a ROD, then also it will shut down with lots of colorful smoke..
I had the prettiest BLUE smoke when I seized a Chevy small block ...One of several Engines I have seized.
NONE of this happened to Corrado.. according to him.. or at least not as he recalls.
So I am thinking Timing Belt again..
but who knows.. There is not enough info to go on..
All correct.
Re: STAY AWAY FROM AVIS!!!!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Don Tomas
As far as hearing nothing, are you going to tell me that the radio wasn't on and probably cranked up? If so his was probably the only car on the entire island riding that way.:rofl:
As far as the time it takes to drain it depends on the hole, the rock I hit put a hole the size of a grapefruit in my pan. Also the distance it will go depends on many factors one of them being the current temp of the engine at the time you lose the oil, a nice cold engine will go farther. When the engine is hot the metal parts are already expanded. In my case it was very hot outside and I was pushing the engine going up a hill, sound familiar?
Very true about throwing a rod, and sometimes they will continue on as what happened to WNM. Also it depends on what type of rod you are talking about, people tend to sum them up together just saying "rod", push rod vs connecting rod. I have thrown both, FYI push rods make pretty cool looking volcano shaped dents in your hood!
As for the timing belt, the oil light led me away from that and to what happened to me.
PS. On another note of how "long" it takes to seize an engine. I seized a Buick 231 (the late 70s/early 80s revision) where the oil pressure was measured in single digits most of the time. All I did was pass a car on a bridge over some railroad tracks, going up hill (oil pickup in front), the auto trans did downshift so I was probably at 4500+ RPM. Mind you we are talking less than a 1/4 mile and I seized it. Again the light was on for a couple of seconds, but I foolishly disregarded it since that light being on was very common for that Buick engine.
PPS. Just relaying what I have experienced, again like you said we don't know everything.
That is correct the radio was low....the window was cracked so I could hear motos with no lights, it was night time.
When you say you hit a rock that makes the problem a bit more clear about the oil pan. I did not hit anything, at any time, ever! Nor did I roll over any large objects in the road way.
Was there a hole in the oil pan, I could not say? Even if I got under the car with the mechanic .......its all greek to me. If there was a hole, then why would the mechanic pull a part from underneath the car as "proof" that it was wrecked? I do not disagree that the car was damaged......I just did not do it. I just got caught with the car when it was discovered. Much like a dinner party at a bar & grill, the last person at the table gets stuck with the check......even if you just had the water with lemon.
