Knowledge of AZ consumer law? (Used Car Problems)

[J McCarty]

I won't mention names yet, but I am very disappointed with my experience. I bought a car from a used car dealership in Arizona and was expecting I'd end up paying too much for a piece of junk. But I didn't expect anything like this: I bought the car for a sticker price of $7999 (a 2005 Kia Optima w/ 104k miles). Within 10 days I had 2 flat tires (due to faulty valve stems), a check engine light, A/C problems and needed a front hub assembly. I went into the dealership and told them I wanted to trade in the car for something with the same monetary value, but better mechanics. They said to take it into their maintenance facility to see if they could get it repaired, it was on warranty. I thought that was fair, so I did. Within 20 days of owning the car it had been through their maintenance twice, the (same) CEL was on and I was still having issues with the A/C (it would periodically raise the engine temp).

I took it in, the first time: they replaced my tire and my spare, looked at my A/C (said it was fine), looked at my CEL (figured it was condensation in the coils from the steam cleaning and cleared the code) and told me to make another appointment for my front hub.
I took it in again, within the week, for the second time: they replaced my hub assembly and looked at the CEL (said they replaced wires, plugs and coil packs, cleared the code).
I took it in again, for the third time, and asked to talk to the mechanic who was working on my car. It's been about 30 days since I bought the car (I've changed another [3rd] flat tire due to valve stem by now): "He doesn't work here anymore.", they said they would get to it that afternoon.
They held the car because I owed them money. I pawned my .45Auto hand gun and gave them $200, they said we were square, "Come back when payment was due". Then they found out that the car was in maintenance and demanded another $100 (which wasn't due for another 5 days) before they'd release the vehicle. I had no phone, no money, nothing to pawn, no way to get in touch with anybody and ended up walking nearly 15 miles before I found someone to pick me up and take me to a friend's house. I came back the next morning with the $100, they gave me my car back, but had completed no maintenance on it.

I still have the same CEL, the same A/C problems, have changed the 4th tire (yes, due to valve stem) and now it squeals upon start up!

They want me to pay for emissions and registration. I tell them I can't emission a car with a CEL, therefore I cannot register a car with a CEL. "Oh don't worry, we've already done it, you just need to pay."

What can I do?!

[J McCarty]

I appreciate the information. The problem was that I didn't own the car, I was still financing it and was receiving the runaround from the companies that were (a)financing me, (b)selling the vehicle, & (c)maintaining it. The car has since been repossessed and sold at auction. I never got any compensation from time and money lost, or the damages to my own body after being forced to walk home. All I can say is stay away from Cactus Jack's, if you live in AZ, they will do what ever they can to get your money and when their car is not up to standards, you will be stuck with it.

[Admin]

We can't advise anyone on consumer or any laws in Arizona...or any state for that matter. You need to talk to a professional. There are pro-bono law firms in Arizona (meaning free) that may help you. They deal with consumer issues (such as around cars or vehicles), can deal with repossessions, and much more. There are firms all across Arizona to try.