Pursuing dealer for breach of we owe contract
Rhode Island Jul 26, 2026
Location: Rhode Island Hello, I recently purchased a used vehicle with a signed "we owe" agreement that states the following verbatim: Rear trunk dent repair Timing belt service: at cost Water pump service: at cost The dealer was aware of the dent condition (broken paint, rusting metal) and I have a third party pre purchase inspection documenting the condition on the day of sale. I attempted to schedule the services at which point I was told the dent repair would only include physically pulling the dent by the dealers paintless dent repair contractor. Additionally, they sent an invoice for the timing belt/water pump service that: Quoted MSRP for all parts Did not include all parts which are standard to replace for the service on this particular engine (pulleys, tensioners, etc) I sent them a contract demand letter stating this was unacceptable and how to rectify it within a reasonable amount of time. I received an email from the general manager in response to my initial contract demand letter confirming their position that performing an industry standard dent repair given the condition of the damage is out of the scope of what they are willing to provide. He offered discounted body work at their collision center if I would come in for an estimate. I replied that I would not accept an out of pocket solution, but would come in for the estimate to establish the cost of proper remediation. Their service manager took pictures for the estimate on Thursday at noon saying it would take a few hours to quote the work, but as of Friday end of business I have not received anything. I filed a consumer complaint with the attorney general and will be sending a paper complaint to the DMV dealers licensing division. Is there anything else I should do in preparation for their response to the official inquiries? Should I expect to have to take it to small claims? Last and I guess most important question: am I likely to get a good resolution for this? Needing to repair these things out of pocket significantly alters the value proposition of the car to me to the point that I would not have bought it without these contractual promises.
