GIVE ME A BRAKE ! - DGB AUTO, USED CARS, MONTREAL

 

 

75 YEAR OLD MONTREAL JOURNALIST BUYS A USED CAR

 

Episode Five

 

 

 

I am a 75 year old Montreal journalist, widow, cancer patient, crime victim and blogger.

 

When I fell ill with bone cancer in April, 2009, my Plymouth Voyageur sat in the parking lot all through the winter and rusted out. I had to scrap it.

 

Driving is as natural to me as walking and I can drive better now than I can walk. I started driving at seventeen and I longed to get another car.

 

And so, on April 30,  2011, I found a used car dealer - D.G.B. Auto at 6965 St. Jacques West in Montreal - and I bought the first car that was offered to me.

 

And so my adventure began. After chasing the dealer to make essential repairs all summer long, I finally had them done at long established garages at considerable cost.

 

From April, when I bought the car, until December, I was only able to use the car for one short trip and a few local errands because of the persistent problems with the door handle and the brakes. The car looks good, purrs like a kitten, but the brakes were so badly damaged that my car could have been a death trap.  All the details are reported in these earlier articles.

 

75 YEAR OLD MONTREAL JOURNALIST BUYS A USED CAR

http://phylliscartersjournal.blogspot.com/2011/06/75-year-old-montreal-journalist-buys_9737.html

75 YEAR OLD MONTREAL JOURNALIST BUYS A USED CAR - EPISODE TWO

http://phylliscartersjournal.blogspot.com/2011/06/75-year-old-montreal-journalist-buys_8812.html

75 YEAR OLD JOURNALIST BUYS A USED CAR - DGB AUTO - EPISODE THREE

http://phylliscartersjournal.blogspot.com/2011/08/75-year-old-journalist-buys-used-car.html

75 YEAR OLD MONTREAL JOURNALIST BUYS A USED CAR - DGB AUTO

http://phylliscartersjournal.blogspot.com/2011/09/75-year-old-montreal-journalist-buys_22.html

 

From the time I bought the car, the brakes were squealing really loudly, particularly in one wheel. The dealer, Mike of DGB Auto, told me that the sharp noise was due to the fact that he had installed the very best brake pads. Nothing to worry about. The noise will lessen over time.

 

Finally, December 22, I could no longer ignore the problem. There was no point in going back to DGB for the umpteenth time.

 

I took the car into Gordon Good Year on St. Jacques. This company has been in business since 1955 under the same ownership and carries on business in a very professional manner. And here, to make a long story short, is the conclusion.

 

Front brake pads including labour - $159.95

 

Two new front brake rotors -             88.00

 

Caliper -                                        114.00

 

Brake Service - clean and adjust       25.00

 

Total to prevent a catastrophe        $440.84 *

 

 

Fortunately, my instincts saved me. I acted just in time. Since the car always stopped without a problem, I did not know the brakes were in a critical condition.

 

 

* This added to $623.22 for the repair of the door handle earlier.

 

Buyer beware.