Woman Taken for a Ride During Car Repairs

In January, Serina Paulus dropped off her car at Rick Case Honda to get her transmission fixed.

Little did she know, her 2002 Audi became the vehicle of choice for employees at the dealership. Paulus found out she was being taken for a ride when she began getting toll booth violations in the mail for a car that was supposed to be getting worked on.

Paulus claims Rick Case had the car for over two weeks and added over 750 miles on the car.

"When the car was being driven around, we were being told by the dealership that the car was in pieces," she said. "No one is taking responsibility for these issues. They claim that they can't tell who takes the cars out."

Rick Case officials admitted the car was in their possession, but the car was driven to actually help Paulus out. Jack Jackintelle, of Rick Case Honda, told said mechanics drove the car to test if for any problems.

The technicians were helping Paulus meet the minimum mileage requirement so her warranty would kick in and she wouldn't have to pay for the repairs, he said.

"We are not joy riding in her car. We would never do that," Jackintelle said.

Rick Case called the situation extremely rare--assures customers--this is not normal and offered Paulus a complete refund and other incentives.

They didn't have much of an explanation for all the tickets.

Toll records seem to indicate the car wasn't just being driven, it was being worked like a government mule on a faulty transmission.

The Rick Case dealership in question is located off Griffin Road and Interstate 75. Numerous toll violations were registered as far south as southwest Miami-Dade County. Several tickets were issued for riding in the SunPass lanes on the Don Shula Expressway, near the Dolphin Mall in Doral and the intersection of Bird Road and the Florida Turnpike.

After a month, the car was transferred to an Audi dealership that confirmed the transmission still had not been fixed.

Meanwhile, Paulus is still without her car and stuck with tickets she didn't deserve. She said she has turned to the Davie Police Department to figure out who has been driving her car and if she can press charges.

"We have been lied to, our car stolen, toll violations, tickets, and still don't have a car we bought," she said.