It was supposed to be the trip of a lifetime.....

In March 2025, my wife, our two daughters, and I loaded up our brand-new 2024 truck and drove from Oregon on a family vacation heading for New York. About 1,800 miles from home in Ridgefield Minnesota — less than 6 months after we bought it, with fewer than 15,000 miles on the odometer — our truck suddenly dropped into "limp mode" and quit on us.

Stranded on a freeway, multiple states from home with two kids in the back seat.

We managed to limp it to the nearest dealership. They told us they "couldn't duplicate the problem," did nothing, and sent us on our way after demanding the loaner back a few hours later.

That was repair attempt #1.

There would be fifteen more.

We did everything right.

In October 2024, my wife and I bought this truck brand new from a dealership in Albany, Oregon. We didn't gamble on used. We bought new specifically so our family would have something safe and reliable for years to come.

Before it hit 15,000 miles, it was already failing.

Here's what they've thrown at it trying to "fix" it so far:

Air intake tube and clamps

Air filter

EGR valve

Mass airflow (MAF) sensor — twice

Brake pads and rotors

The PCM (Power Control Module - the trucks entire brain)

Multiple engine wiring harnesses — replaced after a technician found corrosion on a truck barely a year old!

Sixteen visits. A new computer. New wiring. Corroded harnesses on a nearly-new vehicle. And the truck still throws the same fault codes today.

This isn't an inconvenience. It's a safety issue!

Without warning, our truck drops into limp mode. When it does:

The engine's power is suddenly reduced

The transmission shifts erratically

The adaptive cruise control and automatic emergency braking shut off

The safety systems we paid for — the ones meant to protect our daughters in the back seat — simply stop working

We've now felt that happen on highways, on road trips, with our kids in the car. Every time we turn start it up, we wonder if today's the day it happens again.

Six dealerships. Two states. The same run-around.

We didn't just give up after one shop. We took this truck to six different dealerships across two states, begging someone — anyone — to fix it.

On one single day, we drove to three different dealerships just to get someone to write down what was wrong with it. We were turned away for "no technicians." We were turned away because the "shop was too busy." Multiple times, we left with no paperwork and no repair at all.

Meanwhile, the same fault codes — the rich-fuel condition that throws the truck into limp mode — has come back again and again and again across nearly every single visit.

"Corporate doesn't control the dealerships."

Since April 2025, I've made more than 40 calls to the Mystery Car Manufacturer's corporate call center. Their line, over and over: "Corporate doesn't control the dealerships."

But here's what the repair records show: the manufacturer's own corporate engineering line was contacted at least four times — and on multiple visits, corporate specifically directed the repair under their instruction and review of the diagnostic data.

So which is it? They don't control the dealerships... but they're directing the repairs? Now their lawyers claim the dealerships won't even cooperate with them in our lawsuit. The manufacturer points at the dealerships. The dealerships point back. And our family is stuck in the middle, holding the keys to a truck we're afraid to drive.

And here's the part that tells you everything.

After our truck's 8th repair visit, the manufacturer offered us $3,000. Not a refund. Not a replacement. Three thousand dollars for a truck that's spent more time broken than working.

Then I told the case manager the truck had just gone in for visit #9.

They rescinded the offer. In a 7-minute phone call. Gone.

That's exactly how much they think our family — and your safety on the road next to us — is worth.

That's why we're fighting back. And why we need your help.

We've filed a lemon law lawsuit. But I'm one person with a job and a family, going up against a manufacturer backed by multiple law firms whose entire strategy is to outspend us, drag it out, and bet we'll get too tired and too broke to keep going.

Every dollar you give goes straight to legal expenses — attorney costs, independent vehicle inspections, expert witnesses, court and filing fees, and the sheer cost of standing toe-to-toe with a corporate legal team that's counting on us quitting.

We will not quit. But we can't do this alone.

Our goal: $25,000

Every contribution — $5, $10, $50 — goes directly toward the fight to hold them accountable.

This is bigger than one truck.

Every day, families get handed a lemon and then handed the run-around — and most are too exhausted, too overwhelmed, or too outgunned to fight back. These manufacturers count on that. They count on you giving up.

If we win, we don't just win for the four of us. We send a message to every family that's ever been stranded on the side of the road and then told "corporate doesn't control the dealerships."

Can't donate? Share this.

Send it to one person. Post it. Forward it to the group chat. The thing these companies fear most isn't a lawsuit — it's a story that won't stay quiet.

Share ours before they bury it.

From our family to yours — thank you for standing with us.

— The LemonAid Man