The sale was more important than the customer. They were not knowledgeable about their cars.
Process started well when Leo (owner) met with me out of regular hours for a test drive. Didn't offer the best information on the car. He offered lots of, "It runs great. No issues. One owner trade in. This is the best price you will find on this car." Instead of really knowing the state of the car and passing that information along. For instance he told me he drove the car a few hundred miles, but...
-He was surprised that the car didn't start for us after it started earlier (1st start fine, test drove, 2nd start-nothing). It was a loose battery connection.
-Didn't realize that coolant reservoir was empty! (More on this later)
-Let me find the rust on my own
-Said it wasn't a bad car to drive when the car I was driving is ranked as one of the least fun cars to drive.
-etc.
I told him the price I would pay for the car, which was significantly lower than he asked for, and I didn't change it, but it took him over an hour to finally say he couldn't do it. Once I confirmed plans to buy another car, I told him, "Sorry it didn't work, but thanks for your time." He told me he figured out a way to make it work. Later I learned that it was essentially tax fraud. I signed the papers and bought the car.
Later I drove it 8 miles home and troubleshot the battery issue. While I did this, I discovered the lack of coolant, which immediately escalate all of the smaller red flags I had been okay with. At this point I knew this wasn't the car I thought I bought. So, I planned on taking it back the next day and getting some money back.
Next morning I drove it back (8 miles) and the check engine light came on! It was for the mass air flow sensor and intake air temp sensor, which are easy fixes and were probably caused by the battery issue, but I was even more unnerved.
Once Leo, the owner, came in I talked with him about my new discoveries and told him that I'd like him to take the car back, but I wanted to reimburse him for the hassle. He said that all of the issues I uncovered were not big deals especially considering the price, including the fact that it was missing coolant! I told him no coolant is a serious problem and I wanted him to take the car back. Eventually he told me it would be $1000. I knew he hadn't mailed the paperwork yet and that he couldn't have spent more than 6 hours on this (including this meeting) So, I said 8 hours at $20/hour. He said that once the paperwork is filled out, his costs are sunk, and that he wouldn't work for less than $100/hour, so $1000 was a good price. We settled on $780.
All USA
The sale was more important than the customer. They were not knowledgeable about their cars. Process started well when Leo (owner) met with me out of regular hours for a test drive. Didn't offer the best information on the car. He offered lots of, "It runs great. No issues. One owner trade in. This is the best price you will find on this car." Instead of really knowing the state of the car and passing that information along. For instance he told me he drove the car a few hundred miles, but... -He was surprised that the car didn't start for us after it started earlier (1st start fine, test drove, 2nd start-nothing). It was a loose battery connection. -Didn't realize that coolant reservoir was empty! (More on this later) -Let me find the rust on my own -Said it wasn't a bad car to drive when the car I was driving is ranked as one of the least fun cars to drive. -etc. I told him the price I would pay for the car, which was significantly lower than he asked for, and I didn't change it, but it took him over an hour to finally say he couldn't do it. Once I confirmed plans to buy another car, I told him, "Sorry it didn't work, but thanks for your time." He told me he figured out a way to make it work. Later I learned that it was essentially tax fraud. I signed the papers and bought the car. Later I drove it 8 miles home and troubleshot the battery issue. While I did this, I discovered the lack of coolant, which immediately escalate all of the smaller red flags I had been okay with. At this point I knew this wasn't the car I thought I bought. So, I planned on taking it back the next day and getting some money back. Next morning I drove it back (8 miles) and the check engine light came on! It was for the mass air flow sensor and intake air temp sensor, which are easy fixes and were probably caused by the battery issue, but I was even more unnerved. Once Leo, the owner, came in I talked with him about my new discoveries and told him that I'd like him to take the car back, but I wanted to reimburse him for the hassle. He said that all of the issues I uncovered were not big deals especially considering the price, including the fact that it was missing coolant! I told him no coolant is a serious problem and I wanted him to take the car back. Eventually he told me it would be $1000. I knew he hadn't mailed the paperwork yet and that he couldn't have spent more than 6 hours on this (including this meeting) So, I said 8 hours at $20/hour. He said that once the paperwork is filled out, his costs are sunk, and that he wouldn't work for less than $100/hour, so $1000 was a good price. We settled on $780.