Auto Appraisal Group AAG Did not provide an acquired appraisal of vehicle and poor customer service Charlottesville Virginia
On May 2, 2013, I had an appraisal of a 1967 Lemans/GTO done by Auto Appraisal Group. I was referred to them by Hagerty Insurance, so I thought this would be a great relationship and a company I could trust based on Hagerty’s reputation. I paid about 30% more than the next quote, but I thought they would do a better job. The car was located in Iowa and I live in Maryland, so I needed an inspection completed before I would purchase and ship the vehicle to my home.
I received a complete report from the inspector detailing the car and the problems and it was appraised as a number 3 or 4 car. They listed minor problems like a little scratch here and there and “wiring under dash looks out of control”. So, based on the recommendation I purchased the car.
When I get the car I notice in the first minute that the car leans to the driver’s side and after driving the car the transmission slips and the wiring was not just out of control, but way over the top. I took the car to my mechanic and I found out that the rear end ends new gears, the transmission is a piece of junk (200r4) the whole car needs to be rewired and the car runs hot as hell. It has cost me over 2k to get the car to a point where I can drive it and I still am going to have to put another 4k into it with a new transmission, rear end and new wiring to make it what I want.
On July 18th, I called Larry at AAG to inform him of what was going on to help out new customers for his company. The first thing he told me was he was not responsible for any appraisals and if I purchased the car it was on my own free will. I let him know that I was calling to help him and to go over my report that had a lot of errors. He was surprised, so I asked him “where should we start”. He replied in a smart tone “Anywhere you would like to”. At that point I knew this type of customer service was not going to be tolerated by me and I made a decision to put this incident on Rip Off Report.
The cost of AAG’s service and the quality of work they do is not commiserate with their pricing. I would not recommend them to anyone that needs an inspection done on your car. Any person could have provided me this information. Move on to another company.
1 Updates & Rebuttals
Auto Appraisal Group
Charlottesville,Virginia,
Buyer's Remorse
#2REBUTTAL Owner of company
Fri, July 19, 2013
We did speak with Mr. Rogers about this pre-purchase inspection. We did NOT recommend this car. In fact we inspected the car and appraised it for $14,500 because of its condition. We did NOT give it any 4 or above average ratings. He purchased the car for $20,000. He asked us to appraise it for $23,500 so he could get more money from the bank. We told him that we don’t work that way.
Our condition report documents what we see the day of the inspection. It does not warranty the seller’s vehicle nor does it guarantee that there will not be additional costs associated with owning and driving an old car. Our cover letter clearly states that our “inspection does not include matters that might become apparent from the disassembling of parts or from repeated use of the vehicle. No refunds are given after services have been provided. Even though our report gives you a description of what we find during our inspection, we encourage you to personally inspect and drive the automobile before closing your deal. Your purchase agreement is between you and the seller. We do not guarantee the seller’s vehicle.”
We are sorry the client has buyer’s remorse after paying MUCH more than our estimate of value, but we should not be blamed for his decision.
Visit our website for testimontials from many prepurchase clients who are very pleased with our pre-purchase inspection service. www.autoappraisal.com