Complaint Review: Cactus Auto Company

I had great respect and trust for auto dealers. Not anymore! I bumped into cactus auto through an ad on one of the local newspapers that advertise used car sales. I was seriously looking for a better car than the one I had but around $4000-5000. I also checked their website (cactusauto.com) and saw the car that really excited me.

They graciously gave me 20 minutes to test-drive the car. I drove the car and noticed that it was great. I went ahead and bought the car right away and they gave me a 15-day limited warranty. This was nothing because I thought: why would a dealer sell to me something bad? I went back the following day to pick it up with my son who was only 4 years old. I discovered the rear seat belts were not functioning. I left the car for them to fix the seat belts. Later, they called me to inform me that I need other seat belts because the retractors could not work. I quickly agreed to pay for them after placing an order and drove away the car. The seat belts were being ordered from California which takes about 2-3 days to be shipped.

On driving home, I noticed the a/c was not cooling any more, though it had started off nicely. I called them and they told me to take back the car once the seat belts arrived. I also informed them that CD player was not working. The major problem was, though, I was not very familiar with auto transmission. The reverse gear engaged with a jerking movement and I intended to let them know about this- whether this was a normal thing or not. The car engages very well with the remaining gears, so I did not think there was anything wrong with the transmission.

The following weekend I went to the dealer unannounced just like you would walk to any dealership without an appointment. The sales person was surprised to see me and told me I need an appointment because they were not ready for me. I begun suspecting something was a miss because these people are looking for customers- you do not need an appointment to be a customer. He also told me the manager was not in and gave me a number to call later. It turned out my seat belts had not arrived.

They told me to call back on the following Monday. I did- no seat belts yet. Called back on Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday: the same story. Eventually just before the warranty expired, they told me the order was cancelled and placed another order again from North Carolina. These arrived after 3 days- the warranty had expired-4 weeks had passed!

I took the car to have seat belts fixed and also to have the reverse gear, the CD player and A/C checked. After 3 hours they called me to let me know that they did know why reverse gear was doing that; CD player required an expert to look at; A/C claimed it was working okay. They told me to go pick up the car.

I took the car to a different a service center for complete check up and was told the engine mounts were broken and the car had a transmission problem. I called cactus auto to let them know and they quickly told me to take the car back. I took the car back with the understanding that they will work on the transmission. The following day I was told they do not rebuild transmissions, but they can replace a new one for $2000.

I challenged the manager that I honestly did not think it was that serious that was why I waited for the seat belts to arrive first before asking him about it. He told me the warranty had expired! They had played a big game on me and sunk me into a deep hole.

I also understand that by law after the 15 days or 500 Miles are expired, it is very difficult to challenge them in court. I bought my first used car from a mechanic for just $2500, owned it for 5.5 years without any single major repair. In fact I did not realize that he had given me a 1-month warranty!

Can I trust you Cactus auto or are you looking for an opportunity to take advantage of me because I am not familiar with auto transmission (naive) and rob me without violence? Come on, you are a mechanic, how can you not tell when a car has a transmission problem when it is so obvious?

And to those wishing to buy a used car from a dealer, the old adage goes All that glitters is not gold.

Anonymous
Tucson, Arizona
U.S.A.