Complaint Review: Drivetime Aka Ugly Duckling

I have purchased a 1994 Chevy c1500 pickup truck from them and it has been a nightmare for me.

I bought it on 8-1-2001. It looked really nice sitting up there on the rack so I decided that I wanted it. I took it for a test drive and everything seemed ok.

I noticed at the time that they seemed really anxious to sell it to me but I didn't think much of it. I should have though.

I looked at the contract and noticed the extremely high interest rate of 26.9%. When I asked them the reason for it they said that because it was a used vehicle they were "required by law" to charge the high rate. Well, being a victim of identity theft my credit is in a shambles so I really didn't have much of a choice in the matter. I am still working on getting the thefts resolved.

After I signed the paperwork and took the truck home I decided to get a Bluebook (which I now know I should have done beforehand) and discovered that I was being charged $12,000 for a truck that was worth only $3700 at the time and being charged 26.9% interest on top of that!

When I complained they said well you already signed the contract so your stuck with it.

Right away the mechanical problems started. The left front wheel started making a loud rattling noise, The windshield wipers quit working. I took it back to them and they said they would correct it.

After I waited about 1 1/2 hours at the dealership I decided to see what was going on. I walked back to the garage and they were just "finishing up" fixing the problems. I took the truck home again and about 2 days later the problems started up again.

I called them and the person on the other end of the phone got really indignant with me saying that the truck didn't have a warranty on it and they were not required to fix it.

I took it to my mechanic and he discovered several wiring problems that were caused by water and showed me where someone had patched the wiring with black electrical tape and splices.
The wiper motor had mud in it too. The wheel noise was a badly worn wheel bearing.

After those 2 problems were fixed, about a month later several other problems happened. First the transmission failed (they said it had been serviced just before I bought it but my mechanic said that it had never had the fluid or filter changed in it and that it too may have had some water in it.

Then about a month after that the water pump and radiator spung leaks in them and had to be replaced (the water pump had mud in it). Then about 2 months later the intake manifold gasket had to be replaced.

All the while I was reporting all of this to Ugly Duckling and got the same responce, "used vehicles always are going to have problems" and wouldn't do anything to help.

The problems continued.. In December of 2001 the fuel pump failed. Cause was mud and debris in gas tank.

In march the ignition module and 1 injector failed. Then the entire exhaust system had to be replaced.

In July of 2002 a rattle developed and I had it looked at. It was discovered that the frame had been welded after an apparent wreck that the truck was in (I was not told that it had been in a wreck). It has been fixed.

Everything went fine until march of this year when I tried to get the vehicle inspected and it failed the emissions test that we have because of pollution problems here in Dallas - Fort Worth.

More rigged wiring was found when they had to replace the chip in the computer of the truck. The chip was an aftermarket chip that was put into it to make it run after the origional one failed (probably got wet too). I also had to again replace the catalytic converter again because the aftermarket chip caused the engine to run incorrectly ruining the one I had put on the previous year.

All told I have put nearly $3500 into the truck to get all these items corrected. I have heard of alot of other people who have been through similar situations with Divetime/ Ugly Ducking. I will never buy another vehicle from these people and I recommend that anyone reading this stay as far away from them as possible.

I wrote this because I feel that this company is a ripoff and they need to be put out of business once and for all.

Bill
Arlington, Texas
U.S.A.

Click here to read other Rip Off Reports on Drive Time, formally known as Ugly Duckling which is registered under the same ownership.