Complaint Review: Fairground Street Motors

Again, I am in total agreement with you. Used car dealers are out to make a buck as is everyone/company with a product to sell. But, you have to realize what side has the advantage and burden to prove. Until laws are changed, the advantage will always be will the dealers. You have to realize that the dealer can tell you that he will include a trunk full of gold bars if you buy the vehicle. But if that is not in writing, it is just your word agains theirs. The burden of proof is always on the consumer. It is your (our) responsibility to know what we are buying. Ask questions. If you do not know something or not sure of something. Do not sign any paperwork. You see, if you are prepared to walk away, that is the power that you have.

I noticed that Wanda said that she felt like she needed to buy a car. She felt like she was being a burden on those that were having to transport her. That is fine and good. But she did not have to buy THIS car from THIS dealer. In the used car world, the majority of sales are from consumers who just has to have this car. They fall in love with a particular car and have to have it. These are the people that the salesman are looking for. Why do you think there is tremendous pressure for them to not let you leave the lot. Because as long as you are on the lot, they have the pressure. Frankly, I do not deal that way. I will not negotiate price with a salesman on the lot. A little used/new car 101. Visit the lot and find the car that you like. If you want, you can drive it now or later (be better if you can drive it now). But do not talk price with the saleman. Do not sign anything. Do not give him/her your driver's liscense. You can show it to them, but do not give it to them. Again, do not talk price. If you can, get the car number (that the lot assigns). You see, once you pick the car out, you can research the car with the various options after you leave. You can get the market value of the car. You can almost determine what the value would be in a few years after you buy the car. By doing this, you can determine what type of offer YOU will offer. Also, line up your financing. You can get preaproval without having a signed/accepted offer. Do not rely on the buy here/pay here lots for their financing. You will only be looking for trouble. Only then call the salesman up. Tell him that you are prepared to make an offer. Matter of fact, ask him what is the least that he will take for the car is. If you want to tell him what the least is that you will pay, that is fine. Totally up to you. But under no circumstance do you go over your price. I do not care what the salesman says or how great of a deal he says it is. If it is such a great deal, tell the salesman to buy the car. Do not talk payments. That is going down the road of ruin. You do not want to be paying $200 month for 6 years on a car not worth only $5,000. By talking payments, the dealer will always get more for the car than the buyer should buy. As close to 100% of the time as you can get. You should always talk driveout price. Always. If the dealer is not willing to talk over the phone, then tell him good by and good luck. As simple as that. Again, you are the one buying the car. No reason to not buy it on your terms. Also make the offer contingent on the inspection. I heard you mention carfax earlier. That is a good history, but I would never rely on Carfax alone. Always, always get your mechanic to inspect it. Not your brother who does an occassional oil change or tire rotation. But a professional certified mechanic. They have been doing this for years and I am sure have seen their share of cars recently bought from used car lots and seen the dangers of not having an inspection. If the car does not pass inspection, you walk (no pun intended). Again, again, do not rely on the salesman to tell you it is a good car. Ever, Ever, Ever.

Just because my posting says that the buyer needs to take responsibility, that in no way says that what I feel happened to her is fair. A poster in response to me questioned my moral fence sitting. Well, until government starts legislating morality in business transactions (and God, I hope that they do not do that), it is up to the consumer to protect themselves. If yo have any questions or concerns, you have to fall back to contract that you signed with the dealer. The contract will spell out the expectations for both parties. If Mr Dealer says just buy my car; I will fix it when it breaks. Make him show you in the contract where that is stated. If you are still not sure, do not sign. You do not have to buy his car.

And I do stand behind my statement that I think that Wanda got a gift. The dealer did not have to let her out of her contract. If he wanted to, he could have forced her to keep paying. Did it cost her money? Of course it did. But if she had of paid the term of the contract, then it would have costed her a lot more. Actually, back to me not trusting anyone, if I was her, I would not take the dealer's word for it. I would demand a signed release from the contract. The dealer has seven years to collect on that contract if he so chooses.

And yes, I have reamed my sister out when she made an almost exact same purchase as Wanda did. She bought an Expedidtion. Did not get an inspection. I had her take it to a mechanic and he said that it was something that a first year mechaninc would have found had he inspected prior to my sister buying the vehicle. I told her the same exact thing. I had compassion for her, but I will not sugar coat things. Where does sugar coating get Wanda. 'Oh Wanda you poor dear. The mean ol' dealer just plain took advantage of you.' That does nothing for Wanda. People come here for help. Me telling Wanda how I felt for her does absolutely nothing other than to maybe justify her buying the car. Nothing in my mind justifies making this purchase blindly. Wanda is right, her situation is too late to help. But if one person comes away with this knowledge, well, then Wanda's experience may not be in vain.

I have always driven used cars. I actually love them. I purchased a 89 White Nissan Maxima with similar mileage as the Subaru from Team Ford, Marietta, GA few years ago for about $2000 cash. AS IS. I drove that car close to one year before it needed repairs. As Gregg stated, "That shouldn't happen for a car with an asking price over 5G's, regardless of the "as is" tag. Tom, I took Subaru for a 15 min test drive, had I gone 15 more minutes the radiator probably would have steamed indicating....ISSUES. With that said, I would not have gotten it. The few body scratches...were not my issue or the crack light. My issue was and still is just as Greg stated, At the very least the car should have been reliable." FYI TOM, I did plan to take the car to a mechanic within the month. And don't forget a co-worker of mine also got a car during my first week of car troubles ...that should have shown you and everyone else at Fairground Motors I still had confidence in them. But when I am leaving my car for them to repair, paying for rides to and fro, depending on co-workers and my boyfriend as if they are my personal taxi service, making my payments on time, without a loner car from the company, wet seats...Tom I can go on, but then it becomes redundant. Was I asking for too much? I was willing to pay way too much for the car as long as it was reliable. I just want Fairground Motors to be fair.

Perhaps, I should have done a Carfax report. However, I needed a car and that deal just sucked me in. I knew I could afford the payments; I was thinking about my boyfriend, who not only take me to work; he drops my son off at school too, who usually catch the bus to avoid traffic, and co-workers rearranging their schedule, to take me home and get my son. I was thinking how good it will be not to feel like burdens even though, I know they would never say that. And yes I was NOT thinking this car would have issues the first week. Seriously! That is what I told the salesman at Fairground Motors, name, Tomas. "I know the car will give problems but at least let me drive it for a few months at least, I just want to be able to get back and forth to work." He agreed and kept telling me to speak with Alvin. So yes, I was aware of unforeseen issues, just not in the first week...well anyhow, I asked the owner, Alvin for $500 dollars back, I could start saving again. That felt fair to me. "NO, I am not giving money back, but, you can look around for something else, I am willing to trade, but I can't give any money back. I am grateful, but my confidence in Fairground Motors was no longer there, so getting another car from them...was not going to happen. I just wanted nothing more to do with Fairground Motors. A lessoned learned. I am going start saving again after the holidays, I will take my time and check the cars out, and not trust looks alone. I will get another car! If I can save one person from making the mistakes I did from BUY HEAR- PAY HEAR LOTS... then it was all worth it. A lesson learned in humility and patience...Humble enough to accept responsibility for my lack and patients when looking for a car.

You both are correct, the vehicle should have been checked out before purchase. However it was wrong, deceitful and down right disgusting for the salesman to blatantly lie about the vehicle. Had they been honest and advised that the vehicle was bought from a rental company and not from CarMax then that would have been a red flag. If they had advised that the car had been involved in two different accidents that would have been a huge red flag and loud alarm. However the salesman bothered to do none of this. He did not even bother to say hey this car didn't pass emissions. It is required that you be given a 30 day emissions certificate. Only after W.S.A. told them about this problem did they fix it. Or at least should I say they "fixed" it.

You should at least be honest to the buyer and give them the choice if they choose to purchase that vehicle. Some people will still buy a car that has been in an accident or that needs the emissions fixed. A successful business should be run with honesty and integrity. The people who run and own Fairground Street Motors have none of these things. They are similar to the snakes that crawl around however a difference is they don't leave a trail of slime which surprises me.

That is where my issue stands with a business that is sleazier that a trailer park. I can make that comment because I grew up in the trailer park. While yes the vehicle was bought as is and yes the owner says that he fixed the car, I do not blame W.S.A. for being angry. You should not have to have the car for one month and it's being "fixed" for two weeks out of that month. If you are going to sell a car to a customer at least make sure it's going to get them where they need to go while they are paying it for it. So she is disheartened and can no longer trust Fairground Street Motors and nor should she!

W.S.A. has been bit by a big ugly snake that smells of garbage and hopefully someone who is considering buying a car from Fairground Street Motors will read this report and comments and just drive right on by to the next dealership and not give them the business. That is if you want a vehicle that is reliable and salesmen who will be honest with you. Might I suggest Town Center Auto Mall. That is all I have for now.

And you need to decide where you sit on the moral fence.

Your first response defended the dealer,

"This owner went well above and well beyond what was required of him. If any blame is to be placed, it is on you."

As you can see, you blamed the victim. You go on even more about this dealer,

"The owner had to reason other than good will to try to even fix the car. If he allowed you out of the contract, I would say that it speaks highly to his character. He is the exception. I would say that he gave you a very good Christmas present. You should be a little more grateful than you are."

So she should be grateful she is out almost $1000.00 for a piece of crap car she had for less than a month? What if it was your sister, mother, wife, girlfriend that got ripped? You'd probably blame them, too.

She went into this dealer in good faith. At the very least the car should have been reliable but these guys don't work that way. Yes, she would have helped herself if she was more careful when she made her decision, but not everyone has the foresight of a callous, insensitive jerk like you.

You act as if used car dealers should not be held responsible for their crooked ways and you dare question my intellect?

Go back under your rock.

Perhaps, I should have done a Carfax report. However, I needed a car and that deal just sucked me in. I knew I could afford the payments; I was thinking about my boyfriend, who not only take me to work; he drops my son off at school too, who usually catch the bus to avoid traffic, and co-workers rearranging their schedule, to take me home and get my son. I was thinking how good it will be not to feel like burdens even though, I know they would never say that. And yes I was NOT thinking this car would have issues the first week. Seriously! That is what I told the salesman at Fairground Motors, name, Tomas. "I know the car will give problems but at least let me drive it for a few months at least, I just want to be able to get back and forth to work." He agreed and kept telling me to speak with Alvin. So yes, I was aware of unforeseen issues, just not in the first week...well anyhow, I asked the owner, Alvin for $500 dollars back, I could start saving again. That felt fair to me. "NO, I am not giving money back, but, you can look around for something else, I am willing to trade, but I can't give any money back. I am grateful, but my confidence in Fairground Motors was no longer there, so getting another car from them...was not going to happen. I just wanted nothing more to do with Fairground Motors. A lessoned learned. I am going start saving again after the holidays, I will take my time and check the cars out, and not trust looks alone. I will get another car! If I can save one person from making the mistakes I did from BUY HEAR- PAY HEAR LOTS... then it was all worth it. A lesson learned in humility and patience...Humble enough to accept responsibility for my lack and patients when looking for a car.

You just showed me and the enitre RipoffReport reading world that you have the intellectual capacity of a bowl of grits. Just because I tend to share a difference of opinion with the poster, that makes me in bed with the dealer? Come on now. Try to be a little more original. Try and show me the one thing in my post that was incorrect. You even stated that she noticed the problem(s) almost immediately after driving the car off of the lot. Please tell me that the first time she drove the car off of the lot was when she bought the car.

My point is that any mechanic worth his salt would have diagnosed that problem prior to her purchasing the car. You are right. A car priced at 5k or more should be in sound mechanical condition. BUT just becasue it IS priced at that level, does not guarantee it to be mechanically sound. That is why you pay the mechanic $50 - $100 for an inspection. There are even mobile mechanics that will come to the lot.

I totally agree with you, this dealer probably is/was/currently taking advantage of the customer as well as others. I have no doubt. But it is up to us as educated consumers to not allow these these dealers/merchants to take advantage of us. I feel for her. I really do. But that does not take the responsibility off of her shoulders to get an inspection done before she bought the car.

I am sorry, the buck stops with her.

It's quite obvious there are crooked used auto dealers that buy suspect pieces of junk and sell them at inflated prices. They even make it look like they are doing you a favor by letting you drive off the lot in one of these time bombs.

I don't believe that it is unreasonable for someone who purchases a car to have the belief that the car would hold up at least somewhat reliably. She clearly stated the car had problems almost right off the lot. That shouldn't happen for a car with an asking price over 5G's, regarldless of the "as is" tag.

Bottom line, she was ripped off. This dealer may even try to put something negative on her credit, all for a car she had for what, less that a month?

Tom, go back to the hole you crawled out of. I'm sure it's probably some hole in the wall used car dealership.

You bought a car as is. In Georgia, there is no required warranty for a used car. This owner went well above and well beyond what was required of him. If any blame is to be placed, it is on you. You bought a car with over 150,000 miles on it. DID NOT have it inspected. A simple pressure test at a $10 mechanic would have shown the problem with the radiator. You bought the car practically sight unseen. Now you complain when the car gives you problems. The owner had to reason other than good will to try to even fix the car. If he allowed you out of the contract, I would say that it speaks highly to his character. He is the exception. I would say that he gave you a very good Christmas present. You should be a little more grateful than you are.