Five Star Ford Lincoln Mercury John Eilers ripoff dishonest auto dealership Aberdeen Washington
My husband and I have tried to "buy locally" for several years to support our county. Grays Harbor County is semi-depressed area in Washington State.
We have tried at least 5 times in the past to buy a car from one of the local car dealers-Five Star. Each time we've attempted to buy a car, it's been the old bait and switch method.
Needless to say, we've driven another hour to Olympia, WA and purchased our vehicles.
In May of this year we tried ONE more time to deal with Five Star. We were basically given the run-around again on the phone so I just told them to forget it. I had a set price for the purchase, payments and the trade in allowance. I received a phone call at work from one of their salesmen (John Eilers) who said he would not b.s. me...everything would be black and white.
Mr. Eilers assured me that he could get my payments where we wanted, but could only allow $12,000 for our trade in...this was the absolute highest he could go and our truck was not worth much more than what he was offering. Our payoff was $13,700 and we didn't want to go "upside down" on our loan. Needless to say, Mr. Eilers is a very good salesman or should I say con-artist!!! He ended up selling us a car and only giving us $12,000 for our truck.
In July, we had the oil changed on our new vehicle, and much to our surprise our truck we traded in was parked beside the dealership with a big sticker on it. They were asking $18,300!!! We were totally shocked and felt like we had definitely been taken advantage of.
We should have never dealt with this dealership in the first place and I guess we learned a very expensive lesson...DO NOT buy a car from Five Star Ford Lincoln Mercury in Aberdeen Washington!!!
JoAnn
Montesano, Washington
U.S.A.
3 Updates & Rebuttals
Bob
Albuquerque,New Mexico,
U.S.A.
If you were happy with the original deal
#4Consumer Comment
Mon, September 13, 2004
I am not defending the blankity-blank car dealers. BUT if you were happy with the deal (getting $12,000 for your truck on trade-in) that should be the end of it.
Now they are trying to sell THEIR truck for whatever they can get. You should have done a little bit of homework first to see what your truck was worth. Maybe it is worth only $12000 on trade but maybe it was worth $18,000 by selling it outright. Most cases related in RIPOFF seem to involve deceptive or fraudulent or illegal practices of car dealers. But based on what you stated, you are upset that someone (the dealer) might get more money for their truck than you sold it for. Car dealers get trashed a lot here (and it seems rightfully so), however, in your case all you had to do was check on the price of similar trucks on the internet in your area. If you are too lazy to check on prices for similar trucks in your region don't blame the dealer for lowballing the price. Used car/truck prices are not secret. You can find prices on the internet and, better, you can shop in your own town to see what your truck would sell for locally.
The car dealer is there to get the best deal for themselves. You are there to get the best deal for yourselves. You can't expect the car dealer to be in your corner no matter how nice they are.
Sorry you're unhappy bug based on what you said I don't see any scam, just tough negotiation.
Stick - Rip-off Report Consumer Advocate
Phoenix,Arizona,
U.S.A.
Joann your Ford dealer will hate me for posting what I posted for you.
#4Consumer Suggestion
Mon, September 13, 2004
Joann Sorry as to how you were treated. Many car dealers do not care about repeat business. They seem to focus only can they be the car dealer that gets to have their way with you before their competition does.
Profit is the name of the game. I feel it is my joy, Job and calling to help car buyers that feel they are a victim of a car dealer's scams and con games.
You will find at the bottom of my posting names and email and phone numbers of people at Ford. make sure they get to read your Rip Off Report. Trust me, Your Ford dealer would NEVER give you the below contact info. They would not want you to tell them as to how you feel.
Car buyers in this day and age should never read any car dealers advertisements in a newspaper nor shout they take to hart and TV advertisements. If any car dealer's advertisements have any and I mean ANY SMALL PRINT at all, DO NOT BELIEVE any of it.
Their BIG PRINT Givith, and their SMALL PRINT takith AWAY!
Make sure that the below people at Ford get to read your Rip Off Report. Fax a copy of your Rip Off Report to your car dealer, that will cook their goose!
Anne Booker
abooker@ford.com
Brand(s): Ford
Department: Atlanta Regional Office
1-404-577-2277 1-770-593-8597
John Clinard
jclinard@ford.com
Brand(s): Ford Motor Company, Ford, Lincoln, Mercury
Department: Los Angeles Regional Office
1-949-629-2032 1-949-854-2838 888-467-3673
Bill Collins
wcollin1@ford.com
Brand(s): Ford
Department: New York Regional Office
1-212-2652794 1-212-873-4635 1-917-836-8605
Della DiPietro
ddipietr@ford.com
Brand(s): Ford Motor Company, Ford, Lincoln, Mercury
Department: U.S. Regional Operations
1-313-248-3770 1-734-663-0867
Kathleen Hamilton
khamilt4@ford.com
Brand(s): Ford
Department: New York Regional Office
1-212-265-2839 1-917-816-3067
Octavio Navarro
onavarr1@ford.com
Brand(s): Ford Motor Company, Ford, Lincoln, Mercury
Department: Los Angeles Regional Office
1-949-629-2033 '-562-413-1534 1-949-422-4953
Rich Voytowich Jr.
rvoytowi@ford.com
Brand(s): Ford
Department: Detroit/Chicago Regional Office
1-313-390-5068 1-313-884-3444 1,313,618,9530
If you have any other car buying questions just post a request and I will help you.
Jarrod
San Diego,California,
U.S.A.
Relax Not ripped off
#4Consumer Comment
Sun, September 12, 2004
I am in the automotive industry and would like to say you didn't get ripped off. First off the 18,300 price they're asking for your trade in is just that, an asking price. By your letter I am sure you did not pay the asking price for the vehicle you purchased. Correct? So what makes you think that they are going to sell your trade in for 18,300? Most consumers will start offering low ball figures on it probably in the amount of 13 or 14 thousand. You also realize that there are mandatory safety and smog checks as well as the reconditioning the dealer has to put into your trade in before it is even legal for them to sell.
You need to realize they will probably end up making between 2-3 thousand dollars in profit upon the sale of your trade in. Thats why they are in business. If you really did your research you more than had the opportunity to sell the vehicle on your own or go elsewhere. Dealerships are not non profit organizations. They are in business because they have the opportunity to buy low and sell high.