Complaint Review: Lakeland Auto

That is the lowest thing I have ever heard...not.  This dealer is shady for sure, even now that they are international auto group.  Twice I have called ahead to test drive a car and it was not there.  Told it was sold.  Yeah, right, that's one of the oldest gimmicks in the book.  I won't give them the time of day anymore.  Sad that I have to drive by there twice a week. makes me sick.

After well over a year later and me throwing a great deal of time and money into this case I have won. Through mediation Lakeland was proved to be wrong in this and that this car was indeed repainted and sold as new. They continued to deny the evidence untill the bitter end and then passed the blame instead of doing what was right from the start. I wound up losing money and a great deal of time due to this dealers actions.

The dealership agreed to pay off the car and take it back. I got every penny I put towards the car but was still responsible to pay for the usage of this car during the legal process. Now I am having to begin my car search again. I am not sure why Lakeland decided to drag this out so long where it wound up costing them more trouble than it was worth but at the end of the day they still preferred to say nothing when they had a chance to explain. For all my wasted time and money I didn't even get an apology. 

Please learn from my experience and avoid buying anything from these conmen. 

Employee said : " Lakeland Automotive has made multiple attempts and multiple offers to fix this vehicle.  "

   So, you're saying that you did sell this wrecked/repaired vehicle as a new car?   I would think that the only real remedy would have been  to give this customer what they actually bought.   A new car that has not been damaged and (poorly) repaired.

   Offering the buyer money to re-repair what was supposed to be a new vehicle doesn't seem like a proper remedy to what appears to have been a serious misrepresentation.  

  In short, your reply to this post does not reflect well on your organization.   You might have been better served by not replying at all.

Lakeland is correct that they offered to fix the so called original issue which Lakeland said was "sap" on the car. Lakeland's offer was to buff out the "sap". From what I understand buffing a car is removing a fine layer of clear coat if it is done correctly. After further investigation with a long list of professionals these so called sap marks in the paint were actually painted over dirt. The body shop Lakeland hired to repair this brand new car did sloppy work that the real professionals could see the flaws from a mile away. Lakeland's cover up started to be uncovered. After learning that this brand new car was repainted we wanted to figure out the real reasons why. After looking closer we found body filler and saw that the majority of the car was repaired/repainted. The professionals told me that in this situation simply buffing the car would do nothing but cause additional blemishes. That being said in reponse to Lakeland's response to my report the offer you presented me which was to buff out the car is completely unacceptable.

After seeing firsthand what their "best" people were able to do and the fact that Lakeland had to hire out the original bodywork should be an indicator of what they are actually capable of. I don't want to give away too much more info since this case is still on going and I seem to be repeating the same things I initially reported. 

I will say this. 

Please put yourself in my shoes and see that I purchased a brand new car and that is not a brand new car. The issues with this car cannot be undone nor can they be repaired at the level of which is done when the car is manufactured. Any way you look at this the facts would be the same and one day when I choose to resell this car this will change the value significantly. I believe that Lakeland should have done the right thing and disclosed all of this information and sold the car at a discount to begin with. If I would have known about the cars history upfront I would not have entered into any agreement to buy it. I would have simply looked at a different comparable new car.

What Lakeland did is what people call Auto Fraud and it is illegal and somehow I was the person who was cheated. They cheated the wrong person and I will do everything I can to make people aware until Lakeland, the Lawyers, and myself come to an acceptable solution. 

I really hope that this word gets out and this story will help other people not be taken advantage of like I was.       

#1 Consumer CommentquestionsAUTHOR: coast - (USA)SUBMITTED: Wednesday, March 06, 2013What is the model and year of the car? What was the odometer reading at the time of purchase?

This is a 2012 Toyota Camry SE V6 and when I purchased it new it had about 200 miles on it. 

Lakeland Automotive has made multiple attempts and multiple offers to fix this vehicle.  Money was

given to the customer to fix the vehicle elsewhere, per his request.  Unfortunately all of our attempts to satisfy this customer have not, and will never be enough.   

What is the model and year of the car? What was the odometer reading at the time of purchase?