Complaint Review: Magic Ride /Mack Cook & April Hardin

The end of February 2011 I bought a vehicle from Magic Ride.  a 2002 Jeep Liberty which I test drove and it seemed fine. I put $2,000.00 cash down and signed the contract. Magic Ride is a 'buy here pay here' dealer. Mack Cook was the primary person I dealt with that day. I asked Mack what was wrong with the Jeep- he stated "Nothing". I believed him....not even a week later, I went back to Magic Ride and spoke with April Hardin ( Macks step daughter) and told her the Jeep smelled like gas, like it was burning and was literally 'drinking gas'.  I was told the motor was rebuilt and it was the gaskets settling, and not to worry about it. The Jeep had a rebuilt motor and I was told it came with a 1 year guarantee. A week later, I again complained of the smell and using lots of gas- the Jeep was getting like 11 mpg.  Once again, my complaint was not taken seriously; I let a few days pass and I called and talked to April who told me to take into Grindstaff's  and she would 'work out the payment with me'- she wanted me to pay for any repair and would take it off my payment- she also said that would be between me & her, not to tell Mack.  I took the Jeep over to Grindstaffs on a Saturday and the service manager, Bobby had a tech look under the vehicle for a possible fuel leak...they did not look at the motor- nothing was detected and there was no charge.  The vehicle still smelled of gas badly and costing me a fortune to get back & forth to work. I advised April that there was no charge from Grindstaff because there wasnt anything found yet the vehicle was still not right. On Monday the Jeep would not start after work; a man from my work and two others offered to jump start my Jeep; when we popped the hood- all of us spotted a leak- it was fuel leaking on top of the motor! The battery cables were loose and the Jeep started right up, but my co workers stated that leak was dangerous. I called Magic Ride and again spoke with April who said to being it in-  I took off work on a tuesday and took the vehicle to Magic Ride, Mack told me to take it Tenn Trans Tech and speak with Charlie, which I did. I advised Charlie what myself & co workers had found the previous day; He checked it out and said the fuel rail was leaking and it was VERY DANGEROUS to drive- the vehicle could catch on fire or worse. He was not able to get the part that day to fix it, but he 'crimped' the line and said that should be it. Not even two weeks later, fuel started leaking again. I called magic ride and spoke with Mack who said to bring it in- after arguing with me that it was NOT his responsibility to fix it- that I had bought the vehicle as is. I told him he sold an unsafe vehicle - a vehicle that should not have been up for sale or on the lot. After much back & forth he had me bring it in and even provided a loaner car for me-the loaner car broke down on me on Mothers day and cost me $65.00 to have towed back to my house. The Jeep was not ready for 5 days. When it was ready I went and picked it up and drove home- My father looked at it and said the part was not replaced- and in fact the vehicle still smelled like it was burning and would smoke from the engine....the gas smell was not as strong but still evident; During this time I had filed with the BBB and asked for assistance; Once Mack found out he became a bully- leaving me a voicemail at my work telling me to keep my payments currents and there would be no problems- I took that as a threat- never once did he acknowledge the vehicle needed further repair. I spent 125.00 in one week for gas to get to work. Since then- Magic Ride has refused to repair the Jeep, has refused to reimburse me for tow expenses for the loaner car. In fact he came and took the Jeep from me last week. Claiming repo, after I filed with Consumer Affairs; This was a retaliatory move. From the start I told them I either wanted my money back or the vehicle fixed properly as it was a hazard. I would NEVER recommend Magic Ride to anyone!