Complaint Review: Northpointe Motors Traverse City

I absolutely hate writing negative reviews on local businesses in my area however, I'm hoping my report saves people the time and hassle of purchasing with this dealership.

At the time, I was not in the market for a new car but, I had been keeping my eyes out for this exact make/model that I've wanted for awhile. Then there it was, sitting in the Northpointe TC dealership. I pulled into the lot, after hours, and did a few walks around it. I decided to stop in the next day and speak to someone about possibly purchasing the car...

A few hours later, I was driving out in the new car. I ended up fininancing a portion of the cost with loan (that they got for me, which had a very awesome rate). Before I left, they agreed on putting new tires, a windsheld, and repairing the power steering pump (it was whining). I'm still a happy customer.

A week goes by and I decide to fix the power steering pump myself (to save everyone some cash and I was bored on a summer day). I tell Northpointe and only ask for the cost of the parts needed. They don't comply for some reason. Fine, I understand. I did something without running it by them first. I bring up the tires and windsheld - they say that they'll have someone call me within a day to go over it.

Another week goes by, no response. I call and ask them what the deal is. They said that they're having issues with their Bell Tire account and that it'll be a little while before we can get the new tires on. Fine by me. Lets get the windsheild fixed. The guy tells me that the windsheild company is backed up a month - I ask for their contact information, they give it to me. I call the windsheild company and ask if they've been contacted by Northpointe. They say that they havent - surprise. I go ahead and schedule a windsheild replacement and let Northpointe know about it. They're cool with it and the windshield is fixed the following week. 

Back to the tires, still nothing. My sales rep says that they can cut a check for a portion of the tires (instead of waiting). I'm cool with that. He advises me to stop in the following week to pick the check up. So, I stop by one day after work - no check. I wait 2 hours for someone with the authority to get back to the office and write it up with me. Fine. I'm out the door, check is deposited, and new tires installed a few days afterwards.

All in all, this process so far has taken approximately 2 months. It gets worse...

One day, on my way home from work, the car dies. I'm able to get it started back up fine but, I don't risk it. I have it towed back to my house and then to a repair shop in town. The guys say that the oil is very dirty. Weird, I got an oil change after I purchased the car and have only driven it 200-300 miles since. I ask the shop guys what would cause this - they give me one response, "poor maintenance". Not cool with me because I take pride in keeping all of my vehicles in excellent working condition (I have the same make/model 10 years older than this Northpointe vehnicle, over 300k miles, and it drives perfect). I report this issue to my sales rep at Northpointe the day it happens.

A month later, the same issue happens. However, I'm unable to restart the car. I have the vehicle towed to a Subaru specaility shop in Traverse City. They tell me the same thing, "motor is bad because of poor maintenance". Except this time, they say that a rod has broken and the car will need a new motor! I'm completely shocked and pissed off. I immedaitely call the dealership and speak to my sales rep. He says to just get an invocie for the repair and send it over to him via email. I do just that and call to verify he's received it. He tells me that he's going to take the invoice to the owners to figure something out. At this point, I'm starting to think that they knew something was up with the car before I purchased it. 

Two days pass with no communication from Northpointe, I call and talk to my sales rep. He says that the owner will call me to discuss. Two more days pass, the owner still hasn't called. I call back and he again tells me that the owner will call. One day passes, the owner, Ryan Craig, finally calls me.

Ryan tells me that there isn't anything they can do, other than to trade the broken car in for a different car and I'd have to eat the cost difference in the loan - not an option for me. I still want the car and I want it fixed. He says that he wants to help me out and that he'll have to talk to the other owner (his father) about what they can do. I ask about the warranty situation and he says that there was only a 30-day warranty available (I wasn't ever asked if I wanted to purchase an extended warranty but, that's beside the point now). I just purchased an $18,000 vehicle and they're not going to stand behind it? I'd understand if the motor had blown a year or two after the purchase but, 60 days? Who did I really just buy this car from? That's not how reputable business is done. Anyways...

I go back and forth with Ryan (and his father, Dennis) for about 3 months. He asks me to tow the car from repair shop to repair shop - in hopes of getting a better quote (I had to pay for these tows, mind you). During this time, he implys more than once that they'll cover a portion of the repair (why wouldn't they if he's asking me to take the car from one shop to another). At this point, I'm fed up. I take it back to the shop I originally took it to. 

I tell Ryan that the car is going to get repaired. I'm willing to cover the 50% deposit to start the repair and he agrees to covering the final payment. The total of the repair is $9200. The repair is started and is finished a week later. I call Ryan (on his personal cellphone) and get no response. I text him (on his personal cellphone) and get no response. I call Dennis, no response. I call the dealership and leave multiple messages, all ignored. I stop into the dealership looking for a check - Ryan isn't there. I wait 3 hours for him to get back into the office, he never shows. He's completely avoiding me now. 

The repaired car sits at the shop for 2 weeks before I decide to cover the reminder of the payment. I've just paid an extra $9200 on top of my original $18000 purchase. I have no words for how I feel at this point. 

To this day, Ryan Craig still ignores my calls and text messages. 

So please, DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH THIS COMPANY. Please save yourself the hassle. Please advise your friends and family members not to purchase from this company.