Complaint Review: Rockenbach Chevrolet

I do not believe I or my husband will ever trust a car salesman again. I am willing to buy a new car only if I have the cash in hand. The mistrust that came from my dealing with Rockenbach Chevrolet has soured me to deal with any car dealer ever again.

In June of 2007 my husband and I received a call from Rockenbach Chevrolet that they could help us with the trade in of our gas-guzzling Honda Ridgeline. We made an appointment and knew before we entered the door that we wanted to trade down to a used vehicle. Maureen was our sales person and we explained to her our situation that we needed to reduce our car payments and wanted to trade in the Ridgeline (in excellent factory condition) for a smaller, used vehicle.

Maureen said she could help us and had us complete the credit forms. A few minutes later, she came back with the reports and said that we were upside-down in our credit and she could not give us a loan. We, however, with a cosigner, could trade in and get two new cars with factory warranty if we traded in both the Ridgeline and our VW Jetta.

I called my father for his help to be a cosigner on a loan. He hesitated but finally agreed after speaking to Maureen that she could create a deal that the loan would be in his name but the payments would be sent directly to my husband and me. I left my husband at Rockenbach while I drove 40 miles into the city to pick up my elderly parents. When we arrived, Maureen had already picked two cars for us, a 2006 Impala and Cobalt.

My husband and I were excited to get rid of our cars and reduce our payments by $200 per month. However, we sat in the dealership for 3 hours while they scurried about creating this deal. Because Maureen explained to us that we would be cosigners, I felt comfortable that if anything should happen, the payments would fall to my husband and me.

What did not make sense, however, was that my husband and I were not signing anything. It was only my mother and father who were signing the sale documents. When I asked why we did not have to sign, Maureen explained that this was okay and the loans only had to be in my parent's names since they had better credit numbers and could receive better financing.

By the end of the deal, Maureen told us to park our trade in cars in the front of the building. We did this and brought her the keys. She thanked us and hoped we would recommend her to our friends and that we would enjoy our vehicles. Just a note, we were current on the payments of the trade ins at this time. This will become important later on.

The deal was made with my father's and mother's name on the paperwork and loan, but the address to which the payment slips and other information was my address. So far, so good. But it was not meant to last. When we received the first documents, I read that my parents were given a Smartlease. Not a loan; a lease. The financing company would not speak to me regarding the rules of the lease since it was not in my name. I called my parents to have them contact the finance company since it did not make sense. This did not happen. I do not believe my parents understood what was really going on.

In August of 2007, I lost my job with no unemployment benefits. I called my parents again to let them know what was going on and that I could not afford the payemts until I got another job. At this point, my parents seemed still very confused why they had to contact the financing company because the payments came from me and only I could work out a payment schedule with the finance company. A month and a half later, our cars were repossessed and sold at auction, and under the current market value which is my first gripe.

I eventually obtained regular employment and my husband and I were able to secure loans on two other vehicles--without cosigners!!!!

Now here is where it gets sick and twisted. It is now 2009 and my husband received letters from collection agencies for the balances owed on the Honda Ridgeline and the VW Jetta after the auction. WHAT?! My husband and I called them only to learn that these two cars, who were current on the payments in June of 2006 and traded in for the Impala and Cobalt, had been repossessed in July and August of 2007 and sold at auction in September and October of 2007.

We explained how we could not understand since we traded in these cars. The collection agency did not see that these were traded in. We went on the explain that we never received a repossession document, and by law, an announcement of auction. We also did not have these vehicles in our possession at the time of auction so where did they get picked up?

I called Rockenbach, with my father's permission, and spoke with Jen who said she did not see that we traded anything in at the time of sale. By now, my head is spinning and I had my father fax over a letter and a copy of his driver's license so I could speak with Jen about what it said in the file. She said to come in at my convenience and to speak with Maureen about this and that Maureen would have the file ready when I came in.

Last Saturday, August 1, 2009, my husband and I paid a visit to Maureen who handled the situation very unprofessionally. She said the permission letter that my father sent could have been sent by anyone. She said I could be anyone and that she did not know my husband and me. I said, "Hi, we're the people you stole cars from." Startled, she said she doesn't remember everything that happens, especially a couple of years ago, but after seeing my father's driver's license, she remembered him.

In the course of 5 minutes she went from remebering nothing, to remembering everything, then to remembering nothing again. I said I wanted to review what was in the folder. Maureen went to talk to her manager and returned extremely flustered and clutching the files to her chest as if she were going to ingest them. She told us to have our lawyer call Jim Youngs, their lawyer.

I asked if he worked at that facility. Maureen acted like I had asked her a question regarding quantum physics. Finally, she let me know he worked out of Grayslake but he was eating lunch and I could not bother him. Her demeanor was of such nervousness that I cannot help but to believe there is someting in that file that shows sales misconduct. Rockenbach must realize that something is amiss and they had screwed up--big time!

My husband and I are in no position to pay $30,000 for these repossessed cars. My mother passed away in May and my father is barely surviving on what little income he has left. Rockenbach Chevrolet is responsible for this transaction gone bad. Had all the cards been out on the table and everything explained, my husband and I would have walked out with our Ridgeline and Jetta, not two new cars. Rockenbach should pay the balances owed on the Ridgeline and Jetta and for any economic grief my father suffered for being the sole signer on the lease.

What also needs to be investigated is where the Ridgeline and Jetta were picked up and, if they were found on the lot and not considered trade-ins, why weren't my husband and I contacted to pick them up? Car dealers have access to VIN number history and it would have been an easy call to make to us or our finance company. They would have known our telephone numbers from the credit apps. Instead, Rockenbach let them go as reposessions.

Another gripe that I mentioned earlier is, that it is my understanding that if a car is sold at auction under the current market value, there is a readjstment of the balance owed or there is 0 owed. The Impala and the Cobalt were new cars that had very few miles on them. They should have sold at sticker price less interest from a loan.

What Rockenbach did was unlawful business practice, whether by choice or plain stupidity or oversight. There is a human and ethical need to make this right with the public and to all of those they have probably been ripped off in the past, present or future.

Rose
Lakemoor, Illinois
U.S.A.

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