Complaint Review: Rusty Eck Ford

My husband and I purchased a vehicle from Rusty Eck Ford in 2009.  In the interest of being savvy consumers, we asked for the Car Fax.  The sales representative gave us a "sheet" (looking back, yes we should have pressed for more, but at the time, we didn't know what to look for), that said that there were no "junk yard titles" for the car.  The sales representative looked at us and stated that that meant it had a "clean Car Fax."  We were very upfront in the fact that, due to traveling with our small children, we wanted a car with a clean history.  We were assured that was the case.

Now this week, in 2011, we have gone to two separate dealerships who questioned us about the wreck in our past.  When asked what they meant, they asked what happened to the car, as the Car Fax showed a head on collision in 2008 (an entire year before we bought it, so one would think plenty of time to show up on a Car Fax).  We are now looking at trading in a car that is seen as unsafe.  We are getting less in our trade in, and no private buyer (understandably) wants it for anything close to what we owe on it.

Looking back, we should have left the dealership for a number of reasons, but the blatant lying about the car history takes the cake.  They also kept us there for 3 hours, didn't get our financing right initially, and, when we called back to refinance our loan a few days later (got a better deal from our bank), it took nearly a week of calls to the finance department before someone "had the time" to call us and let us know our loan information (as we were only sent home with a contract, not anything on payments!) such as the pay-off, and term. 

We were also told that we would get their "wonderful" "tires for life" program that "covered everything."  When we had a tire blow out, we called to schedule service and mentioned that we had tires for life.  The technician (who checked with his manager at my assistance) said that "everyone who goes through sales gets told that it covers everything, but it doesn't."  The only thing that "tires for life" covered was when the tire tread wore down (at their discretion). 

We also were conned into buying (not being told we were buying, it was a "perk" we found out we paid for afterwards) their oil change package.  We bought the package (again, thinking it was free), only to find out that the oil changes through their service center take a MINIMUM (with appointment!) of 2 hours for a basic change and that it only lasted for a few thousand miles.  Even with fiddling with the car for 2 hours, their techs routinely would miss things on my car (fluid levels, leaking fittings) that I would later have to fix myself or take to my personal mechanic. 

Another "perk" we paid for was putting nitrogen in the tires (I actually enjoy having the nitrogen in there, but it was the way this was handled..).  We were told that, since we were "valued" customers" that their "experienced technicians who do this all the time"  would put the nitrogen in the tires at "our convenience."  We were assured that we would get a loaner car for this.  As with everything we were assured, this was not the case.  I was given a few days notice, told to bring up the car, and told that I had to rent (on my own money) from their in-house car rental lot if I wanted a vehicle while my car was in the shop for several days.  Since getting the car back from the company, it has displayed a non-stop "check tire monitor system" light that no service center has been able to fix.  They broke something putting in the nitrogen apparently.

This is a company that deceptively advertises (they "save" you money by giving you the same car payments but tack on an outrageous car price on your loan), and have pushy, rude, unethical sales people.  You are a number there, not a person. 

I would never, ever go back to this horrible company!  I have warned all of my friends and family about them, but feel that isn't enough!