Complaint Review: Southeast Fleet Auto Sales

Before purchasing a 1999 Chevy Express 3500 I asked all the basic questions like any motor problems, ever been wrecked, or any electrical problems.. He responded by telling me that he had been in business for 12 yrs and only sold good vans.

I saw a van that i was interested in. He let us drive it and it did run ok. I asked him about 3 or 4 times. Does the car have an oil leak. He responded "you saw where it was parked, no leaks there".. He went on and on about how good a van it was. Well we decided after he convinced us that that was the van for us.

Nevertheless, we picked up the van at about 2:30..I drove the van from Clearwater to Riverview which is about 30 miles..When i got about 2 miles from home i notice the temperature needle was closer to hot than in the middle. Then i noticed a smell like burning oil. Then the vehicle finally has no power from the engine. So i pull over and call southeast fleet auto sales to inform them that the car they had just sold me as quit on my way home.

He then says well i don't know what to tell you. You probably hit a rock and tore something up. Then he says its probably the radiator. Instructed me to check all my fluids. He stated that he "topped" off all the fluids that day because he knew we were coming to pick up the vehicle.

So when i checked the radiator fluid, i noticed that the color was very very dark, basically black. So then i took a stick and scrapped the bottom of the reservoir and a thick sludge was present. He had to have seen this because he claims he inspects all vehicles plus he said that he "topped" off the fluids that same day.

So i took the car to a mechanic. The first thing he told me was that someone has been putting an additive in the radiator and engine to make it run good for test drives. The mechanic also said that any dealer or anyone with basic knowledge of cars knows that oil in the radiator means engine damage.

So the next day i go back to the lot to try and reason with these people. I asked the salesman why was all this oil in the radiator. He told me that i probably did it. That i probably put it in there before i came. As if i could have put it on all the tubes and underneath the van. At this point i realize that this was no mistake and that this guy and dealership were just evil people who even when they are caught in a lie the have no shame.

He didn't offer any solutions. He told me to get the F off his lot. Then some other man came out of the office and started yelling and he had an envelope in his hands saying here is your GodD*** money.. He threw the envelope on the ground by the gate where he was standing and was pionting his finger as if to say out. But i'm not stupid. They probably had only $1500 bucks in that envelope and as soon as i would have figured that out and came back, they would have said that i took the money out, and it would have been their word against mine. So I called the police.

They were acting like little kids. Cursing and screaming. Then the dipatcher asked my race and i said that i was a black man. They started saying AWWWWW!!! Here it comes. The whole Martin Luther King bit... Yeah you are playing the race card. Then they were making comments like "tell the officer (dispatcher) your real name thats probably an alias you use." Implying that since i was black that i was afraid of the police. This was in no way racial. This was just dishonest people taking honest hardworking peoples money.

So the officer finally came and agreed with me that in these instances they "should work with you. because it was so clear that he sold us a car with way more problems then just a radiator. This car had engine damage which explains the oil in the radiator. The funny idling during stops (which doesnt feel that bad but is a sign of engine trouble which i didn't know at the time)...And even when all these things were brought to his attention he said that he was not going to do anything to the van and that i could have my money back. But the catch is that it was my money back less a re-stocking fee $500. Eventhough he sees the van is not drivable.

Then he told me that i bought a cheap van. But remember he said that everything on his lot was "good". Most places would have at least said , OK you buy the part and i'll have my guy put it on.. You now something... I wasn't going to just "give" him $500 dollars for a restocking fee and no van. Thats free money. So i just told the cops that i would take the loss and keep the van but vowed that i would get this story out to anyone that would listen.

I hope they respond to this. Then i will just release the link to the the audio i got on my recorder that i brought just in case things happened the way it did.. What they did was awful and its a shame that they feel that they have to be this way to make money. They had no customers there each of the three days we were at the lot...All this is true and can be proved with no problem. With tape and documents, and other mechanics. The car was junk and they knew....

Lee ****
Riverview, Florida
U.S.A.