Complaint Review: Arrow Truck Sales - Cincinnati Ohio

  I went to ARROW TRUCK SALES to buy a truck. I was directed to a truck that I was told needed major engine work. I was told the price was $5500.00 for it. I agreed upon the price knowing that it would cost at least $12000 to have it professionally rebuilt. The next day the salesman called me and told me that he had shown me the wrong truck. The truck that needed the major engine work was a much older truck that was parked in the back lot. The truck that he had shown me had a rebuilt engine but he couldn't locate the paperwork but he would look for it. The price for this truck would be $15000 since it had a rebuilt engine. I agreed upon the price. The paperwork for the repairs was never located (WHAT A SURPRISE ! ) but he agreed to put the truck on a dyno to show it would perform like a rebuilt engine would. The dyno showed that the truck performed well. I wasn't there to witness the dyno test since I live 2 hours away. He showed me a photo copied report of the dyno. Everything seemed well. I had the truck put in the shop to inspect it and service the truck. To pass the DOT inspection I had to have exhaust clamps put on and four tires replaced. No big deal. Afterwards I took the truck to have an alignment and the mechanic told me it needed kingpins. A $3000 repair. Again not a real big deal I was expecting that the front end may need some work.                                                                        

On the way home I noticed the water temp. fluctuating so I checked out the truck when I got it home. I noticed the surge tank had a crack in it. It is made of plastic and it was the original tank so I thought no big deal I will take it to my mechanic and have him install another tank and pressurize the cooling system and see if anything else was leaking. When he pressurized the system he discovered the head gasket was leaking. I told him to replace the gasket. When he pulled the head off he discovered the head was cracked and that the rings and liners were scored. Further examination showed that the motor was an million mile motor that had NEVER been overhauled. It was going to cost $16000 to go over the whole motor. I called Arrow Truck Sales in Cincinnati and got the run around. So I called the corporate office and complained to them about what had happened and was told in a nut shell "Tough Luck". That it was an "AS IS" sale. I argued that the "AS IS" part was based upon the truck having an rebuilt motor. They told me I should of had the truck checked out better and that they don't know if they can do anything it since it was an "AS IS" sale. The man at the corporate office went on to tell me that the Cincinnati office told him that they NEVER said anything about the motor being rebuilt. Arrow Truck Sales committed fraud and deceptive sales practices in this case. I hope to avoid a court case but it is looking like I may have to talk to my attorney on this one. Arrow Truck Sales should pay the cost for the rebuild ($16,000) since the reason I bought the truck was because it supposedly had a rebuilt motor which it obviously doesn't have. This is outright fraud on Arrow Truck Sales part. I would settle for $10,000 and eat the rest just to be done with Arrow but they will not budge on the "AS IS" part.