Jim
Orlando,#2Consumer Comment
Thu, January 03, 2013
Did the car come with a warranty or was this an "AS IS" purchase? I suspect there was no warranty which in that instance you would have signed the AS IS disclosure statement. Did you read it? The dealer can sell any car they want at any price they want. You the buyer have two feet attached to two legs to combat this by walking out. Bottom line is you have no case but you could have avoided all this by taking somebody with you who knows what they are doing.
Sally
Anchorage,#3Author of original report
Wed, January 02, 2013
After trading in the unsafe car Worthington Ford had lied to me about, I left the store with a car I paid for almost double of what Blue Books stated it's worth. There was nothing I could do.
At least, by a happy coincidence, the car came with a spare set of studded tires, which the previous owner left in the back. It surprised the dealer, who had told me beforehand the tires in the back were all-season ones. Once again, unprofessionalism was the keyword of the moment.
The thing about this new used, over-priced car is: the engine randomly stops in the middle of traffic. When I checked the maker and model online, I found out it was a common thing with this model (Olds Bravada 2002), and actually the reason why quite a lot of these models have been part of a recall - though not mine, as a quick call to the maker's customer service proved.
Once again, Cal Worthington Ford sold me an UNSAFE car.
And this time, they sold it to me for almost double its price is listed.
I also had to pay yet another $500 in cash in advance, bringing the total of money I've had to pay cash for two faulty cars to $2000 in two months. It was all I had.
If anyone has a tip for me on how to deal with this, or knows a good lawyer who'd work pro bono or for a little fee, I would appreciate it a lot. I'm a teacher with little income, I have just moved to this country - and now I have an unsafe car with an engine that randomly shuts down to the point that I have to restart it again, but which I have to pay for for three more years because I've been taken advantage of.
Help would be wonderful!
Jim
Orlando,#4Consumer Comment
Sun, December 30, 2012
The original poster admits she has little or no experience driving in winter conditions. Then she goes on to say she gets stuck in the middle of the street as well as having other problems driving in winter conditions. Yes, she is fully qualified due to her self admitted limited experience to blame the car and the dealership!
If what the dealership did is accurate as per their rebuttle, they went far beyond what was required of them and is what I call fantastic customer service, something you don't see in many stores!
Calvin Worthington
Anchorage,#5REBUTTAL Owner of company
Sat, December 29, 2012
In early November, 2012 this person came to us looking for a vehicle. She is fairly new to America and had little credit history. We found her a very clean, good running Ford Sport Trac that the bank would finance for her. At the time she was informed that the vehicle was rear wheel drive by both the salesperson and the finance manager. The vehicle was certified and came with a 10 day trial exchange. She took delivery of her vehicle on November 11 and was thrilled. She could now get to work and also get out and see Alaska. ?On December 24, 2012 (Christmas Eve) I took a phone call from her and she told me she was having trouble getting around in the snow with her vehicle and would we put snow tires on it for her. She was told that would be no problem and to contact me after Christmas and I would get it taken care of for her. She said thank you and I would hear from her after the holiday.
December 26, 2012 she called and told me that even with snow tires she was afraid she would have trouble getting around in the snow and could we find her a 4x4 or AWD vehicle. I told her that even though she was well past her 10 day trial exchange we would do our best to help her find a 4x4. The next day we went and picked her up at home so she wouldn't have to drive and brought her to the lot. We were not optimistic about being able to find her a 4x4 that fit within the very strict bank stipulations that had been imposed because of her limited credit history. But, we had just taken in a very nice AWD Oldsmobile Bravada with low miles and in basically perfect shape that came with 2 sets of tires, summer and winter. It was in our shop having an inspection performed on it so we took her to look at it. She told us that would work fine. The vehicle was not ready for delivery yet(still being inspected) so we put it in her name, and again we gave her a ride home. Our finance mgr worked his tail off to get this vehicle approved through the bank for her. She called the next morning asking if it was ready yet and I told her no and that we would call her as soon as it was ready. My salesperson picked the vehicle up about 2 in the afternoon after the inspection and winter tires had been swapped over and then he went and picked her up at home again. They took it for a good test drive and went up the hill she was having issues with before and it performed very well. They came back to the dealership and at that time finished up the paperwork to purchase the vehicle and undo the previous vehicle.
Everybody treated her with the utmost courtesy and respect. I'm sorry she felt that we hid behind a "mask of smiles" because actually everybody was really happy for her that we were able to pull this small miracle off and get her into a VERY nice AWD vehicle.