Complaint Review: CAR HOP; UAC: Universal Acceptance Corporation; Insterstate Auto Group Inc - Edina Minnesota

When you are told that UAC and Car Hop are 2 different companies you are being lied to. Both companies are owned by the same people and UAC and are 2 different sides of the same company Interstate Auto Group.

All employees, Car Hop and UAC are trained to create a separation for the customer. That way when a customer becomes upset or disgruntled by the pos vehicle they were brow beat into purchasing the sales person can divert blame to UAC, or the reverse, a UAC rep can blame the sales agent.

The entire sales process is carefully tooled to focus a customer on certain vehicles, everything is done on a very extensive script that every sales person must memorize at 90% or better accuracy. It is designed to break a person down, dig out their most embarrassing financial issues so that when you do object to the 12 year old car with 150k miles on it you will have those issues thrown back into your face.

Throughout this process you will be reminded over and over that Car Hop and UAC are separate, but they are not.

It is very important to know the inspection process that these vehicles, many of which are bought site unseen, go through. A 10-15 minute inspection by a "recon" employee who may, or may not, even be a mechanic. Fluid levels are checked, no oil change is done, brakes are not inspected, tires rarely are even looked at, duct tape is often used to effect repairs. Cars that the people are selling you are often cars they would not even consider putting their own families into.

In short from the moment you walk onto a Car Hop sales lot you are being lied to, misled, and manipulated. You will be told what a great deal you are getting on a car that was purchased for $1200-3000 and being sold to you for 5 times as much as the purchase price with a warranty that will cover the engine tranny and drive train, but only with used parts that come from some random nearby junk yard. When you finally realize that the purchase you have made is going to cost you as much as a new car at Kia and you have had to sink hundreds of dollars into repairs that Service and Warranty will not cover even 15 days after your purchase you will be hounded by the vultures at UAC who will disrespect you, your family and your friends. Calling you if your payment is 2 hours late at home, at work and where ever they can find you, and they are not nice, or even professional in many cases.

The one positive thing about the Car Hop program is that if you are lucky and get one of the few decent vehicles they have for sale and you make your payments on time and never have to deal with Service and Warranty the credit reporting will in fact work wonders to improve your credit score. The question is, are you willing to take the risk of getting one of the many lemons and end up paying $12,000 for a 12 year old car with 120,000+ miles in order to get that 75-100 point credit score boost?

Thank you for your feedback. CarHop takes customer service very seriously and would like to learn more about your experience. Please contact our office with any details you have where you felt you received anything less that exceptional service (example: specifics on whom you spoke with, what number you called, etc.) so we can provide training where needed. You can reach us at [email protected] or at 800-662-2746. Regarding your vehicle concerns, although it is unfortunate when any customer has mechanical issues, unforeseen problems do sometimes occur with used vehicles. To best assist our customers, every CarHop vehicle purchased includes a 72 hour Satisfaction Guarantee which allows a vehicle to be returned if a customer is not satisfied. In addition, each CarHop vehicle includes an 18 month / 18,000 limited warranty. Since this is a limited warranty, the covered items are clearly listed in the paperwork each customer receives prior to purchase. These are just a few examples of why CarHop continues to have a long-standing "A" rating with the Better Business Bureau. Please note that UAC is a different company from CarHop. To best assist you, UAC can be reached at 800-414-2622 to share any UAC related concerns you may have.

"They also call a number at work that is on the national do not call list. Do they not know the law?" I would ask you the same question. The do not call rules do not prevent calls that are not telemarketing calls. They also do not prevent calls from companies that you have done business with. "How can it be, that there are car companies going down and these idiots are still doing business?" That's an easy one. As long as people buy used cars without having them fully inspected by a competent mechanic, places like this will continue to sell lemons.