On May 11, 2016 i purchased a 2011 Toyota Prius from Encore Motors of Sarasota, Fla. The vehicle was being auctioned on ebay, and prior to the auction I asked the Daniel Lussier, the internet sales manager several questions regarding the vehicle before i bid on it.
I asked Daniel if the car had been involved in any accident at all, his written response was no. No accidents. I also asked if the car engine had been serviced, he indicated that all units are carefully detailed and serviced before delivery.
I asked to have the oil and oil filter replaced before i picked up the car, and Daniel indicated that he would make sure that the car would be serviced completely so that i would not have any problems driving it to my home in California. He even made fun of my wife request to have enough oil in the engine.
I drove away around midnight and proceeded to drive west to California. By the next day i decided to check the engine oil, and the oil crankcase was bone dry, the dipstick was very hard to remove since someone pushed it all the way in. I finally managed to release the dipstick and that is when i realized that the car needed oil very badly, and i was not near any store to take care of it. I finally bought oil at a Walmart store in Orlando, and filled up the crankcase.
As i was driving home, i noticed that the lower left side of the rear bumper was becoming desengaged from the upper portion because of the road vibration, i had no other way to fix the problem, so i had to reatach the bumper every 30 miles or so to prevent it from falling off completely.
I contacted Dan Lussier and reported all the problems that i was experiencing while in Tallahasee, Fla. He said that i could bring the car back to their dealership in Sarasota, but he would not commit to pay for my time on the road or my expenses to pickup the car at his dealership.
I told him that i would have the car checked at a reputable body shop as soon as I got to my home in CA. I went to Class auto center in Long Beach, Ca., where i got a preliminary estimate of $4,984.04 to fix the problem that was caused by a major accident that the car was involved in. I have not been able to have Class auto center take the rear bumper apart because they cant even guarantee that it can be reattached after it is removed from the car, and they will not remove the bumper from my car unless i pay the shop the cost to remove and inspect the damages.
Encore Motors of Sarasota, Fla is a a very shady dealership, they are totally irresponsible, and people should know the type of business practices that they are involved in. Buyers beware!
Mario Figec
#2Author of original report
Fri, June 30, 2017
After being on the road for three days, the dealer was not wiilling compensate for the aircraft fare to go back to return the 2011 Toyota Prius that i purchased in good faith from that dealership. I was promised to have the title ready upon arrival to the dealership, and then laughing about it Mr Lussier said that i would not be happy about the fact that the tile was not ready, that i would have the same problem that i had with another dealer from Texas that made the same promise. I did not think that it was funny that i would have to wait so long to get the car title after so many days, this was a vehicle intended to be used commercially, every day
that i did not have the title to the car i was loosing revenue, Mr Lussier found that very amusing. When i arrived at the dealership i was dead tired, it was past midnight when i picked up the car and i was not able to see in detail anything that was wrong with it, so i drove off thinking that the dealer was an honest seller. The next day I informed Mr Lussier that the oil dipstic was jammed, and once i removed it, the dipstick showed that the crankcase was bone dry, that was not a laughing matter either, Mr LUssier laughed about that incident again, and said that it was a good thing that i was able to remove the dipstick to inspect the oil levels in the
car. I put three quarts and a half quarts of oil and continued driving until i was around Tallahasse, Fl, that i noticed that the left side of the rear bumper had become disengaged from the frame, i taped it back up, and called the dealer for advice. I informed Mr Lussier that as far as i could see the car had been hit in the rear, and the carfax report did not indicate anything to that effect because either his shop masked the accident, or the previous owner did that to get a higher amount for the car when he/she traded it in to Mr LUssiers shop. Mr Lussier knows that if any damage is not subject to insurance repairs it is not going to appear on the carfax.
I simply asked Mr Lussier that i should be compensated $1,000 for all the hassle and his dealership deception to me so that i could bring the car back to their facility, and his answer was that they would only compensate me for the amount that i paid for the vehicle, plus a $150 allowance for the oil replacement problem. I submitted my complaint to ebay, and i was reimbursed the $1,000 that i asked from Mr Lussier to begin with, after i submitted my statements and that of the reputable auto body shop in California, which indicated that whoever repaired the damage to the car simply masked what happened to it, and that if the car
had been fixed or repaired via the insurance company at the time, the expenses to repair it would have been to high, and therefore would have been considered a total loss. Either the dealership got ripped off by the previous owner or once they realized that they were ripped decided to half a*s fix the problem. Mr Lussier dealership is a dishonest outfit with lack of integrity, and i would never ever buy anything from them ever at all.
Dan Lussier
Sarasota,#3REBUTTAL Individual responds
Thu, June 29, 2017
My name is Dan Lussier. I dealt directly with Mr. Figeac during the early part of the transaction. He purchased a 2011 Prius for $7500 on eBay. It was was sold with a clean car fax and was in good shape when it left the store. Mr. Figeac looked the car over and then drove an hour or so to his relatives where he stayed overnight. He called the next day to let me know the oil had not been changed. I immedialtely authorized an oil change reimbursement. I asked him to stop in at a shop for the oil change and he did. In the mean time his wife called in to discuss why we did not already send the title out. I explained it takes a few days and that is why we offer 30 day temp tags. We spoke and did have a laugh but we did so together. I was polite and professional. Mr. Figeac called from Talahasee FL on his way back a day or two later. He was on his way to his home in California and was concerened about the bumper hardware loosening. We spoke for a few minutes regarding the bumper. A space was opening between the corner of the rear bumper and the car. Without heitation I offered a full refund for the car. We did not discuss driving or trip reimbursment because he informed me he wanted to keep the car. We agreed that he would send over an estimate to tighten the bumper when he got home. 3-4 weeks later I received an estimate for $4000+. I turned the information over to the delaership owner and he handled the resolutuion process. He asked him to bring it to the Toyota dealership or other reputable body shop so all could consider a second opinion. Mr. Figeac refused to bring it anywhere. Mr. Figeac threatened to go onto websites like this and make reports unless the dealership paid a high price. The dealership was eager to settle in order to make a customer happy and avoid issues like this but would not do so unless advised by a third party what the cost would be. Mr. Figeac made a complaint with FL DMV for $2000. The FL DMV assigned the report to a field officer who reviewed the complaint and advised Mr. Figeac to get a second opinion. Next we heard about this comment on this site and made this rebuttal. The dealership always does the right thing as long as our customer is willing to be reasonable wih the resolution. We enjoy a great reputation in The Sarasota area as we have been in business for 15+ years in the same facility. We did reimburse for the oil change immedialtely.