Complaint Review: McCarthy Wholesale - San Luis Obipo California

I bought a 2001 Mazda Tribute from McCarthy Wholesale a couple months ago and it was nothing but trouble. This was the third car I'd bought from McCarthy's but the new management is nothing but lying crooks in my opinion. Mccarthys failed to mention several problems with the car and kept dodging my phone calls regarding a broken door handle (among other things) until I drove into the lot to talk to them. One thing led to another and I ended up getting the run around.

Dissatisfied with the car, I decided to trade the car in to McCarthy's for a different car that would be simpler and have less that could go wrong with it. The second car has been nothing but a train wreck. They made me spend an additional $3000 dollars to trade in the car they sold me for a car of almost the same sticker value.   The second car was a 2001 Mazda Miata wth a $500.00 sticker value increase over the first car. They made it clear that I was going to loose my shirt no matter what I did. They would not budge on the price of the second car to offset my loss at all. So after paying $7500 cash for the first car, I had to pay an additional $3000.00 to get into the second car. They refused to negotiate a price differential for the loss even though their own sales contract promises to litigate some kind of compromise. The second car was even worse. I took the car to my son's mechanic right after I got it and found out that McCarthy Wholesale sold me a car with a bent (L) rear axle and leaking front crank seal.  McCarthy's DID NOT disclose any problems regarding the Miata.

After speaking with a McCarthy's (in person because they dodged my phone calls again) they finally agreed to let me take my car to their own mechanic at 'Wrona's.'  Wrona's initially told me that they could not find a bent axel. in their own words, they told me the car had, and I quote, had "shot tires". I asked them how the tires could be shot since it's only drove it a few miles. I told them my son's mechanic found a bent (left) rear axle. Wrona's told me that even if the tire had the appropriate amount of tread on them for a dealer to sell the car, that the tires were in fact still shot. they explained to me that the amount of tread on a tire was not the only indicator of a shot tire. Now I began to get upset because McCarthy Wholesale had not only ripped me off out of several thousand dollars, but had also sold me a dangerous car. This car will potentially have my wife or grand daughters riding it it.

 I went back to McCarthy's where they decided to cover the bent axle (only after the owner of Wrona's Auto Repair drove the car himself and confirmed that the car had a bent L-rear axle.)  They refused to budge AT ALL on the other repairs, including the crank shaft seal and the dangerouse tires, neither of which had been disclaimed to me.  If my son had not noticed the bent axle right away and had me take to the mechanics, they never would have even written a 'to due bill' for the bent rear axle, so they also (initially) failed to disclose another dangerous flaw with the Miata until my son's mechanic looked at it, but I felt that I had to exchange the car in house to get any of my investment from the first car (The Mazda Tribute with many undisclosed problems of it's own. They are now offering to cover the replacement of the rear (L) axle, but only because they were caught dead to rights, but refuse to cover the crank seal or the dangerous tires that were on the second car when they sold it to me.

"Chris" from McCarthys denies that he sold me a car with bad tires simply because they have they appropriate amount of tread on them. I explain to him that his OWN MECHANICS stated that the tires were 'shot' and that these were their own words. The mechanics at Wrona's told me that even if the tires had the "legal" amount of tread on them, that they had uneven tire wear on them as well as other factors. I also used their own mechanics quote. The mechanics at Wronas used the exact wording "the tires are shot"At this point "Chris", which sold me the car, continues to deny the tires are shot and also claims that his own mechanics "don't know anything about tires." I calmly explained to him multiple times that the car had a leakinging front engine seal, a bent rear axle, and a set of shot tires. I explained to him that he failed to disclose any of this information to me. he claims that his mechanics did an inspection of the car prior to selling it to me, yet his own mechanics confirmed the leaking front engine seal, the "shot" tires, and the bent (L) rear axle. He continues to offer repairing the (L) rear axle, but nothing else.I calmly explain to him that I am out thousands of dollars between the two cars. I explain to him that I was out thousands of dollars between the two cars. They made $1500 dollars off the first car (minus taxes and licensing) and then charged me $3000 for exchaning to the next car, which had a sticker price of only $500 more than the first car. I explained to him that I have spent a total of $7500 + $3000 only to get a car with bad engine seals, Shot tires, and a bent (L) rear axle.

In short, I have spent $10,500 on a car with all these problems, many of were not disclosed durring the sale and were therefore against the law. I made a counter offer for them to pay for the mechanics to do the breakdown and assembly to fix the engine seals and the pay the full expense of the back axle. McCarthy's refused to do so even though they know they broke the law by failing to disclose life threatening problems with the car. I even offered to cover the tire replacement if they would cover the labor costs bad crank seal. I explained to Chris that the engine repair (crank seal repair) would offset my expense for having to replace the bad tires they sold to me with the car. I explained to Chris how it was ilegal to sell a car with a bent axle or shot tires.



I had my son's mechanic price out the labor of the crank seal repair at $450 labor and appromimately $50 for the seals themselves. I explained to him that this would cost the same as a new set of tires to replace the "shot tires" they sold to me with the car. Even after explaining my financial loss to them, even after explaining to them that their own mechanic clearly stated that the tires were "shot" upon sale and that this practice was ilegal, McCarthy Wholesale refused to compromise on the expense of the repairs. I even appealed to their sense of decency and that I had bought several other cars from them in the past, they still refused to make things right. I feel that I have done everything within my means to negotiate a reasonable resolution for this issue, including working in-house with the dealership to make things right.

I now feel that I have had thousands of dollars stollen from me and that myself and my family have been placed in harm's way due to there unethical and ilegal business practices. Years ago, when McCarthy's was under better management, they were be best place in San Luis Obispo to buy a used car from. Under the new management, I feel that they are a bunch of criminals out to make a buck at any expense with no regard for the safety of their customers. As it currently stands, I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND THAT ANYBODY BUY A CAR FROM MCCARTHY WHOLESALE. They do not care about your hard earned money, they do not care about the condition of their cars, and they do not are about the physical safety of you or your family. I feel that they are nothing short of common criminals out to make a buck at your expense.  I feel that they would have no remorse if one of their cars killed you and/or your family. 

 

- John555