Complaint Review: Platinum Cheverlot - santa rosa California

Beware of Platinum Chevrolet and David Barnes at Platinum Chevrolet!!!!

I went for a job interview and these punks were sabotaging any chance for me to get hired and while I was waiting in the booth I saw two sales man talking and I overheard them laughing at a couple talking about the car their going to buy and these two cutthroats car salesman talked about how they were going to make the buyers OVERPAY for the car and I saw them high five. These salesman here resemble convicts and felons dressed in carsales outfits, same prison attitude etc BEWARE PLEASE BUY ELSE WHERE

YELP REVIEWER READ THIS

It's not often these days that I give a 1 star review for a business on Yelp.  I understand that everyone has off-days, and mistakes do happen.  I felt compelled to do this because Platinum Chevrolet in Santa Rosa was the WORST CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE I HAVE EVER HAD.

This started back in 2008 when I bought my Saturn Vue Greenline from the dealership.

At that time, they were a Saturn Dealership, though they were under the same ownership as they are now.  I bought the car brand new at the dealership.  I have to say, it was a terrible purchase, because the car had nothing but problems.  Warranty recalls to the Hybrid Battery system, faulty electronics, you name it.  It was a mistake to buy this car - it was a Lemon.  As everyone knows, Saturn went out of business shortly thereafter.

ANOTHER BAD TRUE REVIEW ABOUT SANTA ROSA PLATINUM CHEVY

Please Read!

I went into Platinum yesterday to look at a vehicle they had listed on their website.  I showed up and to my surprise that vehicle doesn't exist. At this point I wasn't too shaken but was a little disappointed the car wasn't there to look at... So here's some advice and a list of BS you will go through by dealing with this dealership.

1) Don't walk in alone as a woman. I did and they jumped all over the fact that they thought I wouldn't understand mechanics. I have owned over 10 vehicles including a 1968 drag car... They will use your gender against you and assume they can just sell you any piece because you have never looked under a hood.

2)The vehicles they advertise may not even exist and the advertised price online is different than the actual. The car I wanted wasn't there so they tried to get me in a new leased volt. NOPE... Then they tried to sell me the fictional car for $1500 more than the advertised price... NOPE.

3) Don't tell them any personal information- A sales tactic is to relate to the customer and make them feel relatedness which, in theory, will make the buyer feel obligated to purchase. DO NOT TELL THEM WHAT YOU DO or ANY info. They will just feed you what you want to here. The sales team at PC are just slimy middle age men who DON'T like to hunt, fish, exercise, s****.>

My wife drove this car and she faithfully took it in when it needed to be serviced, as the Warranty Recalls rolled in, one after another.  Last year (2014) things began to get really bad, the ECM Module (basically one of the core computer systems of the car) went out.  We took it to another Chevy authorized services facility in Vallejo for repairs, and had to shell out over $1,500 out of pocket (since the car was now out of it's measly one-sided warranty).

After about 5 months, the issues began again, and wary of taking it to the same dealership, I returned to Platinum Chevrolet (where we bought the car in the first place).  Things started off smoothly enough, the folks at Platinum Chevrolet said the vehicle was badly in need of an oil change.  Since the electrical systems in the car weren't working properly, the change oil light never came on and my wife hadn't taken it in.  Also the Air Conditioning was no longer working.  Platinum Chevrolet Service Dept. told me that the AC Compressor unit had somehow fallen out of the car, and the other issues we were experiencing were caused by the car needing oil.  We paid over $1,000 to have the AC Compressor replaced.  I asked for a discount since we had purchased the junky car brand new at their dealership and had experience so many problems.  For their part, they gave me 10% off.

Here's where things get worse: after leaving the dealership after the service was performed, my wife didn't get 5 miles from the dealership before experiencing the same exact problems with the car, (shaky gear shifting, lights coming on and off and lagging  transmission).  I called Platinum Chevrolet and spoke to the Manager Todd Troedel, who advised me to take the car back.  We immediately did so.

This is obviously bad in that Platinum Chevrolet put my wife and 5 year old daughter into a car that was not safe, or mechanically sound.  Dangerous and incompetent, to say the least.

Soon after bringing the car back for the 2nd time now, they tested it again.  This time different issues were found with the car.  These are issues they must have missed the first time, (when they allowed my family to drive off in the car).

After giving us a loaner car over the weekend (which we deserved at the very minimum), we came in on the following Monday.  The Manager Todd Troedel told me that the problem was a stretched Actuator Belt.  The cost to fix it?  An additional $1,500.  At this point, I was angry.  Had Platinum Chevrolet given me an accurate assessment of what was wrong with my car, I would not have spent $1,000 to fix the A/C Compressor unit, which was essentially a huge waste of money.  We were out $1,000 because of their incompetence.

I explained this to the Manager Todd and he became rude, basically tried to lean forward in his seat and stare me down.  He was completely unprofessional.  He told me, "there's the door!," which was his way of saying he didn't feel obligated to do anything for me or my family after A) Putting my wife and child in an unsafe car due to his massive incompetence and B) charging me $1,000 for a repair which was a complete waste of money.  When I told him how poorly the car has always ran, he said "call GM!" basically taking no responsibility for selling us this piece of junk car in the first place.  I asked him to put himself in my shoes, as a consumer who had purchased a poor quality car, and received poor incompetent service, how would he feel? He responded "I'm in the auto industry, I'm not a consumer!"

I let him know I'd be contacting a lawyer and was going to Yelp to share my experience.  He didn't seem to care.

When the crooks returned my wife's car, they had used up all the gas after test-driving it up to Cloverdale (a 90-mile roundtrip ride) and back.  They didn't even have the decency to replace our gas.

It's clear from the other reviews on Yelp, this dealership is full of crooks who sell low quality cars and then don't stand by the product they sell on the services side.  AVOID THIS DEALERSHIP.  It's not a surprise they've had to call the police due to incidents with numerous irate customers.  They are unethical scum who don't deserve anyone's hard-earned dollars, or busines

They sold me an SUV that had been in an accident and didn't disclose it on the Carfax. The accident was so severe it damaged the front impact bar, front absorber, and the a/c condenser, all of which had to be replaced at my expense. When I brought the matter to the attention of David Barnes he was rude, unaccommodating, and condescending, sending me a check for only a portion of my out of pocket expenses for having to have the vehicle repaired. I've never known a business to treat a customer with such utter disrespect. This was my first and last experience with Platinum Chevrolet.

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