Complaint Review: Plaza Auto Sales - Salt Lake City Utah

Had to get Lawyer to Get Car Paid Off and Licence Plates 3 Months After Purchase ripoff abused & mistreated ripoff business from hell cheated employees and screwed the customers even more con artist fake ripoff consumer fraud rip-off fraud corruption inconsiderate deceptive company dirty ripoff dogs deceptive company .....

After moving, my huband and I realized we needed a 4WD SUV instead of our passenger car for winter driving. We searched around and ended up at a tent sale the day after Thanksgiving 2000. We explained what we wanted and what we could afford. They showed us a '97 Jeep Grand Cherokee and we started negotiating.

Agreeing on payments below $500, purchase price no more than $20,000 and putting some down, we agreed to purchars the vehicle. Since we owed more on our passenger car than it was worth, the difference between the value plus our down and the value of the car was added to our purchase price. We inquired about insurance on the loan against unemployment or death/disability. We were told it was not possible.

One week later, we received a call from the dealership stating that they were able to get financing, but that the payments would be higher. They told us that the interest rate would be higher than we were paying on our car because we were "upside-down" in our car. We figured this was nonegotiable, our mistake as we would find out later.

After relating that the agreed payments would not go above $500, the finance officer said that she needed to talk to the salesman. When she called back, we were told the best they could do was $506/mo. and that they would need to take off the obligation to fix the 4WD, but that they would replace it with a warrenty.

We drove 100 miles to sign the paper work since we bought the car while visiting relatives. When the paperwork was presented, we were told that the number on the contract did not reflect our agreement because the loan agency would reject it. Trusting the dealer, another mistake, we signed the contract and drove home with the temporary sticker and the understanding that our trade would be paid off in that time.

Three weeks went by and we started receiving collection phone calls from the financer of our trade demanding payment. We stated that we had traded in the vehicle and that it should be paid off within a week or two. By that time we should have our licence plates and would know things were taken care of.

Two more weeks went by and not only did we continue to receive phone calls, but our temporary tags had expired one week previous. I called Jerry, the owner, at Plaza to ask about the plates and the pay-off. He stated that they were running behind on filing the appropiate paper work for the plates and could not explain why the trade had not been paid off. He said he'd look into it and call us back.

Another two weeks went by and we had not heard back, so we called again. Jerry again assured us that the paperwork for the plates would be filed soon and that our trade would be paid off quickly. Wells Fargo, the trade financer, called again demanding payment. We explained the situation and our frustrations to a collections agent who then forwarded it onto her supervisor, Kathy. Kathy was very sympathetic and said she'd call Jerry to find out the situation and when to expect payment.

As the weeks went by, we kept in contact with Kathy, who was extremely helpful. She told us that she had called Jerry numerous times and was either told that he would be paying it off soon, not available, or did not return her phone calls. She told us that a negative marke on our credit had been made and that it could be reversed, but not until the pay off was made.

At the end of January, no progress had been made so we told Jerry that if the payoff was not made by the end of the week, we had no choice but to retain an Attorney and take legal action. Surprise, Surprise, the loan was paid in full that Friday and our licence plates were ready by Saturday. Kathy corrected our credit and we thought we were finished with Plaza Auto Sales. Guess Again.

The first week of Feburary, our starter died and we had to have the Jeep towed to a mechanics garage. We were not concerned because Plaza had attached a warrenty that was supposed to cover everything, but maintainence issues, without a copay or deductable.

Imagine our surprise when the garage called us after inspecting our Jeep to tell us that the warrenty company, AUL, had no record of a policy for that vehicle our in my or my husbands name. The repairs would come to around $500 that had to be paid before we could pick up our Jeep.

We called Jerry again to clear this up and was told that the comapny must not have processed our paperwork. He said that he would call AUL and straiten thing out. We were due to go on vacation the next week, so for the time being we paid the repair costs out of pocket (vacation money). THe repairs were made and we took the bill to Jerry. He wanted to make a copy of the bill and have AUL reimburse us. My husband demanded that he reimburse us since the warrenty should have been active and he could submit the bill to his AUL rep. for reimbursement. He agreed, but grudgingly.

Still another problem arose later that year. We took the jeep into the garage to have the 4WD looked at. Remeber, this was the original probelm that we requested fixed before purchase. Plaza traded that condition with the warrenty that they siad should cover it.

AUL said that their contract excluded our specific problem because the casing, or "boot", was ripped, voiding that part of the warrenty. Again, we contacted Jerry, who paid for the repais after a rather long argument.

We have had the Jeep for 13 months and it looks like our troubles may not be over. My biggest advise, Stay Away From Plaza Auto Sales!

Katie

Logan, Utah
U.S.A.