Complaint Review: SUNCOAST MOTORSPORT - SARASOTA Florida

On May 13th I stopped with my 2009 VW Jetta at SUNCOAST dealership since it started overheating. JOE COLAIZZI was the service adviser that was available so he took me in and i told him what the problem is. I did had an aftermarket insurance with $500 deductible. Joe told me that they will do some diagnostics but if they find something which insurance will not cover then I will be responsible for diagnostics charges. I said OK. It was Friday before Memorial Day weekend so Joe told me that Tuesday is the soonest they can look at it. Wednesday Joe called me and informed me that my thermostat and my water pump is bad and also they find out that my driver door latch was broken and also that my suspension conn link is bad but not to worry since insurance will cover that as well and to fix all it will cost me about $800 out of pocket. $500 deductible and additional $300 for extra 3 hours that they need to get to thermostat, because of the location, they have to removed exhaust and something else just to get to it and that insurance will not cover that extra labor. Well I did said yes since I needed my car fix and not knowing better since i never had aftermarket insurance and not thinking that Joe will LIE to me!!! HE NEVER ONCE MENTIONED ANYTHING ABOUT MY RADIATOR!!! And now I know why!!! That very same day after talking to my wife we decide that its maybe better just to buy a brand new car then spending money to repair old car. I called Joe and asked him, that before they start any repair if there is any deal they can offer me on a new car and use my car as a trade in. He said that they already did diagnostics and ordered parts and its better if we fix it and then if I still want to I can still trade it in and get more money for it and that he will pass my info to sales department. Well I never heard from any sales person till the day my car was suppose ready to go. And also that same day I finally called my insurance and they told me that Joe requested 10 hours for fixing overheating issue and they will only cover 7.5 hours which is national standard and any dealer will fix that issue in 7.5 hours or less. So I called Joe back and told him what my insurance said and he was just denying it and told me that he will take care of me and that he will lower my bill. Friday (a week later) Joe left me a message saying that my car is ready and I can stop by till 5pm to get it. So I did. My invoice was few dollars over $800 so I remind Joe what he said and what my insurance told me and he went back to his office and came back with invoice for $704. I was still not happy about it but Joe was saying same story again and again and again. Stupid me I didn't ever check that invoice before paying. I just wanted my car back and be on my way. WHAT A MISTAKE!!! After few miles and like 4 traffic lights since I left my car star doing EXACTLY the same thing it was doing before!!! I was furious! I immediately called Joe and he said that it’s normal what my car is doing, that it is still within normal temperature range, but if it goes any higher then I should call him back. After that I called my insurance and told them what happened and they told me to immediately take my car back. I was at work so I couldn't take it back right away. Then on my way home from work I got stranded on the side of the highway at 11pm since my car overheated!!! Very next day Saturday morning I went back. Joe was not there so another service adviser took me in. He was nice and polite and told me that they do not have technician on duty on Saturday. Really? Big dealership like that and no technician available on Saturday!!! He called enterprise and I was again without my car on my way to work. So after paying $700 out of my pocket and $1800 from my insurance, Suncoast got over $2500 and my car was still overheating exactly the same!!! Monday Joe called me and as a normal person would expect I was expecting some kind of apology or something, well wishful thinking on my part. Joe told me that if I have read my invoice it says right there, that there might be some additional issues with my cooling system. MIGHT BE ?!?!?! Weren't you supposed to find that? Didn't you just have my car for 7 days? I was pretty upset that after paying all that money and also money that my insurance paid I got answer like that! He told me that he will talk to a technician again, but if more diagnostics is necessary and if they find something which my insurance will not cover, then I have to pay for it. Of course I said no. If you couldn't find and fix my issue in 5 or so days, why would I agreed to pay more money out of my pocket so you can run more diagnostics and make more money ! Well I know why! Because if they would tell me from the beginning what the problem is (restriction in radiator/clogged radiator), then i would say NO to repair because my insurance will not cover it (of course they knew it because they told me so) and they will not make any money off of me, period! But because they told me that my water pump and thermostat is bad and by replacing it everything will be good, they made around $2500. So then I escalate the situation to general manager Mark Cobb, but to get a hold of him and also get respond from him is a joke. I left him several messages and few days later he finally got back to me and told me that he will talk to Joe and also technician and go over my paperwork and get back to me. After few days he got back to me and told me same thing as Joe. He asked me if I read my invoice where I can clearly see that there is possible other issue with my cooling system and that his technician told him that my radiator was very dirty and needed to be flushed 3 times, but after testing my car on the parking lot (yes, parking lot! No road test but testing on a parking lot) with some special equipment they saw that it was overheating but it was not overheating enough to be worry!!! Really now??? If my radiator was so badly dirty how come that technician didn't find out that it was clogged/restricted? OR maybe he did, but again if they would tell me that upfront then they would not get any money out of me. If that's the way Joe is operating and making money for this dealership then it is a shame!!! After another week trying to get in touch with Mark, Joe called me and asked me what is my decision, what i want to do with my car. I told him that either you fix my car or give me my money back. He said since i don't want to pay any more money and my insurance will not cover any more diagnostics that there is no more they can do for me and that i have to bring back rental immediately otherwise charges will occur and he hang up on me !!! I was in shock!!! I have never ever had anyone hang up on me, treating me the way Joe did!!! It was like I was the bad guy, like I did something horribly wrong. All I wanted was to have my car fixed and willing to pay for it. But I end up $700 out and car not fixed!!! So I called Mark but again only voice mail so next day I dropped my rental off and I asked to speak to GM Mark Cobb. I told him again that I am so not happy about the whole situation and I am not just going to walk away and he suggest that I would take my car back to dealership where i got it from and they should be the one to fix it. Basically he was blaming and throwing responsibility and mistake they made on the other guy. Why does it matter where you purchased your car??? Why don't you ask these questions before you take car in??? Because no cars service/repair facility ask questions like that. You have a car issue, you bring it to dealership of your choice and they should fix it. That is what they do!!! Right? After I left dealership I tried to find someone above GM who could possible help. I called owners office and left a message and few days later Margaret got back to me. Owner secretary I think is her position. I told her my story and she was pretty upset about this situation and told me that she will talk to Mark and find out the whole situation. After few days she called me and told me same story after talking to Joe and Mark. But at least she was apologizing and nice about it, and nice to talk to. After that phone call I explained her that I am not giving up and if I have to file bunch of reports and claims, and write reviews all over the social media about my issue then I WILL. She said she would talk to Mark again and he will call me tomorrow and hopefully he can do something for me. That sound it promising, till I got a phone call from Mark a week later. He asked me why i keep calling her, that she can't do anything for me or give my money back. So I told him she is the only one that will return my phone call very same day and not 3-4 or 5 day later. He was just repeating that he has a business to run and he is always busy. After talking to him for quite some time I explained to him what the other dealership find out, that it was a radiator blockage causing cooling flow issue and asked him for my refund, but again he said that they sold me a bad car and it is not his fault and no money will be refunded and if I want to I can take him to court and he will tell judge his side of story. Exactly his words!!! That was the last contact I had with him or Suncoast dealership. All I wanted was to get my car fixed, but at the end I was literally rob blind. No money and my car were not fixed!!! The last thing that I would expect from big dealership like that is to treat me the way they did (except Margarete) and to be so money hungry. $700 is not the end of the world, but to treat someone like that? No dignity? No respect? Hanging up and no returning phone calls? O wow, o wow. After doing some research I can see that I am not the only one that had a bad experience at Suncoast dealership. I hope that this letter will help other people in some way.