On Oct. 28 my wife and I went to the CONCORD KIA AND MITSUBISHI dealer looking for a very specific vehicle that we could tow four wheels down behind our motorhome (sometimes called a dinghy). We also went to the other dealers in the immediate area, none of which had a vehicle that could be dinghy-towed. At that point in time, we were not looking for a specific make, only that it could be a dinghy vehicle. We were shown a 2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee which seemed to fit the requirements; we checked the owners manual with the salesman, and the salesman said he got the transfer case in neutral; at the time we were examining the back of the vehicle and we believed him that everything was okay. We were trading in our low mileage 1999 Chevy Tracker (which can be towed four down, but we were looking for a newer vehicle) and were offered $2000 for it; they later came back saying that they overvalued it and would only give us $1500, having been there for several hours we said okay and we added an additional $500 to the down payment. They have since turned around and are now selling it for $7999.00? (See exhibit #2) A week later we were camping with some friends and informed them we had bought a Jeep Grand Cherokee. They told to check and make sure that we could tow it four down. Upon getting home Sunday night I tried to get the transfer case in neutral, and come to find out after much effort and internet search that there was a Jeep that could not be towed and that was the one we bought; my wife took it into a Jeep dealership when she had to get a 2nd key for the vehicle, which cost $257.00 and the Maintenance manager confirmed that indeed it could not be towed.
We paid $11,000 for a car we could not use! We informed the dealer that we wanted our money back, they said they could not do that (not sure why); we have since found out they could have returned our money and vehicle!!! And after much argument they said they would look for a replacement vehicle (a Jeep Liberty Limited or Grand Cherokee).
After six weeks of stalling, they had still not found a replacement. At this time we contacted the bank (Wells
Fargo) and told them what was going on with the dealer, they suggested not making the first payment yet and they would try and work something out with the dealer. The dealers comment to the bank was they bought it and the dealership is not responsible; even though they misrepresented the vehicle as being towable with four wheels down. It should also be pointed out that they never responded to our many emails or our effort to get them to phone us back we always had to call them (see exhibit #1). The last call I made I asked who the
dealer was calling to find another vehicle. His answer was vague, a wholesaler and Im checking Craigs list. My next question was what you are looking for; answer a deal that makes sense.in my next email I asked him makes sense for whom? For us / or the dealership? And of course we have not received an answer back. The bank called and said to contact the dealer as they indicated they had found a vehicle for us, I showed up at the dealership on Dec 16th.
What they offered was beyond belief; they offered to take the Grand Cherokee as a trade in for $6344.00 (trade in value est. Between $7000 and $7500) with no money back) and sell us another vehicle, which after a search on the internet was worth about as much and they would get us a loan for the same amount as the Jeep Grand Cherokee.in other words we lost a car and our $5500 down payment!
In conclusion all we asked was a very specific vehicle we could tow behind our motorhome, and what we got was an $11,000 mistake, which they are unwilling to rectify. Second we feel they undervalued our trade in
value.
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