I purchased a vehicle from a sales person at Jay Wolfe Acura who talked me into the benefits of purchasing what they called an "Executive" demonstrator vehicle.
He described this vehicle as a new car that had been gently driven by one of the executives of the company and that the vehicle was given the best care possible i.E. No body damage, all oil changes performed on time, etc etc.
He also represented this vehicle to be a brand new car that was never titled... Basically a new car with some initial mileage added by an officer of Jay Wolfe.
I specifically asked if it was legally a used car, what services it would need immediately and whether or not the vehicle had ever been damaged in any way. They assured me the vehicle was New (never titled), all services were up to date and that no damage had occured to the vehicle.
Alright, well that's fine I thought. They reduced the price about $800 to make up for the mileage (about 12,000 miles). I thought that was a fair price considering this vehicle was a NEW vehicle with No body damage and all oil changes performed.
Problem #1: After about 3000 miles I had this vehicle serviced at another Acura dealer in St. Louis. I was transferred there for a 6 month project. This dealer informed me that the engine showed signs of sludge, and told me I shouldn't have waited 12000 miles to get the first oil change done. What? This vehice was supposed to be properly maintained prior to my purchase. I was promised the oil changes would be up to date at the date of purchase, and told that this was a policy for all "executive demonstrators" sold at this dealership.
Problem #2: I recently traded this vehicle in at another Acura dealership. When the vehicle was appraised I was told that the vehicle had been repainted all along the driver's side. I didn't believe him because I have NEVER had paintwork done to the car. I owned it for only 1 year and a half, and it NEVER had any kind of body damage of any kind while I owned it. They brought be out to the car and showed me all of the overspray from front fender to rear fender. They were right, the vehicle had extensive repaint work done prior to my purchase.
Problem #3: I've read the responses from the company to other customer complaints about this dealership on complaint and am appalled that customers are treated in such manner. It's always the customer's fault. Nothing can possibly be wrong with the company. They are perfect, and customers are all lying... This was basically the same treatment I got when I contacted them about the oil change situation." We change the oil in our demos" they insisted. When I asked for proof of the oil change, nothing was mailed to my home as I requested them to
Conclusion: Not all dealers are bad. I've had many good experiences at auto dealerships in my 38 years, however I highly recommend against this dealer if you are leary about dishonest dealings.
Also, please note the dealer responses to other complaints on complaint if you'd like an example of how this dealer handles customer complaints... They yell at you, and then lecture you... Where in that flurry of responses did the dealer offer to fix the problem? Where did they offer to make things right? That's pretty much what was missing in my situation as well.
And by the way, the old "dealer lost my keys" trick that dealers play is nothing new. Although this dealer didn't do that to me, I found it very believable with this dealership, considering the arrogance I've witnessed so far. Good luck!
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