Warning: this is a very long ripp off report, but please read, the most important part is at the end, if nothing else please read the last couple of paragraphs, thank you:
I bought a used 2002 Pontiac Grand Am from Baron's Auto Mall in Medford, NY in January. I went there because of their advertising of helping people who have credit problems. I had bad credit and I needed a car, I thought this would be the perfect place to get my car.
The car I wanted to purchase was $10,000. They said it would be no problem to get me a loan. I was happy about that because at the time I was driving a rental car and it was costing me $60 a day. I made the mistake of letting them know this. I am a young girl and this was the first time I was ever buying a car from a dealership.
They came back to me with the disappointing news that I could not get the loan. They wanted to know if I could find a co-signer. I was reluctant to ask my mom, but they said to tell my mom that they would give her $500 if she co-signed the loan. I asked her and she said o.K. My mother came from West Islip to apply for the loan with me with the understanding that she would be a co-signer.
They said the loan was approved. I paid $1000.00 cash down for the car and I thought I would be financing $9000 tax. When the finance guy came with the paper work he handed everything to my mother to sign, I was trying to read the paperwork and the finance guy was being very rude and basically pulling the papers away from me and held it while my mother just signed away. I finally said "this is my loan and I would like to look at it before my mother signs everything". He proceded to tell me that it is not my loan at all and my mother is the only one on the loan.
With that news I snatched the papers and walked over to a seat away from the nasty finance guy and read what my mother was signing. I was told the price of the car was $10,000 and I put $1000 down, which would make the car $9000 right? Wrong. They had the price of the car as $12893 with my downpayment of $1000 making the total price of the car $11893.
Right away I questioned the finance guy about this and he responded that it was for prep and delivery, and tax and blah, blah, blah. Normally a bill details every charge as did this one and there was no charge for prep and delivery, but there were itemized charges for inspection, registration, etc.
So when I questioned this he got nasty and loud saying "this is what I worked out you can either take the car or leave it". Now given my current situation (that of which they were aware of), I needed the car and ended up taking it very disgruntled and very unsatisfied with my first car buying experience. I wish my mother could have done something but she is not too experienced with purchasing vehicles either.
With all of that said and done I ended up with a 5 year loan totaling $17972.80. For that price I could have gotten a newer car. The best part of it is the warranty wasn't even included. They told me they could not finance anymore money and that I would have to buy the warranty out of pocket and the cost of the warranty was $1240.
Being that I had this USED car for 5 years I needed the warranty, so I agreed to buy it but I told him to take that $500 he promised my mom and use it for that. I had him up against a wall with that one, so he did but I still ended up dishing out another $800. I signed an outline of the warranty policy and he handed me a color pamphlet for a GE warranty, therefore leading me to believe that my warranty was through GE. At that point I feel manipulated and I hate these people.
When I got the car the passenger side lock was not in the door, the moldings on the windows were loose, the hubcaps did not match, the panel for the switches on the inside of the door was coming off and the switch for the power side view mirror was not working correctly, there was also some grinding coming from the brakes. Now, had I known that I would be paying almost $20,000 for this I would not have done it.
I know that I shouldn't have taken it when all was said and done, but I felt that I had no choice. I had already taken alot of time off of work looking for the car, I had run my credit report one too many times, and I was paying $60 a day for a rental car. They told me they would take care of all of the minor problems the car had.
I had to stay on top of them like white on rice to get anything done. They did do the brakes, they sent me to Ex-calibur (who by the way were very nice and they did a good job) they fixed the lock, the panel for the switches, and side view mirror switch. They never replaced my hubcaps or fixed the molding. I gave up and I never wanted to see those people again.
Thank god for a year the car was fine, but then the coolant light started coming on all the time, and the coolant was leaking. I took it to a shop and they said it was the intake manifold gasket. That's when I used my warranty and everything worked out.
Now, a couple of months after that, I was having some noise coming from the front of my car. I took it to a pontiac dealer to look at it. He said that they do not take warranties other than GE and GM. I said good because I think I do have GE. Unfortunately I did not have the policy with me so I called home and got the phone #.
Later, I called the warranty company to get my policy number, and it was busy. An 800 number was busy? Why? I tried from two different phones a couple of hours apart and it was still busy. I finally broke down and called Baron's although I vowed never to deal with them again. The person who answers the phone tells me "Oh yeah they are in litigation right now". So what does that mean?
"Basically once the litigation is over the company will cut every one checks" (YEAH RIGHT!) So I ask him what I am suppose to do? He said I can come in and trade my car for another one and get a new warranty. Hell no! I will never get another car from them ever! So I said shouldn't, they just take my money for that warranty and give me a different one, but he said that they are not responsible for the warranty company.
So I called the pontiac dealer to see if I could get a warranty from them, but being that my car is however old it is, they can't give me a warranty and they don't know of any reputable company that could give me a warranty.
So now I am out $1300, I have 4 years left on my loan, and no warranty. Needless to say I am pissed. I don't care what anybody says Baron's is responsible. I was their customer, they represented this warranty company and they sold me this warranty. I also feel that they were fraudulant and misleading in providing me with a GE warranty pamphlet when my warranty was with a completely different company.
They should also be responsible for checking out the company that they use for the warranty. From what I can see, this company has had problems before, they were known as First Assured Warranty Corporation and Primeguard. But I believe Baron's knew about this and is probably part of the scam.
I am sorry this was so long, but I wanted people to see the whole story. I am looking for other people who had a problem with Baron's and particularly with the current warranty situation. I am curious to know if anyone else was handed a GE pamphlet but was given a warranty with First Warranty. I would like to get a group of people together to take action. They should not be in business. I've seen other complaints about Baron's on the internet this evening, so I know I am not alone.
I might call Help Me Howard as well. Please contact me if you have had a similar problem. T Hope you made it this far, thanks for reading
Andrea
Deer Park, New York
U.S.A.
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