On July 17th I was in contact with Powell Automotive (see aka) about purchasing a car through their "guaranteed credit program." Everything sounded good until I actually got to the dealership. The car that they wanted to finance me for is a 2004 Suzuki Forenza S with 41,000 miles on it.
The car had extensive scratching in the paint along the side and rear. The salesman (Leonard Warren) promised that it would be repaired but that they could not do it before Tuesday of the next week. I asked the finance manager about it (Misty Sterling, who is also the general manager of the dealership) and she also assured me that when I brought the car back the next week, they would issue me a loaner from the lot, and I could have my car back the next afternoon.
This was supposedly all written down on the Buyer's Guide - which I incidentally did not get. I wasn't aware until I got home that they were required by Federal Law to give me the Buyer's Guide. I know that verbal agreements are hard (if not impossible) to prove, but the verbal agreement was also witnessed by myself, my mother (who co-signed the loan), Ms. Sterling, and Mr. Warren.
I took the car back, the following Monday, received a 2001 Dodge Intrepid to drive. The next day they did not even bother to call me to tell me that the work was "done". The way that it was explained to me (no doubt to get me to sign the papers) was that the clear coat would be sanded down and then reapplied. This turned into they were trying to buff the scratches down. (I don't know anything about how one gets scratches off a car, so none of it really makes sense to me)
I was very angry to discover that every scratch - no matter how minor - was STILL THERE! Rather than explode at these people, I left the dealership when I was told by a man that is either a receptionist or salesman "I'm sorry, we did all that we could." There was no explanation from the salesman, Mr. Warren or the general manager, Ms. Sterling.
I wrote a detailed letter about all of the things that happened, and expressed my displeasure at their non-existent "customer service." I was naive and expected a phone call, or something explaining what happened. No. I didn't even get that.
Coem to find out, they had also transferred the tags from my trade in, which was in my name only. They only charged me $45.00 to do so. I spoke to the County Clerks office in my county, because something did not seem right about that. I was right, I had been driving illegaly for a week and a half. The CC office also told me that they charged me too much for a transfer and not enough for new tags ($98.50 in my county in TN).
I took the car back to the dealership after the woman at the CC office called Powell Automotive and spoke to a woman named Lisa. Lisa acknowledged that the tags were illegal to the woman from the CC office. Powell Automotive issued me a temporary drive out tag and I spoke to Ms. Sterling (very briefly) about the matter - explained that they were illegal. I was assured that they would straighten the situation out.
The temporary tag expires in 7 days, and I called Powell Automotive today to see what was taking so long. I spoke to Lisa in the tag/title dept. She knew absolutely nothing about the situation. She told me that they had me down as having transferred tags, and acknowledged AGAIN that yes, the tags that I had would be illegal since the car was coming from my name to a car in mine and my mother's name.
She then told me that I was charged $45.00 for transferred tags and told me what the price of tags in Dickson Co. Is - I do believe expecting me to pay the difference. I intend to hold Powell Automotive liable for the amount since it was their mistake to begin with.
Whatever you do, anyone out there, do not buy from Powell Automotive in Dickson, TN! If I had not been desperate for a car, I wouldn't have bought from them. After reading about the bank that the car is financed through (Wells Fargo) I expected to have problems with them - and not the dealership. Odd how it's the other way around.
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