In February 06, I was in a rather bad car accident, which resulted in a totaled vehicle. Attempting to be financially responsible, I decided to pay cash for my next car rather than acquire another payment plan.
I completed paperwork to purchase a 1994 Mercedes E300 from Mahek Autos (owner Salim Virani) on 3/17/06 at about 6:00 PM. I had gone to the lot to look at a Lexus ES300 that had been advertised, but against my better judgement settled on the Mercedes because I had been driving a rental for a month and was tired ot wasting the money. The salespersons name was Senai. Senai only allowed us to take a very short test drive (3 miles or so) of the car and it seemed fine. We found out that the odomoter reading might have been invalid, but I thought nothing of it at the time.
The total purchase price was $6175 and $4k of that was paid in cash upfront, with the remaining $2175 being paid in two checks over the next two months.
Minutes after leaving the lot (6:20 PM), I realized that the odometer was not turning over at all and returned to the lot. They had closed for the evening, so I left a message letting them know that I would be bringing the car back the next morning. That evening, the car overheated, the air conditioner and radio would not work.
I called the lot in the morning (Saturday) before going up and the Senai told me to bring the car and we could talk about it. I went back to Mahek Autos at around 11:30 AM. Because I had so many issues with the car in less than 12 hours, I told Senai that I wanted out of the purchase. We talked about it for 20 minutes or so, with him trying to convince me to keep the car. I told him, I didn't want to because I didn't want a car that I was going to have to fix immediately after buying it.
After stepping into the back, Senai eventually agreed to refund my money. He stated that the owner was out of the office and wouldn't be back until Monday and he would have to sign the check. He asked if I could come back to get the money on Monday. I said I couldn't, but I would send my father, who was with me at the time. Senai looked at my father and validated that he would recognize his face and said he could pick up the check at around 10 AM on Monday. I have several witnesses to Senai stating that the money would be refunded on Monday.
In the meantime, I go out and find another car to purchase from an individual. Make a down payment, with the promise of paying the rest on Monday when I receive my refund from Mahek.
Monday comes, my dad goes to pick up my check and the owner refuses to refund the money. He then informs me that Senai has been fired because he has done this type of thing before.
I was so distraught over the state of my financial affairs as a result of this transaction, I had a friend of mine call to try to get it resolved. As he was a man, I hoped that there would be a little more respect afforded him than what had been afforded me by Salim Virani. Salim again agreed to refund the money to my friend, but stated that the funds were not available at the office, but that I could pick them up on 3/27.
I had to have a vehicle, so for the next month, I paid off the remainder owed to the individual for the car that I agreed to purchase from them. This means that most of my other bills got behind and my credit was ruined.
In April, I had prepaid legal send him a letter requesting that the money be refunded. He sent them a letter stating that I knew that the odometer reading was off, had signed the disclosure statement and the as is without warranty form. Though these were true, he also stated that they never told me they would return my money, which was a blatant lie. The prepaid legal guy said that I had no legal recourse.
For the next 6 months, trying to get Salim to return my money, but he refused. I picked up the car and attempted to sell it myself, but no one would buy it because it is damaged property. I asked Salim to give me a different car for the $4K that I had already paid so that I could attempt to sell it and recoup my funds. I told him that I would finish paying the remaining money if he allowed me to use the funds toward the purchase of a different vehicle. He tried to give me a battered, 1993 Ford Taurus.
I asked Salim Salim asked me to bring it back and leave it on the lot so that it could get better visibility than it was getting in my driveway. I took it back. Shortly thereafter, he called and left me a message stating that he was going to treat the vehicle as a repossession and sell it for $3k and not refund any of my money. He sent me a letter stating the same thing.
The worst part is that he was continually telling me how he had done me a favor and was working with me! This situation caused me to be late on a lot of other bills, subsequently ruining my credit.
Obviously, the car was and still is a piece of junk. It is still sitting on their lot because no one else will buy it. I wish with all of my being that I never got involved with Mahek Autos.
Don't buy anything from Mahek Autos / Salim Virani!!!
If anyone can give me any advice on how I might be able to recover some of my funds I would greatly appreciate it. I don't think it's fair for me to have to lose $4K for a car that I had for less than 12 hours. Also, I want it posted for everyone to see that Salim Virani is not a man of integrity, should not be trusted and has questionable business ethics!
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