I don't know if this is allowed on here or not and I'm sure a moderator will let me know if not. This is a little long, but read it, it may save you alot of hassle and money!
I just wanted to let ya'll know of the situation I went thru with a truck dealer in Covington, TN (a very large dealer, probably the only one here in town so you may have seen his ads). Not sure if I can use the company's name or not. If I can let me know and I will.
I was in the market for a used Freightliner Century class tractor. I looked online and found a 2000 Century for $20,000 with 413K on the truck. Had what I wanted (470 detroit, 10spd, although it turns out it was not a 470 but a 360/430) Since the mileage seemed too low I asked the dealer if it matched the ECM miles. He told me it did and it was used as a "city truck". Not a bad deal it didn't sound like.
I flew out to TN to pick up the truck. First sign of trouble, no sliding 5th wheel like the dealer told me. No problem they installed a sliding 5th wheel at no charge, and fixed the A/C. At this point all was well. Other than the truck being an absolute disater inside (I spent ALOT of my time cleaning the truck), it was a good strong running truck. I drove to Texarkana (was on the way to Dallas to lease the truck on), stopped at the Freightliner dealer and had them check things out.
ECM miles were 853,000. All numbers matched the original build sheet, no parts were changed out. At this point I started contacting the dealer. The dealer had an attitude about it, swore he didn't know (why did he tell me the ECM miles matched?). I had a driver sitting waiting for the truck the whole time.
We worked out a deal where I could swap the truck out for a 2001 Columbia which he had 10 of coming. I would have to pay $2000 MORE now for the truck. I needed a truck, so I agreed. The dealer said they should be in the following Weds. I decided to lease the truck on, run with it and wait 1 week on the Columbia's to come in. The truck broke down and required a tow, for a bad battery connection to the ECM. $425 for tow $120 for the repair, this was before it was even leased on! Got the truck leased on, 2nd load truck blew a radiator hose pulling Mont Eagle. Service call at 2AM, $173 (got off easy!). Time to swap the truck out.
The story kept changing. Oh they won't be here until Friday, the drivers this the driver is that. We decide that I can trade the truck out for a '01 Volvo on his lot ($2000), with a ISX 460. I'm not a Cummins fan but I said ok. Get out to the lot, look at the Volvo (he said it had 625K or so on it), the dash didn't work. No mileage reading, no oil psi gauge, tach, voltage guage. Nothing. So now he expects me to take a truck needing $1000 in repairs to the dash.
There were other Volvos on the lot from the same fleet, but he was unwilling to trade them out for the $2000. I looked and looked on the lot, which basically amounts to a truck junkyard when you start looking at the trucks. Found a '01 Century with 750K that was really clean. Wouldn't crank. They got it running, but the truck needed a starter.
It had crappy tires on it, and a fixed 5th wheel. He would trade for $1000 more. It had a ISX in it as well. As I was looking around a fellow traded in a 2001 Century with the specs that I wanted. Detroit, 10spd, 3.70 rears. I offered to trade the truck to him straight up, as is. Basically amounting to a $2500 profit for him without even touching the truck based on how much he gave on trade for it. No deal. His attitude was it didn't matter how long the truck sat there, he could make more off it.
Never mind satisfying a customer who is no ready to involve his attorney. Which he stated that he could have 8 attorneys on his side to defend him, so bring my lawyer. This is odometer fraud. He says they are exempt. I will find out more from my attorney and will be involving a attorney from TN as well to make sure of the laws and find a loop hole.
What did I end up doing? Well at this point, I had estimated my total losses as follows: $2500 in revenue, $500 in extra plane fares, $2000 in extra for the truck, $725 in repairs, $150 in extra hotel stays. At this point my total is close to $6000 in damages. I took the '01 Century off him that had the Detroit, giving the extra $2000 for it. I could no longer stand to lose money, I had to do something.
Heres the best part. The '01 Century runs AWFUL. It can barely pull itself up to 65MPH. It is most likely fuel filters, they ran the tanks next to dry. The guy who traded it in had just driven in it from Chicago so it can't be too bad. I have made the decision to completly wash my hands of these people, keep the '01 and just fix it. I can't afford to be down becuase of these people anymore, niether can my driver. The dealer is not going to help with any of these costs (including the $725 in repairs done to the truck sitting on their lot now, or the $500 in extra travel expenses I incurred due to their negligence). This is the shortened version of this story. There are some bad details left out.
The final report on the 2001 Freightliner is that there was SUGAR in the fuel tanks. The dealer has no idea how this got in there, but he somehow knew I was staying at a hotel down the street.
This dealer has no fear of the state authorities, so they have probably been down this road before.
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