I purchased a 2002 chevrolet tracker from beaman automotive on December 15. On March 12 the engine locked up. It was discovered that the oil drain plug was missing which caused the motor to be inoperative.
Had the vehicle towed to them and they stated that there was no way that the drain plug could have fallen out and that someone had to remove it. I am not a mechanic and therefore took them at their word and file a vandalism claim with my insurance company.
The insurance company denied the claim and said that no one will crawl up under a car to remove a drain plug and that Beaman had to be at fault because they were the ones that had the car serviced last.
Beaman argued that if the drain plug was loosed then it would have fallen out at least a week after I had purchased the car. The insurance investigator said that there is no way that they could have predict the time frame and it was possible for the drain plug to wait that long to fall out if it was tighten by hand and they failed to tighten it with an instrument.
I have not put 3000 miles on the car yet to have it serviced and was shy of 90 days having the car. They are denying that they are responsible for what has happen to the car and offered to replace the engine with a used one at the cost of $4000 before tax.
I tried on several ocassions to speak with the owner, Lee Beaman to discuss this matter and all I got to speak with was Ann Eaden, VP of Customer Relations and Chris Back, Service Manager. I felt that they should have replace the engine for free due to their negligence but they said the best that they can do is offer me $2600 (after I negotiated it down) to do the job with no guarantee of warranty on the used engine.
Now, I am going to discuss how they have ripped me off from the beginning to the current. Beaman is a large corporation and I had expected them to be honest with me and sell me a good car that they will stand behind. I was wrong.
Beaman tried to sell me this used 2002 chevrolet tracker that had 78000 plus miles on it for over $10,000. I was able to negotiate it down some but I discovered after the fact that Beaman had this exact car listed on automart.com at the price of $7455. First incident.
Second incident, I asked them if the vehicle has ever been in an accident and they said "no." I did ask them for a car history report and the one they provided did not show any report of accidents. However, when my insurance investigator pulled a car history on my vehicle it showed the car had a front left corner collision claim in August.
Third incident, in the course of speaking with Ann Eaden, she tells me that the vehicle that I purchased was consider a "bargain vehicle." I had to ask what did that mean because it was never disclosed to me prior to buying the vehicle or in my contract for that matter. She said a "bargain vehicle" is where they do enough to the vehicle to make it driveable and sell it. Plus, I don't see how they could have try to sell me this vehicle for over $10,000 if this was a so called "bargain vehicle."
So far, all of these are incidents that would have kept me from purchasing the vehicle if it was disclose to me.
I called around and got different quotes for a used engine and discovered that once again Beaman tried to rip me off by quoting over $4000. The quotes I got were between $1800 - $2500 including labor and at least a year warranty on the engine with low miles guarantee.
I am still paying on this vehicle and now they want me to pay another $4000 on top of what I already owe. The insurance company will not pay the $400 tow and rental charges due to them denying my comprehensive claim and now I discover that I have additional fees related to the replacement of the engine.
It was recommended to replace the following items: Radiator hose ($42) - too soft; Spark Plugs ($60); Water Pump - weephole has small leak ($149); Fan clutch - slipping ($110); A/C - recharged due to disconnecting to remove the old motor ($135) and suggested a new radiator at the cost of $486.
You can do the math. I am paying for this vehicle all over again even though I have yet to pay it fully the first time. Beaman tells me that they serviced the car but what did they do? Yes the car was sold "AS IS" but this is ridiculous. They should have least told me that the water pump had a leak.
I am seriously hurt right now and disgusted. I am a single individual who has worked hard for everything I have and to be taken advantage of like this is disturbing. I come from a family of 15 siblings and our mother passed in 2000. I helped raised those that were under age and I purchased this vehicle for the 17 year old sister so that she can have transportation back and forth to her classes in college. She received a full scholarship and continues to keep her 3.8 GPA.
You can imagine how this experienced has affected her too. I don't have a lot of money and I thought I was making a good investment with Beaman. I could have went to a tote your note auto sales lot and pay a lot less for a car and do repairs compare to what Beaman has put me through.
I do take this as an experience learned. We probably will not ever figure out what really happen to the missing drain plug that caused the engine to lock up. However the fact remains that Beaman was the last ones to touch the vehicle.
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