In February I was driving a 1991 Geo Storm and I definitely needed a newer, more reliable vehicle. I went to Long Pontiac in Chattanooga to purchase this newer vehicle who advertised this special claiming that if you had a job and $200, you could obtain a vehicle.
I am a college graduate, but because I had very little "revolving credit" (i.E. Credit cards, mortgage), I would be classified as a 'special finance' customer.
Due to this classification, my options were pretty limited. I had done some research on a particular vehicle that we were about to close on, a 1995 Mazda Millenia "S" that would fall under the correct financing terms. The "s" on these vehicles stands for "supercharged" and therefore would not be financed by the company. So the salesman, Skip Jackson, and I searched for another vehicle. Skip 'found' a 1995 Honda Civic EX that fit under the financing terms. I have to admit that Hondas are better overall vehicles in terms of engineering than all but 4 automakers in the world according to Consumer Reports at the time. He told me to look it over and see if I liked it. I checked out everything under the hood, the interior and it 'appeared' to be mechanically fit.
It was at this point that I asked him a very direct question, "Has this car been in a wreck or had any major changes done to it?" I also told him to go check the records as well. He supposedly went to check and came back and told me the car had a "clean title" and it was fine. My own CARFAX report would later tell me the same thing.
The cost of the car was $8125 and about $8800 after taxes, fees and "customer services." I received a trade-in value of $1135 which was very much inflated for a Geo Storm in its condition as well as $160 in cash. This brought the amount to be financed at approximately $7500, which in all likelihood was the original price of the vehicle anyway. Hindsight is always 20/20.
Although the finance terms were outrageous (29%!!), I badly needed the vehicle and took delivery. It is a great car and mechanically superior to even some newer domestic cars in its class. However I realized that I was going to need a larger vehicle since the Civic was only a 2 door coupe and I attempted to trade the vehicle in... And this is where I have caught hell ever since.
It turns out that I was only getting lowball trade values of around $3000 for this vehicle when it only had about 75000 miles on it which was ridiculous. Even the KBB and the NADA books listed this vehicle at around $5500-$6000 in value. Finally a few appraisers had told me why...
It turns out that this white Civic was originally GREEN and had been rear-ended! I was furious beyond belief. I was told that such work on a vehicle could lower the trade value by at least 50% if not more. Therefore it became impossible to trade this vehicle in simply because no loan company or bank would finance so much negative equity (around $4000-$5000 'upside-down' in auto financing terminology).
I have called the dealership numerous times to explain the situation including sending a priority letter to the owner himself.instead of hearing a response from the owner himself, I am contacted by his executive manager Scott Cook who does nothing, but attempt to find financing to trade me out. This is a waste of time b/c he is doing the same thing other dealerships have tried to do. He refused to listen when I suggested that he buy the car back. He knows that the value of the car has been lessened, but he refused to do anything about it.
Even before I wrote this information on this website, I contacted Mr. Cook again to see if they would do anything to rectify the situation. He said he does not want me as a customer and does not care about what happens with me or the vehicle.
This smacks of rudeness and piss poor customer service and I am determined to let everyone know about this shady dealership and its personnel. This is a dealership that has done nothing to achieve customer satisfaction with me and has had great difficulty calling people back. Even when I stated that what the dealership had done was illegal, manager Greg Toney refused to speak to me further and referred me to Long's legal department.
Their refusal to talk to me shows that they know they have committed fraud and are just hoping that I will go away simply because I was a special finance customer. I will make sure that everyone knows that Long Pontiac/Hyundai in Chattanooga is only concerned with the profits and not the customer. All I want is for this dealership to buy the car back and give me my down payment back since I realize that by November my original car is probably gone. I am really dreading having to go to litigation since that could take forever and cost more than the car itself.
I am willing to go to any length and any action necessary to let the world know that it is not wise to do business with this dealership!
Frank
Murfreesboro, Tennessee
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