The dealership took advantage of a single 77 year old woman that spoke very broken English and did not understand all the paperwork and charges involved with the deal.
My mother wanted to surprise her family by purchasing a car on her own. My father passed away 6 months prior. She went back to the subject dealership that she and my father purchased a vehicle from 2 years earlier. Because of being a returning customer she thought she could trust them. She purchased a 2001 Subaru Forester for $12,078.81. Upon much research I've come to find that these vehicles are being sold for approximately $6000 - $7000 at dealerships across the country.
Along with the vehicle being overpriced, she was also sold GAP insurance at $699.90 that was not required and is worthless. She was sold a warranty contract for $1388.00 and told it was a 5 year warranty when in fact it was only a 1 year warranty that covers the Power Train.
2 days after she took delivery she noticed a leak that she thought was an oil leak. She took the car into the dealership one week later and the mechanic acknowledged a leak but said it was not an oil leak and sent her on her merry way. 2 months later she brought the car back again for the same leak and they discovered it was a head gasket leak. They gave her an estimate of $1490.76 to repair and told her it was not covered under warranty. This is absolutely covered under any other power train warranty. And then they proceeded to charge her $120.47 for labor to diagnose the leak. This leak was obviously there at the time of delivery.
I met with the GM, Geoff Feinblatt on Jan 2nd, 3 months after the purchase and told him about all the problems with the deal and the repair issues. He was not aware of the deal and did not have much to say. I showed him all the papers and told him I wanted the dealership to buy back the car. As expected he refused. He did not offer to make any phone calls or speak to anyone involved while I was there and pretty much just wanted me out of his office. He even acknowledged that the car was not safe to drive but still did not take any action while I was there. He is obviously a general manager that is clueless to the ongoings of his dealership.
Part of the paperwork that they had my mother sign was an arbitration agreement. Unfortunately my mother had no clue what this was and she didn't understand their "beating around the bush" way of explaining it. This was a red flag right up front. Arbitration agreements are not presented unless there is a chance of a lawsuit. Now her hands are tied and there is nothing she can do. I discussed this with the GM and also informed him that I did not sign any agreement and I will be proceeding with a lawsuit.
0 comments