WARNING: Do NOT buy a used car at Johnson Motors located at 3034 Lincoln Way East in Massillion, Ohio 44646.
In January my husband and I were in need of a car/SUV. After looking on their website and also looking at the lot, I called them about a 2003 Ford Explorer XLT V8. I called and mentioned only that I was interested in the Explorer. When I got there they had already pulled it in the garage and washed it. My family came with me so we could throughly look over the SUV. It was clean inside and out, aside from one small scratch on the left side of the bumper. Which I pointed out to him. I was pleased overall with it and since we needed a car for work, we bought it that day. Three days later we washed it for the first time. During the wash a small piece of black tape came flying off of the pin stripe that runs down the side of the vehicle. We started to dry the vehicle off when we noticed around 30 to 40 scratches on the body and especially on the back hatch window. Since we seen a few scratches we then began a more detailed inspection. That's when we found two more cigarette burn holes in the upholstery and a ink pen stain on a plastic piece on the center console. The ink stain was covered up by a business card. I removed the business card once I pulled my the driveway. They put a type of scratch fixer/cover up on the whole car, bumper to bumper. It's like they make it look good until you get it home and wash it for the first time after you buy it officially. Then thirty or so scratches show up that weren't visible inside his garage.
Before we decided whether we should actually buy it or not, we wanted to find out if it was a 4WD (four wheel drive) because of the heavy snowfall. Jeremy informed me that it was. He stated that when it is in 4WD a red indicator will light up on the dash and it will display a red "4X4" symbol. Two days later we found out that it was not a 4WD when we couldn't find a button to push inside the truck for it to switch over. It was an AWD. My husband liked that it had fog lights but when he tried to turn them on, they wouldn't light up. My husband noticed the "door ajar" symbol was lite up on the dash when we started it before I left for work. That was the first time it had happened so we checked all the doors, making sure they were securely closed. It continued to stay lite to this day. Every time we turn the vehicle on to go somewhere the interior dome light stays lite for ten minutes then finally shuts off due to the manufacturer power save mode. Not only is that bad for the battery but it is bright and in your face while your trying to drive, especially at night. Aside from the dome light staying lite, the security lights that are under the outside driver/passenger mirror do. Anytime either of us open the door, whether it's to drive it or retrieve something from inside those lights stay lit.
Also, the first time we rolled down the driver side window at a drive-thru, it wouldn't come back up. The windows are automatic. Another issue is the factory anti-theft system will flash the head lamps and parking lamps while chirping the horn at random times. We could be either sleeping, shopping, sitting in the car while its in park, or at work. The electrical system is a total failure. My husband called Jeremy to explain to him the problems we were having with the vehicle since we have had it. Jeremy agreed to fix the window and the door ajar situation. My husband dropped the vehicle off at Johnson Motors. He gave Jeremy the keys at eight forty-five A.M. On May 18th. We called in at four o' clock P. M and the lady that answered the telephone sounded odd. She said they were not done with it yet but they close at six. They finally called me at fifteen minutes until six. I had fifteen minutes to get my vehicle before they closed for the day.
They had our vehicle for over nine hours, put forty six miles on the vehicle and did not fix the window. I asked them to also fix the door ajar light and he said it never gave them a problem but if it acts up to spray some WD-40 on the sensor on the door. Right away I was shocked. That is not fixing the problem it is a temporary solution which is not what we agreed to. On my his way home after leaving Johnson Motors he called me and said there is something wrong with the car. When he started the car the radio was on very loud and tuned to 106.9 WRQK, a station we do not listen. Later on noticing the guy even turned up the treble and turned down the bass on my stereo. He also noticed there were forty six miles added to the odometer which is a digital dash display, but the gas meter was the in the same spot. He arrived home and began to look under the hood right away because of a loud ticking sound coming from under the hood. I took out my air filter to check it. They put in a filthy air filter which was not the same as the one we had previously. Not only was the air filter different but the housing for the air cleaner unit was not the same one. Under the SUV the muffler was burnt black and not the same one that was on there when we took it to them. Examine under the hood he seen they had switched those parts because of the finger prints on the chrome which is located under the hood. I should add that before my husband took the vehicle in to Johnson Motors he washed, waxed and cleaned it throughly. Continuing on with the examination we found the front window had multiple chips in it. We discovered a new burn hole that is in a different spot that the other three.
My husband I called them right away and of course they didn't answer it was after six so he called them in the morning. The first time I called them on May 19th they hung up on me, just answered it didn't say anything and hung up. My husband called back and asked them who drove our car and that we need there name for my insurance company because of the damage. He told me he can't give me that information. Since he wasn't being reasonable my husband said we will call the police and meet them at Johnson Motors. Once he told Jeremy about the police he told my husband to do that because he would not tell us. We drove to the police station and told them what happened to us. They said it's a civil matter and they could not help me. After hearing that from the police, I called the company that was listed on the work order. Their name is Zehner's Service Center, INC which is located at 1543 Massillon Rd.in Akron, Ohio. After explaining the situation to the manager of the store he said that car wasn't even pulled into our garage. That it stayed in the same parking spot where it was parked. He even told my husband that they never opened the hood to the car.
We received a call from Johnson motors and he was yelling at us and he said this is how it is on our end, when he said that my husband cut him off to tell him he will see him in court and hung up. A representative from Johnson motors (the same person who just yelled at us) stated on our voice mail that he has notified the police about my husbands yelling on the phone. The police showed up at our house and told my husband that is was a civil matter and he stated that he would not give us a police report for our insurance company.
From the day we bought the vehicle, it is has been a complete disaster. Not to mention it has been extremely stressful. My husband and I take very good care of anything we own, especially a vehicle we pay over two hundred dollars a month for. With the issue that are going on, we don't even drive it. We would greatly appreciate help resolving this matter so we know where to go from this point. Also, If anyone else has had this happen to them by Johnson Motors, please contact us.
0 comments