I purchased an Acura TL from this dealership and had a mediocre purchasing experience. Just before I wrote the check and signed all the paperwork, the gentleman in the finance office convinced me to buy an extended warranty and a tire / wheel warranty. I'll discuss these as two separate "rip-offs."
Tire / Wheel Warranty: The salesman who sold me the Tire / Wheel Warranty told me the warranty was through Acura and could be used at ANY ACURA DEALERSHIP (I didn't want to get caught up in any third party warranty situations.) I remember specifically asking this question because I purchased the vehicle for my son who lives in Orlando, not in Miami where I purchased the car. The salesman assured me he understood my situation and even told me a story about how his wife used the warranty at an out-of-state dealership. So, I purchased the warranty.
Extended Warranty: Next, the salesman told me about an extended warranty I could purchase that would extend the factory BUMPER-TO-BUMPER warranty to 100,000 miles. I explicitly asked the salesman if it was a BUMPER-TO-BUMPER, Acura official warranty. He assured me the warranty was Bumper-to-bumper and backed by the Acura Company.
About 4 months later, my son had encountered an incident that required him to use the purchased Tire / Wheel Warranty at the Acura Dealership in Orlanod. We encountered the following problems:
1. Turns out the warranty was NOT an Acura Warranty at all, but through a third-party warranty company.
2. Since it was not a warranty recognized by Acura, the dealership in Orlando would not honor it.
3.4 months after having sold the warranty, Miami Acura HAD NOT EVEN MAILED THE WARRANTY paperwork to the third party company, so the WARRANTY WAS NOT EVEN VALID!
4. When I finally worked out some solution (with the warranty company), I had to pay the $687 up front and get "reimbursed" by the warranty company. Trying to get the money back, I had to make countless phone calls and deal with about 4 different companies as the original warranty company had gone out of business!!! I received the reimbursement payment (of $389, not $687) from the third party company more than 8 months after I had the repairs done.
5. Since I had this horrible experience with the tire / wheel warranty, I decided to call Acura to complain. While discussing with them, I asked them about my "extended Bumper-to-bumper warranty" that I thought was through Acura.
6. Turns out the "Bumper-to-Bumper" warranty I has purchased was through Acura (thank god); however... The warranty was NOT BUMPER-TO-BUMPER, it was only for power train.
7. I left about 10 voice messages for the Miami Acura manager. He DID NOT return ANY of my calls.
8. Finally, when I filed a Formal complaint with Acura and the Better Business Bureau, an Esserman International representative (Miami Acura's parent company) called me. She assured me we could come to an amicable solution after she talked with the salesman who sold me the warranty. That was about 5 months ago. I have not heard from anyone again and NO AMICABLE SOLUTION WAS REACHED.
Moral of the story:
Not only did the dealership rip me off, but they flat out lied to my face about the terms and details of both warranties. The Salesman even went as far as making up a fake story about how his wife used the warranty out-of-state with no problem...
DO NOT, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, BUY A CAR FROM MIAMI ACURA or ESSERMAN INTERNATIONAL as they did nothing to help me either.
Believe my story or not... Just trying to warn others!!!
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