I found this company online, from www.cars.com. I got in contact with a sales rep., Scott, about a Scion xB. I told him from the beginning that I am interested in the car, and that I was about 3.5 hours away, but was willing to make the drive, as long as there was nothing wrong with the car. He assures me the car is in "excellent condition" and that it is "like new". I asked what the bottom dollar was, and he comes off the price $100, to help me out on making the drive.
I pay a deposit of $300 on Tuesday, sell our car on that Friday, and go out to Louisville on Saturday to pick it up. Upon arrival, I immediately take it for a test drive.instantly, I realize that the interior is complete trash. The dash is scratched a ridiculous amount, in spots that I don't even understand how it could happen, and in some spots, it was more than a chunk than a scratch. The paint on the trim is chunked and peeling off, and the headliner was completely brown from the backseat to the hatch. (this was a gray/black interior). On a spot of the interior that is painted just like the interior, the was a very large spot that was rubbed so much, that the clear coat and paint were completely gone, just showing bare metal.
There were also an abundance of scratches on the rear bumper/quarter panels on the exterior. I understand this is a used car and 3 years old, but when I flat out ask, "is there anything about this car I won't like" and I get the response of "it's in excellent condition", this isn't exactly what I would expect.
When I get back from the test drive, I made a comment that I was 100% unhappy with the interior, but still offered to take the car, if we could adjust the price to let me replace the needed interior pieces. He tells me he is not coming off the price another penny, and told me that before I made the drive. At the beginning, the salesman told me he did not notice the spots while taking the pictures of the car (which were not visible from the angles he took). When I told him, I was under the assumption the car was in much better condition, and thought he should adjust the price for me to make up for everything, he said "This is the reason we have it priced as cheap as we do", completely contradicting himself from moments before.
I decided I couldn't take the car, for that price, and went in to get my deposit back. Not once was I ever informed that this was non-refundable, until this moment. He tells me that was to hold the car for the 3 days before I got there, and that he turned away 6 people from looking at the car, so I can't get my money back. I argue with him for about 20 minutes, and he finally says "I don't want there to be any hard feelings between us, so I will credit you back, as soon as the charge clears".
4 days later, I still haven't seen my refund (which was 8 business days from me paying the deposit), so I call up there. I'm getting the run around for a few days, with them telling me he was closing a deal, or off that day, so I left messages on his voicemail that were never responded to. One of the salesman finally told me, that Scott said the check was in the mail. I gave it time to arrive, and when it didn't I decided to call back. They obviously have caller ID and ignored many of my calls. I got tired of this and decided to call repeatedly. As soon as it hit the voicemail, I hung up a dialed again. I finally get an answer on the 9th call. This time it was Corey Morris that answered. He tells me to do the refund on my end, to call the card company and have them credit me the money. I asked to speak with Scott again, to find out why he lied to me originally, but he just repeats himself. Every time I started talking, he interrupted me saying the same sentence as before. I told him that I will call my bank to see if they will let me do it on my end, and he cuts me off to say "They will.". I told him that if they don't, I will be calling him back, and he hung up on me.
Turns out, I called my bank, and just as I thought, I couldn't refund myself the money. They told me the only way I could get my $300 back was either by them refunding it to me, or by me taking them to small claims court. My mother-in-law ended up calling (who works at an insurance agency, but the name sounds like a law firm) and they credited me the money back that day, along with faxing a receipt of the refund shortly after. They could have done this 2 weeks prior, but instead get upset when I call them asking for my money back, that they told me I would be getting/was in the mail.
I've never had to work so hard to give somebody $9000. These people are the biggest joke of a car lot I've ever seen. If I were the owner, Scott would be out of a job right now, for not being honest with the customer about the car, knowing they would be on the road all day to pick the car up, and for ignoring the phone calls/not calling them back. But after seeing how the owner acted towards me on the phone, and dealt with the whole situation, I see that he fits right in. I will never even debate about trying to buy another vehicle from them, nor would I ever refer anyone to them. If you are reading this, thinking about purchasing from them, save your time and go somewhere else.
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