I agreed to purchase a 2005 Mazda 3 Sport from Downsview Auto Ltd. At 1230 Sheppard Ave. West, Downsview, Ontario along with an extended warranty package.
I left a $500 deposit for the car on my MasterCard and was told that there would be a wait period of 3-4 business days before I could pick up the vehicle because it needed to have a safety and emissions test done in addition to some minor cosmetic work. I had made a list of cosmetic imperfections while looking at the car and went over them with Eran (my salesman) and he assured me that everything would be taken care of and the car would appear to be brand new when I received it.
Two of the specific issues I mentioned to Eran were a chip in the window tinting on the rear windshield that was roughly two inches in diameter and rust on the front windshield wiper arms. Eran said the tint would be fixed without issue and that the wiper arms would be replaced with new ones. He instructed me to call Derek, the service manager, on Monday and give him my list of fixes.
I called Derek on Monday morning and went over the numerous chips and scratches in the paint and mentioned a couple rusted spots on the frame but when I told him about the tinting and wiper issues, Derek told me what Eran had said was false and that they didnt do anything related to tinting aside from removing it completely. He also said the rust on the wiper blade was a recall issue from Mazda so the arms wouldnt be replaced but he would paint over the rust.
Unhappy that I had been lied to, I attempted to call Eran later that day only to find out he wasnt at the dealership. I spoke to Eddie, another salesman, who confirmed everything Derek had told me and said he had no idea why Eran told me the tinting and wiper issues would be fixed. I then asked if the price of the car would be lowered if the tinting was removed since its something that is typically an extra cost. Eddie said that the tinting was a bonus and that removing it would not affect the price. I hung up the phone feeling betrayed and disappointed.
Later on that night I searched the Internet for any complaints anyone may have had about Downsview Auto Ltd. And sure enough I found some. The comments reflected a general lack of trust in Downsview Auto Ltd. And their practices, one of which was written by someone who had been sold a car from Quebec without being told it was from there. I immediately wondered if the same could have happened to me, so I looked through the CarProof report Eran had given me and it said my car was indeed from Quebec. He had shown me the CarProof report in his office but didnt take the time to go over it in detail; he just zoomed to the end where it was written that the car was free of any accidents and since that was the most important information to me at the time (because I didnt know any better), I accepted what he showed me as fact.
I had also read multiple comments about the extended warranty that Downsview Auto Ltd. Offered (through partner company A-Protect Warranty Corporation) being a complete scam. I had originally agreed to purchase the extended warranty because Eran had told me it would completely cover any engine and transmission problems with the car for 36 months for one payment of $499. He told me that Id have until I received the car to change my mind about the warranty and could refuse to purchase it if I chose to. I decided to call A-Protect to question them about what exactly the warranty covered and to see if there were any additional fees that Eran didnt mention. The woman I spoke to told me there was an additional $50 activation fee (which Eran later said was $25) plus a $100 deductible and that the warranty only covered up to $1000 in repairs, effectively making the cost of the warranty between $624 and $649. I realize the warranty isnt directly related to the car itself, but this is simply another example of the way business is done at Downsview Auto Ltd. And it did nothing to increase my trust in them or their automobiles.
Annoyed by the information about the warranty and alarmed by the information about the car being from Quebec, I asked my step mom (who works for an insurance company) if she knew anything about cars from Quebec. She told me she would ask around at her office and get back to me. The following morning I received a call from her while she was at work and spoke to another woman in her office who told me that CarProof reports cant be trusted when it comes to cars from Quebec because they have different laws from Ontario when it comes to reporting accidents. She then proceeded to tell me about a car she had purchased that came from Quebec. The dealership had told her it was free of any accidents and the CarProof report backed up this claim but she began experiencing a number of problems with the car shortly after purchasing it. When she took it to a mechanic, he told her the car had in fact been in a collision and that a large amount of repairs had been done to it in the past. To this day the car has cost her thousands of dollars in additional repairs. This really wasnt a story I wanted to hear and immediately attempted to contact Eran. He was once again unavailable so I told Derek to put whatever work was being done to the car on hold until I could speak to Eran.
Eran called me back later in the day and the poorest and rudest excuse for customer service ensued. He denied having any knowledge about cars from Quebec being treated any different from cars from Ontario and proceeded to interrupt me and cut me off every time I attempted to speak. I actually had to tell him to stop talking at one point so I could finish a sentence. His demeanor and unprofessionalism were just additional red flags in the process of dealing with Downsview Auto Ltd. However, he did end up telling me a special exception was being made for me and that they would replace the wiper arms and fix the tinting, he just hadnt told Derek about it. But after hearing Derek and Eddie flat out deny them ever having any involvement with either type of repair, I was hesitant to believe Eran.
After having my fill of dealing with the staff at Downsview Auto Ltd. For the day, I decided to cool down and think things over for the rest of the night then call them again the next day. From the start Eran had told me I was free to have the car inspected at a Mazda dealership after Downsviews safety test, so I called Oakville Mazda to see what their Certified Pre-Owned Inspection consisted of. The service manager there told me that they would check everything on the car, inside and out, and would be able to tell if it had ever been in any sort of accident or if any shoddy repair work had ever been done to it. For the first time since Saturday I felt reassured that everything would work out well.
I called Eran to ensure that if the Mazda dealership revealed that the car had been in an accident, that I would be entitled to a full refund (since I was purchasing the car under the assumption that it had never been in any sort of accident) and Eran explained that Downsviews policy on the matter was that the car would have had to have been on the brink of being a write off or in an accident where major structural damage was done to the car. Fender benders and less-serious collisions of that nature would not result in a refund and I would be stuck with the car despite being told at the time of purchase that its record was clean.
Now of course its only speculation at this time whether or not the car has been in any sort of undisclosed accident, but I feel that having to pay the full price of the car in order to find out is simply too much of a risk to take and the fact that Eran and Downsview Auto Ltd. Would stand behind such a obscene policy makes me question their business as a whole.
Places like Downsview Auto Ltd. Are the reason used car dealerships generally have a bad reputation. I basically spent $500 to check out the car for 15 minutes.
Don't buy a car from them, don't even browse their lot.
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