I'm writing regarding my horrible car buying experience. I'm a college student and married mother of three and recently decided to purchase my very first car. I did a lot of research and finally decided on a 1995 Honda Accord featured at Don Beyer Volvo-Subaru. I called and spoke with the salesperson, Peter Farris, who told me the car was still available.
A few days later, I went to the dealership to look at the car and fell in love, but had a big problem with one of the stipulations of the sale: The car did not come with a warranty. If fact, this dealership was selling the car "As Is".
I was very skeptical about doing this. Why wouldn't a car dealership that sells new cars not offer a simple 30-day warranty for the cars on their lot? Nevertheless, after discussing it with my husband, we decided to consider purchasing the car, IF they let us take it to have the car inspected. They agreed but wouldn't let us take the car that day (Saturday to be returned on Sunday). We would have to come back on Monday. I now realize, that they used that extra time to "patch" the car up to run smoothly.
After getting a clean bill of health (with the exception of the brake pads), we purchased the car for $4900.00
Approximately three-four weeks later, I noticed that the car was not driving properly. The car would drive and rev in very high RPM's yet not actually go more than 0-5 mph. The problem would only be corrected after I'd come to a complete stop (most of the time I had to stop in the middle of the street/traffic).
After determining there was a problem, I took the car to a Honda service station and requested a diagnostic. The results were that the transmission had a severe leak and was extremely low on transmission fluid. The seals would also need to be replaced. I agreed and paid them $400.00 for the work.
A week and a half later, the car began to experience the same problem, yet intensified.instead of the problem correcting itself from my simply coming to a complete stop, now the car wouldn't move when I press on the accelerator from a red light (or whenever the car was stopped). To fix the problem, I had to turn the engine off, let the car sit for a minute or so and then restart it. Most of the time, I had to do this in the middle of traffic!
I managed to drive the car back to Honda who performed more tests on the car and advised me that the transmission was bad and would have to be replaced for a charge of $2500.00!!! Needless to say, I was stunned.
Why hadn't Don Beyer told me of the transmission troubles? Honda then told me of how transmissions can be "patched" by dealerships to work properly for a few weeks only to go bad on them once a buyer has taken possession of the vehicle.
This is exactly what happened to me and I'm very upset by this experience. My salesperson, Peter, seemed very nice and honest, and I feel totally scammed by this dealership's dishonest business practices. They knew that the car had a bad transmission; that's why they didn't offer a 30-day warranty!!! And they fixed it so that the transmission would run properly during my inspection!!!
I'm writing in the hopes that others who see an ad for a used car from Don Beyer Volvo-Subaru, TURN AND RUN THE OTHER WAY. They're dishonest, greedy, salespeople who take advantage of people for a quick buck.
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