So my van died on a Friday night and my hubby totaled his car some time ago. So we had no vehicle at all. I have been contemplating on buying a different vehicle for sometime anyway. I got my tax return and decided to go car shopping. I decided to start with anything on wheels because they have been around forever. So, Me, my hubby and 2 kids went to the dealership.
We were approached by a sales man who was an ex pastor for 23 years which should have been my first red flag. He then proceeded to tell me that every single car on the lot is safety inspected before being put on the lot so no need to worry, that any car we choose will be safe to drive with me and my little boys. So that should have been my next flag but i tried to give him the benefit of the doubt. We found 2 cars, a 2004 Kia Optima to finance for my hubby and a 2003 Chevy Impala for me. Well sirens were going off not to buy the impala because 1, $3975 AS IS, 2,160, 000 miles, 3, no radio (which i had a system already at home waiting to be installed) or a/c. But i figured for the price, if it lasted me a year or more then i could use my next tax return to rebuild the engine and get the minor things fixed now.
Since after all, it was safety inspected and should be safe to drive with me and my little boys. I was told that I had a 3 day inspection period to take to my mechanic to look at them and that I could bring them back for refund if the mechanic determines that they are lemons. Well my hubby test drove the cars around the parking lot (because my 3 year old was in the car with no booster seat so the salesman didn't want to go on the road) and hubby said they seemed fine. I couldn't test drive because I had my two year old asleep in my arms. We signed everything and traded in my van. Left the dealership and on the way home, I went over 35 miles per hour and the impala was shaking and thumping.
The next day, I brought the cars back to the dealership and showed the sales man what was happening and had him test drive it and he said it sounds like the front left tire needs to be balanced. He sent me to their tire guy at Fuzzy's tire. A man there named Pablo test drove it and said no it doesn't seem to be a balance issue because it would always shake not just over 35mph but more like the motor mounts because when you go at higher speeds, the motor lifts off the mounts. Made sense to me and he said It is much more than that. He balanced the tires anyway to satisfy the dealership and it still shook and thumped, upon closer examination, it needed 4 motor mounts, the engine was squirting out coolant. The transmission was slipping and the a/c may need a new evaporator so pretty much I would be spending more than what I spent on the car or what its worth to fix it.in my humble opinion, that is not safe but more like a death trap for me and my little boys.
I brought the dealership a written estimate from the person they sent me to and they wouldn't accept it and didn't believe it. They said you bought it as is oh well. I said ok well I have a 3 day inspection period on both cars. They said no not on the impala because its as is but you do on the kia because its financed with warranty. I said ok well I want to get my money back on the Kia then so I can fix the impala and they said no, only exchanges for same price or cheaper, which was not what they told me before i signed the papers. So they wouldn't do anything and kicked me out and said we are done talking about this, we have business to handle. There were 3 more people waiting on the manager as well when we walked out with the same issue!
So, we left and on the way to drop the impala off to my mechanic the kia overheated and the battery light came on. So I dropped the kia off instead and had my mechanic just look at it and not do anything to it. He looked at it and said it needed a new water pump and timing belt and few other things but not to drive it to the dealership have them come tow it since its under warranty and you don't want to damage it any further.
They towed it and I dropped off the impala to my mechanic as well so I left Anything on wheels Sunday night with 2 cars and on Tuesday i had no cars. They supposedly fixed the Kia. They called me at almost 4 to come get the car by 4:30 because they are closing. I got there at 4:30 but as I am pulling off the check engine light comes on and they are gone for the day. I have had nothing but issues with Anything on Wheels and got the car less then a week ago. So again, if you value your life do not buy from here.
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