Warning: never buy a car from lencore auto group without seeing it in person and having it inspected by your own mechanic or a reputable dealer!
This used car dealership, Lencore Auto Group, and it's two primary sales people - Leonard Belot and Robert Marmo (AKA Lenny Belot and Bobby Marmo) - are not to be trusted. They grossly misrepresented a car for sale to me and I have ample documentation to prove it. I stupidly bought a car from them sight unseen and uninspected as I trusted their words and a FALSE CARFAX they provided! Yes, the CARFAX they emailed me was misleading and quite possibly manipulated with a graphics program of some kind! CARFAX was no help in getting the dispute resolved. CARFAX is nothing more than a reporting company that can provide misleading information with no liability. I will write here in lengthy detail what Lencore did hoping this will protect others from my fate of being another one of their cheated victims. Please read this carefully for your own protection!
The car I bought from them was a 1999 Mercedes S500 Grand Edition with 50,489 miles for $16,000 including $650 shipping from NJ to IL. At the time I owned this exact same model with 97,000 miles and I wanted to replace it with a lower mileage, better condition vehicle. Since I knew the vehicle and based on the CARFAX and Lencore's representations in writing and verbally, I thought I could purchase the car and have it shipped to me sight unseen. HOW COMPLETELY STUPID IN DEALING WITH LENCORE! As soon as the car was delivered, I knew it was a grossly misrepresented vehicle. I was a trusting fool and they were dishonest. I called Lenny immediately and told him I wanted my money back and would ship the car back. He said they wouldn't do it and offered to "sell it for me on consignment". I would never be involved in such a dishonest misrepresentation, so I refused this offer and had to keep the car.
I was suppose to be getting the following described car as they presented it in their written ad:
1.) "a four year unlimited nationwide warranty" and their Free 3-month Lencore warranty,
2.) a "showroom shine" finish,
3.) "CARFAX Certified and 100% CARFAX Guaranteed" which showed, and Lenny confirmed, was bought from a Florida auto dealer that sold used Bentleys and other high-end vehicles,
4.) "Brand New Tires",
5.) "All electronic components in working condition",
6.) "Car is barely broken in".
What I ended up getting was a car that:
1.) had no warranty at all because after carefully reviewing the coverage terms, I chose to not take the very limited and poorly rated Penn Warranty (which is not "bumper-to-bumper" as Bobby described it) to reduce the car's price by $1,400. Lencore would then not give me their advertised "FREE 3-month" Lencore warranty at all as "I didn't live near their dealership and they could not do any warranty repair work if needed." Therefore, when I didn't accept their terrible Penn warranty, they told me their Lencore warranty wouldn't apply as I was an out of state purchaser.
2.) was repainted in several sections at different times with sun fade differences, had numerous dings and scratches, several rust spots, a leaky sunroof and trunk;
3.) had a false CARFAX! - the used Bentley dealer in Florida told me he never took the car in or had even seen a car like that in over a year. I called the used Bentley dealer when I saw on the back of the car's title that it was traded in or sold to a CARMAX dealer in Florida. The CARMAX dealer immediately auctioned it off as the car's condition upon closer inspection did not meet their standards. A local Florida car trader then bought it at the CARMAX auction and he re-sold it at auction in Pennsylvania to Lencore. What a difference in history between Lencore's purported purchase from the used Bentley dealership and their actual purchase at the Pennsylvania auction! CARFAX has no liability for their erroneous report.
4.) had three of the four "Brand New Tires" that were almost seven years old (which could be told from the manufacture production date stamped from 2003) and had severe dry rot. The fourth "Brand New Tire" was not the correct size, did not match the other three and had a repair plug sticking out of it!
5.) had electric problems relating to two mirrors that were completely broken and needed to be replaced; two power windows; the power trunk closing which didn't work and constantly drained the battery which I replaced twice; and numerous other electric malfunction codes!
6.) had a front spring broken completely in half making it dangerous to drive; needed rear accumulator balls and struts which were making a creaking noise over every dip and bump; had a consistent light grey stain in the carpeting across the entire bottom and several inches up the sides of each of the four passenger sections leading me to think it may have been in flood water at some time.
After being given an $8,500 estimated cost to repair the car from two different mechanics, I had the two front springs replaced for safety purposes, had the trunk fixed to stop it from draining the battery and put in two new batteries. I spent about $1,500 in repairs and $1,300 in sales tax / title registration costs so I could get rid of the car. I drove the car about 250 miles and ethically sold it for $9,500 after explaining to the buyer what the car needed for repairs that I knew of. My loss on this auto purchase from Lencore was $16,000 1,500 1,300 - 9,500 = $9,300. I drove the car about 250 miles only to repair it to make it safe to drive and then sell it! Please learn from my mistake!!
0 comments