I recently purchased a used vehicle from the Phil Long Hyundai dealer on North Academy Blvd.in Colorado Springs, CO. It started out to be the best buying experiance I had ever had, but soon it turned into a series of lies with the intent of screwing me out of more money!
I had search for approximetly two months for a mid-sized SUV that my wife and I could afford on our budget. We already had financing through our bank and new exactly how much we could spend. When I finally visited the Phil Long Dealer it turned out he had something that was perfect! A 1997 Honda Passport. The sticker had a price that was slightly out of our range but the salesman assured us that, due to the current sale they where running, we would be able to get the car for the price we were asking. We made sure he understood that other than the loan we were already approved for and the 1980 Chevy Blazer we were using as a trade in, we had no other money to give him. Everything had to be included, tax, title, liscense fees, etc...
At first it didn't look like it was going to work out, but after some talking back and forth they finally excepted. This being my first car buying experience I was very happy that we were getting exactly what we wanted for the money we wanted to pay. The dealer told us that the reason they decided to go with the deal was because we lived on a military base in the springs that fell outside the city limits as far as taxes were concerned and that we would only have to pay 3.5%. I should have known right away that something was wrong when they had my wife sign an letter stating that if there were any problems or changes with the taxes that I would be responsible (not the dealer). WELL! As it turns out the base we live on does in fact fall into the regular city tax boundries and the dealer called us up to let us know that we needed to fork over an extra $250.00 so that the sale could be final.
There was much conversation about this issue. Many over the phone arguments that would take too long to explain. I even saught legal advice. The end result was that the dealer simply stated, "you signed the form saying it was your responsiblility if the taxes were wrong." They were even so bold as to lie right to our faces saying that they told us that we fell under city taxes and we were the ones who insisted we didn't. Now how stupid is that! We tried asking them to at least pay half, but the did not except they just kept reminding us that it was our responsibility.
I've learned a few things from this experience and I hope others do too One thing I know for sure is that, I will NEVER go back to that dealer or any other Phil Long dealer to buy a car again!
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