I recently went to The Car Store in Johnson City TN around christmas of 2008. They had a 1998 GMC z71 that caught my eye. I was in the need of a truck to serve my needs of carrying tools around for work since i was driving a 2 door pontiac firebird.
When i first pulled up Daniel the part owner of The Car Store took immediate interest in my firebird and asked if i wanted to trade it in. I said sure but it depends on what you will give me for it. I told him i was interested in the 98 gmc and asked if i could test drive it. He said sure but i could only go through the neighborhood behind the lot and not on the highway the lot was located on.
We worked up a deal on the trade that we were both happy with and i left the lot that evening with the truck. That night i was leaving to Alabama for christmas. I got about 20 miles out of town on the interstate and stopped for gas but i noticed when i pulled to a stop at the end of the off ramp and started again the truck was shifting really hard, jerking into gear. I immediately knew the transmission was having problems and they showed when you got the transmission hot, which is why he wouldnt let me test drive it on the highway earlier that day.
The truck did make it to Alabama with my fingers crossed the whole time. The following morning i took the truck to Ronnie Walters auto shop to get him to look at the truck, he said the transmission was shot and obviously has been for a while, he told me of tricks car lots use to get vehicles sold like putting brake fluid in the transmission to swell the bands and seals for short term fixes, i was furious, but he also found that the rear end was bad and going to break at any time as well and told me not to attempt to drive it back to tenn.
I paid to have the truck towed back to Johnson City after the holidays. I called Daniel at The Car Store and told him what was going on with the transmission and rear end and he told me it was in my hands now because i purchased the vehicle without warranty and there was no help he could give me at all. I tried to save up the money to get the truck fixed but i was looking at over 3000.00 dollars in fixes and was unable to come up with the money.
I called Daniel and asked him about taking the truck back and refunding me whole or part of my down payment since he had already sold my trade in (which was a great car) and he agreed over the phone, he asked where he could pick the truck up at and the next day it was towed off. I waited for a phone call that day because he was supposed to call me when he was ready for me to come by and pick up the money he promised me back. I never got the call so i went by The Car Store.
When i walked in and comfronted Daniel his exact words were "dont worry we're good", i asked what he meant by that and he said " dont worry you dont owe me anything else", i reminded him of our deal and he then said, "well we dont do refunds" knowing the deal we made over the phone.
All in all Daniel knew the prior condition of the truck and had no intention of repaying me after he picked it up, what was i to do, the truck was back in his possession and my trade in had already been sold, i was stuck without a vehicle for weeks and had to find ways to work and everywhere i needed to go, I am still furious and am currently seeking legal help, The Car Store will not get away with this and i will not forget, i hope this helps someone else from making my mistake too. Sincerely, TheCarStoreisCrap
Ihateripoffs
Johnson City, Tennessee
U.S.A.
0 comments