Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:08/09/2022

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Date of Transaction: April 9, 2022 Date of Review: August 4, 2022 Business: Traded in 2019 ******* Elantra to finance 2006 Mercury Grand ******************* The dealership clearly states "All vehicles go through a rigorous inspection and are fully prepped upon delivery". This is completely false and the evidence provided will corroborate my statement. The car's sticker price was $4995. It had illegal tints on it, and I was told "if you get pulled over, you didn't get the car from here" Dealership decided to raise the price to $6995 without explaining it to me. In order to have the car inspected, I had to pay extra money to have the car inspected with the tints and the airbag issue, otherwise it wouldn't pass ************** inspection. This is literally illegal. The dealership promised me they have an on-site mechanic that inspected the car prior and assured me it was mechanically sound. The car didn't have power steering, needed brakes, airbags don't work, there's a message on the dashboard saying "check air suspension", and about a month into owning the car, check engine light came on for an oxygen sensor. Check engine light came on two weeks later, and my catalytic converter is bad. That's an extremely costly repair. A month later, my AC goes out. Two months later, and the transmission goes on the car. The cable that connects the shifter to the gears snapped, and so my car was stuck in park in a parking lot. The car was also sold with bald rear tires that eventually blew out on me, one of which had blown out the same day I picked it up after it was repaired for the transmission. The fact of the matter is that the dealership promised the car went through rigorous inspection and that it was both safe to drive and mechanically sound, and neither of those things ended up being true. He sold it to me with illegal tints, illegal headlights, and an airbag problem, none of which would pass NY state inspection. Now that the catalytic converter is bad, it'll never pass.

  Business Response

  Date: 08/09/2022

  To who it may concern,
  my name is *************************** owner of Fair & Square Automotive Group located at ******************************************************************. I am writing this response to ID# ******** on behalf of a transaction that took place between our dealership and ************************* on 04/09/2022. ****** came in to see if we could help get him out of his 2019 ******* Elantra as he had just lost his job and could no longer afford his current payment of upwards of $500/mo. as well as his insurance payment. He knew if he had let the vehicle get repossessed he would ruin his credit and he would no longer have transportation. He asked for our help and we did just that as we felt for his situation. All of our vehicles are serviced and inspected by *** Repair Facilities as well as our in house mechanics before they are transferred to the new owner. He looked at the vehicle, drove the vehicle, was provided a carfax on the vehicle and was offered to have his personal mechanic come and look at as we offer that to all of our customers to ensure satisfaction in an industry built on trust. ****** said if we can keep his monthly payments under $250/mo he would take this vehicle. Not only did we accomplish that but his insurance payment went down by half and he was absolutely thrilled. ****** purchased a 2006 Mercury Grand ******* from ** for $6,995. This vehicle is 16 years old with over 100 Thousand Miles I the owner personally dealt with him. The car was sold in good running and driving condition as well as up to *** standards as far as safety and emission. As far as his tires blowing out lets face it we live in ******** our roads are terrible tires blow out on the expressway everyday even brand new tires. The car did have a check engine light come on about a week into buying the car and I assured him that it is not a big deal and we would do whatever was necessary to resolve the issue. I had ****** come down with the car and we fixed it at no cost to him. The repair took place on May 21st 2022 when he finally made it a priority to come down and have it taken care of. This repair cost me about $400 for parts and labor to repair his oxygen sensor that failed. he brought to our attention that he a/c wasn't blowing cold and we fixed that as well at no cost. He had also asked if we would buy back the vehicle as he had found something else that he wanted to purchase we informed him that it was too early in his loan to buy him out of this one. The airbag light was on at the time of purchase as well as the check suspension notice and the customer was advised that the sensor had failed triggering the airbag light and the light would not fail *** inspection or prevent the airbags from properly functioning. The suspension was newly replaced with coil over suspension because the prior air ride suspension had failed due to age and when the suspension is swapped from air ride to coils it results in an error code. On July 1st 2022 3 months after ****** had purchased the vehicle he had reached out and advised us that his car was not coming out of park and when further inspected we found that the gear indicator linkage has snapped inconclusive of whether it was due to its age or how it was driven. Needless to say we had him tow it to us and we repaired the vehicle at a wholesale rate as we do for all of our customers. ****** had purchased a warranty with his vehicle in April and when it came time to pay for the repair he didn't have the money for the deductible so we took his word let him pay off the repair when he got his next paycheck. On August 2nd 2022 ****** reached out again claiming he had a problem with his brake pads and rotors and I advised him again that unfortunately brakes are considered a wear item and that they are not covered under the warranty. This is when ****** decided to take it to the Internet and slander my small business all over social media platforms and ****** reporting false information and lying to consumers about his experience. He also had his friends and family write fake bad reviews at this point I was no longer interested in trying to help ****** and he then filed a case with you guys the Better Business Bureau. Any questions or concerns please feel free to reach out at any time ************ -****** *******  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 08/10/2022

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID# ********, and have determined that my complaint has NOT been resolved because:

   

  When ****** said "He had also asked if we would buy back the vehicle as he had found something else that he wanted to purchase we informed him that it was too early in his loan to buy him out of this one." - this is false. I never asked the dealership to buy back the Grand ******** However, if that were an option, I'd have exercised that by now. If there was a way for the dealership to get me out of this car and into a different one, circumstances may be different, but the fact of the matter is, this car has caused undue financial burden and should not have if the dealership promises consumers that their cars are rigorously inspected. No reputable dealership in good faith can sell a car that will not legally pass inspection. The car was on the lot with illegal tints that would fail NY state inspection. The dealer made me pay extra money out of pocket to have the car inspected. That should not have been my responsibility, that is the responsibility of the dealership to ensure the vehicle is inspected prior and ready to be driven off the lot. If no resolution can be provided, at the very least I believe I am due the extra money ($150) back that I paid to have the car illegally inspected. 
  

  if the dealership is to stand by it's customers, it should help out the customer. Yes, the dealership helped get rid of my Elantra and my high insurance cost, and I am grateful, but it is severely offset by the amount of repairs I have had to conduct on the car. In order for me to have this car legally pass inspection from here on out, I would have to pay upwards of $2000 to have that done. At the very least, the dealership should cover that cost so that it no longer is a burden on me. The car should have been reliably inspected and legal upon listing the car for sale. 
  

  In response to ******** statement about the tires, yes, although ** state roads are ridden with pot holes, it was not a pot hole that caused both my rear tires to blow out. It was the fact that the car was sold with tires with zero tread left, that would also fail inspection.