Business ProfileforDulles Motorcars, Inc

*** Dulles March 5, Sunday Noticed in test drive steering wheel was not centered; it leaned to the right at 10/4, not 9/3. Car salesman thought (********) thought nothing of it. (Flag) Price calculator through ******** was not followed.(Two warranties were promoted and added - calculation never matched what ******** showed regardless of increase in down payment and number of payoff months.) Working with the financial manager (Danielle Kaaukai) Cost rose from 17109 to 24128.78, before down payments and trade in were applied. Service Contract - 1932, Maintenance - 1722, Gap - 810 (I have a copy of the sales contract. FLAG) I put $3000 down that day and added $500 more later which still didn’t get price back to the ******** figure. When I checked the glove compartment for my new car’s features before driving off, I found that a clear plastic bag full of used makeup was left in the glove compartment. (Flag) I got out of my car, knocked, no one responded, so I put the bag on a bench in front of the dealership, as no came to the door. The carfax sheet indicated that the car had been sold first in Georgia, perhaps to a woman judging by the cosmetics, and had had no accidents. However, this car had been on the *** Dulles lot for approximately 110 days when I arrived. So, it seemed this makeup bag had been left in this car the entire time, un inspected by *** Dulles for nearly 4 months! This was Sunday after 5pm, March 5. (If there is a camera outside the building, it will show that I l left my car to put the bag on the bench.) Car severely pushed to the left on my drive home. With Steering Assist it felt like the car was fighting to go to the left. Frightening drive home. Seriously considered that something was wrong with the car and turning back, but as no one had answered the door to take the bag of used makeup and I had given the car I had driven here with as a trade in whose tags had been removed and key taken, I reasoned I had no choice but to continue driving and hope for the best. I was also an hour drive and approximately 50 miles from home and I was literally very scared. I expressed my concern about the car’s steering and pushing to the left to my supervisor and others the next day, but although everyone thought it odd, I was happy to have a new car in the color and model I wanted, so I didn’t drive the car back or immediately complain because it was now a work week and the drive was an hour and a half from my job. I was contacted later that week to complete two additional signatures for purchase, this after having been at the dealer for between 90 minutes and 2 hours that Sunday. Fortunately, the sales manager (********) realized that I could be forwarded the papers to sign online. (FLAG) Having never bought a car out of the state I was living in before, I waited for my new tags to be sent to me. On April 18th, I was contacted by *** Dulles (Ploy Hornbuckle) in regards to acquiring my new car’s registration. I was used to having tags sent to me having never before bought a car out of state. So, I called a local *** dealer to have the safety inspection performed. The title was sent to me. On April 24 I took my car to *** Bowie (Devin Gregory) for a Maryland safety Inspection which it failed. The issues were numerable. (FLAG) The left steering arm was damaged. The right steering arm was bent. The left strut needed to be replaced. The car alignment was off. The right rear tire was leaking air and had to be refilled three times within a week and a half period. I had only had the car 7 weeks and driven it approximately 3000 miles. Without my prompting, the service manager at *** Bowie asked me if the car listed to the left? I said yes, and had from the moment I bought it. He shared that this amount of damages meant the car had been in an accident. I told him that I had a Carfax which didn’t say that. He looked at me skeptically. He then said the price for *** Bowie to repair the issues would be $2161. I said that I bought 2 warranties, don’t they cover any of these things. He said that didn’t. I said that I paid $3600 for extra coverage on this car and they don’t cover anything! He said that I could go back to the original dealer and in his opinion they shouldn’t charge me anything. I agreed. My hesitation to go back, despite my anger at having been sold such a car and frustration at having not trusted my feelings and complained the next day, remained that it was an hour drive and I already experienced a couple of red flags, and now this! So, I emailed *** Dulles several times (I have copies of all the emails) to avail them of the situation and to ask for an assurance that these damages are covered by the warranties I bought and they would guarantee that they would not make me pay for these issues which were in place when I bought the car. After several emails I received a couple of emails from the sales manager who ultimately said that she would share my concerns with the dealer management and to please bring my car in so they could address the issues. I stressed that I wanted this guarantee, otherwise I would save myself the trouble of the hour long drive and have *** Bowie fix it which is only 15 minutes from my home. I never received a direct response to my request, but hesitantly took the car to *** Dulles anyway as faith and the thoughts of everyone else I shared the story with (and there have been many) felt sure *** Dulles’ wanting to address my concerns indicated they would cover the costs as this was their error, not mine. (FLAG) Calling on the 24th, I was told the earliest appointment I could make at *** Dulles was May 2, so i arrived that day. The intake of my car by the service department (Justin Jarvi) was fine, the best part of my entire experience with *** Dulles. The only thing which gave me pause was that the contract I had to sign for my loaner which was a virtually new 2023 charcoal grey *** **** GT - excellent both inside and out with a steering set at 9/3 - specially noted 30 days as the maximum days I could have the car before having to come back to resign if the repairs would take longer. I couldn’t imagine why that would be a concern since I had already shared the car’s issues through *** Bowie with *** Dulles, why would it take longer than a few days to order parts and repair the car. (Flag) while I was told that I probably wouldn’t have to pay for the loan which was like a “rental” agreement, nothing additional was shared with me regarding KD accepting financial responsibility for the car failing it’s Md safety inspection. (Flag) I drove the hour plus time back home and waited to be notified when the car was repaired and whatever the final decision on payment would be. 2 WEEKS LATER I am finally called by *** Dulles to tell me they found the same issues that *** Bowie did. Additionally, KD considered me responsible for the issues with the car because I had had it for a couple of thousand miles and it had passed their full inspection before I bought it. I replied how thorough could that inspection have been if a full bag of makeup had been left in the glove compartment? I was told that would have been handled by a different department than Service. I replied but it’s still *** Dulles, right? I also explained that if I had been in any accident to cause this much trouble I would’ve had to go to a mechanic to get it fixed and that would show up on a carfax. The rep’s counter was that would only be the case if you took it to a mechanic. I said that’s right, i didn’t, because I wasn’t in any accident! As angry, shocked, and amazed as I felt over this situation - which made me think “this is why used car dealerships have such a terrible and untrustworthy reputation” much less that I bought a yellow car which was turning out to be a lemon - I became more confused and bewildered when the rep told me the sales manager was still willing to offer me a 20% discount for the repairs. I said but I shouldn’t be paying anything! You sold me a damaged car! I said that this is horrible. I feel tricked. I feel I’m being ripped off, and I’ll have to think about it. I realized by this call 2 weeks after I dropped the car off, that nothing had been done with it! This was no longer a flag, it was a bomb. It was bad customer service at the least or presented the actions of a dishonest, couldn’t care less, dealership, at worst. I reminded them that I emailed several times whether they would have me pay, because if they were I would’ve had *** Bowie conducted the repairs which would’ve saved me many miles, travel stress, and work hours, but no *** Dulles could not do that. The rep said he understood my frustration and would ask Sales if there was anything else they were willing to do? I said I’d appreciate that, but I’m still saying that I shouldn’t be paying at all. Two days later, I felt I had no choice but to accept the questionable discount (why give me any discount if you believe the fault was mine? That made no sense.) and asked that the repairs be made. I also asked when the car had been checked and these issues found out? The rep wasn’t sure but believed it had been after a couple of days. (He confirmed that timeline with me when I asked again a few days later.) I was stunned. If KD service had confirmed and recognized these issues after only a few days, why was I not called until two weeks after I brought it in? (Flag ) About a week later I was called again about okaying the car be repaired. (I thought this call was alerting me that the repairs were done!) I again said yes! On May 31, I received an email alerting me that parts for my car’s repair had been received. I was shocked again - it was almost four weeks in and the parts to repair the car had only recently been ordered??? I started thinking why does this dealership not care about this brand new upscale car I’m still driving while they hold on to the 3 years older damaged car I bought from them after it had been on their lot for almost 4 months? Perhaps, it was because by then I had already begun to have car payments withdrawn from my bank. Finally, on June 8th, it is confirmed that my car is repaired and I can pick it up. I can’t do so that day, however, or the next, because of my job. I ask also if I can please be assured that I can get a new temporary registration because the one I had expired while the car has been in your shop. I’m told the office which handles that is off on the weekend so I should wait until Monday, which I do. June 12 I go to ** to return my loaner and pick up my car. This day is no less stressful than all of the others save the initial drop off day. Before I pay, I inform the clerk that unfortunately I had two incidents happen to my car: a slight crack in the windshield in the front windshield and two panels had been cut out of the car’s front grill. I was told that *** Dulles had to have my claim # and the deductible paid before I could leave with the car. I shared I thought that I was told ***’s insurance would cover any damage unless I had used the car in a business manner (which I hadn’t). I was told that was a misunderstanding others had had, too. (What frustrates me most about this is the damage happened after I had already had the loaner for over two weeks and I had said to go ahead and fix my car despite my displeasure with having to pay for the repairs. In other words, if this process of informing me of the car’s issues and *** Dulles deciding I had to pay the discounted sum had been shared with me after the “couple of days” when my car had been checked, I wouldn’t have had the loaner so long for any damages to occur.) In the midst of subsequently trying to contact my personal and then national Allstate agent, I asked if I could have a renewed temporary registration as the initial one had expired. The clerk scurried back and forth several times (I recall 3) after which time, the clerk told me that she had been told to tell me that this was the last renewed registration *** Dulles would give me as I had already had two. Once again amazed, but no longer truly surprised by this negative information, I shared that’s ridiculous as I haven’t even had the car for the past 6 weeks so if anyone asked for a new registration, it wasn’t me. Also, I said as a matter of fact the original temp tag is still on the car which I showed the young lady who followed me to see I was right. I asked so how could I have asked twice already? She responded that she was told that’s what the computer said. Then it made sense to me; if the computer said the car had passed inspection that was true; if the computer said their car had not been in an accident before, that was true, regardless of any issues or used makeup in the glove compartment, etc. (By the way, I have saved the two temporary tags as proof.) I now have my permanent registration safely attached to the car. I appreciate that *** Dulles loaned me a top-of-the-line *** Soul to drive. All of the *** Dulles staff with whom I interacted were thoroughly pleasant and seemed to care about my plight. Behind the scenes, however, others in this dealership were sanctioning and allowing all that could ever be considered a cautionary tale for anyone who is leery of buying a New or used car, especially at a dealership. This skepticism may or may not extend to Carmax who either allowed or was oblivious to this car having severe issues. It would be very interesting if an investigation could be made into what happened to this car between the time it was in Georgia and acquired by *** Dulles or the multiple months it sat on the lot? I know I had no accident while it was under my care and the alignment was already dangerously off when I purchased it. I can also say that had it not been for the distance, I would have brought this car back to ** the next day to be checked. However, I didn’t, and I have suffered for it.