Advantage Auto Sales Co, Inc

To whom it may concern,
I am writing you in reference to *** ***’s complaintShortly after
Mr.*** purchased his truck, he did have a issue with itA wiring harness in the
engine compartment shorted for an unknown reasonMr.*** called me directly
after the problem
occurredWe got his truck in right away and got it fixed and also credited
him a monthly payment because he was with out his vehicleEverything since has been
fineThere is miles on the truck since it was in for repair a year ago
Mr.*** stop in to the dealership and began to tell one of my salesman’s about
smoke coming out of the engine compartment of his truckIt was Saturday morning.He was
told that we need to get the truck to the service shop so that we can see what’s going on
with itWe told him once we see what’s going on with it we would discuss the repair or
what he suggestedmaybe trading the truck in and getting something differentWe did tell
him that no one would be able to look at it till Monday at the earliest
He then shows up four hours later and said the truck is at the service shopFm here to get
another truckI told Mr.*** that was never the arrangement and that the service
shop need to look at the truckIt might be an easy repairHe said that he couldn’t be
without the truck and that he need it back or a new one immediately.His wife then starts to
be very rude with me and I tried to explain to her that there is a process that I need to take
in order to evaluate the situation at handShe still keeps being disrespectful and I warned
her that I if she continues to act like she was that I will not help at all and they would have to
leave the dealershipJust because there is a problem doesn’t mean it’s our fault we didn’t
build the truckThe first problem with the truck was a original wiring harnesses that went
bad and began to smolderNo one could tell you when that was going to happenHowever
we stepped up and took care if because we wanted to make it right for them
Mrs.*** still keep being rude and I had to ask them to leaveShe’s screaming
that her husband got burnt and that it is our faultI told her that if he is dumb enough to stick
his hand in a smoking engine that he is at fault not usShe still continued to be rude so I
repeatedly asked them to leave and so replied that lam not professionalI told her I asked
you several times to stop being rude or I was going to have to ask them to leaveI never
once raised my voice or said anything rudeBecause I wouldn’t give them a new truck that
day I was at fault for their problemsLong story short, later that coming week *** auto
care evaluated the truck, ac-compressor clutch bearings went bad and someone keep
driving the truck to the point that it caught fireSo at this point the shop said the problem
was that the ac-compressor bearings went badThe shop and Advantage Auto Sales have
place many many phone calls to the ***sThey have ALL gone unreturnedThe
shop won’t continue to investigate or repair any problem until they are authorized and the
customer wont return callsThe customer is far behind on the payments for the loan with
the truckThey don’t return the calls from our collections department either
The problem was caused by mechanical failure of the air condition compressorIf the
vehicle was stopped and towed after the failure, which our service deptsays that it had to
be very noise and definitely wouldn’t have gone unnoticed, the fire wouldn’t have occurred
As for the fire, I see no sign of fire extinguisher material anywhere so Im wondering how it
was put out? Also there is no sign of a fire leaving the engine compartment or getting past
the firewall to come through a vent and burn someoneIt would have to get awfully hot for
that to happenAll the vents are clear and not melted or burnedIt doesn’t smell like a fire
eitherlam attaching a copy of the service report and a picture of the broken and seized
air condition compressor
Please let me know if there is anymore information that you may need

To whom it may concern,This letter is in reference to *** ***’s complaintI have been working with Mr*** myself throughout processThe last conversation that he and I had, he was upset that he took his truck in to get the U-joints replaced and the cluster fixedThese were the two things
that we said we would fix for himI reassured him, that I would make sure that those two things were fixedDuring that conversation I told Mr*** that before he could pick his truck up, that he needed to come current with his past due payments and get current up to date insurance (because his was canceled) before picking up the vehicleSo we replaced the two U-joints on the drive shaft and replaced the cluster and had it programmed by a Chevrolet garage.After we got the truck back from the cluster being programmed, we noticed there was an airbag light onSo we scanned the car and saw it needed a clock spring in the steering columnEven though he wasn’t owed that, I went ahead and replaced as a courtesyI also gave him a $credit towards his past due payments as well for his inconvenienceOnce the truck was done he asked the service shop to leave it outside so he could pick it upThis was on a SaturdaySo on Tuesday when I found out that his past due payments were still unpaid and his car insurance was still lapsed, I contacted Mr***He he said he couldn’t make it in that day that he would come the next day, on WednesdayI asked him why he didn’t pay whenhe picked up his vehicle, like we agreed upon, and he said that he was going to stop in on Monday but couldn’t make it.So I waited until Wednesday and still no payment or proof of active car insurance was providedI got in contact with him on Thursday and he said the truck still has a clunk in it and he wasn’t going to make his truck payments until I fixed itMind you this is a truck with over 100,miles on itSo obviously it will have some clunks and or rattles being the vehicle is years old with over 100,milesTherefore, because he was over $past due in payments and still had NO active car insurance, his vehicle was put out for repossessionI explained to Mr***, that no matter if the truck has a mechanical issue or not he is financially responsible to make his car payments and have active, full coverage insurance.I tried to work with him, I kept my end of the agreement but he did notHowever in his eyes he thought it was right not to pay for the truckI will also include a payment ledger of all the past due amountsAs well as, proof of canceled insurance

To whom it may concern,We repossessed [redacted]'s vehicle 09 Chevrolet Malibu on 5/12/15 due to past due amountof $504.48 His account is set up bi weekly not monthly. He is to pay 168.16 bi weekly. No oneever told him he could pay monthly. He called in on 4/27/15 and wanted to make a...

doublepayment on 5/8/15. When 5/8/15 came he did not keep his arrangements he made with us.Rafaelina (our payment collector) called him on 5/8/15, 5/9/15, and 5/11/15 and got no answer ora call back. With that said we sent the vehicle our for repo and It was picked up on 5/12/15. Oncehis vehicle was picked up he finally called. We have a policy here that if your vehicle getsrepossessed you have to pay it off in full. But we gave him an opportunity to get his vehicle back.He had to pay the past due amount ($504.48), one payment ahead ($168.16), and the repo fee($350.00) which equals out to being $972.64. Rafaelina told him he had 15 days to come up withthat on 5/13/15. No one ever spoke to him since. I sent him out a certified letter on 5/14/15 to givehim all the information he needed to get his personal belongings out and also explained he had 15days to get the vehicle back. The letter stated he had 30 days to get his belongings out of thecar .The post office attempted three times to deliver the letter and no response. He called us today6/30/15 wanting his belongings out of the vehicle and we no longer have them because the 30days are up it is 47 days. I have all documents to prove all that I am saying. We gave [redacted]plenty opportunity to make good with us.[redacted]

I have read the complaint. Lets start off by making it very clear that there has beenno verbal contact to resolve this problem. We have an entire collections departmenthere and excellent documentation in our collections program. We have left many,many messages to please call us regarding your down...

payment check.[redacted] needed $1350 total to purchase her automobile she was $350 short whenshe came so she agreed to write a $350 dollar check and come in and exchange itfor $350 cash on or around October 2nd, She never showed up and has neverreturned our calls for arrangements. We finally spoke to her husband December 2ndand he said that he would have her call. She cailed in and spoke to Ryan and saidshe would bring the money down on the 10th of December She never did and shenever called. There was no offer to pay additional money per month to dissolve thebalance. She could have easily came in with money and put it toward her balance.We gave them more than enough time to make things rIght, I called the magistrateand they said in order to proceed with a bad check that it needed to be deposited,let it bounce and then we can file bad check charges to collect our money.I will be happy to give [redacted] until March 14th to pay the balance includingbounced check fees. They can pay it weekly, daily or all at once on the 15th.I believe that this is a very fair offer to the [redacted]. Let me know your thoughts.Tom

Review: Well I purchased a 2003 dodge ram less than a year ago from Advantage Auto sales in new Kensington pa. The very day I brought the truck I drove it 20 miles and it caught on fire. I hadn't had the truck 2 hours yet. Now I personally wanted a full refund at that point but the GM [redacted] refused to give me my money back. They then took 2 whole months to "fix" the issue. When they finally returned it to me I still smelled burning in the truck which I contacted [redacted] immediately and he kept giving me the run around. I had no choice but to drive it because I have no other vehicle and need my truck to make a living. Its been about 8months since that happened. Well Friday September 19th I was driving and smoke began coming out of vents and then flames began coming into the truck. So now a second time my truck caught on fire. This time I got burned on my hands from the flames. So I went straight to advantage auto sales and at first [redacted] refuse to even speak with me stating that "he has too much [redacted] going on to worry about a little fire" so he finally comes over to talk to me and pretty much tried to minimize what's happened. And refusing to refund me. I've put almost ten thousand dollars into a truck that's been nothing but problems for me. And [redacted] laughs as if its a joke. There are quite a few people that's had issues with lemon trucks from them. And [redacted] is not the right person to deal with customers. All I want is my money back. I refuse to get back in that truck for fear I won't make it out next time. This business is very sketchy and ripping many people off. Please help me with stopping them fromnselling bad vehicle.Desired Settlement: Honestly this truck has been problems since the day I got it. I want a full refund of my ten thousand dollars as well s the 2 thousand I put down. I also want the business itself to be investigated so the same thing doesn't ever happen to anyone else.

Business

Response:

To whom it may concern,

I am writing you in reference to [redacted]’s complaint. Shortly after

Mr.[redacted] purchased his truck, he did have a issue with it. A wiring harness in the

engine compartment shorted for an unknown reason. Mr.[redacted] called me directly

after the problem occurred. We got his truck in right away and got it fixed and also credited

him a monthly payment because he was with out his vehicle. Everything since has been

fine. There is 19427 miles on the truck since it was in for repair a year ago.

Mr.[redacted] stop in to the dealership and began to tell one of my salesman’s about

smoke coming out of the engine compartment of his truck. It was Saturday morning.He was

told that we need to get the truck to the service shop so that we can see what’s going on

with it. We told him once we see what’s going on with it we would discuss the repair or

what he suggested.. maybe trading the truck in and getting something different. We did tell

him that no one would be able to look at it till Monday at the earliest.

He then shows up four hours later and said the truck is at the service shop. Fm here to get

another truck. I told Mr.[redacted] that was never the arrangement and that the service

shop need to look at the truck. It might be an easy repair. He said that he couldn’t be

without the truck and that he need it back or a new one immediately.His wife then starts to

be very rude with me and I tried to explain to her that there is a process that I need to take

in order to evaluate the situation at hand. She still keeps being disrespectful and I warned

her that I if she continues to act like she was that I will not help at all and they would have to

leave the dealership. Just because there is a problem doesn’t mean it’s our fault we didn’t

build the truck. The first problem with the truck was a original wiring harnesses that went

bad and began to smolder. No one could tell you when that was going to happen. However

we stepped up and took care if because we wanted to make it right for them.

Mrs.[redacted] still keep being rude and I had to ask them to leave. She’s screaming

that her husband got burnt and that it is our fault. I told her that if he is dumb enough to stick

his hand in a smoking engine that he is at fault not us. She still continued to be rude so I

repeatedly asked them to leave and so replied that lam not professional. I told her I asked

you several times to stop being rude or I was going to have to ask them to leave. I never

once raised my voice or said anything rude. Because I wouldn’t give them a new truck that

day I was at fault for their problems. Long story short, later that coming week [redacted] auto

care evaluated the truck, ac-compressor clutch bearings went bad and someone keep

driving the truck to the point that it caught fire. So at this point the shop said the problem

was that the ac-compressor bearings went bad. The shop and Advantage Auto Sales have

place many many phone calls to the [redacted]s. They have ALL gone unreturned. The

shop won’t continue to investigate or repair any problem until they are authorized and the

customer wont return calls. The customer is far behind on the payments for the loan with

the truck. They don’t return the calls from our collections department either.

The problem was caused by mechanical failure of the air condition compressor. If the

vehicle was stopped and towed after the failure, which our service dept. says that it had to

be very noise and definitely wouldn’t have gone unnoticed, the fire wouldn’t have occurred.

As for the fire, I see no sign of fire extinguisher material anywhere so Im wondering how it

was put out? Also there is no sign of a fire leaving the engine compartment or getting past

the firewall to come through a vent and burn someone. It would have to get awfully hot for

that to happen. All the vents are clear and not melted or burned. It doesn’t smell like a fire

either. lam attaching a copy of the service report and a picture of the broken and seized

air condition compressor.

Please let me know if there is anymore information that you may need.

Review: I purchased a car from them back in September. I gave them $500 in cash, $500 in the form of a Check the day we bought the car and then was asked for an additional $350 in the form of another check for the remainder of a down payment that was to be cashed in Oct 2, 2015. I got a call from Ryan in December stating that they did not accept checks for down payments and that he was not cashing my check and wanted a credit card or cash. This was after they had already cashed the 1st $500 check for part of the down payment. They then in turn deposited the check in January 2016. There were not funds to cover the check at that time because the check was NOT to have been deposited per Ryan. They waited 4 months to deposit the check they also caused us overdraft fees. Their Employee told us to give them a check and I don't feel we should be penal8zed for that.My husband spoke to Ryan on Friday Jan 22, 2016 to see about making arrangements to pay the additional $350 and was told that he was not going to accept payments and would repossess the car on Monday Jan 25th if not paid in full. My husband lost his job 2 weeks before Christmas and we were also given custody of a newborn baby on New Years Eve and funds are tight and we do not have the full amount to give for the so called down payment Balance. The monthly payments for the car are paid to date and have been paid on time. I have been off work with pneumonia and I am having surgery on 1/28. We offered to give them additional money every 2 weeks until the $350 is paid.Desired Settlement: I would like for them to give us additional time to pay the balance that they say is due for the down payment. If their Employee took the check as payment that is on them and not our fault. We want to pay the money we just need additional time.

Business

Response:

I have read the complaint. Lets start off by making it very clear that there has beenno verbal contact to resolve this problem. We have an entire collections departmenthere and excellent documentation in our collections program. We have left many,many messages to please call us regarding your down payment check.[redacted] needed $1350 total to purchase her automobile she was $350 short whenshe came so she agreed to write a $350 dollar check and come in and exchange itfor $350 cash on or around October 2nd, She never showed up and has neverreturned our calls for arrangements. We finally spoke to her husband December 2ndand he said that he would have her call. She cailed in and spoke to Ryan and saidshe would bring the money down on the 10th of December She never did and shenever called. There was no offer to pay additional money per month to dissolve thebalance. She could have easily came in with money and put it toward her balance.We gave them more than enough time to make things rIght, I called the magistrateand they said in order to proceed with a bad check that it needed to be deposited,let it bounce and then we can file bad check charges to collect our money.I will be happy to give [redacted] until March 14th to pay the balance includingbounced check fees. They can pay it weekly, daily or all at once on the 15th.I believe that this is a very fair offer to the [redacted]. Let me know your thoughts.Tom

Review: I was making payments on a vehicle. My payments was $169 bi weekly. Or $338 monthly. They came and towed my vehicle away because I was late on two bi weekly payment/a month payment with all my personal belongings inside the vehicle. They didn't give me an opportunity to catch up on my payment.They also added additional fees on to The amount I owed. The amount sky rocket up to $1100 dollars. Asking around the neighborhood I found out that numerous other customers went threw the same issue.Desired Settlement: I want my belongings out of the vehicle that they auction off. Possibly my vehicle back or transaction off my credit report.

Business

Response:

To whom it may concern,We repossessed [redacted]'s vehicle 09 Chevrolet Malibu on 5/12/15 due to past due amountof $504.48 His account is set up bi weekly not monthly. He is to pay 168.16 bi weekly. No oneever told him he could pay monthly. He called in on 4/27/15 and wanted to make a doublepayment on 5/8/15. When 5/8/15 came he did not keep his arrangements he made with us.Rafaelina (our payment collector) called him on 5/8/15, 5/9/15, and 5/11/15 and got no answer ora call back. With that said we sent the vehicle our for repo and It was picked up on 5/12/15. Oncehis vehicle was picked up he finally called. We have a policy here that if your vehicle getsrepossessed you have to pay it off in full. But we gave him an opportunity to get his vehicle back.He had to pay the past due amount ($504.48), one payment ahead ($168.16), and the repo fee($350.00) which equals out to being $972.64. Rafaelina told him he had 15 days to come up withthat on 5/13/15. No one ever spoke to him since. I sent him out a certified letter on 5/14/15 to givehim all the information he needed to get his personal belongings out and also explained he had 15days to get the vehicle back. The letter stated he had 30 days to get his belongings out of thecar .The post office attempted three times to deliver the letter and no response. He called us today6/30/15 wanting his belongings out of the vehicle and we no longer have them because the 30days are up it is 47 days. I have all documents to prove all that I am saying. We gave [redacted]plenty opportunity to make good with us.[redacted]

Review: I purchased a truck from Advantage Auto about 2 yrs ago. The very first day I had the truck I slammed on the brakes and blew the brake lines. This happened on the same vehicle that I was told had their extensive safety check. [redacted] stepped up to the plate and took care of the brake lines and also a tire that got over looked for dry rot. Seams great right!!!!! Well what [redacted] didnt say was that the other 3 were also dry rotted and the replaced one (by them) was not the correct size. [redacted]'s reasoning states that its a used car and I should expect repairs being needed. OK safety check, $11K used truck, high interest rate,[redacted]'s right what was I thinking that I could expect brakes and safe tires. Since then theres been more issues with payment schedule and amounts. My payment was set to come out on the 1st and 15th. I requested they take both payments at one time. I was asked what day would work for me and I requested the 23rd. Done deal !!!! 6 months goes by and I'm listed as late and behind. WHAT!!!!! Oh they dont take it out on the 1st and 15th its due every 14 days. So the weeks were some people get a 3rd paycheck , a extra payment is due. So when they tell you that your payment is $330 a month thats only for months that they dont charge you $495. Now after many quality conversations [redacted] decides that he wants the vehicle repoed for a total due of $314.80. Thats a quality family owed company there. Be wise to the fact that the guy making the deal will give you a whole sales pitch that isn,t true. Once they got you they got you and they know it. You needed credit forces you to them and they know and take full ADVANTAGE of it. Funny how that plays out!!!!!Desired Settlement: Want my credit report to show that it hasn't been repoed or late. Also the refunding of all late fees on account.

Business

Response:

To whom it may concern,

Review: On January 6, 2014, I went in to Advantage Auto to make a payment. They told me all that was due was $80.00. I paid that then with my debit card. So on January 6th after I made that payment ... I had a 0 balance. On January 27th they disabled my car. Also to find out ... they sold my account to AC Auto Pay without notifying me ... the account was sold in Sept. 2013 and I just find this out yesterday. The contract says that I am to pay 251.11 semi-monthly. So how do I go from a 0 balance on January 6 to a 900 balance on the 27th. It does not add up at all no matter how you add anything ... they are also telling me my payments are 200 every week which is not true. I have all the original paper work from when I bought the car Sept. 30th, 2011. Can you please help me?Desired Settlement: I want to make the payments as described in original contract and what ever inconvenience that they have cause me due to the selling of my contract to be paid for by either company.

Business

Response:

cut and dry case for me. I am enclosing [redacted]’s payment history.? She made her last car and insurance payment to Advantage Auto Sales on December 5th 2013 in the amount of $326.44. Her account was sold to AC Autopay on December 23rd, 2013. AC Autopay is a company who purchases automobile notes and services them as well. They generated a welcome letter to all of the accounts that were sold at that time and also sent a welcome packet to the customers. We sold aver 100 accounts on that date and had very few problems. Most occur when a customer changes address and ? doesn’t tell us. I believe that is what happened with [redacted]. She changed her address and phone number and no one could get ahold of her. [redacted] wanted to make a car and insurance payment on January 3rd. We told her that she would be making the same car payment as usual with her Visa but she would just have to call a different phone number to do it. We explained to her that we sell accounts from time to time to generate cash flow and that hers was sold to AC Autopay. We also supplied her With the phone number to call them. We did collect the insurance payment that was due that day of $79.99 We also informed her that her car insurance was all paid up and that she had a $oo.oo balance with Advantage Auto Sales. She seemed to understand everything just fine then. All she needed to do was call the number that we gave her, use her Visa to make her car payment and update her information with AC Autopay. Nothing would have changed. I did speak with AcAutopay. Their notes said that she did call in but refused to give any information or make a payment to the account. I personally went to [redacted]’s home to see how I could help. I spoke with AC Autopay while I was there and they called her to help her make her payment as well. She handed me the keys and said that she didn~ want the car anymore. Not sure what else that I could have done. Sincerely, Advantage Auto Sales

Review: I bought my truck in Feb of 2015 and a day after that the speedometer stopped working and there was sounds coming from the rear end. I took it into the shop and they first try to tell me it was working fine and the sound and vibration was normal. I have since had it back 6-7 time I was charged for work that was to fix the problem and as soon as I pulled out the same problems were there. I took the truck back this last time on 6-18 I made a agreement with the dealership owner that the finance payments would be brought to current when the truck was fixed he agreed to that and I have proof from messages between us. They kept the truck for three week I picked it up on 7-3 and as I was driving it that weekend the same problems started again. Also new problems came up. I called the repair garage and left a message for the manager and never heard back. The owner called me on 7-7 saying we had a agreement that I would bring the loan to current when the truck was fixed. I explained the issues were still there and he would not listen saying he repaired the problems. I then explained that it was not fixed so then the owner shut down the truck threw a gps tracker and with no warning had the truck towed from my house in the missile of the night with all my work tools inside. I had to drive a hr to the tow shop to get my tools out of it. The owner has told me not to contact him anymore. I either want my down payment back on the truck or the truck to be fixed right and I will bring the loan to current. I have had nothing but time invested in taking it to the shop and lost time while it set in the shop. I have also been charged for work they say they did and that was the problems I was having. So the parts and work they charged were not necessary.Desired Settlement: I would like to have the truck back and will be willing to pay what is behind on the loan when the truck is repaired and fixed right. Or I will just like to have my down payment back and they can do whatever they want with the truck.

Business

Response:

To whom it may concern,This letter is in reference to [redacted]’s complaint. I have been working with Mr. [redacted] myself throughout process. The last conversation that he and I had, he was upset that he took his truck in to get the U-joints replaced and the cluster fixed. These were the two things that we said we would fix for him. I reassured him, that I would make sure that those two things were fixed. During that conversation I told Mr. [redacted] that before he could pick his truck up, that he needed to come current with his past due payments and get current up to date insurance (because his was canceled) before picking up the vehicle. So we replaced the two U-joints on the drive shaft and replaced the cluster and had it programmed by a Chevrolet garage.After we got the truck back from the cluster being programmed, we noticed there was an airbag light on. So we scanned the car and saw it needed a clock spring in the steering column. Even though he wasn’t owed that, I went ahead and replaced as a courtesy. I also gave him a $150.00 credit towards his past due payments as well for his inconvenience. Once the truck was done he asked the service shop to leave it outside so he could pick it up. This was on a Saturday. So on Tuesday when I found out that his past due payments were still unpaid and his car insurance was still lapsed, I contacted Mr. [redacted]. He he said he couldn’t make it in that day that he would come the next day, on Wednesday. I asked him why he didn’t pay whenhe picked up his vehicle, like we agreed upon, and he said that he was going to stop in on Monday but couldn’t make it.So I waited until Wednesday and still no payment or proof of active car insurance was provided. I got in contact with him on Thursday and he said the truck still has a clunk in it and he wasn’t going to make his truck payments until I fixed it. Mind you this is a 2004 truck with over 100,000 miles on it. So obviously it will have some clunks and or rattles being the vehicle is 12 years old with over 100,000 miles. Therefore, because he was over $500 past due in payments and still had NO active car insurance, his vehicle was put out for repossession. I explained to Mr. [redacted], that no matter if the truck has a mechanical issue or not he is financially responsible to make his car payments and have active, full coverage insurance.I tried to work with him, I kept my end of the agreement but he did not. However in his eyes he thought it was right not to pay for the truck. I will also include a payment ledger of all the past due amounts. As well as, proof of canceled insurance.