Brown's Sterling Nissan

[A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response.  If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]
Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me with stipulations.  I need to return the vehicle and receive a refund before 8/17/2014 since this is when the vehcile temporary plates expire. Please have the dealership contact me as soon as possible to set up a date/time to return the vehicle for inspection and to receive my refund.  Also, I will need to know how long the inspection will take to ensure I have enough time alloted for this.  The vehicle will not be released to the dealership until I get the refund as promised.
Regards,
[redacted]

This vehicle did have a title problem attached to it. We were not able to attain a copy of the title customer who traded it in. Continuous attempts resulted in failure. We eventually had to have the customer grant a power of attorney so we could apply for a duplicate title. Upon application we...

have found that [redacted] has an electronic lien on the vehicle that must be released. We are in process of working with [redacted] to accomplish this. This kind of problem while uncommon does happen from time to time especially on older vehicles where consumers have misplaced title.
I understand the customers concerns and at this point am happy to refund if that is what they would like. I assume other than a reasonable amount of miles the vehicle is in similar condition as when it was purchased. We will have to perform a quick inspection to be sure. Barring any major accidents or mechanical changes in the vehicle condition a full refund can be issued.
Aaron S[redacted]
General Manager

Brown's Dulles Nissan mailed a hand-addressed letter in a personal-sized envelope to my home address, with no return address. Inside the envelope was a full-page ad either taken out of a local newspaper or made to look so, advertising Brown Nissan's 4th of July sale. There was a sticky note tacked to the page which read "Catherine, Check out these 4th of July savings! -- J." This type of anonymous but "personalized" marketing was creepy, invasive, and highly inappropriate. If I had been in the market for a Nissan, I would definitely have taken my business elsewhere. I would tell anyone asking me about this dealership to stay away, based on this uber-aggressive and frankly icky advertising strategy. Honestly, who at Brown Nissan thought stalker advertising would appeal?

It started with a nice service when I went to buy a new car, then turned into a nightmare the moment we concluded the purchase. I purchased my car in May and still did not get my tags. I was misinformed, ignored and lied to many times. I wish they were brave enough to take ownership of their errors and just fix them instead of hiding and ignoring customers like that. I like the brand Nissan and may buy it again, but never from Brown's Dulles, they actually ruin it for all Brown's location as far as I am concerned. I gave them the benefit of the doubt and waited to give them enough time to get it together. no apologies and no manners, I am really surprised they are in business still. I learned my lesson and hope no one will have to deal with a bad dealership like this again.
I am still working on getting my recall items done and my car tags from purchase till not have not been provided yet. The managers, Jad, Jessy are helpless and cowards, they know how to lie just to get out of the call and ignore you. It is disgusting!!!

Review: I purchased a used [redacted] from Brown's Nissan on 6/17/2014 in full. When we came to pick up the vehicle the windshield still had a large crack in it. They promised the day before to have the windshield replaced and the vehicled cleaned out with a full tank of gas. None of those promises were kept. They gave us a rental car while they fixed the vehicle and promised to deliver the vehicle in the condition just mentioned. The vehicle was delivered with the windshield replaced but the vehicle was dirty and the tank was not full of gas. The person that delivered the vehicle told my husband to bring the vehicle back and they will detail it.

Also during the purchasing process, the dealer told us that the tires could not be replaced because there were after market rims on the vehicle. They also said that the vehicle passed VA State inspection but we would have to take it to MD to get inspected. The finance person stated that if it didn't pass, the dealer would fix the problem at no charge to us. So we took the vehicle to be inspected and it did not pass. The rear rotors had to be replaced and the front passenger tire had to be replaced. I contacted the dealer and I kept getting passed off with no one answering the phone to help. Finally I went up to the dealer because we realized that we couldn't register the vehicle because we had not received the title. After asking for the manager and people asking me a ton of questions, I find out that the title was not clear from the previous owner so they could not give me the title to register the vehicle. The Title Person said that it was being taken care of and we should receive the title in 10 days. It is now 10 days later and I called to get an update. No one would take my call. I got transferred to 3 different voice mails. I left a message and still have not received a call. I directly contacted the sales dealer via text message that I dealt with during the purchasing process. He gave me the name of the title person (Sandra B[redacted]) and told me to contact her directly at ###-###-####. This turns out to be the general phone number for the dealership and I still get to speak to anyone.

I am not sure if it is legal to sell a vehicle without a title and I am not getting any resolve by calling the dealership.Desired Settlement: I believe this is a scam and they can't get the title. When I went back to the dealer, they made sure that I knew that they don't refund. They will only to an exchange for the value of the car. At this point, I want my money back. I like the truck but I have a feeling they are not going to do the exchange because we have been driving the vehicle and it has depreciated or something tricky like that. I appreciate any help that can be provided. Thank you.

Business

Response:

This vehicle did have a title problem attached to it. We were not able to attain a copy of the title customer who traded it in. Continuous attempts resulted in failure. We eventually had to have the customer grant a power of attorney so we could apply for a duplicate title. Upon application we have found that [redacted] has an electronic lien on the vehicle that must be released. We are in process of working with [redacted] to accomplish this. This kind of problem while uncommon does happen from time to time especially on older vehicles where consumers have misplaced title.

I understand the customers concerns and at this point am happy to refund if that is what they would like. I assume other than a reasonable amount of miles the vehicle is in similar condition as when it was purchased. We will have to perform a quick inspection to be sure. Barring any major accidents or mechanical changes in the vehicle condition a full refund can be issued.

Aaron S[redacted]

General Manager

Consumer

Response:

[A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response. If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me with stipulations. I need to return the vehicle and receive a refund before 8/17/2014 since this is when the vehcile temporary plates expire. Please have the dealership contact me as soon as possible to set up a date/time to return the vehicle for inspection and to receive my refund. Also, I will need to know how long the inspection will take to ensure I have enough time alloted for this. The vehicle will not be released to the dealership until I get the refund as promised.

Regards,

Review: I am so fustrated with my recent purchase of my new Nissan car that I bought two days ago at Brown's [redacted] Nissan Dealership. I feel that I was hassled to buy and tricked in the negotiations. I believe I was exhausted when signed the contract, I got there aftenoon and ended signing contract at around 10:00pm. I was told that I had to take the new car, with no insurance on my name because it was too late to contact [redacted]. And, so I was given the car with their plates and a DMV permit for 1 day, having to come back next day to finish transactions and to complete the trade in of my old car. When got home, I realized that I had signed contract for more than original price, down payment and trade in amounts were invisible in the maths and also the discount they said they had given me. Came back the next day and asked the sales manager for a description of the charges and he wasn't able to give me a valid explanation, started with a number and didn't complete the math. I also had signed for services that I was explained I had to take for the goodness of the car, a maintenance agreement of 7 years,and other additional services, but was never explained that the car had a maintenance warranty of 3 years when signed the contract. When I requested the Finance Manager, the person who had sold me the services to remove them from the contract she got annoyed.. then, when she removed the services, the price of the car went down to what she said it was a mistake because it seemed to low, she suddently left the room and when came back she fixed the amount to increase it in more than a thousand dollars, to what she said was the right price. then I had no choice to sign the contract for what she said it was the right price, because I had taken the car home the night before and so according to them I couldn't return it. The way they manage sales denote so much deshonesty that I feel so unsatisfied with the purchase. The whole negotiation was so weird and when I now revise all the facts, I just can't explain myself how I couldn't see it the night before.Desired Settlement: I now there was no mistake on the financed amount that resulted when she removed the services, something around $21,000.00., then she increased to $22620. I have both invoices the one I signed before and the last one I signed at last and amounts are very incongruent, I can't deduct on my own what they billed me for and they weren't clear either. I wish they correct the invoice with the finance amount that resulted after services were removed. Thanks.

Business

Response:

The customers is clearly unhappy with the pricing and negotiations. This can sometimes be a point of contention in the industry for sure. The proposed resolution by the customers words is a billing adjustment. I would like to know the specific adjustments he is requesting. We can certainly pull the file and review the pricing with the customer again.

Review: This is the letter I have written to [redacted], President/General Manager of Brown's Dulles Nissan. The above selected complaint is just one of many.

June 26, 2013

**. [redacted],

I am writing you this letter to inform you of the horrible experience I had buying my new car at your dealership. I originally had decided to purchase my 2012 Nissan Rogue with another dealership and changed my mind after speaking with [redacted] and [redacted] who assured me they would beat my quote from the other dealership. We agreed on the make, model, color and style of car and I informed them of the time I would be there on January 31st of this year. When I arrived [redacted] met me and then brought [redacted] over who quoted me a price. I thought about it for about 10 minutes and then agreed. I was then informed that the car was in another lot and would need to be brought over. I was astonished that it wasn’t already there. They never once told me that it was located in Fairfax! I arrived at the dealership at 4:50pm and the car didn’t arrive until 7:30pm!

[redacted] didn’t tell me that the car was in Fairfax until we asked why it was taking so long for the 10th time at around 7pm. The car finally arrived and I had to test drive it at night, which wasn’t ideal as you couldn’t see if there was damage to the car. The car also had 126 miles on it which I was assured it wouldn’t have more than 50. When we got back from the test drive we drove it into a garage to look at it. Then the car was supposed to be vacuumed and washed before we left. We waited again for finance, still nothing. I finally had to get up and go find [redacted] and he said he’d be with me in a moment, then called me back, to up my price because there was a Bluetooth in the car and another manager that was present said the price should be higher because I was financing with my bank. I had already made that clear to [redacted] before I stepped into the dealership and I was absolutely furious that after being there for 3 hours this was now being brought to my attention. It was only after I threatened to walk out did they change their minds.

I met with finance and got the paperwork done very quickly. Because I am financing through my bank I wanted to make sure that the title would be sent to the bank which I was assured once again that it would happen. We finished with finance and we’re ready to get out of there when we had to WAIT AGAIN! The car hadn’t been washed or vacuumed yet! [redacted] at no point had any sense of urgency in this entire process ever! We had to wait some more and finally went to the car and then had TO FOLLOW HIM TO GET GAS!!! We didn’t leave the dealership until 9:30pm because we had to wait for [redacted]. I have never dealt with such incompetence in my life. At this point I wish I had followed my gut and walked out of your dealership and gone and paid a higher price with the other one. I would like to point out that the car wasn’t vacuumed and I had to take care of doing that myself.

A week passed and I returned to get the books for the car that were not available at the time of purchase and turn in my check from the bank. I double checked that the title would be mailed to [redacted] and was again assured it would be. [redacted] was supposed to help me go through the books but was with someone else at the time. He called me as I was on my way and wanted to make sure that I told the survey people that he did a good job and basically tried to get me to say all was well with everything he did.

A month passed and to my surprise I received the original TITLE in the mail at my home! I called your dealership and was told the person who could help me was gone for the day but they’d fix it. I wasn’t about to let that happen because I don’t trust anything anyone at your dealership says. I had to then go to the DMV and spend my time and my money correcting the problem so that the title went to my bank where it should have gone in the first place.

I spoke with a customer service rep who tried to earn my business back by offering to redeliver my car back to me. Really that’s all? After the way I was treated and the horrible time I spent at your dealership I never wish to walk back in there at all. The customer service rep told me she would then transfer my account to Brown’s Hyundai of Leesburg as it’s close to where I stay on a regular basis. Well today was the day I called Brown’s of Leesburg to set up my first free of two oil changes and tire rotations as well as my free state inspection. Guess what? They have no record of my account at all!!! I then call your dealership to find out why and the person who handles that is GONE FOR THE DAY!

Supposedly this will all be taken care of in the morning and I should be able to call Brown’s of Leesburg with no issues tomorrow. I really don’t believe that for a second and I have a feeling I’m going to have to call and call and call until it’s fixed. I really don’t understand what goes on at your dealership but I can’t get over the total incompetence of it all. I’m absolutely flabbergasted at all the crap that has happened since dealing with you all. I wanted to inform you of this and also let you know that a copy of this letter will be going to the Revdex.com, Kelley Blue Book, Edmunds, and to Nissan.

Sincerely,

[redacted]Desired Settlement: I was only offered to have my car redelivered and to me that was a brush off. This was also offered before the dealership messed up my title and I had to correct that issue myself. I'm not sure what could be offered that would make this all better.

Consumer

Response:

I have been provided with free services from Nissan Corporate. I would want the dealership to provide additional services for free.

Business

Response:

I remember this situation well and am very simpathtic to what she experienced. I have spoken with the General Manager and there is service in the system for Leesburg Hyundai. It seems the reason she was told she was not in the system is because her Nissan has never been to the store for their to be a record. The normal process is to check a vehicle in at which point a record is made in the computer system. The GM has manually entered a record and is reaching out to [redacted] now via email. However if Nissan (the manufacture) has given her free service as well that would only be able to be claimed at Nissan dealerships. I am open to offering additoinal services. Please let me know what she has in mind.

Consumer

Response:

[To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed Administratively Resolved]

Review: [redacted]

I am rejecting this response because:

At no point has anyone from the dealership emailed me. I have sent two separate emails to the GM and Manager within the last few weeks and have never gotten a response. I feel as if I deserve an apology from them before I can move forward with what services I'm requesting.

Regards,

Brown's Dulles Nissan mailed a hand-addressed letter in a personal-sized envelope to my home address, with no return address. Inside the envelope was a full-page ad either taken out of a local newspaper or made to look so, advertising Brown Nissan's 4th of July sale. There was a sticky note tacked to the page which read "Catherine, Check out these 4th of July savings! -- J." This type of anonymous but "personalized" marketing was creepy, invasive, and highly inappropriate. If I had been in the market for a Nissan, I would definitely have taken my business elsewhere. I would tell anyone asking me about this dealership to stay away, based on this uber-aggressive and frankly icky advertising strategy. Honestly, who at Brown Nissan thought stalker advertising would appeal?