Close Auto Sales

Purchaser( 20 years old - not a minor) purchased 2001 Ford F-150 Dee 27,
2013 afler 2 separate test drives, and negotiated a discount far below book
value. The owner included a 3inos/ 4500 mile power train warranty at no
additional cost which he explained to...

both customer & customer’s mother
before purchase. Mid January, purchaser & mother came in reporting that
the 4WD did not work. The business owner immediately went straight to the
purchaser’s home and took him on a test drive and instructed him on how to
engage the 4WD. Business owner also added brake fluid as the light was
on. At this time the issue of a possible brake line leak was brought up,
owner offered to repair it, customer said he had a friend to do it - no big
deal- all is fine. Purchaser asked about the warrénty in early February (not
Jan), was told it was a power train warranty. He did not speak to the
business owner. Purchaser had also been given a copy of warranty
contract and brochure explaining warranty at the time of purchase.
March 272014, close to closing time, purchaser brought in a PennDot
“rejection” letter regarding the ELT number of the Lienhoder. There is no
error with the ‘S/IN number ofthe vehicle. This letter was dated Jan 22,
2014. Purchaser was advised that the rejection could have been resolved
immediately when received, but since it was now 2 months later, his temp
tag had expired the day before (March 26, 20l4),so we must file for an
extentiori. Meantime, purchaser’s father was speaking to owner outside and
brought up repair issue. The business owner told father the (now expired)
warranty should have covered some costs. Purchaser showed owner an
estimate dated January 30th (more than 30 days after purchase) regarding
brake lines and problem with the head gasket, but purchaser did NOT show
warranty to repair shop. Close Auto Sales never refused to honor a warranty
because we do not repair vehicles, we offer warranties for sale. Business
owner tried to renew the now expired warranty(at no cost to purchaser), and
also offered to make inquiries as to prices of parts and repairs. At that time it
was discovered that a trailer plate had been issued instead of a truck plate.
Purchaser was called the following day to sign papers for tag extention.
Father called and spoke to business owner who was researching prices for
parts & labor repair. Father was also told a message had been left with his
son to sign papers for approved tag extention, but has not returned the call.
Purchaser did not come in to sign papers until April 2, 3pm. He was
advised that another rejection letter would be issued (April 3) to correct the
plate, and stressed that he bring that in AS SOON AS he received it. We
apologized for that error, and he said he was fme with that, and even
thanked us. At that time he was also informed that the warranty company
could not renew the expired warranty. Their policy stated it must be
renewed 30 days prior to expiration (late February). Again purchaser was
given this information at tine ofpurchase, and should have received it in a
letter from Warranty company with the issuance of his card. He was also
advised the owner is getting another repair estimate to see how we might
help. At 4:55pm, Thursday, April 3, 2013 purchaser’s mother (alone)
entered Close Auto Sales interrupting a phone call and demanding to speak
to Owner. She issued 3 demands; I. Pay total cost of repair, or 2. Issue
another warranty, or 3. They were trading in vehicle and giving us a bad
reputation. She demanded an answer by 5 PM Monday, April 7 or we
would be facing “a bad reputation”, and stonned out without giving the
business owner a chance to reply or even infonn her of what he was
working on. Close Auto Sales operated in Good Faith and tried to work with
the purchaser. The business owner spoke to the father of the purchaser
several times over the phone, going over options, trying to help. Everything
seemed fine each time the business owner spoke to the purchaser. The
business owner immediately addressed issues when they were presented to
him, but he can not be responsible for the purchaser not reading his
warranty nor be responsible for meeting the demands ofthe purchaser’s
parents when the purchaser seemed satisfied in our presence.
The purchaser has been and is still driving this vehicle that supposedly has a
bad head gasket, possibly doing even more damage. As a dealership we are
only liable for inspectable items for 30 days.(Head gasket is not an
inspectable item). That is why we offer warranties for purchase. The
purchaser’s neglect to bring issues to the business owner’s attention or the
attention of the warranty company until 95 days later does not make the
business owner responsible. Close Auto Sales strives to provide an honest
and valuable buying experience. As for PennDot’s rejection in titling, we
regret the inconvenience of a human error in mistakenly issuing an incorrect
plate, and have accepted that responsibility to correct it. However, as of
no~ the customer has NOT brought in the PenmDot letter. After speaking to
PennDot, Close Auto Sales has verified that the letter was sent out April 3,
2014. We can NOT do anything unless the customer brings that letter in. We
have no problem working the purchaser We will be more than happy to
issue the correct plate when the purchaser brings us the letter from PennDot.

This business owner has gone to great length to justify his actions, however, there are several points in his response that are inaccurate or simply untrue. The most important of these is that I
did take a copy of the warranty to the business in January when the estimate from the local repair shop was given to me and was told by a lady  that the warranty did not cover the head gasket, that
it was only for the transmission. January is not 95 days later as stated in his response. Secondly, to quote his response, Close Auto strives to to provide an "honest and valuable buying experience". I
really do not feel as though I have gotten value in this deal, and I  know that his response was not completely honest.
I would like to ask one more time for a check payable to the shop where I got my estimate, or if the business owner does have a repair estimate as stated in his response, I would be willing to take
it there if the shop is certified and Close Auto pays for the head gasket.

Review: I purchased a 2003 F-150 from this business on December 27, 2013 that came with a warranty. My first issue with this business came in January 2014. I took the truck to a nearby shop and was told that the head gasket was blown and needed to be replaced. I was also told that the brake line had a leak. I went back to Close Auto in January with the warranty in one hand and the estimate in the other. I was told the estimate only covered the transmission. Upon further review, I realized that was not the case. I went back to Close Auto with my parents three separate times and the owner has refused to honor the warranty. I have also discovered that the VIN number has been listed incorrectly on the title and that the plate that had been put on the truck by Close Auto was actually a trailer plate, not a truck plate. There has been issue after issue with this business and I have asked them to make a check payable to the shop where I got the estimate for only the head gasket, stating that I could the brake line on my own with the help of family & friends. I have received no response to my request.Desired Settlement: I would just like to request a check payable to the nearby repair shop for the cost of replacing the head gasket.

Business

Response:

Purchaser( 20 years old - not a minor) purchased 2001 Ford F-150 Dee 27,