Don's Cars

Buyer beware purchasing from Don's Cars.

[redacted] relies absolutely on his statement “sold as is with no warranty expressed or implied” even if he sells a seriously abused vehicle. In the first 3 months and 3500 miles of use, my vehicle purchased from Don’s Cars required repairs totaling over $5,300.

I purchased a 2000 vehicle with 105,000 miles from Don's Cars. Since I live 200 miles away, I met [redacted] mid-way and unfortunately inspected the car at night. Before committing to the meeting, [redacted] told me about the vehicle and mentioned three times that “it runs strong” and “does not have any leaks,” as well as understating body damage.

He did not mention that the vehicle had an imminent safety problem—the front passenger tire was worn down to the color bars and secondary rubber. This problem was caused by severely worn Idler arms, Pitman arms, and ball joints that were judged by two mechanics as unsafe to drive. This, along with the required alignment and the broken driver’s door rear view mirror—another safety issue—generated the first set of bills totaling $1280 in the 10 days of ownership.

Week five of ownership of this vehicle found me sitting on the side of the road needing a tow. Add $658 for a new fuel pump, not to mention the inconvenience of a nighttime tow in a snow storm and 10 degree weather.

The problems in the first 3500 miles of ownership unfortunately did not end there: this vehicle is rated for 19 mpg on the highway—after 2500 miles, it was getting 12.3 mpg, add a bad transmission at $2500, bad thermostat, bad Mass Air Flow Sensor, bad fan heater motor, and original spark plugs/wires/distributor and serpentine belt needing replacement. All told, the vehicle cost more than double its purchase price in just three months.

[redacted]’s comments when these problems were brought to his attention . . . “This is the negative side of buying used! Next time buy newer if you can.” “I use the AS IS Phrase to protect myself from my customers. Mechanics that sell them stuff that may not be needed on their vehicles.” Well, [redacted], maybe it is time for you to get out of the business of selling abused vehicles.

I have driven this type of vehicle exclusively for 17 years, and have never seen anything like this. If you consider buying from Don's Cars, as soon as you see that phrase, “sold as is with no warranty expressed or implied,” consider if you are purchasing a seriously abused vehicle that could cost you multiple times the purchase price.