Salem's Car Shop

Review: I went to Salem Car Shop to buy a car and they told me it was a reliable vehicle and as soon as I pulled off the lot with the vehicle it started to mess up and I took it back and told them that I wanted my money back, and they would not and this vehicle has been in the shop every two weeks now. They said that they would upgrade me to a better vehicle and then they turn around and said no.Desired Settlement: Not good

Business

Response:

The customer purchased the vehicle on 6/4/14. All vehicles are State inspected by a reputable state inspection station and then inspected by our mechanics. The vehicle in question is a 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee. Before the sale the customer has the option of taking it to there own mechanic to have the vehicle looked over for issues. At that time if issues are found the customer has the option to not purchase the vehicle or sign a Time of Sale Agreement. The time of sale agreement is a written contract between the customer and dealer that any issues found during the test drive will be repaired, replaced, or fixed. All vehicles sold are AS-IS without warranty. There is the option to purchase a 3 month 3000 mile warranty through ASC a reputable warranty company which the customer did purchase. At the time of purchase the vehicle had 156,041miles on it the vehicle was dropped off at the dealership with 158,023 miles on it in July. The customer stated that the only issues at the time of sale were as follows:

-Needs Alignment checked-

-Light on dash maybe alternator-

Both issues were put in the agreement and fixed at no expense to the customer and at a date and time of their choosing. Later the customer complained of other issues that were not stated at the time the vehicle was purchased all the issues were fixed at no expense to the customer. The customer refused to pick the vehicle up and stated that they wanted to be upgraded. At no time was there any agreement written or other wise that we would upgrade to another vehicle. The customer has since left the vehicle at the dealer and refused to pay the monthly payment. As stated before the vehicles are sold AS-IS but we pride ourselves in doing everything we can to make the vehicle reliable for the customers. With that in mind it is a used vehicle that is 14yrs old. We went above and beyond to help the customer but in the end they refused to honor the contract that they signed, even though we went above and beyond and paid for everything out of pocket.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response offer made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.

Regards,

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response offer made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.

Regards,

They told me that it was a reliable vehicle they said they fixed everything and it was not fixed it has been in the shop every since I bought it. I told the sale person that I needed a reliable vehicle and he told me that he would take care of me and would not lie to me but he did, I have been taken advantage of, I told the sale person that I needed a reliable vehicle to get me back and forward to work and I could not paid to have a vehicle in the shop all the time he told me that would not happen, so he lied to me!

Review: On April 17th, 2015 my car was disabled mechanically in North Carolina while setting up for a wedding event. After calling a tow, and renting a car. I called Salem Car Shop, and they had me call the repair department on [redacted] to pickup based on the fact I had a warranty for 90 days, and it still had 12 more days on that warranty. The Auto repair shop, which is owned by the same person who owns Salem Car Shop. The manager indicated a tow would pick it up, and call me once they analyzed it to be repaired. After 2 weeks of waiting, I had to call to follow up on the progress. To no avail, nothing had been done. I was told it was going to be fixed after the parts had arrived in one day or two. Again, I proceeded to call to check on the vehicle, again was told it was something else that was wrong with the vehicle. By this time we are in the first week of May. I then called to Salem Car Shop to advise them, I was having to rent trucks, and pay people to do business. What could be done, again, I had to speak with the owner. He (David) at this time indicated they would have it done asap, and he would pay the April payment, based on the fact I was paying to use others vehicles. He also assured me by the end of May 2015 it should be fixed. Again, by the end of the month, my car was not fixed and I was still spending money to borrow and rent vehicles. I called in to tell this to [redacted] at Salem Car Shop, [redacted], the manager at [redacted] place on [redacted], and the owner David Hunter, by this time, I was truly dissatisfied and asked if he could put me in something else, or refund the money? He (David) once again assured me he would get it resolved. Again, he assured me he would pay the payment for May 2015 as well. At this time, he believed the car would be finished and completely fixed based on the mechanics estimate again and I too was told it would be completely fixed by the end of each week through June, July and finally the car was fixed and picked up on August 5th, 2015. My car has had a couple of issues with the check engine lights, and I hope to they resolve them. However, the main issue now, is that David Hunter assured me that he would pay the payments on my vehicle based on one the inconvenience of the length of time it took that car shop to fix my vehicle, and two, because as I stated to him, I was renting vehicles during this whole time. Again, he assured me he would do this. Again, I know [redacted] the salesman understood the same thing as well. Now, when I asked Salem Car Shops salesman, [redacted] for a print out, I never got it the week after he was supposedly coming by to correct the payments on his system, and I would receive a copy. I didn't receive a copy, nor a call, I went by and spoke with [redacted] on August 22nd or so to again, review the statement. This is when I saw that David Hunter had not paid the payment as he stated for the months he promised and gave his word he would. He placed those 3 payments on the backend of the loan. I was never advised nor told he was doing that, and I called and asked him why did he tell me he was paying the payment if he was simply deferring them? He responded, telling me he had done more than enough for me, and that he didn't tell me that. Or that I miss understood. I advised him, I wrote him a letter earlier that week and why didn't he call or at least address it. He proceeded to tell me, he was not going to do that because he had paid out too much to fixed the vehicle, "being nice". As I stated to him, I didn't ask him for any handouts, I expected my car to be repaired in a timely manner and it was definitely not!! And, when he stated he would pay the payments it was because I didn't have a vehicle to drive and it was not due to anything I had done. This warranty should have covered my expenses and I never asked for any favors or exceptions. I want him to honor his initial statement to me and take care of those payments, because I paid equally if not more on monthly rentals while they "jack legged" the vehicle he sold to me at the end of January 2015. As, I stated in my last conversation, he was also thinking putting me into a different vehicle, and continued to linger this repair issue on and on.Desired Settlement: I am asking David Hunter to honor what he definitely stated to me and pay for Aprils, May and Junes payments of $1440 and any penalties or accrual of interest. And, not to go back on his words of assurance that I could trust that it would be resolved within that 4 months. I am out of pocket rental expenses and paying people for truck usage for business. I have and can get affidavits from one or more individuals to verify what happened as well.

Business

Response:

[redacted] has many misunderstands and a lot left out of her complaint. I choose the word misunderstanding with respect, when I personally know she understood everything very well and was grateful. I'll start at the beginning, her warranty that she purchased at the time of sale from salem's car shop covers up to $1,000 in repairs. Her vehicle broke down out of state as she stated. I paid to have the vehicle brought to my facility which was very costly. I then installed new timing chains and tensioners in the vehicle as well as service the heads with all new gaskets as well. unfortunately the motor had done further damage that couldn't been seen until those repairs had been done. I explained to the customer that I was just going to buy another motor and but the new parts from this motor on it to make sure the problem never came back again. this would be time consuming and cost substantially more than her warranty would cover. I assured her I would not only pay for tow bill, pay for all the new parts, pay for the motor, pay for all the labor, but I would also waive her car payment due to the inconvenience. this repair took awhile as anticipated due to waiting on motor, installing new parts, and installing the motor. she explained she would like another car payment waived due to the time involved. I said okay. she was never under the impression I would pay her car payment and never would I. when she picked her vehicle up she was ecstatic and said it ran like a brand new vehicle. my job was done, it is unfortunate that some repairs are not quick, especially when motor has to be removed and all new timing parts installed. salem's car shop has not only exceeded its contractual obligations, it exceeded all legal obligations, and by far exceeded all dealer standards and code of ethics. I spent almost two thousand dollars of my own money to bend over backwards for her and put her car payments on end of loan as agreed. I can assure you she understood this very well until her recent circumstances (not involving vehicle) has giving her motivation to see if she can force me to give even more. my answer is no and will remain so, my dealership has already done more than any other dealership in valley would've done and we will always surpass the dealer standard. it's unfortunate that in this case it just isn't enough. thank you for your assistance in finding a resolution but there's just nothing else I can offer as I've already surpassed all expectations. I can't help vehicles break but we pride ourselves in doing all we can as long as it's sensible as we've done here.