Sansone Auto Network

Review: I purchase a used vehicle a 2011 Chevy Traverse. I left a $4,000.00 deposit down on this vehicle and left with the car without any financials on the vehicle (did not even know what my monthly payments would be the contract stated to be determined regarding the financials.I had the vehicle for a period of 48 hours when driving noticed problems with the steering and the lineament of the car. I returned the vehicle within the right of first refusal of 72 hours. The salesman/manager stated that I purchased a used vehicle and that I would be hearing from there legal department. I unfortunately assumed the financials would be within my budget but should have not assumed or trusted this dealership without all in writing. Now I am a single mother of 5 children without a car so no means to get to work.Desired Settlement: FULL REFUND

Review: I received 2 letters advertising that I can upgrade to a newer vehicle and return my lease early with no money out of pocket and potentially reduce my payment if not keeping my current payment. I drove from Staten Island, NY to NJ. I paid tolls, planned it and spent an entire day doing this, just to find out that I had to pay $1300 extra to get a 2015 model vehicle (after they initially told me that the minimum they could do is $299/month, while my current payment is $250/month), not even the 2016 that they are offering in the letter that is addressed to me and makes a reference to my exact and current payment for my current lease from them.

I have both original letters from them. They said: "we send them out to everyone, every year". How is that possible? I didn't get these letters last year when I only had the lease for 1 year. I, now, have 10 months left on the lease so they sent these for an early lease return, which I was going to do. As I mentioned above, they are addressed to me and are referencing my current vehicle and current payments.

I was basically told to disregard the letters as they are sent to all customers. I believe this is false advertisement just to lure customers in.

Lastly, I contacted the dealership and asked to speak with general manager or the operations manager. I was told that she ([redacted], or something in that name family, was her name) was on lunch and was going to call me back within 5-10 minutes. I went to the mall nearby with hope that I would get some kind of resolution, however hours passed by and I haven't received a call. Now it is end of day, I called and asked to speak with her, she is gone for the day.

I am very upset about this as I have 2 small children that were tired and crying to go home as I didn't anticipate being there very long.Desired Settlement: I would like to trade my current lease (2014 Nissan Altima that I leased from Sansone) for 2016 Nissan Altima (as they are advertising in the letters they sent me) and keep my current payment of $250.46/month with NO money out of pocket as they are advertising.

Business

Response:

As a prior Customer, the Consumer was sent a letter regarding a program running at Sansone Nissan. However, the letter explicitly said "with potentially no money out of pocket and keep the same payment$250.00 that you are paying now" in bold print. The letter also said "you may be able to upgrade to a brand new 2015 or 2016 model". It did not only reference a 2016 model. The Customer was offered a brand new 2015 Nissan with the same monthly payment $250 with $1,300.00 down for inception fees, motor vehicle and first payment. Her desired settlement of a 2016 Nissan with the current $250 payment and no money down is not what was promised.

Review: I purchased a vehicle from Sansone Kia in early March. I was advised that my loan application was approved and I walked away with a vehicle. I was also advised that I would receive Lo-jack installation free of charge. About 2 weeks later, I received word back from the bank originally financing my loan that I was denied the loan. I called 13 times requesting to speak to Noel (financial person who advised approval) and did not receive any phone calls in return. I had to actually show up only to be told that the ball was dropped by Sansone. A few days after this, I scheduled a 1PM EST Lo-Jack installation appointment. I did not leave Sansone until almost 7 PM EST with my car finally being looked at at 6 PM EST. When I called and complained, the service supervisor was extremely discourteous and cursed at me stating that the 1PM appointment time is a "check in time" and NOT an appointment. When I spoke to the general manager, I was advised that they would do something for their complete lack of communication and poor customer service. I have yet to hear from Sansone Kia in regards to this matter.

Also, I have reached out to the Finance person (Noel) on multiple occasions after this. I still have not heard back from them and every time I call to speak to a GM or the owner, I am rerouted to the salesman who sold us the car which is not acceptable. I am being avoided by Sansone Kia and the business practices are reprehensible. . When I called to speak to the general manager on Monday 4/27 in regards to why I have not received my plates today, I was told I was annoying and I need to stop calling. The service that I have received ever since I signed my papers at Sansone has been deplorable, and I have YET to receive any word as to when my registration and plates will be in.Desired Settlement: Requesting that Sansone pay the first payment on my vehicle. Requesting this because since Sansone has evaded my phone calls on a consistent basis, the over 5 hours that I have wasted on hold waiting to speak to a manager who refuses to speak to me I have had to travel to the dealership on multiple occasions to speak to someone which has cost me bridge tolls, turnpike costs, and gas money. Also requesting that the general manager of Sansone call me and explain to me why there has been a complete disregard for my issues since I have started complaining.

Business

Response:

When the Manager of the dealership met with [redacted] and [redacted] the last week of March, he apologized to them for their disappointment in Customer Service. He assured them he would take care of their needs and gave each of them his business card. Thereafter, the Manager was able to lower their monthly payment by $40.00 and gave them a $1300.00 discount off the price of the vehicle. When he saw them again on April 30th, he was shocked that they were still unhappy. He asked them why they hadn't contacted him with their concerns, and they advised that they had lost his business card.In addition, there was a problem finding a financing source on this transaction, causing a delay in obtaining the plates and registration. In New York the insurance card must have an effective date within 45 days of the transaction so the date had to be changed.The Customer is now in possession of the plates and registration.

Review: The business refuses to refund my complete warranty price and kept $169 from the original price. I contact them about 5 times and the keep sending me back and forth between the sales manager and the finance rep. They claim that the keep 50 as processing fees which was never in the warranty agreement and the kept 119for the sales tax saying it’s not refundable which also never was in the agreement that if I cancel the warranty I don't get the sales tax that I paid to them.Desired Settlement: $169 ASAP

Business

Response:

The dealership is refunding the $169.00 However since the consumer financed the transaction, the refund will be sent to his financing company to be applied to his loan.

Review: On 3/28/14 I brought my 2012 Jeep Sahara for an oil change and ask the service tech to look at the brakes. When I picked up my Jeep, I spoke to the service tech and he told me that my brakes were fine. I scheduled an appointment for the following week. A few days later, on 4/1/14, my back brakes failed and damaged my rim. When I returned to the service department (4/2/14) and told [redacted], service tech, what happened, I was told that it was difficult to see the back brake pads. I was charged $420.71 due to the rotor that was damaged. I asked to speak with the service manager and was told he was out. After several times asking I was finally given [redacted] and a phone number [redacted].

On 4/3/14, I spoke to the service manager, [redacted], by phone and explained what happened. [redacted] called me back and told me that he will credit half the bill with either parts or service.

In good faith, I made an appointment to have my front brakes serviced on Friday 5/2/14. I left a message on [redacted]’s office phone letting him know of my appointment. The date of my appointment, I dropped off my Jeep and asked for [redacted]. They told me he was in ,but they didn’t know where he was &couldn’t reach him. I left another message on [redacted]’s voice mail to let him know my car was being serviced. When I picked up my car, again they couldn’t reach [redacted] and told me he left for the day. I was told I had to pay or they wouldn’t give me my car. I paid the $286.23 bill!

On Monday 5/5/14, I reached [redacted] at his office phone and he said that he will credit my card.

On Monday 5/19/14, after checking my credit card I found that I not credited any amount. I called [redacted] and he stated he would look into the matter.

On Tuesday 5/27/14, I again reached out to [redacted] and he told me that he will send out a check to my address.

On Tuesday (6/3/14), after not receiving a check I called back & [redacted] told me that he only submits a request and that the check needed to be processed and that he would follow up.Desired Settlement: Rim $200, $ 210 ( half of the bill for the original service!)

Review: On August 28,2014, I purchased a Toyota Camry with the understanding that I would receive the registration within 2 weeks . The temporary plates were to expire within that time frame. On Mon., Sept 15 I called the dealership to inform them that as of that date I had not received it. Was told someone would call me back. Called three times that day and was told each time someone would call me back. Called the sales man [redacted] the next morning and was told he would get back to me, he never did so I called him again and was told he would look into it. N ever called me back. Finally spoke to the manager [redacted] ,who also told me he would look into it and would call me back, he never did. When I called him back he told me the registration would be ready today( a day after the temporary plates expired ) and he would have someone bring them to my home and would call me regarding the time. At 3:15 I called him to find out what was going on and again was told he'd call me back. Instead someone named [redacted] called and said the registration would not be processed till Friday because of the incompetence of the girl doing the processing who they supposedly fired because of this fiasco. I can no longer drive my car until this is rectified since the plates are now expired. My 90 yr old day is in the hospital in critical condition and I just wasted 3 days of being with him waiting for phone calls that were never answered. Also I will now have to use car service to see him. I have gotten nothing but a runaround from everyone involved and still can't rely on getting this registration Friday.Desired Settlement: Customer satisfaction went out the door after the sale was made, they cannot do this to consumers.

Review: On 8/25/2014, Sansone Auto Group posted an offer of $28,075 ($4,340 below MSRP) on my configuration of Toyota Avalon XLE through the [redacted] website. The [redacted] certificate for this offer is [redacted] . This price was $1,200 dollars less than any other dealership in the area. [redacted] (reporting to [redacted]) followed up this offer with a phone call, saying explicitly: "If you come down to our dealership, we will honor the offer price". I was initially skeptical of the offer and asked additional questions - do you have the vehicle I requested in your inventory? what additional costs beyond [redacted] estimate that I will be liable for? and will I be able to get the complimentary service at a dealership closer to my home? [redacted] was able to confirm the vehicle in the inventory, confirmed the license plates (using my old ones) cost, tax percentage, and that I could get included maintenance service at any dealership. Feeling confident, I decided to drive down (70 miles round-trip) to Sansone. When I arrived, [redacted] (the manager) looked at my [redacted] estimate and said: "Find him a vehicle with the sated MSRP, and if you can't offer the same discount on another vehicle". At this point, I asked: "How come your associate ([redacted]) confirmed that you have several Avalon XLE cars in stock, some that match my configuration for which you posted an offer price on [redacted]?". I was told by [redacted] (the salesperson) that they only had 4 Avalon models on premises, none of which even came close to fitting my requirements. At this point I said: "I was told by your associate that you had a model matching my requirements". The response I got was: "We could find a vehicle at another location for an additional $500". The bottom line is this - If you promise to "honor the offer price" in order to get me into the showroom, you have to leave up to this promise. I have lost time, wasted gas, and was completely misled on this bait and switch advertising tactic.Desired Settlement: $200 compensation for my gas mileage, vehicle use, and time which came as a direct result of Sansone Auto Group's intentional dishonesty.

Business

Response:

Response from Toyota Manager [redacted]:

WE WILL HONOR THE TRUE CAR NUMBER BUT WE HAVE TO LOCATE THE VEHICLE FROM ANOTHER DEALER.I DONT KNOW IF WE CAN GET THE EXACT CAR BUT I WILL TAKE A LOOK . TELL THE CUSTOMER WE WILL TAKE THE ADDITIONAL $200.00 OFF THE SELLING PRICE OF THE NEW VEHICLE IF WE CAN FIND IT. IF IT WILL HELP THE CUSTOMER CAN CALL ME DIRECTLY AND I WILL PERSONALLY HANDLE THIS. - [redacted] - Toyota Sales Manager

Review: To whom it may concern:

I am writing to report an issue that I am currently experiencing with Sansone Mazda located on Route 1 in Avenel, New Jersey. What I am currently experiencing is truly appalling; this is by far the worst customer service that I have ever experienced in my many years of having vehicles repaired. This issue has been long standing since December 22nd.

The vehicle in question was brought into the service department on December 22nd, because of a noise that was being heard on start up of the vehicle. After several days the service manger Donald told us that the issue that was causing the noise was the timing chain of the vehicle, which we agreed to have repaired. When discussing what had to be done to the vehicle he also informed us that the rear shocks needed to be replaced as well, which we also agreed to have repaired. While discussing the price we were told that it would be $2500.

We understood that with the holidays that there would be a slight delay with the repairs to the vehicle, but we began to become frustrated when we were told that the vehicle would be completed by January 5th. Every day after that we were told that the vehicle would be ready for pick up the following day, which was finally January 8th. When I arrived at the dealer I was told everything had been fixed and that the vehicle had been road tested and all repairs discussed were successful. I was then taken to the cashier where I was then told to pay $697.43 for the rear shocks, which were installed. At no time while we discussed the total price of repairs was the cost of the shocks even brought up by Donald- I was told that this was already included in the $2500 price we had already paid. I then proceeded and paid the $697.43 and left with my vehicle.

On January 10th while operating the vehicle for only TWO days my vehicle broke down on the garden state parkway. I then called Mazda Roadside Assistance to get the vehicle towed to the dealership. When Mazda roadside assistance contacted the dealership for authorization to tow the car. They allegedly couldn’t get any management approval because nobody was available. I then had to put my life in danger and the life of others along with my nine-month pregnant cousin. Then when I arrived at the dealer there was plenty of management and secretaries. There is no reason why one of the secretaries couldn’t have gotten management authority when clearly everyone was working- this is another example of poor customer service by Sansone Mazda.

After about a week of calling to see the status of the vehicle I was finally told that engine had suffered a catastrophic failure. When we spoke with Donald he informed us that the reason for that failure was a turbocharger over boost condition. This code was not previously seen in the vehicle computer so that is how the dealer is justifying that it was not them who caused damage to the vehicle. If the code was never present previously how is it possible that TWO days after they worked on the vehicle that the vehicle would suddenly have this major issue. We were repeatedly told that all the work done by the dealer was fine and that they had no responsibility for what occurred to the vehicle TWO days later. Donald then informed us that the vehicle would need a new engine, which we were given a price of $5300! On top of the $3200 total that we had paid including the $697.43 that they lied about to us they now want to charge us $8500 to fix the car. When we asked what had happened to the turbocharger we were told, “WE DON’T KNOW”. This is ridiculous that at a service center for this type of vehicle that they do not know what caused the issue to the vehicle. My parents then went in to discuss what is going on with the vehicle and why the issue had occurred and they then accused us of either tampering with the turbocharger or that we “PRESSED ON THE GAS TOO HARD”, This is another example of poor customer service by accusing its customers of operating their vehicle improperly instead of taking responsibility for their mistakes. They are refusing to accept that they had any wrong doing when the vehicle was in working condition when it went in for service and then TWO days later the engine suffers a catastrophic failure.

I am hoping that the business bureau can help me in resolving this issue with Sansone Mazda because we have attempted to reason with Sansone to come to some type of resolution. They have repeatedly ignored us and still don’t know what is truly wrong with the vehicle. But they are still demanding $5300 in repairs. We have tried everything and have gotten no where and we hope that the better business can help us because we are not willing to spend any more money on a issue that was caused by the service department. They are completely unreasonable to deal with and this is the worst customer service I have ever experienced and I will never give my business to Sansone Mazda ever again. We have reached out to upper management as well as Paul Sansone and they have continued to ignore us.Desired Settlement: I want my vehicle to be repaired free of charge because I have already incurred a loss of $3200, which is the cause of the damage that my vehicle has suffered.

Business

Response:

Representatives of the dealership are currently working with the Consumer and hope to resolve all issues.