Sommer's Buick Subaru

Review: In August of 2013 my vehicle was in an accident and needed repair. I figured since I bought from Sommers and everything was great till this point I would trust them to repair my car. The car needed some bumper work and paint. When the job was completed the first time, the bumper and sensors where not flush. The auto body manager told me this sometimes happens when they repair a bumper and not replace the bumper. So I said well let's replace it and he told me your insurance company wanted us to repair this and the work carries a warranty. So a few months later I made an appointment to get the bumper repainted due to peeling paint and realign the bumper and sensors. A few months later I had to make another appointment to get the tail light replaced because a gap between the light and bumper let water get in the light. This was paid for in full by completing a supplementary claim, so I said hey lets try to get this bumper done. Nothing. Earlier in 2015 I needed to get the bumper painted again for peeling paint. I had to wait 5 weeks for an appointment this time. In July of 2015 I went to another auto body shop to have them look at this bumper situation. The shop took off the bumper and took pictures. They let me know the sensor mounts where bro[redacted] and glued with epoxy , these should have been replaced with new ones. Sensors where glued into the mounts and held in place with zip ties should have been replaced as well. Last and certainly not least the bumper itself had a hole drilled into it to allow it to be screwed into place to appear to fit better, not to mention the bumper was cut and glued in several places as well. Hmmm $3600 repair????Desired Settlement: I'm looking for a full refund of all out of pocket funds paid.

Business

Response:

Thanks for the message. [redacted] and I have been in contact a number of times, I have him scheduled to come in so we can meet, discuss and review the bumper. He will be set up with alternative transportation at no charge while we evaluate the scenario. The repair was done almost 2 years ago so everyone is on the same page regarding why we need to see the car.

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.

Regards,

My husband and I were lied to repeatedly by the sales staff as well as the service department staff when we bought our Subaru. They treated us so poorly that we felt degraded by their entire staff. After we purchased the car and found out that we were lied to by the salesman and the service department we wanted to tade the car in for a different car (more expensive) and they wouldn't even deal with us. They set up an appointment for us to come in and look at a vehicle and then kept us waiting for over 45 minutes and lied to us the [redacted] wasn't there when he just walked right by us. Over the year and a half that we were disrespected and repeatedly lied to we finally had enough and traded the car in at a Ford dealer because we refused to take our car to Sommers or deal w/them and there wasn't a closer Subaru dealer in our area.

Took my Subaru Outback in for an oil change, fuel filter change and polishing the headlights. I dropped it off at 7:45am. They called at 3:30pm and said it was done, that's 7 hours later. I just noticed three large oil spots on my driveway. If they can't do a simple oil change then forget it. I never received an inspection sheet showing the condition of the car, fluids topped off, etc.

Review: Sold me a car on February 26, 2015 that had not been properly inspected for safety as well as debris from the previous [redacted]. When weather started to warm up, thousands of larvae started crawling out of the carpets & upholstery. Source was from a long dead rat/mouse and nest in the trunk, completely covering the jack and inside the spare tire. If the car jack & tire had been safety inspected they would have found the problem and never sold the car. We cleaned out the nest and skeletal remains and sprayed bug spray thinking that would take care of it. It did not. Contacted the car dealer four days later on May 6th when we realized the infestation was unending. They told me to call Batzner Pest control who basically told me that the only way to try to kill these would be steam cleaning and we'd have to remove the seats & carpet. Bombs wouldn't do the trick as the bugs in egg state are immune. Called S[redacted]s back and was told they'd get back to me which they did two days later. Was told to bring car in following week. Did that and was told I could pick it up on Friday, May 15th. May 15th, received a call that steam cleaning did not work, and they were trying something else. On the 17th, we drove to the dealership to see if we could see the car and what state it was in. It was sitting outside, with a bug bomb in the center of it. Knowing that would also not work based on what Batzner had told me... at this point, I realized nothing was going to work. Decided that we no longer wanted that disgusting car. It gave me the willies to just sit in it. Called Monday and said we'd like a refund. Was told they'd call us back within 20 minutes, waited two hours and when we didn’t receive a call, we drove to the dealership. We said they could keep a small portion of our money to cover the cost of us using the car for 75 days (although we'd only driven it 200 miles) but were told they'd only give us $8500 (we paid $11,669). We were shocked that they thought we could just throw away $3000 like that. After about four hours of arguing with them, we managed to get $9500 back but still feel that expecting us to pay $2000 for a car that they never should have sold to anyone, and that we'd only used for 75 days was too much. At the time that all this happened, we were told that both [redacted] of S[redacted]s were on vacation and couldn't be reached. So, on May 26th, I mailed a letter to both the [redacted] (Walter & Donald S[redacted]) - hoping to hear back from one of them. As of today...nothing. I'm sure they both had a good laugh at our expense.Desired Settlement: I would like to get at least another $1000 back for the car, preferably $1500. I believe that they should be compensated for us having the car for 75 days or the time they took to attempt to resolve the problem. (Although why they were wasting their time trying to fix the unfixable, I do not know.) But, I feel that $2169 is just way too much to expect us to cover - especially when we are the victims here. Why should we have to foot the bill for their mistake? I'm not asking for extra money, or anything ridiculous...just would like a fair deal. In addition to what they took from us, because we bought two cars in two months, we paid over $1400 in sales tax to the state. This was a horrible ordeal and I'm so very grateful that we never got around to taking any of our grandchildren for a ride in the "fancy" car. We've since purchased another vehicle from a different dealer. Pretty much the same car, but with 40,000 less miles and NO BUGS or DEAD RODENTS, and we paid $469 less than what S[redacted]s charged us for the other car. But, in the long run...because we ended up paying double the sales tax, plus losing $2169 to S[redacted]s, it's a rather expensive purchase.

Business

Response:

In finalizing our used 2016 Forester purchase on May 25, 2016, Jim J[redacted], Business Manager at Sommer's Automotive in Mequon, WI, offered my wife and me the option of purchasing GlassCoat, an applied film that provides coverage to your paint. The salesman, Craig K[redacted], had already offered it for a one-time price of $900 for a period of 6 years, which we rejected. Jim J[redacted] price was $749, and he said the product was warranted for the car's lifetime as long as we purchased it before the end of June, 2016. As perhaps the sole motivation for our purchasing GlassCoat, Jim stated that the government had changed the paint specs for all car manufacturers to require them to use water-based paint, and that cars with water-based paint needed to be waxed monthly so the paint does not break down. Therefore, he felt GlassCoat would be a better option rather than a monthly waxing, especially for the lesser price and lifetime warranty. He said he only made $10 per sale.
I googled for info on the topic and found none. So I emailed Jim on 5/26 to ask him to email me some Internet links that confirmed his statement that the government changed the paint specs for car manufacturers. When I got no reply, I called Jim directly on June 1 and asked if he got my email. He had not looked through the 300+ emails he said he had in his inbox. So he googled himself while I was still on the line. Finding nothing, he said he would give the request to my salesman, Craig K[redacted], because the sales department had more access to info than he did. On 6/3 I wrote an email to Craig to confirm that Jim J[redacted] had referred him. Hearing nothing, on 6/6 I called Craig to talk about the subject. He was not available so I left a voice message. On 6/7 Craig emailed a link that talked about water-based paint, mostly in California, not about manufacturer requirements, and not about waxing. He also noted that the EPA web site for the EPA was blocked at their dealership. I checked the EPA site and found nothing close to answering my question. I emailed him back the same day and suggested he might try the to access the EPA site from home. On 6/13 he wrote that was unable to find a link that gave product info when he was trained, but said he would continue to look with the limited accessibility he had at work. When I then reminded him about checking from home, he said he was forwarding the request back to Jim J[redacted] on 6/14 because he didn't have a computer at home. I asked him to please make sure Jim got the request, perhaps printing the email that clearly stated my request and giving it to him personally. Hearing nothing I called Jim J[redacted] on 6/20. He was not there so I left a voice message to call me on 6/22 when he returned to work, making reference to Craig and GlassCoat. He did not call on 6/22.
I believe Sommer's ownership is implicitly or explicitly consenting to this profitable rip-off of the customer by their Finance Manager who made false, unsubstantiated claims.

Review: On February 25, 2013, I took my 2002 Buick Century to Sommers for an ordinary oil change/lube/filter and tire rotation. For whatever reason, it took the dealership 90 minutes to complete this simple work.

After I explained that this was my first visit to Sommers -- and that I was disappointed in how such simple tasks could take so long -- a manager kindly gave me a coupon good for a free oil change/lube/filter.

Today (Sept. 5, 2013), I stopped by the dealership today to redeem that coupon -- as well as have an anti-lock brake issue examined, as suggested by an always-on brake warning light.

After approximately 80 minutes, another manager spoke to me regarding the brake issue. He presented me with a lengthy list of "needed" repairs -- the least of which, according to the dealership, would have been the brakes. Cumulatively, these repairs would have cost (by the shop's estimate) $3000.

After taking the car off the rack and washing the car, the dealership returned the car to me -- 90 minutes after I arrived.

It also presented me with a bill for $90 -- the "free" oil change/lube/filter, plus an $85 inspection fee, plus tax.

So, let's review: It took another 90 minutes to perform a simple oil change -- as well as an "inspection" that looks like a lengthy fishing trip to offset the cost of the "free" oil change.

Some of the repairs -- particularly with regard to the brakes -- may be legitimate. Others appear to be a complete stretch -- especially since none of this came up in the February visit.Desired Settlement: A full refund mailed to me.

Business

Response:

In Response to your letter RE: [redacted] for Mr. [redacted] please see attached Repair Order documentation that Mr. [redacted] signed and was offered a copy for the Diagnostic charge of $85.00 for his concern on the ABS light. Sommer's exceeded the estimate by the shop supplies amount, $5.10, which our accounting program should not have included with a complimentary service and estimate, and we will refund to Mr. [redacted]. Mr. [redacted] also received a final invoice which shows the findings from the diagnostics with estimate for the repairs if he chose to have repaired. With every service we do complete a multi-point inspection and several things were found that may need attention soon. We did advise Mr. [redacted] about those things that may need his attention soon(noted on repair order) for his review and the prices that it would cost to repair each item. It is our policy to inform each and every customer of upcoming repairs especially any safety related items like tire, brakes , steering as a service to the customer and many customers rely on us for that information.

Consumer

Response: