Tag Motors, Inc.

Review: I purchased a car from Tag Motors on June [redacted] 2014. I picked the car up and drove it to my home which is about 15 minutes and when I pulled into my driveway the power steering light was on on my dashboard I immediately called the sales person and he told me that I could bring the car back in the next day and they would give me a loaner car while they got the car checked out. I also reminded them that when before I purchased the car I told them that there was no spare tire in the trunk and they advised me when I picked the car up the spare would be in there so I noticed the spare was not there so when I brought the car to them on July [redacted] to pick up the loaner car I reminded them that there was no spare tire. I brought the car to tag motors and they gave me a powder blue ford focus loaner car to use while they tried to figure out what was going on with the car. I initially followed one of tag motors workers across the street to an oil change place in my car and he drove the loaner car and we left my volkswagon there and I was advised that tag would contact me to let me know what was going on with the car. I was extremely grateful that they were letting me use a loaner car so that I could still get back and forth to work. I play phone tag back and forth with tag motors about my car and they advised me that they had to bring it somewhere else because it needed dealer parts that the entire steering rack needed to be replaced. I was also in my time frame for my 5 day inspection and it was around [redacted] of July so there was alot of delays. The salesman that I had been dealing with since day one advised me he would contact my insurance company and explain the situation and let them know why there was a delay with the 5 day photo inspection. I was without my car for about 2 weeks and then got it back and was advised that the whole steering rack was replaced on the car. I then had problems with my registration I kept contacting the dealer and they kept telling me that DMV was not accepting my insurance cards for the registration and not to worry. I paid a fee to them to have my registration title and plates done by them so that I didnt have to deal with the hassle and I ended up having to keep calling DMV and tag motors had me continue to call my insurance broker and insurance company asking them to keep faxing them my insurance card while I was working and I couldnt understand why they couldnt call my insurance broker for me they are a dealer. I then got a letter from DMV saying that I needed to turn in my plates and that my licence would be suspended for 45 days because of the lapse of my car not being insured when it was insured from day one. Luckily my insurance company promptly took care of this for me and I just received my registration about 3 weeks ago and still have no title to the car, On September [redacted] I was driving my car and heard a horrible sound coming from my car I had to have my car towed to a shop very far from my home because I was on my way to work when this happened the mechanic advised me that while the steering rack was being replaced the sway bar was not properly put back on to the car. The dealer also advised me that I have 4 different tires on my car and the metal is hanging out of my back passenger tire and there is a nail in it. I will accept full responsibility for the nail because I easily could have ran over a nail but unfortunately I did not check the tires when I purchased the car this is my first car purchase and I honestly assumed I was dealing with an honest company. We then contacted the dealer to find out what was going on where was the car taken to to have the steering rack replaced. We asked to speak directly to the man sales person that I had been dealing with since the beginning and the person who told me what was being done to the car while they had it and was told he was not there. We were also told that there is no record of any work being done to the car and they basically brushed it off by saying they have no paperwork in my file at all about this. So now since I do not have all of the information my warranty denied the claim to cover the work done to the car and I am now left 5 months pregnant paying out of pocket for a part that they had serviced and having to buy brand new tires as well.Desired Settlement: I feel that they have been dishonest and all I wanted from them was the proper information on my car and not to have to worry that my car is completely unsafe.

Business

Response:

To whom it may concern,

My name is [redacted] and I am the [redacted] of Tag Motors Inc., and I am also the salesman on this transaction. I will address all of the issues in this complaint in detail in the order in which they are written. Before we begin, I think it is important to note that we have been in business for more than 40 years and this is the first complaint of this nature that we have ever received.

After [redacted] purchased a 2006 Jetta from me, I sent the car to the most local repair shop in our viscinity for service, safety and emission inspection. The car promptly passed all tests and inspections and [redacted] was informed she could pick up the vehicle at her convenience. Initialy, the spare tire was missing from the trunk and one of the first things we did was order a brand new spare, which unfortunately was not available when she picked up the car. The same day that she picked up the car, a light with a steering wheel illuminated on her dashboard that was never there before. She called me right away and I had her bring the car in the next day, where she also informed me that there was still no spare in the trunk. I apologized for not having the spare on hand when she picked up the car, but the spare arrived the very next day and it was placed in the trunk. I loaned [redacted] a car while we figured out the apparent problem with her vehicle. It is important to note that [redacted] was never without a vehicle while we adressed our responibility to repair anything that was wrong that our mechanics may have missed. Sometimes, cars that we have in stock that sit, even for a short amount of time have somthing wrong with them that no one can diagnose or recognise until the car is driven under normal conditions. That is definitely the case in this situation. Her vehicle had a steering rack issue and on this particular car, it is a complicated fix that must be cooridinated electronically with new parts from VW and after installation needs to be programmed by a VW computer. I then removed the car from the current shop and gave it to someone who specailizes in VW, who I knew would repair the problem properly and also warranty any work that he does. Also, it is important to note that [redacted] also purchased an extended warranty from us at the time of her purchase. The extended warranty would not cover any preexisting issue with the vehicle that is why there is no record of the repair with the warranty company. We paid for all of the repairs from our bank account and I have the bills and checks to prove it. Since the issue happened so early in her purchase she was not able to bring the vehicle for her insurance photo inspection. [redacted] informed me of this and we very promptly brought her vehicle for the insurance photo inspection. There was no delay or lapse of any kind in this regard. As for the delay of her registration, this was completly and 100% the fault and/or negligence of her insurance company. I will explain. Her insurance company issued the insurance cards with an illegible bar code. When we submit the insurance cards with the nessacary documentation to process her registration, the NYSDMV computer could not read the bar code. We then informed the insurance company and they issued new cards with the same illegible bar code which we submitted to the NYS DMV and the same result happened. We completed this cycle 3 more times with the insurance company and the DMV before the insurance company finally changed the bar code. Please keep in mind, we have no way to read the bar code before we submit it to the DMV and it takes approximately 1 week to get a response from the DMV. As for the title, the DMV does not issue the title until the registration is completed. Also, the registration was done as promised and so was the title, it did take more time than usual because of the bar code problem, but everything was done as promised. At no time was [redacted] inconvenienced in any way because of this issue and their was no lapse or suspension of her license. Ok, so now back to the repair. The shop that did the repair charged us $1714.24 to repair her car with all new parts and we returned the vehicle to her completely safe and 100% repaired. As for the tires, I do not remember if all of the tires were the same brand but that is not required or neccasary for the vehicle to pass inspection or drive properly and safe. What I can tell you about the tires is that there was not a nail in it or was there metal sticking out of it when she picked it up. That is one of the first things that our inspection station checks for safety and we always do everything that is nessacary to repair or replace any tires that are unsafe in any way. Ok, now [redacted] heard a horrible sound from the car almost 3 months after she picked it up and payed for a tow to a shop that we or her are not familiar with. Now we can talk about the multiple warranties that she had on the car. First off, if she read her extended warranty that she purchased from us she would have read that she is covered for towing. Also, if the new and current problem was the fault of our mechanic who did the initial repair he would also have gladly sent his tow truck or reimbursed her for the tow as well. As with all of the work that he does for us, all repairs done by him are covered for 24 months or 24000 miles, plus her extended warranty, which was now 100% active covers her for the same term. [redacted] never contacted me to explain the situation nor did the mechanic, who none of us know, including her contact us to see what was done. I work 7 days a week and we pride ourselves on customer service, there is absolutely no reason why she would have to come out of pocket for anything at all during this situation. She was covered by our mechanic for the repairs that he did and she was also covered by a very comprehensive extended warranty for any issue that happened during her ownership. There is no way for us to know what was wrong because the mechanic who now had her car never contacted us in any way, because we would have immediatley had the car towed to our mechanic for a thorough examination. The fact that her mechanic could not get the warranty company to cover the apparent issue because they did not know what was done before, tells me that he had no interest in having the car repaired at no cost to the customer. The warranty company did not know about the previous repair because we payed for it. Her new mechanic also should have recognized all of the new parts in the car, and he should have been able to deduce that we had to pay for it because the issue happened so early in her ownership of the car and like I said before, warranty companies do not fix preexisting issues so early in her ownership period. Why did I not hear from her at all regarding this issue? Why did I not hear from her new mechanic about our repair? Why would [redacted] pay for a tow or any repairs which were both clearly covered by both her extended warranty company and (if it was like her mechanic said, the fault of our mechanic) our mechanic's shop as well. Why would her car last for three months and then suddenly have an issue because, like her mechanic said, somthing was installed improperly? The first time that I heard of this problem was when I received a formal complaint from the Revdex.com, which needless to say I was surprised. I then promptly called [redacted] and left a voicemail, to which her mother called me back an hour later. Her mother did not like what I had to say because it was contrary to what [redacted]'s new mechanic was saying, so she hung up on me. We always take excellent care of our customers and this case is no different. I have attached the work order from our mechanic and a copy of [redacted]'s extended warranty.