I'm here writing this report in hopes that no one has to go through what I just went through. I am a mother of three kids, who purchased an Suv, 2007 Ford Explorer on 09/03/2014.
I understand that when you buy used vehicle's there is always a chance of something going wrong, but I figured I would be able to buy a reliable vehicle from what I thought was a "reputable" company. Boy was I wrong.
Everything went smoothly in the beginning, I found the car at iwanttobuyused.com, test drove it and went back to purchase it the following day.
About two weeks after buying the vehicle we had to take a trip to Alabama for a funeral, battery died the same morning so I went and purchased a new battery at walmart and asked the people at CarX to do a once over after having the coolant flushed as suggested by the walmart technician. They came back and told me I had a exhausted manifold leak, that I would be fine to take my trip but to get it checked out when we got back.
I did take it to get it checked out at Meineke when we got back to learn that the bolts on the exhaust manifold had been liquid cemented together and was causing the leak, after paying ($950) to have those removed properly, it turned out to be an oil leak from the cylinder head behind all that. I didn't have the money to fix it, so they put my car back together and I drove it home to sit in my driveway. It was leaking a visible amount of oil at this point.
Thats when I decided to get back in touch with Truck City Ford. After two days of calling MULTIPLE times and explaining the issue over and over I was put in touch with manager Chip.
By this point I was very upset after being asked questions like "Why didnt you purchase an extended warranty?" (I was never offered one) and "Who is Meineke? Why did you bring it there?"
Buda is a minimum 40 minute drive from my house without traffic, and with work and getting my kids to and from school it was never feasable for me to just run down there to "talk about this."
Back on topic, after talking to Chip whom I had to call again MULTIPLE times this week because he never called me back when he said he would, we came to a "possible" solution. (They have no answering service there and the ladies who answer the phone say they'll take messages, but I never heard back from not one of mine.)
When I asked if they would have the car fixed for me so I could actually drive my vehichle, he said no. He could have the mechanics look at it and make sure I got the right diagnosis.... I said no thank you, I didnt want to drive 40 minutes leaking oil to find out something I already knew.
He said he would trade me out of my car into something else that I could get an extended warranty on but I probably wouldn't be able to get into another SUV in my price range. The whole point of getting this car was that it was SUV with a third-row IN MY PRICE RANGE. My monthly payment is all I can afford with my budget. Still I stayed open minded, and waited for the sales guy Austin Krohn to call me with possible vehicle options.
A day goes by, that never happens. I call atleast 5 times over the next few days and nothing ever happened. "He's busy, he's in a meeting, can I take a message?" Never heard anything. I even went as far as emailing him, I had his email from when I originally purchased the vehichle. NOTHING. So I decided to call Chip one last time, to clear up a few questions of mine.
1. Why was the exhaust manifold leak not caught before selling it to me?
"Its not required by law for us to check engine things like that"
2. What is this whole extended warranty thing?
It's something you purchase on top of the vehichle to guarantee you don't have problems like this.
3. How much is that going to cost?
$2500
After getting off the phone he said he would have Austin call me after 10 am with a list of cars. That never happened. It had already been over a week on the phone with these people.
So let me get this straight, you want me to pay more money, for a car I wont be able to afford, to be able to purchase a vehicle warranty for $2500 that I CANT AFFORD.
I ended up applying for a credit card throught Meineke, maxed that out, along with my personal credit card to pay for the repair and I am now $3000 in debt over this vehichle that I've only made one payment on!! Right before our trip, right before Christmas, I am just beyond shocked that this company wouldn't try to make things right after selling me a car held together with liquid cement!
All I wanted was for the car I purchased and at that point, hadnt even made a payment on, to be in good safe running condition for me and my little girls. Instead we just got swept under the rug.
I hope this saves someone else from going through the stress that I just had to endure. God bless
Leif Johnson Ford Reviews
I'm here writing this report in hopes that no one has to go through what I just went through. I am a mother of three kids, who purchased an Suv, 2007 Ford Explorer on 09/03/2014.
I understand that when you buy used vehicle's there is always a chance of something going wrong, but I figured I would be able to buy a reliable vehicle from what I thought was a "reputable" company. Boy was I wrong.
Everything went smoothly in the beginning, I found the car at iwanttobuyused.com, test drove it and went back to purchase it the following day.
About two weeks after buying the vehicle we had to take a trip to Alabama for a funeral, battery died the same morning so I went and purchased a new battery at walmart and asked the people at CarX to do a once over after having the coolant flushed as suggested by the walmart technician. They came back and told me I had a exhausted manifold leak, that I would be fine to take my trip but to get it checked out when we got back.
I did take it to get it checked out at Meineke when we got back to learn that the bolts on the exhaust manifold had been liquid cemented together and was causing the leak, after paying ($950) to have those removed properly, it turned out to be an oil leak from the cylinder head behind all that. I didn't have the money to fix it, so they put my car back together and I drove it home to sit in my driveway. It was leaking a visible amount of oil at this point.
Thats when I decided to get back in touch with Truck City Ford. After two days of calling MULTIPLE times and explaining the issue over and over I was put in touch with manager Chip.
By this point I was very upset after being asked questions like "Why didnt you purchase an extended warranty?" (I was never offered one) and "Who is Meineke? Why did you bring it there?"
Buda is a minimum 40 minute drive from my house without traffic, and with work and getting my kids to and from school it was never feasable for me to just run down there to "talk about this."
Back on topic, after talking to Chip whom I had to call again MULTIPLE times this week because he never called me back when he said he would, we came to a "possible" solution. (They have no answering service there and the ladies who answer the phone say they'll take messages, but I never heard back from not one of mine.)
When I asked if they would have the car fixed for me so I could actually drive my vehichle, he said no. He could have the mechanics look at it and make sure I got the right diagnosis.... I said no thank you, I didnt want to drive 40 minutes leaking oil to find out something I already knew.
He said he would trade me out of my car into something else that I could get an extended warranty on but I probably wouldn't be able to get into another SUV in my price range. The whole point of getting this car was that it was SUV with a third-row IN MY PRICE RANGE. My monthly payment is all I can afford with my budget. Still I stayed open minded, and waited for the sales guy Austin Krohn to call me with possible vehicle options.
A day goes by, that never happens. I call atleast 5 times over the next few days and nothing ever happened. "He's busy, he's in a meeting, can I take a message?" Never heard anything. I even went as far as emailing him, I had his email from when I originally purchased the vehichle. NOTHING. So I decided to call Chip one last time, to clear up a few questions of mine.
1. Why was the exhaust manifold leak not caught before selling it to me?
"Its not required by law for us to check engine things like that"
2. What is this whole extended warranty thing?
It's something you purchase on top of the vehichle to guarantee you don't have problems like this.
3. How much is that going to cost?
$2500
After getting off the phone he said he would have Austin call me after 10 am with a list of cars. That never happened. It had already been over a week on the phone with these people.
So let me get this straight, you want me to pay more money, for a car I wont be able to afford, to be able to purchase a vehicle warranty for $2500 that I CANT AFFORD.
I ended up applying for a credit card throught Meineke, maxed that out, along with my personal credit card to pay for the repair and I am now $3000 in debt over this vehichle that I've only made one payment on!! Right before our trip, right before Christmas, I am just beyond shocked that this company wouldn't try to make things right after selling me a car held together with liquid cement!
All I wanted was for the car I purchased and at that point, hadnt even made a payment on, to be in good safe running condition for me and my little girls. Instead we just got swept under the rug.
I hope this saves someone else from going through the stress that I just had to endure. God bless