First, the good. Nick the salesman was very personable and did a good job trying to meet our needs. Now, the bad. Their General Manager, Frank, is a piece of work.
Here's my story. I live in AZ and have been looking for a used Honda Element for about a month. I found one on their website and my son in law lives in OKC. I asked my son in law to go drive the car and he did. My son in law heard some popping noises in the front end which he told Nick about and Nick and Frank agreed to repair what ended up being a control arm. This all happened last weekend on Saturday. My Son in Law gave Auto Solutions a $600 cash deposit (first mistake on our part) to hold the car until today 9/9/21 (6 days). It was not made clear that this $600 was non refundable in the event I did not purchase the car. There is a sign in their finance office which does state that deposits are non-refundable.......I'm honestly not sure if my son in law ever saw that sign or if the deposit was actually paid in this office where the only sign is, but the non-refundable nature of this deposit was never mentioned to my son in law when he gave them the deposit. When I flew in from AZ to pick up the car today, I wanted to have it checked more thoroughly by a mechanic before finalizing the purchase.
The mechanic found that oil was leaking around the main seal and might last for 1000 miles or 50,000 miles before needing repair....no way to tell (It would have been around a $1000 repair). It was also discovered that the front door was rubbing on the front fender when the front door was opened. Mechanic said this could only have been caused by a bump/accident to the front end, even though the car was advertised as having no accidents (the language they used in their advertising was no accidents disclosed).
After my mechanic visit, I returned with the 2007 Black Honda Element to Auto Solutions OKC (which has a Warr Akers OK address). I informed Frank of these problems and told him I could not purchase the vehicle due to the leaky Master Seal issue and the apparent accident which caused the front passenger door to rub the front fender.
I requested my deposit back. Frank then informed me all deposits were non refundable as stated on the sign in his office????
My response to him was.....you have a car that has a leaky master seal and has been in some sort of undisclosed accident and this does not warrant refund of a deposit?
Because he had taken the car off the market for 5 days, I even offered to split the deposit and accept $300 refund.....$300 for his trouble, $300 back to me because of the found defects. In my opinion as a reasonable person, and no matter what a sign says that only exists on one wall in one of their tiny offices, this is a fair way to resolve the issue.
This is where the unfairness and unreasonable nature of this man shines thru. No matter what a sign says, things can always be worked out to make both parties happy........It's just good business. Nothing is set in stone. It is obvious that keeping my $600 was much more important than making a customer happy, or having fair business practices.
There was much more to our lengthly discussion which I won't bore you with (including at one point Frank getting very animated and referring to the 2007 Black Honda Element as a piece of crap (he actually used the expression piece of SH##). When I asked him what he meant by that, he said all the cars on the lot were pieces of crap (again "pieces of SH##). I am still not quite sure what he was getting at.....only he knows for sure. I am certain he would deny he ever said it if he was ever asked to explain what he meant.
I don't write many reviews, only when I have a really good experience, or in this case a really bad experience. This one was obviously a really bad experience.
I just chalk this one up to "buyer beware".........and be especially aware of Auto Solutions in OKC. GET EVERYTHING IN WRITING AND CHECK EVERY VEHICLE CAREFULLY PRIOR TO PUTTING DOWN A DEPOSIT. My suggestion would be NOT to give them any kind of deposit until you are fully satisfied with the condition of the vehicle and are ready to sign the purchase contract. Based on how I was treated in this situation, I would be very skeptical of any type of good service after the sale. I have attached a picture of the receipt my son in law was given for the $600 deposit. No where on that receipt does it read that deposit is non refundable. Doesn't it seem reasonable that if they wanted to make this policy clear, it would be written on the deposit receipt? read more