Purchasing a vehicle from Bristol Auto Center has been one of the worst experiences of my life. I had purchased a 2011 Grand Cherokee Overland from them in April 2018. The car ran okay during the test drive, had a rumble that I was assured would go away after new tires were installed.
A week into the ownership of the vehicle, the rumble got worse (even with the new tires). Mark offered to take another look at the vehicle. Since he couldn't replicate the issue, nothing was done, though he did explain his inspection of the systems of the vehicle. He graciously offered a vehicle from his lot as a loaner while he looked over my vehicle for any signs of an issue.
A week after this inspection in which nothing was found, the issue arose again. Mark gladly looked over the vehicle again at his earliest convenience, once again offering a vehicle from his lot as a loaner while he looked over the vehicle again. Nothing was found, but researched some codes and potential issues. At this point, he made it very clear I had purchased a used vehicle and it was sold as-is.
Ten days had gone by without any improvement. I had a passenger take videos on their phone to capture the issue I was dealing with, but Mark wouldn't chase the problem any further. I kindly requested Mark either buy back the vehicle (less mileage depreciation) or offer an exchange for the dollar value I had paid, plus or minus any difference. Mark was appalled and quite offended, saying he had never heard such request and mentioned how lucky I am he is still talking to me. At this point I looked on the DMV website and it mentions the selling dealer must make repairs on the vehicle at no charge up to 60 days, or 3k miles, if the owner paid at least $5,000 for the vehicle. The qualifications are: the vehicle is 6 years old or less and the vehicle must be used for personal or household use. Of course, the vehicle is 7 years old, so Mark had an "out" there but in the spirit of customer service, he opted for taking the hard stance of saying everything is my problem now.
Two weeks after the last inspection (I had gone on vacation and didn't drive the car for 5 days), the air suspension fails to lift the vehicle to the proper ride height, which is now a safety problem. I called Mark to update him on the status of the vehicle, to which he irritably reconfirms I had purchased a ¬¬used vehicle and I purchased the car as-is, and once again scolded that every problem is now MY problem. He was once again frustrated with my unrealistic and unruly request for him to do more work, mentioning how he hasn't charged me for any time or attempt at a repair since I had purchased the vehicle. Noting the Used Car Warranty from the CT DMV, this "good faith effort" was really only 1 year removed from a mandatory inspection and repair at no cost. If he was to go by that concrete miss of the warranty for the vehicle age, Mark really wants to cut corners. Mark is outraged by my constant request for inspection and repair. On the other side, think how I feel as a customer, purchasing a vehicle that requires me to bring it to a shop more times in 2 months than I had brought my old vehicle of 7 years. How do you think I felt: loss of time, coordinating drop-off and pick up, time of my research to better understand the problems at hand and focus my description of the issues when speaking with Mark? As he may have "lost" time and money from his inspections and the value of a loaner car (which wasn't accumulating any value had I not been offered to me), I certainly have lost time and money of my own, requiring me to take time off from work to fit their shop hours as well as everything else stated above.
Upon inspection by Papa's Dodge, they note significant work done to the air suspension system but points to a blown air suspension control module. Once the module was replaced, the air compressor then had to be replaced. All in all, $4,500 of repairs required for a vehicle I had JUST PURCHASED TWO MONTHS AGO!!!! Through the first two months, I was able to safely drive my vehicle for 40% of the time, 60% of the time the vehicle was in a shop getting inspected.
If I had to suggest anything, I would suggest purchasing your car elsewhere. Mark and Alex were very nice at the forefront, but when things started to not meet my expectations (of an operating vehicle), our relationship turned from cordial to completely sour. The lack of responsibility of the work he had completed on the vehicle prior to the sale is completely unacceptable, mentioning that it must have been something I had done to cause all this. read more
