My son saved his money to purchase a car. On 8/5/24 my son found a car on Carfax. He called Capital Auto Mall Premier dealership located at 705 W Memorial Blvd, Lakeland, FL 33815 to make sure it was still available and was told that it was. My son told them there were only one picture on Carfax and can he see more views of the car and was told the camara guy was not there to take any and the car is in great condition, they do not sale bad cars. My son asked if he could make an appointment to come and test drive the car and was given an appointment for 8/7/24 Wednesday at 6pm. After work I drove nearly 2 hours and as my son started filling out paperwork with the salesman Clive he said, "You cannot test drive the car today because the car needs a front bumper and some other minor work, but you are still welcomed to buy it" We asked who made this appointment and why would you guys lie and schedule this test drive appt. He (Clive) then said, "I do not know who made it and that was our corporate office who made the appt.". I asked where your corporate office is located. Clive said, "I think in Miami.". The looks of the place did not seem like it is affiliated with a corporation and the fact that he appeared unsure by saying "I think...". lead me to believe he was being dishonest. I asked who the manager and I want to speak with him. Clive then said, "his name is Michael, look, I just stared working here 2 weeks ago". I called the number listed and Edward answered. I asked can I have the address and he gave me the same address I was sitting at. I asked my son was that the voice he spoke to making the appointment, my son used his phone and called right back, and they did not answer from the back office. Clive came from the back and summoned us to the back to speak with the manager (Michael). When me and my son entered the office, I asked the person behind the desk his name and he said his name was Lee (not Michael). Lee said "Melvin made the appointment but left for the day, we can fix the car but we will have to charge you more" So I asked for clarity 'so you are telling me, you guys falsely advertised the car for that price, scheduled us to test drive it, and clearly it is not even drivable with the bumper hanging over the tire, wasted a 2 hour drive coming here, for you to now tell me you would repair it but is going to charge us more'. Lee then said, "yeah, that is a $9000 car."
I literally wasted over 5 hours driving back and forth after working all day and gas. I thought Carfax was a good company and verified cars to prevent this kind of situations. The dealership/Carfax posted the one advertised picture, and the rest of the car was a wreck. The lies and cold condescending attitudes from the dealership were terrible. Driving 2 hours, back home in rush hour with my son broken hearted was the worst ride ever and a horrible experience and a waste of my time and gas money.
One picture is what was advertised and the other two is what we took there. read more