The events leading up to the purchase of the Stinger were great. Ed and I texted and emailed each other to get the details down. I wanted assurance that the vehicle was in good condition and certified. He said it was certified. I have email proof stating as such. That was the first step I needed to move forward. In the next week or so I called Ed on my lunch break to get pre approved. Ed was very personable on the phone. A bit unprofessional but that isn't a huge deal. Ed had his brother Cliff meet me at their location to sign paperwork that following Saturday. When it came time to go over the paperwork it was like any other dealership interaction, accept for the dingy feeling office (1st warning). The Carfax listed, "Minor Damage". I had noticed a bit of cosmetic spots on the vehicle but nothing at all bad. I even said, maybe that small spot on the rear bumper is what they are talking about, Cliff didn't really comment but just nodded his head. Cliff played stupid as to what the reported damage actually was. That should have been my second warning, it is easy to not think too deeply about these things at the time because you are about to get a car you have only dreamed about for years. I can take responsibility there, I should of stopped and walked out. It even seemed to good to be true. I continued to move forward signing papers and left. That same day I noticed that whenever I applied even light pressure on the brakes, the steering wheel would shake. I contacted Ed about it and yes they did offer to have me drive up to them again the next weekend to have them refinish the rotors. Just for facts sake, I live an hour and fifteen minutes away. I was a bit irritated at this point because a fully functioning, correctly functioning vehicle would be some of the examples on what a, "Certified" vehicle is. I shouldn't have had to drive up there again. Mind you my wife followed me up there to bring me back home, so we drove two vehicles up there to accomplish this task. We pick up the vehicle and drive it home. The breaks did feel better, I thought. But no, they still shook the steering wheel. I ended up taking the vehicle to a Kia dealership to be inspected because now, I thoroughly do not trust these people. Kia confirmed that the rotors were refinished but they missed spots, and the vehicle was "Mechanically" in good shape but had a factory recall. They pointed out to me the amount of damage to the undercarriage of the vehicle. Here is my big issue on why I am even writing this. There are several spots that the vehicle is damaged underneath. If I knew this up front, I would of walked away from the transaction. Drivers wheel well is practically missing and there is supposed to be a protective cover under the entire car, that is torn in a few places and the under part of the bumper was missing. Because the under part of the bumper was missing the bumper actually started hanging down an 1/8 of an inch or so below the passenger headlight. I messaged Ed about this and I was told, "The bumper wasn't hanging when we sold you the car". Well no shit it wasn't, I would not have bought the car if it was. Ed ended having me drive back to them again to then have the front brakes replaced and refinish the rotors again. I had to pick up the car from the actual shop down the parking lot this time. I was told that there is barely any rotor left so next time, I will "just have to replace the rotors". That left me feeling even angrier about this whole transaction. The manager even admitted that the bumper may hang a bit, I mean yea it will, there is no plastic underneath it, it is missing. That is Certified?
This vehicle was in some type of a collision and it is rigged to look really good from the outside but if you look underneath you would see it in a different perspective. Overall, I still love this car, but in order to get it to factory "Certified" standards I will need to spend at least a few grand on it. So if that is what you consider to be a, "Certified" vehicle..This place rocks. Get a vehicle from them, it might be great?....Good Luck?
Food for thought as well, they didn't actually do anything to the vehicle themselves, they bring it to one of the shops in the same parking lot as them, I am sure they, "Do business" all the time. I am sure the only counter argument is that yes,"MECHANICALLY" the vehicle is good, but either way, still feel like I was deceived. read more