NOTE: this 2001 Volvo S40 listed on CarGurus for over 5 months; we found better deals, but my daughter liked this color, features, safety rating, and disclosed condition. Started out trusting DFW Universal Auto's words. Did they miss or mislead us? Is this a "typical" used car salesman story?
My 17yo daughter saved most of her earnings for almost 2 years to buy her first car...
Ash assured this car had no known problems, and was in excellent condition. Advertised upgraded radio, no accidents, new timing belt, water pump, and changed oil. A/c was supposedly ice cold. Promised new set of car mats.
Drove car around the block about 10-15 mph - SEEMED ok, BUT later discovered... A/c wasn't working well (Ash said it was the "Dallas heat"). I'd left a very nice review in the office, before noticing all the deception or oversights above, and below. I am changing my review to reflect concerns...
AFTER PURCHASE discovery... no working 12v outlets. Ash told me to keep radio faceplate off, because "it drains the battery." No floor mats as promised - reminded 3 times. This "fully detailed" car had a pen in the trunk, a spare unfastened, missing jack & Luh wrench, credit card on floor from a previous owner, and a stain in the driver's seat. Had to ask twice for jack. Tolerated these little things as they seemed minor enough to fix later.
AFTER Driving on highway. Right rear axle shudders - not noticed going around the block or on bumpy streets. They missed this after how much time? The a/c kept failing, regardless of outside temps - missed this too? The "upgraded" radio was unusable because no antennae and missing CD changer. They missed that?
Upon arriving home, found A/C cabin filter was full of leaves, dirt, pollen; filter cover was missing so, about 1/3 of intake air flooded out before reaching the coils. They missed this?
Next day, my daughter noticed tint missing on front passenger window; door also had a chrome ext handle -others are black. Looking more closely, passenger side of the car had been repainted. Later that day, my son's butt was wet from the right rear seat... wonder where the water came from? In a later message, they indicated "replaced door panels" - this was not disclosed prior to sale - why replaced. Hmm, wondering if the noise, water leak, new door panels, repainting, new door is related to an accident that DFW either was oblivious to, or did not disclose?
Any after sale customer service? Not that we can tell. We hoped errors would be owned & corrected, but instead our findings (shared with both Ash and Elizabeth) were dismissed; responded to us, we "rely on a lot of public data such as Carfax" for a car's condition and value. So, they diffuse responsibility to what's reported to Carfax - they don't look? Scary thought.
Earned our 2 stars instead of one, for the before-sale kindness and cleaning of my daughter's first car, as well as decent execution of completing paperwork. read more