This was originally a 5 star review, but as they say, "Stuff Happens…read more
I was in the market for a new car because of an accident. I saw a 2009 Jeep Patriot that I liked, so I called and spoke to Armen. He was very friendly, and we made arrangements to look at the vehicle.
What should have been a red flag to me, was when the Carfax and the odometer were 2 different numbers. Armen said that he drove the vehicle for about 1000 miles before he put it on the market to make sure it ran OK. I accepted that.
We took it for a short test drive, and I liked it... He let me take it to my mechanic to check it out. My mechanic found a couple of items, and Armen was willing to work with me on the price to help cover the cost of these items. I ended up buying the vehicle...
*AND THEN.....*
I had driven the vehicle for a short while, and I thought I heard a whine in the transmission. I googled it, and Google seemed to say that that's how the vehicle sounds. Still, I took it into a shop for a double check, and found that it had a leaking transmission hose. We fixed that. Another $300 out the door. I was still close to what I got for my other vehicle.
After I got the vehicle back, I decided to go to Reno. As soon as I started to head "up the hill" into the Sierra, and put a little bit of torque onto the transmission, the transmission temperature warning light came on, and the vehicle started bogging down. I limped it into a garage, and was told that the transmission temperature sensor was stuck in the "on" position. Fortunately, I was able to make it downhill back to home.
I took it into a transmission shop, and was told that with that sensor, the vehicle needs a new transmission. They *also* found that it needs a new transmission mount. It's "cheaper" to get a factory rebuilt transmission than for the shop to rebuild it themselves. ($6500 parts and labor is "cheaper.") I've had the vehicle for less than a month and 700 miles, and I am already about 14 grand into it. Unfortunately, my mechanic isn't a "tranny guy", so he didn't catch the problem before I bought it. I would have never bought the vehicle.
When I mentioned that Armen had told me that he had driven the vehicle for a thousand miles before he sold it to me, I was told, "He would have known." Apparently, transmissions don't just "go." I'm stuck, because I bought the vehicle "as-is."
I'm still going to keep the vehicle, because I have so much into it already. I can't afford to start with another one and hope for the best, Please do yourself a favor, and *DON'T* buy from this guy.....