Buying a car from a private company, I expected a bit more integrity, than buying a used car from a private seller. But my experience with Lance at B&J Car Sales, was pretty typical of buying from a private seller.
It's just over a year that we purchased a car from Lance with B & J Car Company. My story is a little unique in that fact that, I had purchased the cart before the horse. We acquired a trailer, and the vehicle that we were going to tow it with broke down the week before we were going to pick it up. We had to scramble to find a SUV that would tow the trailer. We found what we thought to be the perfect SUV at B&J Car Company. We had to act fast because we had to pick up the trailer the very next morning. I spoke with Lance 8/28/15 about 9am, and by 2pm, I had left work and was 70 miles away meeting Lance to pick up our new SUV. Lance is great, way down to earth, and super nice. His big brother and Dad, are a nice touch in the office which feels like you are part of the family. So, I'm totally sold on the whole package. We're doing the paperwork and, STOP here! I made one of the BIGGEST MISTAKES, at that very second.
I sign the AS-IS agreement, no disclaimer, no what-if clause, just sign right here, no mechanic to look the car over.
The paperwork is complete, and I go to get in the car, proceed to roll down the window... it doesn't go down. He seemed surprised, but convinced me to drive him to a parts store where he was able to have it checked out and replaced. Kinda random, but it's fixed, so yay! He then kindly suggests washing the car, which I take him up on; of course I want new car look and smell. Begrudgingly and hour or so later, I agree to the "I bought a car with Lance! Photo" and off I go.
As I'm driving the 70 miles home, I'm getting blasted by a driver because, I have no tail lights?, "brake lights bitch", I think is what he yelled, but I wasn't sure because the car is new to me. I text Lance the minute I get home to tell him there was another problem. He gives me a couple helpful tips, and so now I'm replacing brake lamps before we trek off to pick up the trailer the next morning. The trailer pickup was trip successful; the trailer is parked in front of our house ready to leave that next Thursday. Thursday is here and we're ready to leave for our trip and the SUV doesn't start? I figured the kids had left something on, we hadn't driven it because it had the trailer hitched to it, and was sitting since Saturday. Little did I know, this next part is where my saga began. We jump it because we have to get on the road with our caravan. We jumped it the whole trip, and we jump it for the next week or so. Are the kids leaving rear cabin lights on, radio? Are the headlights on? Why did this SUV keep dying? I reached out to Lance for guidance 2 weeks after I knew it wasn't me or my kids. "His guy" quoted me $1490 to repair "it", but that seemed weird because he didn't know what was wrong. I didn't trust Lance at this point and never heard from him again. This wasn't the family guy I knew; I knew his brother and Dad for gosh sakes; we felt like family in the office when I was paying my $10K cash. I've been a AAA member for 25 plus years, and I went through my allotted jumpstarts in 2 weeks. I was getting stranded everywhere, because it would die randomly. I'm not sure how this problem wasn't a problem for Lance at B&J Car Sales. Maybe it was, I'll never know, but by signing the AS-IS contract, I assumed the responsibility. But with that, comes the opportunity to share my story. I have since spent over $1000 in repair on this phantom electrical problem, 4 new batteries, the aftermarket radio/amp removed, and FINALLY, finally the SUV starts consistently. After having it at the mechanic for over 40 days, over the last 14 months, the end result was a $350.00 ignition switch. Apparently in this SUV, turning the key in the ignition is very close to, and slips in to the "accessory position", which drains your battery. Basically, there was a little too much play in the ignition key area, if that makes sense. It's been 3 weeks since we replaced the ignition switch, and it works perfectly and we couldn't be happier.
So!, like I tell my kids; sometimes it's not necessarily what happens that makes the big deal, but how you react to what's happened. I feel that Lance, with all his integrity, could have taken a little more responsibility to make sure that the car I was purchasing for over $10K cash, was safe and reliable. I am seeing on more recent YELP reviews, that Lance has since helped out a buyers with mechanical problems after their purchase. This was not the case for me. So heed this warning folks: If you are going to sign an AS-IS agreement, be smarter than me, bring a mechanic with you, and don't fall for the "family" feeling this business evokes. Believe it or not, I even tasted Mom's chocolate chip cookies. Apparently, I'm a real sucker for a good chocolate chip cookie :) read more