I purchased a vehicle from this business in July 2018. It was advertised on their website as such. This is the entire description, verbatim (I have a screenshot saved of the ad on the Leavitt Bros. website.)
"REMAINDER OF FACTORY 5 YEAR 60,000 MILE WARRANTY... The front windshield is in excellent condition. The paint is in great shape and condition. No dings are visible on this vehicle. The tires are slightly worn with about 75% of tread life left. The interior was well maintained and is extra clean. The exterior was well maintained and extra clean. The engine is functioning properly and has no issues. The vehicle has no previous collision damage. The transmission shifts very smoothly. The brakes are in great condition. The battery is in excellent condition. The care was previously owned by a non-smoker. A mini spare tire is included with this vehicle had one previous owner."
When I bought the car, John showed me the Carfax, which was clean. It listed two previous owners, but I didn't make a fuss about it. Later, when I asked John about it, he denied the ad said this and that it actually said "1 previous owner from the original owner." I took the above quote directly from the ad on his business's website.
When I got home to Vermont after I purchased the vehicle, I realized that John had not given me the title. When I contacted him, he said it was customary for him to keep the titles at his home office and that he would send it to me. It arrived a few days later.
Shortly thereafter, I parked my car in the bright sunlight, and noticed a large amount of body work that had been done to the rear passenger door. The bond-o was rough, there was clear coat sprayed all over the hubcap, and there were permanent streaks from what looks like some sort of buffer along the entire length of the rear passenger door. There was also was obvious body and paint work done to the rear quarter panel. I only missed this when I went to look at the car initially because it was pulled up to the side of the building so it was hidden in that dim light.
I immediately texted John about it. He said that it had a clean Carfax and had not misled me. He asked what he could do to make me happy. I asked that he pay for my shop to go over the car because now that I knew it had been in a collision, I wanted to confirm that the car didn't have any other issues. John refused.
I paid for the dealership to look over the car. They confirmed that there was significant body work done to the car and the quality of that work was poor. There was also some chipped paint along the very bottom of the car that had not been repaired. They also told me that the tires were at 2/32nds and would need replacement soon. I again texted John and expressed that this finding was not what had been advertised. John explained that because they were 60,000 mile tires, and the car had about 23,000, that about 75% of the tread should be left on it, so his ad was accurate.
John asked me to stop texting him after this, and I did.
I do not recommend doing business with this business individual, and if you do, have another shop go over the car before purchasing to confirm that the car is as advertised. read more