My fiancée knew exactly what she was looking for, and there was no doubt in my mind that she would find it. Arnie, as she has affectionately named the 2011 VW Golf parked in front of our house, was waiting for her in New Hampshire, at Rob Noyes Volkswagen. We live in Rhode Island, and traveling that far for a used car seemed to me like a long road home if you weren't happy with what you found. Not to mention, what if the car had a problem? I voiced my concern, but knew my fiancee would make the best decision for herself, and really us, with whatever car she ended up buying. Abby reviewed her options (a short list of cars that fit her parameters gleaned from A LOT of research,) and decided that Arnie was worth the trip. And he looked good, too. Certified, 20,000 miles, a rare beautiful blue and in great condition. The only thing that raised a few eyebrows was that the car had been registered under a commercial title for the first two years of its life. However, the car was being sold as certified, and thus, guaranteed by The dealership.
When you buy a car from a man who puts his name on the door and on everything he sells, you trust that the man behind the name will be a man like Rob Noyes. A man of integrity, honesty and kindness.
The guarantee Mr. Noyes taped to the inside of the window was probably written like a million other guarantees in used VW's across the country, but he's the kind of guy that backs it up. I know this because that damn commercial title came back to haunt us all, and Abby had a mess on her hands.
As it turned out, the car had been owned by Zipcar, had been in one un-reported fender bender, and was sold to Mr. Noyes at auction. It had, unbeknownst to him, a very serious electrical problem, too. I'm sure that's a risk that isn't uncommon at auto auctions, or to any independent dealership owner. The trained technicians would certainly find any problems during the inspection and certification process, and those problems would be resolved prior to the car going on the lot.
Unfortunately, the technician who was tasked with Arnie didn't do his job properly, and to be honest, probably didn't even open up the hood. Leaving Abby, in the very genuine, and service driven hands of her saleswoman Deb, in a bad way. She drove it, checked it out, decided it was the car she wanted and traded in her Subaru along with a lot of money, and the promise to give them a lot more over the next five years. (As an aside, I am confident Mr. Noyes has dealt appropriately with the employee that failed him.) Keys in hand, she drove back through Massachusetts, and was on top of the world. When she took the car in to her long-standing mechanic for the state inspection sticker, the thing he said that stands out the most was he believed it was illegal for that car to have been sold to her. He found a handful of fuses that didn't belong anywhere near a VW, strange spliced wires, and an instrument cluster that had been tampered with, so it wouldn't display any warning lights. Probably because a lot of those lights would be on if they had been working properly.
She immediately called the dealership and was connected to Mr. Noyes. He apologized, and arranged for his son to drive a brand new Passat down the next day, and fix whatever needed it. After a week, and an initial repair, the car was returned, passed inspection and all seemed well. But the ghosts returned a few short weeks later, and we, steamed, called the dealership - insisting that our local VW dealership fix the car, and Mr. Noyes pay the bill. Which he did, apologetically, and sincerely.
Arnie is a welcome part of our lives, has a great story and runs like a top. We got a great car at a great deal, and Mr. Noyes and his team got loyal and happy customers. read more