If I could give zero stars, I would. If you are in the market for a new/used car, stay away from Rainbow Luxury Imports in Covington.
I bought a used 2016 Mercedes GLE350 last June. While shopping and coming upon this vehicle, I asked about the Carfax, and I was told by the salesman that he would give it to me later, but it had been in one very minor accident, assured me that they had done all the repairs, and that the necessary maintenance have been done, including that "all the fluids had been changed".
Granted, I am rather naive about some things, but with that assurance, I had every reason to have confidence in buying the vehicle with "no warranty, as is". That is where they got me... I thought, "Surely, they would not lie about having completely repaired any and all damage and about having done all of the required maintenance on the vehicle." ...And I never got that Carfax by the way.
I work offshore and have only been home for less than half the time elapsed since purchase, having driven it maybe a total of two months. I have now spent $13,000 on repairs to the vehicle.
I started with having to replace the compressor, and following a subsequent courtesy inspection by the Mercedes dealership while addressing a recall, informed that the timing cover on the engine had been leaking oil profusely for some time, that I needed new tires as the tread was already down to 5/32", and that the transmission maintenance has never been done for the life of the car.
The transmission maintenance is due every 60,000 miles, and this vehicle had 110,000 on it when I purchased it, so it was already almost due for the second one without even having had the first one done. Having changed all the fluids as the salesperson told me they had done would have entailed the transmission fluid as well, but clearly that was a falsehood.
The transmission also began to fail in November. I had the transmission maintenance done as this sometimes can solve some transmission issues.
The transmission maintenance demonstrated a copious amount of water inside the sealed transmission, which had come from the separate radiator that cools the transmission, and absolutely failed for to lack of maintenance. This would have been found had Rainbow actually done the maintenance they claimed to have done. The slow damage this water did to the interior of the transmission necessitated replacement as agreed to by two separate mechanics.
At this point I had spent over five and a half thousand dollars. I just received my car back from the transmission repair this past Saturday. The transmission replacement cost me $7,500 additional dollars for a total of the aforementioned nearly $13,000.
I have been seeking some assistance for these repairs from Rainbow, not necessarily even complete reimbursement. I am only seeking something reasonable, since clearly having done the maintenance that they said they did would have revealed at least some of the problem(s) and rendered the vehicle unsellable, or at least require them to have it fixed before selling. In my view, this makes them responsible for the needed repairs, and again all I have been asking for in my multiple calls and voicemails to them is something to ASSIST me with this massive expense.
I have filed complaints with the Better Business Bureau, and the Louisiana Motor Vehicle Commission, and they have received no response from Rainbow at all. I also complained to the Louisiana Attorney General's Office and TODAY finally got a response from Rainbow through them on the matter (attached also). I am beyond engaged and disgusted at their projecting their irresponsibility and corrupt business practices onto me by claiming that I am just looking for money and that my car's issues are my fault. I have only sought some relief, and I have only driven the car for a total of about 2 months since purchase. The car has almost literally fallen out from underneath me as I've driven it.
I wonder if Lloyd, the owner of Rainbow, knows how his business manager, Don, and his staff are treating his customers.
They have continued to show no desire or effort to help reconcile the situation, apparently hiding behind my purchase of the vehicle with "no warranty, as-is". I personally believe that they knew that the car had issues and just wanted it off of their hands. I guess that's why the business manager was smiling ear to ear as I was signing all the "no warranty - as is" paperwork at the time of purchase.
The next time that I buy a car, I am going to go with a dealership that specializes in that make of vehicle and get certified pre-owned, if not new.
Please avoid following my example and save yourselves a lot of trouble by avoiding Rainbow Luxury Imports. read more