Audi Cicero provided multiple instances of false information to me regarding a car purchase. Only after I put down a deposit of $2000 on a used car, did they spring on me the truth, assuming I'd go through with the sale when it had gotten that far. Some of what they had told me might just be chalked up to incompetence, but there were so many instances of it, that this is unlikely the case. The false information I was given included the following which I believe is a blatant example of fraud: initially stating to me that the used vehicle I was interested in was not certified pre-owned only because a recall needed to be fixed (i.e. Once that was done it would be = to the standard of an Audi certified vehicle). They told me that after the recall was fixed I could then get the car certified (for an additional $1,300). After putting down a deposit and coming in to pick up the car, they told me they actually fixed the recall that day. I then asked if the car could be certified today (which should be really easy since they claimed the only thing it "failed" was the recall being fixed). But, all of a sudden there was a problem. The person I was working with needed to get his sales manager who explained to me that "Oh, we weren't going to certify that vehicle." Followed by "we thought you didn't want to certify that vehicle" (which was a lie).
But, when I asked why they weren't going to certify it, because I was told specifically that it was all set to be certified once the recall was fixed, he - then - said "Well I don't know- the brakes and the brake-pads and the tires wouldn't pass our certification standards." In addition to lying about the condition of the car (up until I was about to purchase it), they told me that (1) I couldn't certify the vehicle after I purchased it (when they told me I could bring it back for certification initially), (2) that the person who examined cars to see if they could be certified was gone for the weekend (and they "could have asked him today" but decided not to for some unknown reason) and (3) now I'd have to wait until Monday (which meant I could not drive the car until then at the earliest).
Then he said "I partially understand your frustration." Really?? "partially" ... On top of lying to me, he couldn't even pretend to care about what he put me through. But what really makes it even worse is the fact that he said "let me try to make it right." So then I asked how and he had nothing to say. I asked again "how do you plan to make it right?" and he said "I'll work with you to figure out a warranty plan." I still had no idea what this joker was even talking about - make it "right" by "offering" to make me buy an additional warranty??? Then he said he'd offer me a warranty and quoted me a price that was more than the sales associate I was working with initially had offered me!!
I explained to him that after all of the headache he had caused me with his lies, that he should give me the warranty extension for free (it was the least he could do). To which he said "that makes no sense." I explained to him that what did make sense was me never stepping foot in Audi Cicero ever again, and my filing a fraud complaint with the attorney general's office. I then canceled the sale and did just that.
For the record I am willing to give people second chances, and I know that some people make "honest" mistakes. But the fact that there were so many "mistakes" made by so many people, and the fact that when they pretended to try to "make it right" they made it worse ... all together this was too much.
I had hoped that the stereotype of the dishonest used car salesman was just that ... Audi Cicero is working hard to prove me wrong! read more
