So, a year into ownership and here's what I know......
I replaced my air filter and there was a solid inch of some white powder in the bottom of the air filter box under the filter. This truck was either flooded or it was used to plow snow it's entire life and that was all salt dust it sucked up every minute it was on the road up in Canada. I've never seen anything like it. Check the CarFax? Guess what, CarFax doesn't follow a vehicle's history when it's out of the United States, aka, Canada.
I checked the transmission fluid during my last oil change. When I bought the vehicle it had 28,000 miles on it. Well, the transmission fluid was jet black, meaning it's gone through hell and back the first 28,000 miles of its life.
The frame was hastily re-painted with some sort of black rubber coating, which is now falling off in 5 inch pieces, revealing the one of the rustiest 4 year old truck frames I've ever seen. Every nook and cranny, from the front bumper to the back. Solid. Rust. Again, most likely supporting my hunch that it was covered in salt as a leased plow truck its whole life during the 2-year lease it spent up in Canada.
The truck came with some over-sized tires on it. They look great, don't get me wrong, but after being under the vehicle and looking at the spare tire, it's a stock spare tire, several inches in diameter smaller than the rest of the tires. Safe to say I won't be able to use it in the event I get a flat tire.
When I went in there the first time, they offered me $3,500 for my Toyota Tacoma, which blue-booked for $12,500. I was shocked. How do you look another human being in the face and offer them $10,000 less than what their vehicle is worth? In the end, I caved on their later offer for $9,000. I traded it in on Saturday morning. The very next Tuesday, 2 days later, it was on their lot, "on sale" for $12,995. Safe to say they didn't do a thing to it and made $4,000 just off my trade alone. It was sold by the end of the week. How much money do you need to make in profit off of someone? 4 grand on my trade in. Probably at least another 5 grand in profit on my purchase. I wouldn't be surprised if they made 9 thousand dollars off of me for a few hours of work.
So, in the end, there is very little reason I can think of to ever buy a vehicle from a used car dealer. There is no warranty here, unless you buy their crazy, over-priced extended service plan one, which, if you do that, you're a bigger sucker than I was. So, no warranty. Not a day, not a mile. You think they go through their vehicles with a fine-toothed comb and get them all back up to like new condition before you buy them? I'm living proof they don't. You drive off that lot and you're on your own.....so, why buy there in the first place? You're going to pay more money to support the salesmen and that giant building. Go with a private seller instead. Worried you're buying a lemon? Take the thing in to an independent mechanic you trust and have them go through it prior to your purchase. Save money, save piece of mind.
A private seller will always get more for their vehicle selling it outright and you'll always save more money buying it from a private seller. It's those used car dealers, the middle-men, that swoop in and buy the vehicles for way less than they're worth from people and car auctions and then jack them up prior to selling them to people just like you and me.
The other weird thing I've noticed is why doesn't Schoepp have any Google reviews? Nothing. Nada. Every other business I've ever went to has people reviewing it on Google. Nope. If you "google" Schoepp motors, you get a corny, 2nd rate website you've never heard of called "Dealer Rater" It's chock full of a bunch of fake, 2-sentence, 5 star reviews, most likely written by employees of Schoepp motors on a daily basis to off set the real reviews written by real customers.
Steer clear of this place. You're already smart enough to look them up on the internet, because a little part of you isn't comfortable buying something from a place like this. Guess what? You're right. read more