I had been looking for a specific Miata for quite some time. My boyfriend, constantly looking it up to try to find it for me, ended up finding it on the Sienna Motors website. He kept this from me for a while because, knowing it was my dream car, he was afraid I'd get tunnel vision and want it despite living states away (and therefore, unable to see it in person). My first major mistake. I did get tunnel vision and really counted on the fact that if we talked to them and requested photos and videos, and asked specifically about the condition of the car (one question of which being, whether it would pass smog which they said it would), that they'd be honest and let us know if it needed work or anything of the sort so we could make an informed decision about buying it. Apparently, it was in perfect, flawless condition.
I believed this and decided I wanted the car. The whole transaction was quick and considering it was in pristine condition, we were told it would just need routine maintenance and would be sent out. We asked for a specific date because my boyfriend travels for work and we would both be out of the country within the month. This "routine maintenance" turned into weeks and suddenly they needed to change the wheels? And something else needed fixing? (I can't remember what it was, my boyfriend handled everything because he's the one that knows about this stuff but the stress this entire ordeal caused him makes me not want to bring this up but he has all the texts). This pushed the date we received the car from Nov to Dec.
When it was on the way here, we got a call from the driver transporting my car. He said he was stuck, unable to deliver the car because it wouldn't run on its own. It couldn't be moved in or out of the trailer because it wouldn't turn on. We called Sienna Motors giving them a list of all the reasons why they needed to take the car back. It wasn't at all in the condition they had stated it was in. Not even close, the car didn't run? Claude, the owner, was adamant that the car was perfect and rather than taking it back and refunding it, he stated he would pay for whatever maintenance the car needed. We have this in a signed contract as well (spoiler alert: it wasn't honored). It was written, Sienna Motors would pay for any major repairs at the place of our choice. We're close to a Mazda so we chose to have it repaired there (which Claude was reluctant about. Probably because Mazda seeing the condition the car was in would know it needed some MAJOR work). Needless to say, we didn't receive the car then and I didn't see it until end of Jan. Once we saw the car it was clear what this whole ordeal was. The car barely turned on, there was a ton of rust, water filled the trunk all around the battery, it didn't pass smog (once we got it to work for a moment and drained the water). The list went on. For a perfect car, I couldn't even drive it around the corner. The car was looked at a few times and basically lived at Mazda for months, with nothing done. Our mechanic told us it needed major repairs (we have the list), Claude didn't want to pay it as his contract said he would and asked us to take the car to another mechanic for a second opinion. The car can't be legally driven and barely functions at that. This is now 5 months or so of this back and forth so we just gave up. No lemon laws or used car buyer protections in Florida so easy to scam out-of-staters I guess? My final conversation with Mazda, he mentioned he only spoke with Claude once, and tried to call back a few times to no avail. The one time they spoke, he said Claude told him to do a minimal check, so he wasn't actually going to pay for any repairs. Yet, he told us Mazda wouldn't return his calls?
Last thing I will say, it's an older car so I knew it wouldn't be perfect like a new car but I expected it to drive. It's disappointing that I really thought I had found my dream car, and my naïveté lead me to believe this was an honest dealership. My mistake! Thanks Sienna Motors. And thank you Claude and Luis. May you both be well. read more