Last October I purchased a car from Somerville Motors. I waited until now to post a review because I wanted to see if the team at SM would make things right, or play the game of hiding and hoping I go away. Sorry, fellas. Not going anywhere.
Instead of trashing them, I'll post my car shopping experience as fair as possible.
Last autumn I decided it was time for a new ride. I had a really good experience with a new Cadillac rental earlier in the year. I did my research on the various models, and what to expect for problems. In my searches came across Somerville Motors. They had a 2013 XTS4 for sale. The asking price wasn't bad, and it had some of the lowest mileage of any that were for sale at the time. Just under 54,000.
I watched it for a few weeks as they steadily lowered the price. Early October I took it for a test drive.
Went on a Saturday afternoon and met Ed.
Pulled out of the lot, and the tires all had low air pressure, between 10 and 17 PSI in each. Because of where this tiny dealership is located, I couldn't easily turn around and have Ed inflate the tires. So, drove slow down some horrible roads and it rode well. Then took it up on I93 for a short distance and kept it under 50. Made it back and it seemed good except for pulsating brakes.
Went in the following week to purchase. Attempted to knock Ed down on the price, but he replied with a very curt "The price is firm", and lamented that he "had $1800 in this car".
Ed or whoever bought the car at auction bought it without realizing that it needed the magnetic ride control shocks replaced. He had that done, but that was all.
I knew the price was still fairish, so bought the car.
I had to wait a week to pick up the car because of work-related travel. After I returned, I picked up the XTS. Headed home and thought, how lame. They didn't have it detailed.There was a lot of traffic, so it wasn't until I was almost home in Methuen that I could finally get this car up to highway speeds, and lo and behold there was a fairly strong vibration that started at about 60mph. I figured it was probably no big deal.The tires must need balancing and they might be flat-spotted from sitting for a while. SM first advertized the car in July '19.
Drove it a week on local roads only. Went to get the morning coffee and I was lucky to make it home.
As I pulled out of the coffee shop, alarm bells rang, warning messages flashed, the digital gauges stopped working, warning lights went on and power was cut to the engine. I was able to limp it home, but couldn't get it to drive up my sloped driveway. Later that day, had it towed to our local mechanic. However, when it was driven up on the flatbed it was fine. Mechanic had it for several days and what they found was the following:
Wheels weren't just out of balance. Two of them were bent. Luckily they could be bent back into proper form.
Left front axle shaft needed replacement.
Front brake rotors and pads needed replacement.
Codes for communication problems, but couldn't isolate any specific component.
After doing the repairs the car seemed MUCH better. Finally rode like it was supposed to. I had a 60 day/2500 mile warranty with SM which only covered engine and transmission. The axle shaft is included under the transmission in this warranty.
I figured I could at least get that covered.
Called Ed and let him know what happened and asked him how he was going to make this right. He proceeds to tell me that in order to access the warranty, I had to bring the car back to his mechanic.
"You never mentioned that, Ed."
"I didn't?"
"No, you didn't."
He claims he told me that when I bought the car. He never told me that, and never had any paperwork disclosing that hurdle. If I had known this at the time of purchase I would have had it towed to Somerville. He also claimed the brakes were new, and stated that his only responsibility was getting the car past inspection. All I was looking for was the amount of the axle shaft plus labor, not the entire $1800.
I sent Ed a fax of the invoice. This was in December. Haven't heard from him. read more
