Wiley Bass was great. Very patient and answered all my questions. Got my payment where I wanted. Thank you Stearns Ford

So I was in the car business for years and I do feel for car salespeople. Selling cars is categorically not an awesome job by any stretch of the imagination IMO and it still seems to be full of deceit, and all sorts of tom foolery and outright lies, so no, it's not for everyone. I was lucky to get out when I did. Having said that, I will temper my thoughts regarding my limited interactions with the Stearns Ford, which honestly never even involved me driving a couple of hours to see a used car they had listed for well over book, and while that's not unusual, it's also really not necessary either. There's often massive net profit to the dealer via used car sales in general btw. This was a used car with very low miles, a one owner vehicle in very good to excellent condition, so I expected to pay above book, but within reason. That was not gonna happen here, and after I presented a reasonable number to a sales rep for an out the door price (to include doc, taxes, tagging fees) he texted me "okay, thanks for working with me, let's see what I can do", or therabouts. Basically what Stearns Ford (actually Stearn's sales management) did was over list the car by about $2500.00 and they did that based on condition, percieved demand (which they apparently determined based on what I refer to as the extortionist prices charged by "convenience" set-fee dealers like Carvanna). Stearn's Ford business model is not the same as Carvanna's FWIW. The sales rep's correspondence by text was good, and it looked like they would be able to bring the car in at a reasonable price I'd specified. UNTIL, I made it clear that I could finance or pay in cash AND that I didn't want to be "boxed" by a finance type, into any loan that wasn't open (and eligible for early payoff). That seems to have been enough to change the tenor of the text conversation, oh yeah. You see, the dealerships make money when you finance from one of their lenders. My mistake, a calculated but stupid one, was thinking that Stearns was a straight, transparent, and reasonable used car seller; that the dealership could grasp and comprehend the benefit of a win-win type of sale to an open and educated buyer, READY to buy based on lots of previous correspondence to that effect. As soon as I made it clear that I was willing to come get the car based on previously texted price requirements OTD, the rep made it, in his (or more likely his manager's) words "crystal clear" that they (his manager) wasn't having any of it; they would sell it for list or very close to it, which is of course the whole idea from the dealership's side of things. I know, I've been on their side many, many times and as the saying goes, "car buyer likes to feel they got a good deal, but a dealership will never sell you a car they're not making a reasonable, or in this instance a probably very high amount of net profit on. Fair enough. With Stearns, my experience (YMMV) was the same as it was back in the very late 90's and near mid 2000's, and it was disappointing to know by my limited experience with them, the business has not evolved in any meaningful way at independent dealers. In this instance, I don't think Stearn's Ford was driven by reasonable net profits but IMO excessively "greedy" margins. Ahh, capitalism in full bloom at the retail dealership. Some things never seem to change. Off topic, but IMO and FYI if you want a particular used car AND you don't HAVE TO PURCHASE from ANY dealership, I suggest you don't. Do your homework, know everything about the vehicle you're set on purchasing, Then, once you find your car, go look at it and/or get very good video of it from the seller, and if you'll be purchasing long-distance provided you're satisfied at that point, pay the seller a small amount to take it to an independant shop that you choose for a Pre-purchase Inspection (PPI) and pay the 150-200 bucks they go for. Then, if everything is still okay, pay for a Carfax (even though these reports are less than perfect) and proceed with the rest of the deal in person. Finally, watch out for the processing fees at dealerships; they're absolutely NOT a requirement, no matter what the dealer says to the contrary) and are often a way for the dealership to pack the deal in their favor. California, Oregon, to name a few are getting ready to raise their's from about 100 bucks to 500. For Virginia and NC it's a max of 800 at the time of this writing. That's pretty absurd to me. If you do decide to do business on a used car with Stearns Ford, in Burlington, North Carolina, I suggest you proceed as a well-educated prospective buyer. If at anytime during the process, you feel uncomfortable, well that's very probably not a good sign at all and you can always just walk away. Peace! read more

Had a great experience and an easy sale. Worked with Canden Green. They're willing to work with you on price if it makes sense for both parties. Have some comparisons ready and do your research. Come with financing so you know what you can get. I found them honest with precise numbers and the exact right financing. Everyone was super nice too. read more

My experience buying my used Nissan Kick SR at Stearns Ford was excellent! My salesman, Ron Gregory, was great and very helpful. Other employees while I was there were pleasant as well. I would recommend Stearns Ford and Ron Gregory to anyone looking to purchase a car. I love my Kick and enjoy driving it. It's just the right size/weight car for me. Teresa R. read more

Buyer beware. This dealership is trying to sell vehicles with water damage. After asking multiple times to verify it did not have any issues we drove 3 hours one way to find mud in the interior panels and doors. Also damage to the undercarriage. read more

Stearns Ford - Car Dealers Near Me - Burlington, North Carolina

Had a good and pleasant experience bought a hybrid Maverick which is a bit harder to find The Ford dealer closer to me markup $10k over MSRP for a Maverick I'm really enjoying the vehicle read more

Worst Service Experience Ever! The lady on their service line was so rude. After reading their reviews I can see I'm not alone. I purchased my car with them in 2019 and haven't had any issues. I was just calling for information about a manufacturers recall, she was so confrontational on every point it was comical. What an idiot. It's clear they don't want my business, so I found someplace closer to me to deal with issue. Again, after reading all these reviews, it seems like I saved myself a major headache. read more

Thomas Hitt was fantastic to work with in selling my Jeep! He was a fair negotiator, and by the time I drove from Greensboro to Burlington, he had all the paperwork and a check ready! I will look at Stern's Ford every time I have a car I need to sell! read more

I purchased a 2023 used vehicle recently and during the process I was told repeatedly if I had any issues to take it to them and they would take care of it in the first 6 months. Less than 2 weeks later the check engine light came on and the vehicle died. I took it to them and they said the battery voltage was fine and cleared the codes, I told them it wasn't more but was ignored. Within a week it was the same issues, I called and was told by the sales rep to take it to a GMC dealership to handle because they are a Ford dealership. I reminded him about their commitment they told me to take it to them, which had I known they wouldnt follow through it would have influenced my purchase decision. I asked repeatedly for a buyback price and have been ignored. It's my believe now that they knew the car had issues and sold it anyways. read more

I need to add to my last review the truck I purchased was sold to me as a used truck, but you would think for that much money they would help out with a gas cap. I apologize for misleading a new one. read more

Wont take no for a answer. Will harrass you. Contstantly. Calls everyday. Dont give this company your info. Soneone gave mine and now they wont STOP. read more

Tonya Lewis purchased my vehicle from me and helped me look for other vehicles. She is very honest and great with communication. I recommend requesting her if you are looking to sell your vehicle. read more

Went in tonight to look at a car that we saw online. Jerome greeted us and we told him we just wanted someone to show us a used car. He replied sure no problem. He started asking about financing right off the bat and once again he was told we have just started looking and we wanted to check out this car. He replied sure no problem. He asked again about financing so at this point we are kind of frustrated. (Who knew you had to give your first child to look at a car these days.). We told him yet again that all we wanted to do was look at the car. He then thru his arms in the air and said "well you could have done that before we came in, raising his arms at us quit aggressively and raising his voice. We got up and left the dealership. Unbelievable that when we told him three times what we wanted, and then not listened to. Absolutely NO way in hell I would do business with these guys. not trying to be a "Karen" but they are just disrespectfu! Also the group of salesman in front said absolutely nothing to us on our way out. read more

I dropped my car off on June 28th to have it inspected. My car is a 2004, and as of this year only requires the Safety inspection. When I went to pick it up, they did not inspect it. They said it had to be over 20 years old. I showed them on the NC Department of Transportation website that my car only required Safety, not the Emissions. They do not know the NC law. They said I had to address the check engine light before inspection could be done. I asked to speak with whomever made this decision. They told me he was not available. I left upset, because I would now have to pay a late fee when getting my sticker. I called back to speak with the General Manager, and was told he was not available, so I left a message. He has still not returned my call. read more

By far the worst service I've ever gotten. I have gone there twice for an oil change and tire rotation, both times they did not have the correct filter. The first time I waited easily 2 hours before anyone told me they didn't have the filter, the second time the woman notified me after waiting an hour. As a garage and dealership you would think they'd have a few stored, there's probably enough space to. Or maybe check to see what types of vehicles are being serviced and make sure you have the part(s) and call the customer before the appointment if you don't. I also bought the car there. The car was listed for around $25,000 and they tried to sell it for $27,000, and in that total were random charges such as garage fees. They will try to price gauge. I would not recommend buying a car or getting your car serviced here. read more

I've been a Stearns Ford customer for years and after buying parts there today, I lost respect and appreciation for this dealership. They are now charging 3.75% additional for anyone using debit/credit. I will say this....there are other businesses doing the same and I paid it once and haven't been back. There are plenty of other places that don't nickel and dime you. Perhaps Stearns should reconsider this policy. read more

lol where do I even start, my overall experience at this dealership was decent until I was introduced to a snake, purchasing a car is always a little bit of a hassle, so it is expected to take a little time with the whole process, with that being said, I love the car I purchased, I also love some of the sales people I was introduced to(my sales reps name was ANGEL) and he was absolutely amazing. So this is in now way his fault but fair warning ‼ to anyone that goes to Stearns ford Charles Mc-goofy is what we call the snake of the century please stay away this man is known for being a piece of shit and he will serve you shit. a true sales manager at best read more

We gave them a golden opportunity to show us how they do business and they did. Bought a used Escape Hybrid and let them take us for the full ride on service package and gap coverage. They do this with a fraudulent sales tactic but I'll explain that later. Our Escape already had a small chip in the windshield and the salesman said it looked to be filled and no car can be sold unless it passes safety inspection. It spread into a large crack after a few minutes of Interstate travel. I don't even blame the salesman for dishonesty because it looked fine to me too until it spread. But as you can imagine, they politely told us there was no help whatsoever on this even with our extra service package. We had the all of the extras refunded to the loan to lower the negative equity and traded-in somewhere else with the cracked windshield and that dealer fixed it with very little hit to the trade-in value. The amount of extras they were able to refund seems to be around $5700! The fraudulent sales trick is this, which will also be in a review of the other dealer we traded-in with because they all do the same sleezy trick: The first payment quote you see at the sales desk is fraudulent. They calculate it with most of their extras already factored in. This is why that paper quote is never seen again. When you see the real payment with all extras and gap coverage in the finance office, the final payment is only about $20 higher - deceiving you into believing there is very little extra on there. In reality if you decline all of their extras the payment should be almost $100 lower than the original quote. If you are desperate enough to shop with them, be careful, they can also quietly move the interest rate through the roof when you decline extras to make it seem like the payment is about the same either way. It's all dirty tricks. An honest business should clearly show the total amount financed, the interest rate, and the payment on any legit quote! read more

The sales team very unprofessional. Managers garbage.. you talk crap about customers because i don't want a car that you are pushing on me. I ask for a particular car; but you are trying to dump a garbage crap that your dealership wants to get rid of. What makes it worse you don't even hide what you are doing. Unethical pieces of shit. I am just surprised that you have what you have on your leadership team and you still exist. I wish there was a lower rating. I would love to have a word with the GM or owner but I'm sure they are just as terrible as the managers who talk down to people. So upset.. I'm Not sure how there's a high review score at this location.. you all will mess with the wrong one some day!! read more

Don't be fooled. Their first priority is money! The service center will rip you off and refuse to make it right. They serve their managers by stiffing the community! I recommend going to a reputable dealership. read more

This is a two-fold complaint with both Stearns Ford Burlington and the car warranty company CarShield. First CarShield giving the run around and basically false advertising when we have paid for a service which has resulted in our car being in the shop for over four months for a engine replacement. And Stearns for promising our car back before Christmas and well here it is Christmas Eve and nothing. I will be contacting the BBB and all forms of media to let people know how these businesses operate. read more

Horrible to deal with. Very evasive on price and trade in. I really wanted their car. Would not negotiate at all. CarMax had the same car for the same price and appraised my car 2020 with 4K miles at 29K. Streams "had to appraise" before they would give me a number. CarMax appraised it one day ago! In writing which I submitted to Stearns. VERY DIFFICULT TO DEAL WITH read more

Stearns had my car for 3 months waiting on recall part and said they can't give me a loaner that i would need to call Ford corporate... here is what FORD Corp said below in a chat, contact the dealer... the lack of PLANNING, COORDINATION and Service is crazy... they have done a piss poor job... DON"T EVER BUY A FORD AND I"M GOING TO SPREAD THE WORD: at 17:10, Jul 9:Brittany(FORD CORPORATE) Well from corporate, and i am not sure how many different conversation you have had, I am looking into that right now. While we encourage our dealers and their agencies to provide rentals when possible, a delay in obtaining one can occur due to limited inventory.  The best person to make arrangements for a time when a rental is available while your vehicle is repaired is the Service Manager at your dealership. We always leave these decisions up to the dealer, however providing a loaner during a repair is not always a requirement. I can get your profile up to see what type of assistance is available for you, and also i can submit feedback to this dealer so that they can reach out to you regarding this matter. read more

My husband and I purchased a vehicle from them 2 years ago and after a month and a half went by I got a call from our sales person Kelvin telling me that the car wasn't financed for whatever reason the company that we signed the contract with declined to finance it. We were told that they found another finance company and the terms of the loan were the same. Well time went by and I started to read different reviews and complaints it lead me to think that we never physically signed the new contract. I called the new finance company and asked for a copy the contract with our signatures on it. When we received the copy of the contract low and behold our signatures had been forged numerous times throughout all of the paperwork from the contract to the gap insurance to the warranty. The same person signed my husband's and my signature and it was VERY obvious!! Might I add that we found this out after my son purchased a vehicle from them that he had to leave in Durham parked on the side of the street an hour after the purchase because it would not start. They thought that my son was going to pay for repairs but they thought wrong! Not paying for repairs when the ink is not dry on the sales contract! read more

I bought my 2011 Honda Civic here a year ago, and have not regretted my purchase. Offered with my car was one year free service. Service takes about an hour, the area that you wait in is very comfortable, with vending machines, chairs, restrooms, and television. Everyone that works here is friendly and makes you feel welcome. read more

Stearns Ford - Waiting area - Car Dealers Near Me - Burlington, North Carolina

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Low ball ya on a trade, go elsewhere. My father and i told them upfront best offer first, nope not even close. I know if i had sold them my car they would turn around and double the sales price, never go there again! read more

Purchased a used F-150 from Stearns. No complaint with truck. Clean CarFax. Runs and drives excellent and price was more than reasonable. PRobles is that when I went to trade at a different dealer he pulled a CarFax and it shows 2 accidents. Naturally I did NOT get the CarFax with the other paperwork on truck. I have no evidence but I have a very strong belief. If they show you a CarFax I recommend you verify the VIN to make sure it is the same vehicle. It's my last purchase there. read more

Worse trade in ever. I learned from the experience there never to sign anything without reading it. I thought they were giving me a pretty good deal on my Ford Explorer. I traded it for a 2013 Nissan Altima. Discovered after actually reviewing the paperwork that the balance from the loan on my truck was transferred into the loan for the Altima. Hence, the reason my payments were a little over $400. Loved the car though. Fool one once, shame on me. Won't be twice because I won't ever deal with you again. I'm sure they remember me from 2014. Probably had a big laugh on how dumb I was to fall for that crap. read more

This is one of the best dealership I ever been to. I just bought a pickup truck from them and they did incredible job, one person especially and his name is Charles Gary. I've been to a lot of dealership searching for my dream car and most of them look way to get money but this dealership is looking for customer satisfaction first before everything else. I highly reccomend getting to this dealership and ask for Charles Guy, he will fix you with best deal and a lot benefits with it. read more

Stearns Ford in Burlington NC just showed me what true service and customer focus is. The team of Guys were phenomenal. Germal, Ray and Michael were outstanding. I will share with my whole network. read more

Worst experience ever...I purchased a 2018 F150 online and was told truck was a Ford Sales Managers....it was repossessed. Even after telling salesman it was repossessed he tried telling me it wasnt. Quote provided stated 7844 miles. When received it had 10,955. Lastly, was not delivered with all the keys needed even though was told they had all the keys. read more

Absolutely the best car deal ever!!!! Love Paige (our salesman) there was no pressure & he let the car sell itself! Loved Phil the finance guy & love Delaine who was great at making it all work out! Love my 2017 Ford Explorer!! It all but drives itself read more

I bought a lightly used 2017 Subaru from this dealership. The wheels had some issues so they insured that would be taken care of. I was told to come in a drop my car off for them to repair the wheels bearings. After the first night, I came back to find that nothing had been done to my car and that there was an issue with parts. I was told to come back later in the week and the parts would be there. I came back a second time and left my car overnight to find out the parts were incorrect and to come back the following week. I come back the following week and drop my car off to have them keep again for two nights. My wheels were finally replaced after almost a month of "sorry we're busy" or ordering incorrect parts. In addition, I made my salesman aware of a chip in my windshield upon buying my car. He gave it a little "scratch" test with his fingernail and ASSURED me it had been inspected and filled. Now less than a month later and my windshield has completely cracked from that initial chip. I called to let the dealership know that the "inspection" done to my car was insufficient and they told me they couldn't help me. If you're looking to get bounced around with insufficient "we'll see if we can squeeze you in" scheduling, irresponsible inspections, and poor customer service- this is the place for you! read more

Stearns Ford Service Department upholds integrity in the highest standards. A little mistake was made while I had my F-250 serviced (humans tend to make mistakes occasionally) and I called Steven in the service department and was instructed to bring my truck immediately to the dealership so it could be corrected. I was treated like royalty and drove off with a better truck than I originally came to have serviced. My only regret is I did not purchase this truck with this Ford dealership. In the future I will only deal with Stearns Ford on Alamance Road. read more

Car shopping is not a great experience but this time it was a wonderful experience. Lacey Berry was a pleasure to work with. She is very professional but most of all she was personal and friendly. My wife and I enjoyed the whole experience dealing with all the professionals at this outstanding dealership. charlie g read more

Love the car I bought here, but the sales experience was unfortunate. When I first contacted the dealership, the car I was inquiring about was under deposit. I asked them to contact me if the sale fell through. A week later, I still saw it listed so I inquired again, and it was still available as the buyer didn't take the car. I wondered why they hadn't contacted me but I went out anyway. The car was exactly as described and advertised, and the price was fair so I didn't ask for a dime off the price. The only thing I requested was for de-oxidation of the headlights, which was agreed. I asked about the "at least one" open recall on the car per the CarFax, and I was told there was one open. As I was doing the paperwork, I complained to my salesman about the dealer fees, which were a little high. He joked about them and suggested they round them up to the next $100. That wasn't funny or nice. I didn't get a break on those offered. Then after the paperwork was done (I purchased a warranty as well), not only was I NOT given warranty info, the salesman came in and confessed he had only key to the car, which was a valet key. He said they never rec'd the car keys from the prior owner. This would have been nice to know during the sales process. It wasn't a non-starter, but was appropriate to disclose. He said I could pay to have one made and he would give me a contact. I left the car overnight to service the headlights, when I returned the next day, that had not been done. When I asked why, I was told "because you took the only key". Ok..... they took the car back to clean the headlights, but I think they only used Windex - no visible improvement. The temp tag was tossed in the back window and I requested it be attached to the car but was told they get wet and tear. I asked if they had a car frame, they said no. I asked if they could bolt it until I got to Raleigh and they said they didn't have screws to fit. So I just left. When I got to Mebane, the SRS (seat restraint) warning came on. I called them to let them know - they said to see if Acura could determine the issue b/c probably related to the open recall. When I got to Performance Acura in Chapel Hill (no appt, just showed up) they immediately came out and put on my plate (with a frame) and scheduled me for a recall service. Odd to find out there were actually FOUR recalls open on the car, NONE having to do with the SRS system. So the light remains on. In addition, Performance (Hendrick) Acura noted that the battery didn't test to pass inspection and needed replaced. Also, the steering and brake fluids were both dirty. I mean, aren't these things a service intake dept inspects & corrects before reselling the car????? YES, they are. Appears Stearns didn't do anything except vacuum. I have had no follow-up call from Stearns regarding the SRS light issue or my satisfaction with the sale. I had a template "are you satisfied" email from Stephen Stearns, to which I replied that I had some feedback for him if he wanted to call me. He did call, and I told him all of this but he had really no response except that I could drive back (from Raleigh) to go over the headlights again. So, after all of this I paid asking price, bought a warranty, couldn't get them $165 down on the dealer fees, have a warning light on, paid for a new battery, paid for new keys, and to appropriately have the Stearns logo removed from the car. Next, I'll have to pay to flush the dirty fluids and de-oxidize the headlights that they didn't do. Oh, and diagnose the SRS light. Awful. No, I don't recommend Stearns to anyone. If I were Ford, I would fix this. Or maybe that it's because I didn't buy one. read more

This is a follow up review to Stearns Ford. They've expanded their lounge and improved their service! Yeah! All I can say is, thank you. The staff were helpful and courteous. Big improvement over our first visit. Keep up the good work. read more

I just bought a 2011 Toyota Prius last week. I got an amazing deal on the price. On top of that Delaine Kimrey was very prompt at getting back to me when I asked her for more details on the vehicle before we made it all the way out to Burlington (we live in Concord). Dustin Ramsey met us outside and immediately made us feel comfortable. Allowing me a little extra time to test drive. I needed to know that my commute to work would be easy in what ever I chose. He stayed late and was right there with us the whole time while we got everything done through F&I. Phil was super great in F&I and made signing a breeze. I recommend these guys and gals all the way! Thanks ya'll! read more

I purchased a used vehicle from STEARNS FORD on Tuesday May 14, 2019. On Saturday May 18, 2019 the air conditioning system failed. I was informed that I should have purchased a extended warranty. They do not deserve mine or your future business. As a educated consumer it is imperative to know the ethics of the company you are dealing with. Consumer, please be aware. read more

I had bad credit due to a layoff and was driving an older car with 250k miles. It was starting to cost too much for repairs as it approached the last years of its life. I walked into Stearns with my head hung low and was looking for a dealership that would trust a guy like me who previously had great credit but was recently down on his luck. Jeff helped me find a way to finance a late model Ford so I could go back and forth to work without the stress of worrying when my Volvo would break down for the last time and leave me stranded. Fair and honest was all I was looking for and I got it at Stearns. The monthly payment was about $30 more than I was prepared to spend but I realize they have to make a profit too. And to avoid the greedy, back-slapping salesmen full of BS is priceless. All I had was my trade-in and I got the car with no money down. Thank you. read more