LEMONS IN SC
Sooooo, buckle up sports fans - this is gonna be a LONG post, rant, whatever...
Last year in April I bought a used 2008 VW Passat stationwagon from Vintage Auto located at 605 Pine Knoll Drive in Greenville, SC. We were opening a second business, and we needed another car. Don, the owner, who has been in business for better than 30 years, assured us that the car had been thoroughly checked out & they also work on cars, so it seemed like a no-brainer. The first inclination that this was not the case, was that first few days when the car refused to stay running. Back to the shop it went. In the course of ONE YEAR, we have spent in the neighborhood of $4000 on this car. For those of you who know us, you know that we live a very busy life, and the reason for purchasing said car was because I NEED TO BE ABLE TO GET WHERE I'M GOING WHEN I NEED TO GET THERE. The car has been in & out of the shop repeatedly in little over a year. About two repairs ago, Don had mentioned to both my husband and I repeatedly that he, 'felt bad that there were so many repairs needed on the car', and that, 'he felt that maybe he needed to swap it out with another car on his lot, as this car had so very many problems with it.' Oh, did I mention that we had also told another friend about his place who purchased a car from him, as well?
So....that was all that was ever said to us about his guilty conscience and/or making things right. When I went back to pick up the car after a $500+ repair, his response to me was, 'that's just how things go' and that I should, 'just take it to Carmax and trade it in for something else'. We just had a leak in the radiator fixed 2 weeks ago, to the tune of $800+, and NOW the water pump is gone to the tune of another $1200. Also, due to an earlier $1500+ repair, he told me to contact VW, and that MAYBE some of the repairs would be reimbursible. I contacted VW and opened a case file. The lovely young lady that called me back told me that emphatically, "NO WAY, JOSE- and that I might want to contact an attorney. The CHECK ENGINE light has also been on the entire time I've owned the vehicle and Don explained that he and his team of rocket scientists have no idea why....
My dad owned a used car lot for years. He NEVER would have treated a customer this way.
As business owners ourselves, I wouldn't be able to sleep nights if I EVER did a customer this way.
Yes, we have contacted an attorney, but have no recourse in the state of SC, so this is how I've decided to handle my displeasure and disappointment.
My questions are as follows...if you have owned and operated this business for 30 years, do you often make it a habit of being shady and/or just telling your customers, 'tough luck'?!
Do your mechanics REALLY know what the hell they're even doing?!
After this hard learned and extremely expensive life lesson, I just feel that Don at Vintage Auto didn't really give a shit whether or not I was happy with my car, experience as a whole, and the treatment I received at his business. read more
