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Carrie H.

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1 Review by Carrie

  • Vandergriff Acura

10/19/19

My husband and I were on the search for a car for our teenage daughter who is going to get her license way too soon. ;) Hubby did a lot of research on what would be a safe and reliable car for her. He decided that an Acura TSX would be a great choice. Since it was her first car we were looking at around the $6,000 price point and wanted to pay cash for the car.

While looking around online to see what was available in the DFW area we came across one that met all of our checkboxes. I called the dealership to see if the car was still available and was connected to Kimberly in Used Car Sales. The car was advertised online for $5,999. Both of us expected to pay the price of the car, TT&L, and any dealership paperwork fees. When we went to test drive the car it appeared to be in good shape and after test driving it we decided to purchase it. That's when the "fun" began. Instead of honoring the price they advertised the vehicle. They had a list of things they wanted us to pay for. They refused to do an inspection on the car prior to offering the car for sale like most dealerships do. They wanted us to pay about $150 for the inspection. The Used Car Manager DEMANDED we purchase a $150 oil change we did not want. They also refused to detail the car unless we pay $200. We have purchased many vehicles and have never encountered such BS. Ultimately we were forced to pay for the oil change and a new tire the car needed for it to be able to pass the state inspection. I can't say for sure if the tire was bad enough to fail the inspection.

I wanted to walk away from the whole thing after they started trying to screw us and play games but it was the exact car we had been searching for. Ultimately we refused to pay them $200 to detail it and the $150 for them to inspect the car like they should have done before putting it on the lot for sale.

The car did not make it home before it broke down and left us stranded along with our two children. Luckily we have a family friend who picked me up and took me home so that I could get my van. After using jumper cables to "charge" the dead battery the car restarted and made the rest of the journey home. Thankfully we were stranded on the side of the road with our 2 children. The very next day Kimberly called me before I had a chance to call her. She called to see if we had a good ride home. I told her about the car not even making it home and she brought up the fact we didn't pay for the inspection they should have done prior than placing the car on the lot. I told her I thought it was ridiculous that the damn thing didn't even make it to our home and that I would post a review on every review site I could find to warn folks about the "quality" of the used cars they sell. Only after hearing that did Kimberly offer to speak with the same Used Car Manager who had worked the night before. It was like pulling teeth but they finally offered to replace the alternator on their dime. We were lucky enough to be able to charge the battery and make it back out at the dealership. After about 5 days we finally got the car back as it was obviously not a priority to them to make things right. The replacement of the radiator fixed the problem and we haven't had any issues since then with the car.

After all this happened I spoke with Kimberly about the fact they refuse to honor the price they list the cars for online and that I only expected to pay for the price of the car, TT&L and whatever little dealer fees they charge for the paperwork. Her response what that the price advertised on their website is only the "starting point" or "minimum price" of the vehicle which makes no sense to me and something we've never even heard of.

At this point we refuse to step foot on ANY Vandergriff dealership lot due to the BS they pull with making the customer pay for stuff they should have done before offering the car for sale. RUN AWAY!

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