Jan 18, 2012 Huntington Honda - Used Car Dealership - Location is .5 miles East of route 110.
(631) 423-6000
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW IN ONE SENTENCE: THEN YOU CAN READ ON IF YOU LIKE
THEY LIE, THEY WROTE UP A CONTRACT WITH A VIN NUMBER OF A DIFFERENT CAR THAN WE TEST DROVE AND AGREED TO PURCHASE - similar mileage, same color and model, but condition significantly worse.
This was the 3rd vehicle purchased from this dealership.
My wife and I purchased a used 2006 Odyssey in 2009
My wife's parents purchased a new 2010 CR-V
This time was a used 2009 CR-V for my Mother this Jan. 2012
We test drove a CR-V EX on Saturday, my mother liked it, negotiated the the price to 20,200.00 and left a $500 deposit, signing a buying agreement. They asked us to come on Tuesday so they could detail the car and work on the financing interest rate (trying to lower it)
The pick-up day was Tuesday (3 days later) We arrived at 6:45pm, my Mother noticed her car with the price tag still on the vehicle vs. a sold sticker as we saw with others, but we proceeded to fill out the paper work, make the down payment of $10,000, acquire the financing, and a 7 year 100,000 mile warranty (effective on birthdate of the car).
2 hours later we were wrapping up the paper work and the assistant Tommy said he was bringing the car around and asked if we would want to look at it before. I said yes. I walked up to the vehicle and immediately I saw the interior of the car was very dirty. Not only lint and other debris, but dark stains on the carpet and seats, a deep baby car seat indentation on the back seat, and grease on the carpet. Along with a sloppy wiping down of the dash board, doors, etc. The most shocking part were the clumps of human hair around the car and unknown crust on back seat (probably from a baby) - This car looked as if it were just turned in that day from a lease and delivered to us with tire shine.
I was upset. Georgia did not apologize and was actually annoyed that I was making such a big deal. She initially offered a free car wash in Commack. I told her the car was filthy and that it would need a full thorough detail at the minimum. She finally put that on the contract. I had my 2 year old and 8 month old there with us, and after 2 hours at that time of night we were tired and cranky and ready to go home. So we decided to accept that free Detail and go home.
Tom the manager refused to take the car back. He did offer to fix and clean whatever the car needed. We explained what happened over and over and he would not budge. And explained the mileage on the DMV form was different than the car she purchased, he said they do that all the time.
The next day we looked over the paper work and found the discrepency. On Saturday Tommy the assistant gave us the Carfax report with the VIN of the car we have now showing the mileage of that vehicle. 24,144
The form that my Mother filled out to buy the car, paying the $500 deposit had no VIN number on the form, and had a different mileage. 24,329
On Tuesday, the forms she filled out had the VIN of the car on the Carfax report and the car we actually picked up, but the mileage was not the same. Over a 300 mile discrepency.
This made us realize that they switched the cars because the one we drove on the Saturday was not that dirty and there is no way in 3 days clumps of hair and deep stains could have accumulated. If they had actually cleaned the car we probably would not have noticed any of it, but that was the red flag, along with the car still having the $24,995 sticker price in the showroom when we went to pick it up vs. having a sold sticker.
The mileage issue is a misdemeanor with a $10,000 fine so we are pursuing a lawsuit with the NY attorney general.
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