:: Looks like it will be THURSDAY at 4:55pm ::
This should be a guest post from Paul over at I Heart The Mart but since I am writing it up I am not giving him credit 🙂
Today on Houston’s Chanel 13 Paul will be on at 4:55pm talking about Used car buying tips. Plus talking about how he did not follow his own advice and got a bad deal.
We bought a car from Gillman Acura and were shown a carfax that the car had never been in a wreck. There were a few scratches on the mirror and we were told ” oh, that was the older lady that owned it before you.” We bought the car and left without the carfax we were shown.
Last month we decided to trade the car in, it was too small for us. Paul was given a quote from a dealership for $15k for the car as he was trading it in. But when that dealership pulled a Carfax they offered us $12k for it as it had been in a wreck. We were shocked. Upon pulling our own carfax we could see that it in fact had been in a wreck, had frame damage and was previously a rental car.
Gillman had lied to us. Paul went back and they apologized and said they would “make it right.” By making it right, they tried to roll the difference into another car. Which meant we were still paying for it. Paul was in there 3 different times and tried for 2 weeks to get the general manager to talk to him. When he was finally reached, he was not any help and the only way we were going to be able to do anything with them was buy another car from them and “eat” the amount our car was now worth.
Tips when buying a car:
- Check the body – Run your hand down the lines of the car and make sure there are no bumps, or uneven paint.
- Make sure the lines of the car match up.
- Make sure there is consistent texture in the paint job.
- Open the doors and hood. Look for “over spray” and mis matched colors in paint.
- Check to make sure the mirrors match.
- Take the car to your OWN mechanic and have them check it out. Even if a private seller seems like the nicest person in the world…. My brother bought a Subuaru from a Houston Symphony director only to find that 200 miles into a 1,000 mile trip back to college it had a bad transmission. “But the guy was soooo nice….”
- Buy from a referral.
- Check their carfax with the Vin number on your car to make sure they match up and check the date of the carfax.
- Campare Prices / Do your homework. Search for your car and get an idea what your trade in would be worth. What you see online your car selling for subtract about 20% for trading it in.
- Check Kelly Blue Book, Autotrader and Cars.com to get an idea what cars are selling for.
- It is not always better to sell your car privately. You will loose the tax savings if you are buying another car. Say you are getting $10k for the trade and buying a $20k car. You will only be paying tax on $10k after they take out the trade.
Finally, Gillman tried to “make it right” by buying back my husbands car from him at the quote of $15k. This is after they were contacted by Chanel 13 for an interview. Paul sold it to them and we are currently car shopping. This time we will make sure to do the things that Paul tells EVERYONE else to do! 🙂
If we had not had access to the news media, or had an online presence, there is nothing Gillman would have done. As an “average” consumer you are on your own, make sure you do your homework and get all the help you can!
Part comedian, part Dad, part athlete. He will boss around your children while they play ball.
Just as angelic as she looks, this girl could easily raise a Village by herself, and all the children would grow up to be President.
Self proclaimed, she would be a webkinz dog. Because, "they're cute, and puppies are too. And they're sweet and they always get along with other puppies."
This mini-Martha Stewart can handle ANY craft you send her way. She isn't all bows and rainbows, she's got karate kid moves!
Not "Pick-Me-Up" like caffeine, she wants you to pick her up! AND NOW!
Anything that can be destroyed WILL be destroyed!
Practically Perfect in Every Way for now! Nicknamed "The Panda" she is rolly polly and lives by the motto, "the little one, is KING!"
The resident Labradoodle, Miller got his name because Mom won and got to name the baby! Need something chewed up? He'll take care of it. Especially if it's expensive..
Gillman should be ashamed. Anything they do represents their company, if they try to push that off on “previous management” they are still to blame as THEY HIRED THAT MANAGEMENT.
Ugh.
Ugh, what a NIGHTMARE! I met w/a private seller for a steal of the century on a low mile car – drove it around, and asked to look under the hood. He looked nervous but popped the hood. The engine looked slightly odd, but I thought nothing of it and asked to write down the VIN. After running carfax, I saw the car had been TOTALED the previous year and was UN-insurable. Needless to say, I did not buy that car!
I had the advantage of having a brother who is a mechanic. The three things that he taught me to check first. 1)Look at the anti-freeze, any oil means engine trouble. 2) Smell the transmission fluid, if there is a burnt smell, transmission problem. 3) Check the engine oil, using your fingers to wipe the dipstick, looking for metal fragments.
I have had nothing by GREAT dealings with Carmax on I-45n. In the last 4 years we have bought 1 car and 2 trucks from this location. When we bought my husbands truck in 2008, we went to the GMC website and built the truck (as it was a 2008) and if we had bought it from a GMC dealer with all the extras (running boards, tow package, etc.) it would have cost us another $10,000. The sales people DO NOT pressure you to buy, the first time we went the salesman took us to see every car I wanted to see (and there were a lot), I was still undecided, told him I need to go home and think about it, his comment “I understand, I will be here tonight until closing and all day tomorrow, just come back when you are ready”. It was the first time in my life that I walked out of a car dealership waiting to come back. Also, if you see a car on the internet and then go to the lot, unless they sell the car on your drive over it will be there (but you can call and they will put a hold on the car) and the price is the same. My husband and I will never go to a “Gillman” type dealership again. We are Carmax believers and they do not bring up the “carfax” until you are in the office watching them type in the information. Good luck on the car hunt.
I am glad you got back the $15k!!! I hope that this dealership learns from this and starts conducting business honestly. I also hope that previous buyers of this dealership see this so that they can look into their cars history to make sure they weren’t a victim of fraud.
There is an app called CarBonga might be useful for used car purchases. It’s in the App Store and you can read more here:
http://www.carbonga.com/
Any ideas when is the best time to buy used from a dealer?
Try using http://www.cargurus.com You can search by type of car you are looking for and zip code. The website keeps a history of how long the car has been listed and any price drops.
They posted the segment online… seems like they didn’t really hold the dealership accountable at all for the consumer fraud:(
Truth of what was said earlier, you cant blame “previous management” because they were hired and approved of by the owners!