Grote Automotive of Rockford

Incredible dealership to work with. Grote generally cares about its customers and will always go the extra mile to try and help make a better car possible. I've personally bought 3 ca Grote generally cares about its customers and will always go the extra mile to try and help make a better car possible. I've personally bought 3 cars there More

I wanted a FJ cruiser and they were hard to find. GROTE went above and beyond to find the car I wanted and delivered their promise. I love my FJ, thank you Josh and the rest of the team!! GROTE went above and beyond to find the car I wanted and delivered their promise. I love my FJ, thank you Josh and the rest of the team!! More

On 10/15/22 my husband and I went to the dealership to try to purchase a car. We heard that they worked well with people with credit challenges. Here are the issues we encountered. 1) We told our salesp try to purchase a car. We heard that they worked well with people with credit challenges. Here are the issues we encountered. 1) We told our salesperson the budget we had and yet had us test drive a vehicle WAAAYYY outside of the parameters set. After several hours we finally agreed on a car. It wasn't the goal vehicle, but I wasn't being picky because we knew the credit challenges. The car seemed well maintained and the miles were low. I walked around the vehicle and there didn't seem to be any major damage. 2. By the time I got home the bumper started falling off. It was rigged to look good while we were there but falling apart by the time we got home. They're closed on Sundays so I knew there was nothing I could do until Monday. 3. I parked the car and locked the door as one does to keep their car safe from being broken in to (as much as a person can). I came back out to go get dinner for my family and the key I was given didn't unlock the door. I was locked out of the car that I just purchased until Monday morning when a friend with a lockout kit was able to open the door Monday (10/17/22) morning, I called and emailed about the above problems. The sales guy that sold me a car and apologized because they were "super busy" on Saturday and "some things got missed". He assured me that these things would be taken care of. Thursday 10/20/2022 they sent someone out to make a key that unlocked my doors. The dealership apparently did not have the original key. 4. On Friday 10/21/22 I was driving the vehicle and a piece of the damaged part of the car fell off and caused another piece (I believe they said it was the splash guard) to begin dragging under my vehicle. At this point, I was fed up. I called the sales guy, and his words were "I was hoping we could get you in to prevent that from happening". Which further angered me because they knew this was a problem and anything dragging under your vehicle can be a potential safety issue or could cause further damage. So, I brought the car in to get it resolved. When I got there, I explained my frustration and told them I no longer want this car and I want to trade it in for something else per the policy that is displayed on their website that states love it or trade it that you can find under Buyers Bill of Rights. The "Sales Manager" Chadwick told me that this was not a real policy even though it was displayed on their website at their location. He asked if I read the fine print, so I pulled it up and there is no fine print. This entire experience was dishonest and negligent, and I would have been willing to work with them to make the issue better, but I was treated with a condescending attitude by Chadwick. The fact that these issues were not disclosed to me was dishonest and did not allow me to make an informed decision on whether or not these issues were something I was willing to look past. I never would have signed the paperwork on the fact that they didn't have an original key alone. The service guy first said they probably didn't know about the key issue, but Chadwick told me it was a known issue that should have been communicated. Long story short, don't do business here. Go literally anywhere else. I will be opening a civil cased based on Illinois state law "unlawful and unfair practices under the CFA". More