Warning: Do Not buy a vehicle online/from Out of State... - dodde
Warning: Do Not buy a vehicle online/from Out of State from Autonation or this dealership!
I just purchased a used Toyota FJ cruiser (only 52K miles) from Autonation Pinellas Park Toyota sight unseen after finding it advertised online. The sales personnel involved were all very pleasant and the transaction was smooth. The problem was after delivery. The vehicle was transported from the dealership and arrived to me 12 days after purchase. I didn’t drive it the first two days because of rain but by the third day when I drove it the check engine light was on (after less than 10 miles of total driving). I emailed the used car sales manager and he told me to take it to the closest AutoNation dealership. That was 200 miles from me and none of the three AutoNation dealerships in that city were Toyota dealers. I emailed him back and he said it didn’t matter as any AutoNation dealer would do. So, I drove 200 miles to a AutoNation Honda dealership and a very nice service advisor said what should have been done was I should’ve been given a warranty claim number so that I can take it to the closest Toyota dealership near me to have them evaluate the problem. He also said his Honda dealership did not have the diagnostic equipment to determine what the problem was and said he would have to outsource it to a local Toyota dealership himself. He did provide me with a claim number and I took it to my local Toyota dealership who noted that one of the Catalytic converters was bad. The Toyota service advisor contacted Autonations’ claim department and was told that catalytic converters are not covered under any of their warranty policies. Replacement cost would be an excess of $1,000. I then wrote a letter to the Pinellas Park dealership and asked them to consider paying “all or Part” of the catalytic converter replacement cost. I then followed up with a phone call to them again and the request was denied.
FYI - AutoNation has a “Five day No questions asked return on any vehicle purchased.” If I had been a local buyer then I assume I would’ve been able to bring the vehicle back to the dealership and they would’ve repaired it. But if you are from Out of State the Five Day period will most likely expire before the car is even delivered to you. So, my words of warning to anyone considering buying online or Out of State from AutoNation or in particular this dealership is that you should realize that any problem with the vehicle will be your problem. My problem occurred within the first 10 miles of driving the vehicle and you would expect a dealership to step up and do the right thing. I understand perfectly that catalytic converters are not covered under extended warranty’s BUT ANY problem that occurs within the first 3 days or 10 miles of driving after delivery of a newly purchased vehicle should be covered. You have a false sense of security based on Autonations’ 5 day policy and 90 day warranty. So, the used car manager said that if I could bring it back and he would repair it, but since I live 900 miles away he knows that won’t happen. Keep that in mind when you are considering buying Online/Out of State from an Autonation dealership. This dealer could have easily made a small concession by supplying the Catalytic converter and I would have paid the installation and they would have had a happy customer. So, remember Autonations’ claim of service at any of their dealerships is very misleading and rings hollow as exampled by my taking it to the closest dealership to me. And need I say more about their warranty coverage.
I am sure that Pinellas Park Toyota will post their standard response to this complaint of we regret your experience with us but please reach out to our General Manager…. They have my email address and phone number. At this point, I do not expect Autonation will reconsider covering any of the cost of this repair and my only motivation in writing this is to make other prospective Autonation buyers aware of these issues which should give them pause.
Sincerely,
Edwin Dodd, M.D.
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