A mistake I will live with for the rest of my life. - Jet
A mistake I will live with for the rest of my life. Back in late March I began searching for a cargo van to use as an independent contractor. With that said, I began searching the numerous car sites online. I found such a van that did peek my interest from the above listed dealer. I submitted an online inquiry and lo and behold a representative from the dealer called me in less than 24 hours on a Sunday. We mutually agreed to have me come to the dealership after the noon hour on the following Tuesday. Arriving at the dealership as agreed, my wife and I were met by not the individual I had spoke with but by his father. He asked me if he could help us and I explained to him we were there to look at a van and arranged to come and look at. As I was explaining that to him, his son who I originally spoke with came into the office and after introductions etc., he indicated to us that he had sold the van in question in the am and was going to call me. Coming from approximately an hour away, that would have been good to know. I can understand having no ties to the van in question as I made no claims to buy it prior to looking at it. So, first come, first serve. Got it!
During all that, dad asked me if I would consider looking at another van that he had coming in from another state and would not be on his lot for a week or so. He indicated he had photos of the van and could show me those for now until the van came in. We did sit down and review the photos and sure enough as dad stated, it looked clean. Bright Red as Red can be. After chatting about the Bright Red Tomato, we all agreed dad would call me when the van hit his lot so we could come look it over and test drive it. All good! This is where after leaving the dealership that day, I should have never ever gone back. But, both dad and son were very cordial so why not go back and check it out. Approximately a week went by and the call came in and the van was on the lot. My wife and I drove up to Lockport to peek and test drive the Big Red tomato. Red and clean (no visible rust) actually not really dirt clean, but minute at this point. My wife and I jump in and before we even get off the lot, I could tell it needed transmission work. We didn’t go far, a 1/2 mile down the road I turned around and told my wife I wanted to get it back to the dealership before the transmission fell out. Upon returning to the dealership, dad met us in the parking lot and asked us what we thought. I immediately responded with it needs a transmission for sure and a couple other smaller issues. Dad responded with; “We will take care of all that.” “Don’t worry.” My response was: “ok, if we can come to terms, let’s move forward.” This is where I tall you all about the vehicle I was trading in for the Big Red tomato. My trade: 2017 Jeep Wrangler- 6 speed manual transmission- soft top. I consider myself to be a very honest person and was very transparent with dad on my trade. I advised him that I had in fact had an accident with the Jeep in December of 2025 causing $10,000 in damage to the Jeep. However, all repairs had been made by a certified repair shop supported/recommended by insurance company. A copy of those repairs along prior maintenance records were in glove box. No known issues whatsoever at time of trade. Anyway, getting back to the deal. While completing the deal transaction paperwork, dad once again assured me he would make sure all would be right with the van pickup. Not the case! 3 1/2 months of pure xxxx with the vehicle and 1,500 miles and I have lost so much money. Buyer Beware!! A whole lot more to this story. Not enough space to share it.
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