ComplaintsforLevan Automotive LLC

• Initial Complaint

  02/21/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Sales and Advertising Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I bought a car from ****, 05/09/22. This was my first car and admittedly I was not very educated on cars when I went into this purchase. I brought my stepdad with me, and we were not informed on the damages this car endured. We were told there were no issues, and the car was just inspected and given a golden stamp of approval. I asked repeatedly if there was anything I needed to know and I was informed there was not. There is a salvage title on this car. When signing the documents, they had me sign the bottom but did not show me the salvage paper. Again, I asked if there was anything wrong or any info I needed and was told no by **** and his employee. 3 hours after I left, my car died while I was backing out of a parking spot. Since then, my engine has given out, I had a bad catalytic converter, my cam shaft sensors are bad, and I have lights indicating there are other issues. My car has spent months in the shop since I got it. I have put more into fixing the car then it's worth. But today really put everything into perspective, I am paying a total of $13,000 on this car, I have paid half of this. Today I went to a dealership where they appraised my car to see its trade in value. I was offered a total of $700. They told me that they feel bad for me because this car is garbage, and I was ripped off going into this sale, this is after I have put thousands of dollars into repairing this car. My engine has a cylinder that is misfiring, and the engine was replaced recently. I will say he "tried" to help me by having the catalytic converter replaced and saying he would put $500 into an almost $3,000 engine repair. He lied about my warranty forcing me to come up with another $500 on top of the $1000 I was paying, plus the $950 added to the end of my loan. I was told by the mechanic that he hadn't paid the $500 he offered, and MANY others he didn't pay. I was also informed the car has a repo title which was never mentioned and was not anything I signed or agreed to.

  Business response

  03/07/2023

  Hello,  we are responding in regards to Ms *********************************** complaint.   We do apologize for the frustration and inconvenience this has caused the customer and this is a very unfortunate situation however the customer needs to understand her responsibilities when purchasing a used vehicle in the ****************.  Shortly after she purchased the vehicle she had some issues with the vehicle stalling.  Even though the vehicle was sold AS-IS we told her to go by **************** that we use and we would try to have them help her.   At that time they determined her catalytic converter was bad or clogged and that was causing her stalling issue. At that time us being a family owned business and understanding customers spend their hard earned money on these vehicles and ***************** stating she didn't have the funds to fix it we purchased her a brand new catalytic converter and also paid the shop the labor to install it even though the vehicle was sold to her AS-IS.  After that she admitted the vehicle drove a lot better. She said it wasn't 100% but a lot better.   

  I don't remember the exact dates with everything but approximately 3-4 months later her and the financial institution that purchased her loan contacted me stating that she was having issues with the engine.  We told them to have her contact us or bring the vehicle to the same shop that helped her the first time to have them check it for her.  A couple weeks later the vehicle was towed in and determined that her engine was blown.   At that time me and ***************** had a nice phone conversation and she admitted that her and her boyfriend or ex boyfriend or friend of some kind was driving the car when they heard the engine started to make noises and kept driving it for a few weeks until it got worse without getting the vehicle checked and when she left to go out of town she had the car towed into to **************** after it was no longer driving and had no oil and a locked engine.  Had she would have not kept driving it and the oil leak issue could have been fixed before all the oil leaked out the engine would probably not blown but they decided to keep driving the vehicle as it got worse and worse.  The engine our cost and labor was around $3,000.  Any other repair shop for this repair would have probably been around $5,000 +++ part and labor but obviously we weren't trying to make money off her we were just trying to help her AGAIN get back on the road so we gave her our rate on getting everything fixed. 

   AGAIN at that time she she stated she didn't have the money to fix the engine and asked me and the bank that purchased her loan to help.  Me and the bank have a good relationship and we worked together in helping her AGAIN fix her vehicle.  The only money she had to put towards the engine out of the $3,000 it was going to cost was $500.  She was far far away from having enough funds to get the vehicle repaired.  We then all worked together and the bank agreed to pay $1000 towards the repair (that she would have to repay them) I paid $500 and she paid $500 = $2,000 total.  That was enough money to order the engine and then Ms ******** agreed to make 2 more $500 payments to complete the balance that was owed.  Without the help of my company and Consumer Financials help ***************** would have been without a vehicle as she didn't have the money to fix the vehicle.   

  I figured after all that transpired and she got her new engine that she would have been very appreciative and happy but apparently that wasn't the case.  After the engine was installed the shop noticed that she was going to need new **************************************************************************************************************************************************** some other small parts of that nature and once again she told the shop she didn't have the money to pay for and the shop let her leave and made payment arrangements with her that she DID NOT make.  The shop still is asking me to this day how to get ahold of her to get the bill paid (approx $500-$700 bill).  So after all the help we all assisted her with she still isn't happy and took off on **************** I use and did not finish paying her bill for the extra repairs she authorized.  This has also caused me a issue with the shop because after this happened the shop will no longer work with my customers that are in need of payment arrangements. 

  We greatly wish ***************** the best of luck in the future with that vehicle or any other new vehicle she may purchase.  I think she needs a better understanding of how car buying in the **************** when you purchase a used vehicle they are sold AS-IS.  AS-IS means when you drive off the lot you are at that time responsible for ANY & ALL repairs.  That isn't our rule that is the ******* law.  If she would have purchased this vehicle from another small used car dealer they more then likely would have not done anything for her from day one when her catalytic converter went bad and when the engine went bad.  She needs to understand that WE ALL did everything we possibly could to assist and help her even though she bought a used AS-IS vehicle.   

  For this reason we will respectfully not be issuing a refund of any kind to this customer or any customers for that fact ever after an AS-IS sale has transpired.  

  Best Regards, 

  ***** Levan

  Levan Automotive LLC

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