ComplaintsforTremont Car Connection

• Initial Complaint

  08/18/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Thank you for taking the time to read this and hopefully help me recoup some of my monies. On June 24th, 2022 I purchased a 2010 Honda Pilot from Tremont Car Connection in Tremont, IL. I paid $16,500.00 for the automobile. It was listed over Blue Book value but **** assured me that the car was worth it and these are the times we live in now. We had looked at the car several short times before we purchased it and asked to have the thumping noise in the rear end fixed and the tires kept loosing air, so we asked if that could be fixed as well. Neither were fixed before we signed the papers, so **** said to have someone look at it and he would pay for it if it was reasonable. He did pay for the thumping issue and I paid to have the tires fixed. When I went to pick up the money for that issue I let him know that the transmission was jerking and the air conditioner didn't work. I called *** ******* ***** in Peoria on Friday July 22nd and told them it had a 30 day warranty on it. They could not look at the car until Tuesday July 26th. I took it up on Monday July 25th as I had to work in the morning. They called me and told me that the whole a/c needed replaced, they also said that the Transmission needed to first be flushed 3 times and updated before they could go any further and that I needed to do a 105 and that the rear brakes were needing replaced asap and the warranty had expired on the Sunday July 24th. 1st off, **** had said that he replaced the breaks and rotors. I assumed he meant all of them. This estimate for all the work to be done was ever $4000.00. I called **** and asked for his help with the warranty as I had spoke to the Repair Team before the expiration date. After days of going back and forth, he tried, he said, only to have the Warranty Co call and tell me that nothing is getting done through them and that **** said that I need to shut up. After that **** gave my husband a check for $960 which was less than what w...need more room.

  Business response

  08/31/2022

  Responding to Better Business Bureau regarding above complaint:
  
  I opened Tremont Car Connection exactly 25 years ago this month. I started it by myself and then my son, ***** joined me about 12 years ago. We are essentially a super small family-run business. I do plan to retire within the next year or two, so we just recently hired our first employee to help ***** out when I leave. As you can imagine, used car sales is not an easy business. Unfortunately, there are quite a few dealers that don't operate in an ethical manner and it puts the the entire industry a bad light. Being a business owner operating in the same small town where you grew up, there is a certain expectation that you will conduct your business with honesty and integrity and that's what I've tried to do from day one. I guess that is why I have a lot of repeat customers and good reviews on social media. When you are exclusively buying and reselling a used product, it can be super challenging. First off, we find it very difficult to buy quality vehicles. Our list of makes and models to stay away from because of known problems has never been longer. We do our best to stick with ones that have the least issues and it seems that almost every brand has it's issues. We have found that Hondas and Toyotas have the best track record when it come to reliability and longevity, so naturally we lean toward those vehicles. We care about our customers and we want to offer a quality product. We do our best to check over all of our vehicles and repair anything we are aware of that's not functioning properly. We don't have our own mechanic, so if it is a repair that is rather involved, we need to take it to a repair shop. Lately we have experienced difficulty getting into a shop and getting them repaired in a timely manner. As they say 'Time is money', so if we have to wait a long time to get a car repaired, it's costing us. As I said, we try our best to offer quality vehicles that are affordable and unfortunately prices just keep going up wholesale, as well as retail. And when someone wants to possibly purchase a vehicle from us, we always encourage them take it on a long test-drive and get to know the vehicle and even get it checked out by their mechanic. Another thing we do is include a 30 day warranty at no cost to the customer with almost every vehicle we sell, which is way above the 15 day / 500 mile Implied Warranty required. Bottom Line, it is a very tough time in the car business, but we are still going to continue doing our best to take care of our customers treating them with respect and fairness. Over the years when customers contacted me after a purchase to communicate that they've experienced a problem or an unexpected repair, I didn't just blow them off. Many times, I helped them by contributing in the repair cost even though I wasn't legally obligated to. So, in saying all that I have said so far, we are not out to cheat or take advantage of anyone. We also don't have a crystal ball to look at and know when something is going to go wrong with one of our vehicles in the future. Things happen every day that are beyond our control, unfortunately. 
  
   
  
  Regarding ******** ****** and the 2010 Honda Pilot she bought, I don't know what I did wrong or what I could have done differently? I was very patient with her on her many trips to the lot to look over and test-drive the Pilot and possibly trade-in her current Honda Pilot. I was under the impression that one of the several test-drives was to take our Pilot to her mechanic for a pre-purchase inspection. I never once pressured her to buy it and I agreed to each and every one of her requests during the lengthy financing and purchase process. At the time of delivery I agreed to reimburse her for whatever it would cost to track down and fix an intermittent noise coming from the rear of the Pilot. She bought the Pilot on June 24th and on July 21st I paid her $623.96 for replacing rear shocks, Coils, and a sway bar to eliminate the noise. At that point I thought that would be the end of it, but I was wrong. Not many days later, ******** called me again saying she had issues with the a/c and the transmission and wanted to return the vehicle. I informed her that it was too late, as the sales tax was paid and the paperwork had long since been mailed in to the Illinois Secretary of State for processing. After that I received many more calls from ******** regarding using the warranty and taking the Pilot to the Honda dealer. On July 27th I once again took a call after hours from ******** and told her how sorry I was that she was having these issues with it. At that point, I could have said what a lot of dealers might say like you're on your own or it's not my problem. I didn't say that, what I did say was "I didn't make much on this deal, but whatever profit is left, I will give it back to you". I was so worn out and beat down at that moment because of all the calls, that's all I could think to say. The next day when I got to the office, I looked over my file and calculated I originally made a profit of $1,583.40. Since I had already gave her a check for $623.96, that left $959.44 profit remaining. I then called ******** and told her again how sorry I was and I would give her a check for $960.00 which was my remaining profit. She told me she would have her husband come out to  pick it up and he did. After that time, I thought that would be the last time I would hear from ********, but once again I was wrong. 

  
  I am a Christian and a business man and I hate being in situations like this. Please let me know what I am guilty of or what I should have done instead. 
  
  Sincerely, ***** ***     

  Customer response

  09/09/2022

  Mr. ***,
  First off, let me say that not once have I brought up your religion!  I, too, am a Christian.  This has nothing to do with the problems on the vehicle.  I have also delt with the public my entire working career, which is 36 years.  Also, I have never felt the need to turn someone into the BBB until now.  I feel a lot of things could have been done different. 
  
  ***** *** Quote:  I was under the impression that one of the several test-drives was to take our Pilot to her mechanic for a pre-purchase inspection.
  
  *** ****** Reply:  The reason I came out 3 times to test drive is because I didn’t get off work in time to make it out before you closed.  When I would call to test drive it, you would say, I will be here for a few more minutes.  In turn, making me feel like I could only drive it down the street and back.  I don’t know of a mechanic that could look over everything in 10 minutes.  Do you?  Plus you told me not to take it to a Honda Dealer. 
  
  ***** *** Quote:  I never once pressured her to buy it and I agreed to each and every one of her requests during the lengthy financing and purchase process. 
  
  *** ******’s Reply to that:  I never once said you pressured me into buying this automobile.  I do have to say that you were unwilling to reason and listen.  You were definitely adamant about the high price which made me want to think about purchasing the vehicle.  I wish you would elaborate on the requests that I had during the process.  The lengthy process you talk about was me doing my due diligence on finding the best rate for a car that was priced way above what a bank would loan on it. 
  
  
  *****, I would love to sit here and reply to every sentence that you wrote, but that does not solve the problem.  I told you upfront of the concerns that I had on the car.  In Real Estate we have a saying:  Ignorance is NO EXCUSE!  Navigating the challenges and legalities in real estate is all part of being an agent. Whether you know the rules or not, ignorance is not a defense!  We don’t get to say “I am not a plumber”  like the several times that you told me “ I am not a mechanic”.  We as sales persons have to say “I am not a mechanic so lets get someone to see why the transmission is bogging down and slipping, lets see if we can find someone to tell us why the A/C doesn’t blow cold air.  You cannot claim to be something you are not, but you don’t disregard it either.  I have had to pay thousands of dollars in the first 5-45 days of owning the car plus paid top dollar all the while you knew there were problems with it.  I also must replace the “new” breaks and rotors that you said that “you put on” on as they are bad.  Plus, the tires had to be redone as they were losing air because they were put on wrong.  I apologize if you felt like I was “wearing you out and/or beating you down”.  That was not my intension.  I was in a crisis as I paid top dollar for a vehicle that had major problems.  I would expect this from maybe a $500 car not a $16,000.00 car.  I knew that there were things I would have to do that you did not and that is okay.  But the Transmission, Engine, HVAC system – to me those are major and should be addressed when someone says that they are not working correctly. Please advise on what we can do to resolve this.
  
  Respectfully,
  
  *** ******
  

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