ComplaintsforGrappone Automotive Group

• Initial Complaint

  06/05/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Greivences:Failed for inspection due to a small already repaired minor crack in windshield that was not in line of sight, and was oreviously repaired. Biggest greivance: Marked my tires that had just been rotated earlier that day with no conerns, as "yellow" indicating a 5/8 tread. These tires only had 30k miles on them out of 80k rated. After receiving the indication on my review I went back to tire warehouse where they remeasured and it was 7/8. Your techs are fraudulantly claiming things need to be replaced when they don't.

  Business response

  06/07/2024

  We are truly sorry that ************************ feels that we are being dishonest in any way.  We take great pride in being totally transparent.  Our technician record video to support this statement.  Here is **************************** video link for you to view.  *********************************; Tire measurements can vary depending on the placement of the gauge on the tire, so it's possible to get different reading and no one is wrong.  Our Service Manager, ***** offered to re-measure the tire with ************************, which she declined.  As you can see in the video and on the repair order, we never told her she needed tires at this time; just that one was in the yellow measuring zone.  As we all know, tires can be expensive and therefore keeping our guests apprised of the wear and future need for tires is important so they can budget for them as needed.  As for the windshield, it clearly failed our guidelines given to us by the State of NH, *** and we informed ************************ of these guidelines.  We understood her concern that the windshield had been repaired and inspected last year, however we verified through CarFax, it was not inspected here last year.  We suggested she take the vehicle to the *** where she could voice her concern over the strict guideline we adhere to and to have them look at it to see if it should pass or fail state inspection, she opted not to do so.  Prior to contacting the BBB, ************************ responded to an online review, which we immediatly responded to back in May.  I have attached several documents to support everything.  Please let me know if you need anything else.

• Initial Complaint

  08/26/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I purchased a 2022 Hyundai Accent on May 19, 2022. In early August, I got a letter in the mail stating that my car was recalled. Upon further research about the recall, I discovered that it was dated May 18, 2022. As stated in The Motor Vehicle Safety Act, the sale of any new car with an open recall is prohibited. Because this recall was put in place before I purchased my car, the sale of it is considered federally illegal. On the day of purchase, I was told that Hyundai had a bad reputation a while back, but their cars were now very dependable and safe to drive. This is quite deceitful, considering that I am now driving a car equipped with exploding seatbelts. There was also a recall on the steering column in February that was fixed before it landed on the lot in Bow. If I had known about either of these recalls, I would not have bought a car from them. Grappone has not reached out to me to notify me of this recall. The only thing I have received from them since the date of purchase was a letter saying thank you for purchasing the '22 Accent, which came in the mail the same day as the letter from Hyundai. Although any recall on a car is free to fix, I find this ridiculous that I was never informed by Grappone that I could come in at any point to get this remedied. I now have a car loan of $20,000 for a car that I never should have been sold. I have already put over $1,200 into this car, between registration, loan payments, gas, and general maintenance. No monetary value will make up for the genuine anxiety and panic I've felt knowing I may not make it to and from work safely, but it would be a start and, quite frankly, the least that can be done.

  Business response

  08/30/2022

  To address our guest's concerns we have made two attempts to call the guest to no avail.  Attached are supporting documents to their concerns.

  There were zero open recalls at the time of purchase on 5/19/22 - therefore, no stop sale was in place at time of purchase.

  The manufacturers contact guests directly for all open recalls, and to parts and or remedy availability.

  At the time of the release of the recall, parts were not available as noted on the Recall letter, but are available now.  We have taken the liberty of ordering parts, which arrived today and can be installed once an appointment has been scheduled.

  Please let us know how to proceed from here.  Thank you!

   

   

• Initial Complaint

  05/23/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  Sometime in August 2021 I brought my 2014 Ford Focus SE into Grappone Ford for service for a suspected damaged engine mount. I was charged the typical diagnostic fee for them to check the vehicle. I was told that there was nothing wrong with the engine mount and that the symptoms which made me suspect the engine mount was damaged was actually my dashboard being "warped" from exposure to the sun. I was also told that the service people at Grappone proactively went ahead and took off part of my dashboard in order to try and apply some kind of cushioning to alleviate the rattling caused by the "warped" dashboard. In my experience with car servicing, the service shop always informs the customer prior to doing any work on the vehicle in order to give the customer not only an estimate of time and cost but the choice on whether they wish to proceed. I wasn't given this opportunity to reject this service and whatever they did resulted in significantly worsening any rattling that was occurring. Fast forward six months, I am getting my car inspected by an independent mechanic and I ask them to check the suspected engine mount and sure enough it was indeed broken and appeared to have been broken for a while. I took this information back to Grappone Ford and asked for my diagnostic fee that I was charged be refunded. They refused but offered to pay my $100 deductible from my extended warranty that covers the engine mount replacement if I brought the car to them to service it. I suspected they originally didn't want to replace the part because of the warranty that covered the part and service and that is why they sent me on my way. I refused to return to them due to my lack of trust that they will indeed fix the problem. Note that this is actually the second time they have sent me away only to later discover there was something wrong. The first instance was a broken water pump that ***** Automotive later diagnosed on 2nd opinion. I want the diagnostic fee refunded.

  Business response

  05/23/2022

  Looking at the repair order, it reads: LINE OPCODE TECH TYPE HOURS LIST NET TOTAL
  A G/S HEARING A RATTLING NOISE COMING FROM DASH MOSTLY WHEN IDLING
  PLEASE CHECK AND ADVISE **ALSO WHILE IDLING**
  F1100 G/S HEARING A RATTLING NOISE COMING FROM
  DASH MOSTLY WHEN IDLING PLEASE CHECK AND
  ADVISE **ALSO WHILE IDLING**
  5799 C 1.00 135.00 135.00
  PARTS: 0.00 LABOR: 135.00 OTHER: 0.00 TOTAL LINE A: 135.00
  ,,,,86000 Verified rattle in dash, passenger side by front vents. Could
  ,,,,not verify any way to reach under panel without removing dash via PTS
  ,,,,as trim panel where rattle is and dash are one piece. Proper repair to
  ,,,,resolve rattle would include removing dash.

  Nowhere do I see that the vehicle was in for motor mounts.  As for the diagnosis fee for the rattle, we diagnosed the concern and do not see reason to refund it.

  Business response

  05/25/2022

  Clearly we are not the right fit for Mr. ******, and we agree to disagree on what was asked of us and what services we provided him.  With that being said, I will request a refund in the amount of $139.00 to be sent out to Mr. ******.  Thank you for your assistance in this matter.

  Customer response

  05/31/2022

  
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID 17133676, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ******* ******

• Initial Complaint

  01/06/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  We brought our car, a 2017 certified pre owned Hyundai Santa Fe which we purchased from grappone Hyundai in 2019. We brought our car in for service September 23rd, 2021 because the car was shaking and overheating. The check engine light was on also. There was no loaner, but they gave our car back initially September 30th. We paid a service fee and the money for the part, a broken thermostat. We took the car home and it started shaking again on the drive home, which is under 5 miles away. They said they did a road test but it never stopped shaking and the check engine light came back on. We brought it back the next day when it began overheating, "engine overheating" on the dash, shaking and when the check engine light came back on. We were bothered that they never looked into the check engine light on the first visit the days prior when they had it, even after showing them photos of it being on. After a second look, it was determined that the failed thermostat caused the head gasket to blow. We have since not had our car and it's been going on 4 months. And the part was not ordered until a few weeks ago which we have inquired about and been told it is on back order. There has been zero communication coming from grappone. We have made calls every week to every other week and every time Mike T**** has told us we should get it "next week", it's been 3+ months. we were given the first available loaner, a 2 wheel drive Toyota in October, I had figured was ok given it was still fall and we had been told it would be a few weeks. Now that it is January, winter conditions do not allow us to travel as we would with our own vehicle we have paid for. This has caused a great inconvenience. Our car has now been sitting stagnant for months now. I am not sure of what future problems will arise due to this down time. We would like some sort of monetary compensation for this situation and apparent mismanagement of our vehicle. Attached are two time stamped photos.

  Business response

  01/20/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/01/07) */ Team leader Mike T**** worked with guest. On January 6th Grappone Hyundai was able to switch guest in to a 4 wheel drive loaner vehicle. Mike has updated guest with latest estimated time of completion is now the week of January 10th. Mike has also offered to absorb the deductible on the extended warranty work for the guest and also to refund the guest for costs incurred on prior visit. Grappone Hyundai will inspect the vehicle to make sure there are no adverse issues with vehicle from the prolonged sitting at our site. Consumer Response /* (3000, 7, 2022/01/07) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) While we appreciate the improved communication, we feel this is a bare minimum to customer service. We appreciate the comparable loaner car, albeit 3+ months later, and only with again our initiation for communication. We feel this would be a standard for the duration of the service, especially with the length of being without our car that does fit our families needs. As a band aid days before the newly alleged completion, we do not view this as any sort of compensation. We do accept refund for the prior visit and any costs associated with this current visit. Our stance is however that deductible cost should be covered by grappone even before, as this issue was pointed out by us on our first visit and left unaddressed. A second deductible cost seems unacceptable regardless. We've addressed that we're concerned about our car sitting for months without use, and especially our tires with the changing weather over the 2 seasons. We've been told now that a road test will make sure everything is all set before we get it back, but we have little trust in grappones road test considering we had to bring our car back for problems that were still clearly apparent after bringing our car home the first time in September. We feel further compensation would be required to rectify the current situation. Mike had mentioned before that we were having problems with our tires prior to a 4+ month sit. This is a cause of some of our concerns. Business Response /* (4000, 9, 2022/01/11) */ Hyundai Service Manager Scott H****** reached out to guest on 1/10/22. They reached an amicable solution for guest satisfaction. Consumer Response /* (2000, 11, 2022/01/14) */ (The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.)

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩