ComplaintsforHigh Line Auto Sales of Salem LLC

• Initial Complaint

  08/22/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I purchased a truck 2 months ago. After receiving the truck almost 3 weeks later from the day of purchased, had a low coolant level warning sign in the dashboard screen. I brought it back, the next day my wife had to also bring it a second time for coolant issues. Supposedly nothing wrong with it. I left for a family camping trip. The truck over heated in the highway and hat to be towed. It blew the head gasket. I exchanged that truck for another one that was between 6 to 8 thousand dollars cheaper and somehow the final price turn out to be about a thousand dollars difference. (something fraudulent here). The very first time I use the second truck to go camping with the family, the truck overheated, spilled coolant all over the highway and it had to be towed. The dealership owner, like with the previous truck, said there was nothing wrong with it. I picked up the truck and two weeks later, the engine overheats, radiator hose blows up, coolant spilled all over the place and smoke comes all over from the engine area. I sent photos and video of the incident to the dealership owner early Saturday morning and requested to take back the truck and return my money. He didn't replay. When I showed up at the dealership he acted like he didn't know what was going on and refuse to take back the truck and refund me my down payment because (according to him), "that's not how it works". 2 months have gone by, 2 trucks, 3 times have been towed and a scared family. I have no confidence, no peace of mind and no desire to put my family back in that or any vehicle from this dealership. I will like my money back before I begin trashing that place all over social media and to avoid pursuing litigation which I already have schedule an appointment with my lawyer.

  Business response

  08/28/2023

  To Whom It May Concern,
  In June 2023, **** ****** did purchase a 2015 GMC Sierra 2500 from High Line Auto Sales of Salem LLC.  He left with a fully inspected vehicle and no issues.  He had the truck for three weeks.  He noted to us while towing a camper one state away, he pulled into a gas station and noticed there was coolant leaking.  He proceeded to get back on the highway instead of checking out the vehicle.  We believe it was from an overflow.   It appears while *** ****** was going back on the highway, he over-pressurized the system.  In turn, blew a head-gasket.    He had it towed to our store.  We had the truck check out and the shop confirmed he blew a head-gasket by overheating the truck.

  
  In good faith we opted to trade him out and adopt the $7500 problem he created.   He chose to purchase a newer truck, 2019 RAM 2500.   We wanted us to add a plow set up and blade to it.  The total cost was $1300 less than the prior truck.   *** ****** did state to us that he has minimal experience and knowledge with trucks and no experience towing.    While the first truck was being reviewed, the owner, Kevin M****** did take the time to help *** ****** by towing his camper to the place he purchased it to get checked out.     The owner, Kevin M******, also gave *** ****** a full credit from his first truck to his second truck.    We did this to create a positive relationship with the customer, not many would go to the extent of adopting a problem we did not create.

  
  *** ****** drove his 2019 RAM 2500 approximately 1600 miles and had a radiator hose pop off.  He had the truck towed back to the dealership and demanded his $7000 back because a hose pooped off.    This is the second truck he received in good working order.    Both passed a full NH Safety Inspection and came back in broken.   As a dealer we did everything properly.  A customer can not drive a vehicle for 1600 miles and demand to return it.  He has an extended warranty he can use anywhere.  We suggest he remove the truck from our property and have someone else attach the hose.
  As far as his threats in his last statement of trashing us on social media and pursuing legal litigation, we would caution *** ****** that he will be sued for slander and defamation of character.  We have gone above and beyond with this customer.     We are willing to re-attach the radiator hose at his cost, if he wishes.  If not, truck needs to be removed from the premises.      We recommend he reviews all towing parameters to specific vehicles and weight capacities of items being towed for any vehicle he owns.

  Customer response

  09/07/2023

  * ********** ********
  
  I do not accept the business's response as a resolution to my complaint because: 

  The owner of this business is a LIAR. He states in his response to my complain with at least 13 lies and I will mention them below:
  
  
  1."Fully inspected vehicle with no issues" I requested the inspections invoice and was denied of it. He (owner) acted like he didn't know what was I asking for. Same pattern every time I ask for invoices and receipts of work done on vehicles. The minute I drove out of the dealership for the first time with the truck, the low coolant level warning light appeared in the dashboard of the truck (2015 Sierra). I brought the truck back the next day. He's mechanic poured coolant in the reservoir and said that the warning light would go away automatically. It didn't. The next day my wife brings the truck and leaves it at the dealership for a few hours they let her borrow a car from the dealer "while they work on the truck". 2-3 hours later they said the truck was ready. Next day we left for NY and truck spills coolant and engine over heats. THAT IS NOT HOW A VEHICLE WITH NO ISSUES BEHAVES.
  2.Owner claims I had the vehicle for "3 weeks" That is lie no.2 of his response. I received the Truck almost 3 weeks after purchased date and everything mentioned above happed from the moment I drove the truck out the lot on a Thursday, Friday and Saturday. I hadn't even drive the truck 100 miles when it broke down and blew head gasket.
  3."I over pressurized the system". Lie no.3.  Im no mechanic but I doubt anyone can over pressurized a vehicle they just purchased with the intention to go out camping with the family or even over pressurize a vehicle intentionally period. The only way something like that could happen is if there's something wrong with the vehicle. (I think) and that was brought to the dealers attention immediately after I drove out the lot the first time.
  4."I blew the head gasket" in case its not evident by now, this man asumes not fault or responsibility for his fraudulent business practice. If you go to google review you'll find out that every time he sells a  bad vehicle his behavior is the same, slick talking, and innocence of any wrong doing. He's mechanic never finds anything wrong with the vehicle and its the buyers fault the vehicle brakes down or shows signs of problems as soon is driven of the lot or short after.
  5."In good faith he opted to trade me out" Lie no.5. After hearing from 3 different sources that once the head gasket is blown, I should get rid of that vehicle, I was the one who refuse to take back that truck and asked for a different one. He did not offer anything from the "goodness of his heart or in good faith" as he claims.
  6."I created a $7500 problem" he created the problem for selling a vehicle that had existing problems and trying to hid it.
  7."I had minimal experience with trucks and no experience towing" Lie #7 This man has a tendency to not just lie but to twist things to deflect any wrong doing. I never said I had no experience driving a truck. I've driven pick up trucks plenty, not just pick up trucks but commercial vehicles. I had a CDL. I drove school buses and motor coaches. "Never had blown a head gasket nor over pressurized any of those vehicles". I did said I had minimal experience towing a camper (about a 1000 miles give or take), what he (dealership owner) fail to mention was that when that truck broke down, the truck got towed and my brother in-law rented me his truck, (which I had used before with my camper), so I could go on with my camping trip with the family and guess what? No problems with his truck. NO blown head gasket, NO coolant leaking and NO engine over heating.

  8."The store adopted a problem they did not create" Lie #8 I drive a 2019 CRV and I have driven that car more than 116,000 miles as of today 9/6/2023. Never in that time frame I've had to bring the car to the dealership cause something was wrong with or something has broken down. If the vehicle purchased from High Line Auto Sale had no issues they wouldn't have broken down within days from driving off the lot and we wouldnt be having this arguments.
  9."Drove the Ram for 1600 miles" Lie #9. I drove the Ram (2nd. Truck) for a week, about 300 miles before I went camping to Maine with the camper in tow. On the return home truck spills coolant and engine over heats. Had to be tow like the first truck. Like the first truck, my brother in law had to come and tow my camper and like with the first truck (Sierra) my in-law's truck had no problem towing my camper. I send the truck to dealership (owner tried to blame me like always), tells me that there's nothing wrong with the truck, signed off by he's mechanics "the best of the best" according to dealership owner. I use the truck to go to work one day, no problem, I use it to go to work a second time and a loud bang happens and smoke comes out of the engine. THIS AFTER THE TRUCK IS CHECKED AND NOTHING WRONG WAS FOUND BY HIS WORLD CLASS MECHANICS.
  
  I could keep going pointing out more lies from high line auto sales response to my complain but Im tier, I ve been writing this for over an hour. The last thing I will say about his disgusting response is that my camper's weight is 7720lbs the Towing capacity for the Sierra was around 10,000lbs and the towing capacity for the Ram was over 16000lbs, both strong enough to tow my camper without any problems. So, all of high line auto sales excuses to deflect the blame and get away with being exposed as a fraud, are just that, EXCUSES! All they care about is selling and screw you if the vehicle breaks down. By the way, somehow I was asked to sign a "As Is" document that I dont know how it sipped past me unnoticed. How could a legit business make someone sign a document without explaining what it is in detail? Why would a legit business even ask a client to sign such document if they didn't have anything to hide? How can a legit business pretend that they go above and beyond when they present a document like that? To me thats not a legit business but the work of a scam artist.   

  
  Sincerely,
  
  **** ******

  Business response

  09/13/2023

  We are not looking to argue with the customer, we have always been willing to have open discussions with *** *******

  Before purchasing the 2019 truck, the customer brought it to his mechanic and had him look it over.   It went through service with our mechanic, and had two NH Safety Inspections, both passed.
  In regards to the 2019 RAM 2500, attached are the Odometer Statement, mileage at time of sale and a picture of the odometer when the vehicle was dropped on our lot by the customer.    The customer went 1576 miles and was looking for his truck to be fixed for free.   We found a radiator hose had popped off his radiator, customer refused to have it fixed or pay to put a new radiator hose on.  We put a new radiator hose on at no charge.
  

  *** ****** opted for an Extended Warranty, there is no dealer warranty and this is noted on the Buyers Guide and was explained to him.  He did sign in both places for this.
  2019 RAM 2500, was inspected two times, both inspection reports are attached.
  High Line Auto Sales of Salem has done everything right and we gone above and beyond on several occasions.   We have done one last repair and will not continue to service a truck for free that is being used for towing and soon also plowing.

• Initial Complaint

  06/08/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I ********* **** purchased a car from high line auto sales on 5/25/23 and was told by high line auto sales of Salem LLC that my vehicle has a 20,000 miles/ 2 years warranty repair coverage and I haven’t drove the vehicle for more then 200miles / had the vehicle for less then 2 weeks and the vehicle started making a knocking noise and the breaks started making a squeaking noise I informed high line auto sales on 6/02/23 and they promised they will look at it and fix the problem and for me to bring it in on 06/05/23. I brought the vehicle in they supposedly said they fixed the problem and said they put new breaks and they sound squeaky because they need to break in but the vehicle was making the same knocking noise after the service was done so I brought it over to *** **** for a courtesy vehicle inspection as to come the vehicle requires attention with steering & suspension , shocks & struts , the break pads are low , the shocks is leaking and Mount has worn bushing I informed high line auto sales and the workers were unprofessional about to situation , extremely rude disregarded my concern even though i have proof the vehicle requires far more attention then what high line auto sales told me and lied about how they fixed it when they didn’t high line auto sales false advertised a 20k mileage/ 2 year warranty and refused to fix the issue even though the damages on the vehicle was caused by high line auto sales or the previous owner

  Business response

  06/15/2023

  Mr. **** did purchase a 2018 Chevrolet Malibu from us on May 25, 2023.  Mr. **** did call a week or so after indicating there was a sound coming from the rear of the vehicle.  We recommended he bring it in so we could check the vehicle and see what was going on.  After a visual and road test/mechanical inspection, we changed a piece of linkage that looked to be loose at no cost to him.  Brakes did measure well, and did not need replacing as the measurement was approx 8mm.   All findings were relayed to Mr. ****.  And noted if he hears again, please let us and we would revisit it or any other concerns.

  Mr. **** did reach out and again, and he was advised Kevin, the owner, would call him back to address his concerns from his *** **** inspection.    We have been working with Mr. **** and addressing any concerns together.    Together, we have agreed to address some specific concerns so Mr. **** is satisfied.  We are always willing to work with him.   Thank you.

  
  

  Customer response

  06/19/2023

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

• Initial Complaint

  04/28/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Bought my 2010 Chevy Silverado here in august, he had an under shield covering the frame so I did not see it was completely rotted out. Was in an accident to were the under shield had to come off and then seen the whole under bottom was rotted. I contacted the dealer he told me it would be fixed. It’s been 4 months now. He has told me Paul his mechanic will be in contact , he’s been in contact but keeps rescheduling and pushing off my truck. I am paying $500 a month for this truck I still owe $13000 on this truck and he nor the finance company will help me in anyway possible. The frame being rotted has caused multiple other safety issues and now I can not even drive my truck. It is sitting in my driveway.

  Business response

  05/02/2023

  **** **** did purchase a 2010 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 from us in August of 2022.   The truck was fully serviced and passed a NH Safety Inspection from an independent NH Inspection Station.   The truck was not rotted out.

  Mr. **** has gone approximately 20,000 miles doing landscape work with his truck.   He reached out to us noting he had rust on his frame and it was cracked.    At that point we did pull a history report and could see how many miles he had gone and also that he had been in an accident.   When asked, he did state that he was involved in a rear-end collision to his truck and that the individual had taken off, resulting in him having to replace the bed.   We got him in touch with an individual that he could work with directly on repairs.

  We sold him a truck in good working order that passed NH State Safety inspection from an independent shop.   As a dealer, we are not obligated to fix an individual’s vehicle after going 20,000 miles and being in an accident.   
  We always try to help people out, regardless of the situation.  But after several attempts of trying to help Mr. ****, even willing to trade him out of it, but he did not have paystubs and any provable income to finance a new vehicle.     He continues to swear at our employees and threatens to come down and slap people.  That is simply not acceptable.

  Customer response

  05/02/2023

  
  Complaint: 19991348
  
  I do not accept the business's response as a resolution to my complaint because: yes he got me in contact with an individual but the individual would either 1 not respond or 2 reschedule me every single time. And I only threatened to slap his employee when his employee called me the N word and told me to go down there. And when I found out the truck was rotted back in October (I do have photos from them with the dates) and I contacted him I had not driven 20,000 miles. And even then 20,000 miles will not rot out a frame. And as for the truck passing inspection. I brought my truck to where it “passed inspection” *****, and one of the employees from that shop told me my truck should not have passed inspection and that Kevin and the owner of ***** has a deal to pass all his vehicles no matter what. There are other people with similar issues like mine from Kevin if you look on high lines website. (I actually attached some screenshots above with other peoples similar issues).
  
  Sincerely,
  
  **** ****

*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. ↩