ComplaintsforLindsay Cadillac Company

• Initial Complaint

  01/17/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Deceptive Advertising/Deceptive Sales Practices On April 9, 2022, I entered Lindsay Cadillac in Alexandria, VA to purchase the Cadillac ***. Cadillac was running a commercial ad for the 2022 *** with a lease payment of $399, plus a down payment of $3,689, taxes, and dealer's fees. The same commercial ad stated the financing option was .09 percent APR for 48 months. I was unaware of this commercial until the next day, April 10, 2022. As a result, I signed my lease for a monthly payment of $741.77 for 48 months. I have excellent credit (my score ranges 820 and 850) and would have qualified for this promotion. It was not presented to me. On April 11, 2022, I returned to Lindsay and asked finance director, *** **** ****** why he did not offer me the promotion. His response was, you must read the fine print, and it's a national advertisement. This response did not make sense. On Dec 27, 2022, I wrote to GM Financial who referred me to the General Sales Manager at Lindsay, *** *** ******. On January 10 & 11, 2023 I spoke to *** ******. The resolution offered by *** ****** was, Option #1 - Return the vehicle valued at $36,000 and remit a cash payment of approximately $14,000. As of Jan 11, the lease balance was $49,684.51. Option 2 - Payoff the vehicle, balance of $49,684.51. His office provided me with wire instructions for the payment. Lindsay did not offer a satisfactory resolution to the problem. I asked *** ****** why his sales and finance staff failed to mention the promotion for the 2022 Cadillac ***. *** ******'s response was, he consulted with his regional manager, they both agreed Lindsay did not have to advise me of Cadillac's promotion. Desired Resolution is void the existing lease and allow me to purchase the 2022 *** at the advertised interest rate of 0.9 percent. This was the best finance option available April 2022. Refund the difference in my payments of $741.77 -$399 for the period that I made these payments.

  Business response

  01/24/2023

  On April 9th,2022, ***************** came into the dealership and asked to see an ***.  She was then greeted by *********************** and they test drove a vehicle; ultimately selecting a 2021 *** AWD Vin # ***************** with an MSRP of $48,510 to move forward with.
  ***************** wanted to purchase the vehicle initially mentioning that she wanted to pay cash.  ***** put together paperwork for a cash purchase.  During the time they were together she mentioned that she was planning on retiring to Florida but requested that the purchase be completed in Virginia as she was still a resident. The deal was completed, and all Virginia taxes and fees were collected.
  While **************** was in with our Finance Director, *********************, he showed her numerous purchasing and leasing options, and she chose to go with the leasing option.
  The letter sent to the Dealer Board states that the lease special or an incentivized rate of 0.9% financing was not offered, however ***************** spent an extended amount of time in the business office with ********************* going over Leasing, Purchasing and options to protect her investment.   **** recalls presenting numerous options before the final decision was made to lease.
  ***************** came back to the dealership a few days after making the purchase to ask why she did not get the advertised lease special.  The lease special was on a FWD vehicle that did not have all the options that she wanted.  The lease special required $3,689 due at signing.  This lease special excluded all taxes, tags and fees.  The vehicle on the Lease Special was a Front Wheel Drive Base Model with a lower MSRP much lower than the one she chose.
  All documents required for doing a Lease Purchase were completed by *****************  The lease contract and all the DMV paperwork were completed and processed. The lease contract was executed by Lindsay Cadillac on behalf of Cadillac Financial.  Below is a list of documents that were presented to and signed by *****************:
  Final Acceptance which reviews all additional coverages purchased and declined
  coverages purchased and declined
  GM Customer Incentive Acknowledgement Form
  Smart-Shield Limited Product Warranty
  Excessive Wear and Tear Addendum
  Lease Spot Delivery Agreement
  Signature that there were no outstanding recalls on the vehicle
  Credit Application
  We Owe / You Owe
  Privacy Notice
  Credit Score Disclosure
  Lease Contract (5 Pages)
  Agreement to Provide Insurance
  Certificate Of Title and Registration
  Odometer Disclosure Statement
  Power of Attorney to Sign for Owner
  Any contract modification would be between ***************** and Cadillac Financial. 
  

  Customer response

  01/26/2023

  [To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed as Answered]
  
   Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  
  The mistake I made was looking at Lindsay's vehicles for nearly 20 minutes without a salesperson greeting me.  I arrived early on a Saturday, and the dealership was not busy. I had to approach the podium and ask the representative if a salesperson could assist me.  There was a group of salesmen standing around, and she assigned **************** to work with me.  Once assigned, **************** was courteous and professional, but he did not greet me as stated in the Lindsay response.
  
  Based on Lindsay's response, I will not receive a satisfactory resolution.  Of course, the employees and management must protect their jobs.  They will not tell the owner, ****************** Lindsay III, that the sales staff did not greet a customer.  Or, the staff decides what customers are advised of Cadillacs promotions.
  
  Of course, I met with ************** in finance.  Lindsay's statements are not responsive to the fact that Lindsay's staff never mentioned the promotions.  $399 for a monthly lease payment or .9 percent APR for purchase.  The interest rate I was quoted was nearly 4 percent, and the lease payment of $741.77 were the options given.  I would have selected a similar but newer vehicle, the 2022 XT4.  How does Lindsay's staff determine what customers are informed about the promotions?
  
  If I were the owner of Lindsay Cadillac, I would wonder why customer feedback on the BBB website is that his staff lacks integrity.  I have no reason to make up a story about my experience.  When I entered the dealership, I had excellent credit and cash to purchase any vehicle.  How many customers have entered the dealership and had a similar experience but did not report it?  Many companies place profits over fair and honest customer service.  So, Lindsay’s philosophy is to place profits over treating all customers fairly. 
  

  Regards,

  *************************

• Initial Complaint

  08/22/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Dear sir/Madam,I built Cadillac ******** platinum online and ordered it through Lindsay Cadillac of Alexandria on 07/30/2021. The order was delivered on the 06/25/2022. Upon inspection, I realized the car was missing several options I added when I was building. Options such wheels, interior floor liners, front grille, first aid kit, and emergency tire repair kit.Aside all that I agreed with the salesman (Ryan F********) that I will pay for him to order me the grille but he will include it in the deal. And the dealership will be responsible for the rest of the items. During the transaction, I traded in my 2017 Cadillac ******** *** platinum, which we agreed on $38,000 after several haggles with me.The salesperson said he was going to print me a new form to sign since we have agreed on the trade in value and a $1,000 front grille replacement charge. When he brought back the form I only trusted him and signed since we didnt talk or discuss any additional charges or fees. But when I got to finance, I saw an additional $21,000 under the itemization and asked a question about it. The finance manager, Bill W**** told me “ it is a Virginia requirement since the pandemic started”. All I could say was that is too much, convinced that it is a state requirement so there’s nothing I can do but to sign the contract. Not knowing that it was a lie to lure me into signing the contract. I bought an additional maintenance policy and completed the transaction. I told him to email me the documents. After some days, when I decided to review the documents again, I could not see any document which support the state requirement he mentioned but only additional options worth $21,000. I went back to the dealership to confront them about the dishonesty. They said I have already signed the contract so it’s on me. The manager concluded that he even charge $30,000 over the sticker price so it’s my loss. I hired an attorney but it wasn’t enough to get my money . Please help.

  Business response

  08/30/2022

  To whom it may concern;

  The actions described in your complaint did not occur. ************** placed himself on a wait list in 2021 for this vehicle. At that time, he was told what the price would be, including
  the premium mark-up. When the vehicle did arrive and when ************** was first-in-line for the vehicle, he came into the store, as indicated, to make the purchase.
  When ************** arrived at the store, he was reminded of the vehicle price, including the premium mark-up. ************** also wanted to purchase specialized grill accessories which he intended to install himself. ************** did negotiate a reduction of the originally-quoted premium mark-up. Thus, the final agreement was $1,000.00 for the grill accessories and
  $20,000.00 for the premimum mark-up. 
  We will not administer a refund of any kind. 

  Sincerely,

  Tim R********

  General Manager

  Customer response

  09/01/2022

  [To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed as Answered]
  
   Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  First of all, I ordered the car through them and received my order number. I waited for one whole year as I kept chatting with ******* ****** myself. It wasn’t like I walked to their showroom to negotiate on a car sitting in their showroom. The price was clear from day one when they pulled my credit to prequalify me. It was my Car, I was not in any line as they claim that I was first in line. We did not agree on any additional charges over the MSRP as they claim. The only adjustment that was supposed to be made upon delivery was the missing features and accessories, such as Sports Grille with ******* surround, 12-spokes wheel, custom floor liners, tire repair tool kit, first aid kit, which was the fault of the salesperson. He submitted something else other than my original built. So the adjustment was to lower the cost of the car, not the other way round. 
  
  When I went in for the car upon arrival, I inspected and took notice of the window sticker and the missing parts. The salesperson did not discuss or disclose any additional charges, but only discussed my trade in value, the specialized grille which was supposed to be part of the initial order, but didn’t come with the car (I agreed he ordered it for me and add to the deal for $1000). After the discussion, he brought me a new form to sign. I went ahead to sign having the sticker price in mind. 

  But even when I discovered that they have buried a “mark-up price”, they justified it that, “it is a requirement of the state of Virginia to add that amount on SUV sales”, says the finance manager. This forced my hand to sign the deal because I thought it was a state requirement. But when I found out later that Virginia allows only sales taxes and processing fees and confronted them, the general manager changed the story to saying that “he charges every SUV buyer $30,000 additional price over the MSRP”. And also said I have signed the contract so it is my loss. In a nutshell, they lied in the name of the state to lure me to sign the contract and used my signature against me. I wouldn’t have signed the contract even as I have waited that long. $21,000 was too much.
  

  They used fraudulent tactics to lure me to sign the contract and used my signature against me. So please I want it resolved. Thank you
  
  Regards,
  
  *************************

  Business response

  09/03/2022

  Lindsay Cadillac stands by our response.  

   

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