Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. 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.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:02/13/2024

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Complaint involves personal vehicle: 2017 Mazda 6. On 12/28/2022, vehicle was taken to Nelson Ford-Mazda to address noise coming from front suspension while driving. Was advised by Service Advisor w/Nelson Ford-Mazda that recommended repair required replacement of front susp. struts, and appt for repair service scheduled. Vehicle was returned to dealer for service: 1/20/2023. The long lead-time between initial diagnosis by dealer and delivery for service attributed to "waiting for parts" by dealer. On 1/21/2023 vehicle was picked up from Nelson Ford-Mazda and service fee of $1043.54 was paid. Since return of vehicle to my possession, have continued to hear same noise(s) coming from front susp. while driving. More recently, I performed vehicle maintenance myself to replace worn brake pads. When I removed front wheels of vehicle to perform maintenance and inspected susp. components I discovered the excessively worn condition of front struts, indicating they were NOT newer replacement parts, but actually the original struts as equipped on vehicle when purchased-new. I assert: dealership and/or its representatives acted in bad-faith, took possession of my vehicle and kept it for a pd. of time, then returned it to me and charged me for replacement of parts that was not performed. This having been done under assumption of the customer (me) not being mechanically-inclined enough to independently remove front wheels to inspect and/or service the front susp. components of my vehicle to notice any discrepancy. I understand the infrequent nature of replacing certain wearable components on vehicles has allowed enough time to elapse to give dealership and/or its representatives plausible deniability; they can claim "normal wear and tear." I seek to warn other consumers of their practice(s), and make this the loudest possible "BUYER BEWARE." I strongly caution any consumer to use utmost scrutiny and due-diligence if they choose to do business with Nelson Ford-Mazda.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 02/16/2024

  I would like to address the concerns raised by Mr. **** regarding the installation of struts that took place in January of 2023. Since the struts were installed we have not seen, nor heard from Mr. ****. If his vehicle was experiencing the same noises that he had prior to having the repairs made, I question why it took over a year before bringing this to our attention? I have included a copy of the repair orders associated with this repair along with a receipt from **** with the struts that we used to replace the faulty parts on his 2017 Mazda 6. If you look at the photos that Mr. **** included in his complaint you can clearly see that the struts are Quick Struts which is a brand that **** sells. They are not the original equipment manufacturer struts that Mazda installs when assembling the vehicle. All work that Mr. **** says was never completed was done according to the information on the included repair order. We do not appreciate Mr. **** making accusations that we did not perform the work. I again ask why he did not bring this to our attention sooner if the problem that he came in for was not sufficiently corrected? I ask that anyone who has their vehicle repaired in our shop to contact us immediately if the problem that was repaired has not been corrected. Waiting a year before making such a claim is completely uncalled for.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:10/10/2023

  Type:Customer Service Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  My 2016 ford escape broke down on the highway and was towed to this dealership. I was traveling for work and needed to find out what caused the car to break down. ****** ******* was my service advisor. She told me it was my transmission and it was cost almost 7 grand to fix. I live in *** **** so I continued to communicate back and forth with her about my car. She sent me two invoices with in word document with no logo on the documentation. Then I asked her to explain what happened and why she couldn't not not the mechanic and I also asked why would a new transmission be flushed and they could not answer that. I also asked to speak to a manager who could not be a available. After 3 weeks of no concrete communication and no progress I called ******* who said her manager would call me back and I told her no need I'm picking the vehicle up. She waits until a transport service picks my car up to say they cannot take my car until they pay them for a $90 oil change that I did not give permission for. If I did have a balance why not let me know the yesterday when I said it t would be picked up. The driver or service has nothing to do with my balance so they held my car for ransom until it was paid. How unprofessional and ridiculous I had a bad feeling from the start about leaving my car there. It was the way they talked to customers, lack of knowledge in regards to working with Fords and Also the homemade and hand written invoices with no letter head or date or logo. I was prepared to pay them 7000 to repair something they don't have a clue about. My car has always been dealer maintained and I will continue to do that with a reputable dealer (Ford)

  

  Business Response

  Date: 10/11/2023

  There seems to be a misunderstanding regarding the work that was performed on the 2016 Ford Escape. When the vehicle was brought into our dealership ***** was informed that it would take some time before we could get to the vehicle because we were completely booked. We brought the vehicle in on September 25th to do a diagnostic on the vehicle and we discovered that the transmission needed to be replaced.. We charge a diagnostic fee of $89.95 as it ties up one of our technicians time while performing the work required to determine what the problem is. The bill that was charged had absolutely nothing at all to do with an unauthorized oil change, it was only a diagnostic fee that was billed for the time taken to determine the cause of the issue. I have no idea how a diagnostic fee was misconstrued as an oil change? Attached you will find the bill for the $89.95 diagnostic fee that is in question.The document that was claimed to be a word document is an estimate for the work that needed to be performed in order to replace the transmission. It does not have a company logo on it. The line explaining the transmission flush was actually supposed to have been for a transmission cooler flush. The new transmission comes with a 3 year warranty as long as the cooler is flushed and the assembly is replaced. We explained that this was optional if ***** wanted to forego the warranty. When we were told that they were coming to pick the Escape up to have it transported elsewhere to have the work completed, we expected to be paid for the work that was performed. Out technician took over an hour of his day diagnosing the problem and he has to be compensated for his time. It is our policy that outstanding charges are paid prior to releasing a vehicle. Had we not insisted on payment before the vehicle leaving the shop we would have never been compensated for our work. For this reason we will not be reimbursing the $89.95 diagnostic fee. Feel free to reach out to me directly with any questions or concerns.Respectfully,**** ******Customer Care Manager Nelson Automotive

  Customer Answer

  Date: 10/11/2023

  I have reviewed the response offer made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below. Regards, ***** ********* This is not true at all and they did not take a day doing a diagnosis. The payment for 89.95 would have been paid immediately. ******* was never told the work was being done somewhere else she was told it was being towed home. She told me the same day it was the transmission and the lies are ridiculous. I will never do business with them ever. I also called them several times and they had no information on anything or definite answers. I'm not leaving my car in the hands of people I don't trust and aren't communicating with me when I live 10 hours away. ******* is a liar and didn't see a since of urgency with my car because I'm an out of Towner. The only time the vehicle was of any significance is when it was being transported out. I was paying them 6700 to fix car so I had no issue paying for a diagnostic and fyi when a shop does the work the don't charge you for diagnostic and they had that on the invoice. Everything was unprofessional until I picked my vehicle up and then received a real invoice. The driver did not read it he just paid what they asked for. So with that being said I was responsible for the $90 and I was going to pay the 6700 for the repair that wasn't even explained thoroughly. They just said I need a transmission base on the bare minimum not a whole day. Please stop lying out business is done and I payed a 800 transport and addition to your $90. I am not impressed or happy with ******* who represents a Ford franchise. Please learn the company you represent and stop doing things for convenience 

• Initial Complaint

  Date:02/03/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Bought used TRUCK in November and by Jan have spent 2000 in repairs. The warranty that was sold to us pays not much of anything. We were sold a lemon truck and a bad warranty. Attempts to get resolved at dealership unsuccessful as they do not return calls. Request help with this as truck can not be driven.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 02/10/2023

  It is unfortunate that you have encountered issues with your 2016 Nissan Frontier. Since this is an older vehicle we sell those vehicles as is. We always attempt to get the consumer to purchase an extended warranty to cover issues that may occur due to the age of the vehicle. The vehicle that we sold you was a two owner vehicle with 57,655 miles that received an AutoCheck score of 94 out of a scale of 100. That is an excellent score and after running it through our shop we had no reason to believe that it had any issues, You purchased an Alpha Warranty to protect against any unforeseen issues. You had reached out to our finance manager ***** ******* when the issues with the warranty not covering your repairs came up. She explained to you what the warranty covered and what limitations that it had. You had taken the vehicle to ******** ********** ******* in Roanoke to get it repaired. The warranty explains that it will cover diagnostic fees at $65 per hour but they charged you at a rate of $200 per hour to diagnose the issue. The warranty covers labor at $110 per hour but they charged you $200 per hour to remove and repair the water pump and $133 per hour labor to remove and replace the thermostat. These are substantial discrepancies that made it seem as if the warranty did not cover what it should have. ***** was working with you to help resolve the issues as best she could when you informed her that you were going to file a complaint with the BBB. At that point she stopped communication as she felt threatened. I am willing to see if we can help some with repairs but they must be done n our shop so that we can control the expenses and monitor the work done. I have included a copy of the warranty, a copy of the buyers guide showing the vehicle was purchased as is, a copy of the AutoCheck report and a copy of the repair order that you provided us. 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 02/21/2023

  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution would be satisfactory to me.   Actually they reached out to us since than and are helping us get this resolved.  Thanks  **** *****