Happy customer turned frustrated beyond measure. - carissa
Happy customer turned frustrated beyond measure.
I am on my second lease with Maus Acura of North Tampa. My first lease was great. It worked out so well that I referred three people after my experience. Cedric was my original salesperson and was more than helpful, professional and informative, Zack, before he was the finance manager was the most informative because it was my first lease and he offered a great deal of valuable information in my decision to lease. I’ve always purchased. Lily, when she was the finance manager was phenomenal. I loved my car, It was solid in every aspect-the acceleration, the colors, the additional features! I truly enjoyed driving my car & I have always loved Acura’s (this was my third one.)
A year and a half later, I’m in for an oil change service, and a salesperson approached asking if I was interested in upgrading my current vehicle. It did peak my interest with an upgrade to another lease. This was in the timeframe of September of last year so everyone knows that used car prices shot way up because there was a shortage. I was curious to know how much I would receive for my car as a trade in and if it would be worth going with a newer lease.
The numbers go through and it’s about $100 more each month, however it’s a year newer and a model higher. Seemed like a great deal to me. I scheduled a test drive and I loved it! After test driving, I see the front passenger fender had “cosmetic “ damage because it was a lease turned back in because the original owner was “not happy” with the vehicle. It was explained to me by the dealership that since there was less than 1500 miles they could still consider it new and eligible to lease and you can only lease a new vehicle, not a used vehicle. Otherwise it would have to of been sold as a used car and the value of the vehicle would have dropped drastically. Especially since later when the additional damage to the vehicle was found and it had to be repaired. I thought about the offer…it was a great trade offered for my current vehicle, (even though I still love my current car, I was considering the upgrade) a year newer along with the fact that it was a higher model car and it only had cosmetic damage that the dealership vowed to have fixed and it only @1200 miles. Seemed like a fair deal in my opinion. Again especially since I was assured the cosmetic damage would be repaired in about “one day”. I go through with the purchase and trade my car in. I clean everything out of my car and wait to speak with the finance manager Zack. At this time, I’m finishing my paperwork while my new car is getting ready for me to drive home.
I open the car and immediately see how dirty it was. I told the salesperson and after he looked inside he apologized and said he would include a detail along with my other promised items because it was unacceptable. (Fix cosmetic damage, tint windows and now detail my car because this “brand new” vehicle was given to me dirty with food still in the backseat. Acura is supposed to be on the luxury side of vehicles right….Apparently not from this dealership.
Approximately one week later, I bring the car back to the dealership for the cosmetic damage repair and tint, then once those are completed, I was due a detail from receiving a dirty “brand new” leased vehicle. Now the frustration sets in even further. Remember the beginning of this review? The cosmetic damage was only supposed to be a day-two tops for repairs. It took about 8 days! First there was a delay due to the weather, next it’s because the shop overbooks and they are overwhelmed. Not to mention, they deliver terrible work. The dealership offered me a loaner but because I didn’t have bodily injury liability they wouldn’t loan me a car. Eventually they provided one of their older model used car’s for sale. Remember. One to two days tops. So I am now in a loaner car that’s lesser value than my originally traded car, but I tell myself it won’t be long. The loaner had a front tire with a slow leak in it to where I had to fill it up every other day…so at this point, I’m even more frustrated. Plus they never took ALL of the for sale stickers off all the windows. Finally, I’m told that it’s taking longer than planned from the “one or two days” “because they found a little more damage then initially found “ This is all through text messages so I’m asking what does “a little more damage” mean? This is exactly what was text to me- “nothing extensive.just a area
around the fender had a crease
and needed attention.But, I dont
think the company we are now
using is in our best interest
based on the amount of
appointments he makes vs the length of time it takes to get
vehicles back.you will be happy
with the results though.”
Sadly I was not happy! Ohh. I’m forgot… I’m still waiting on my driver mirror to be replaced because it’s been on “back order”that was another item promised to me because it had cosmetic damage as well. And I’m still waiting on that detail that was promised after the cosmetic repair and tint. Side note-after expressing my unhappiness with the work completed, my salesperson tells me “It’s a lease. You will turn it back in.”
I pay too much money to drive something I’m not happy driving.
The bumper and the hood were not flush in the front of the car, even along the sides of the vehicle after the “cosmetic repairs.” The car pulled so bad to the right constantly and pulled fairly hard. They did end up fixing the alignment though. Shot out to the service team. I know they may not be the fastest but they try. Kudos to them for their help. There have been a couple of mishaps but nothing they couldn’t fix! I’ve worked with Robert multiple times and he’s gone out of his way to help me on more than one occasion.
Back to why I’m still frustrated…
Not only am I dealing with a loaner that is not safe with a bum tire that loses air and filling it up every day oh and these sale stickers they never removed. Oh and it was older and it was in worse condition than my original trade in. I see why they didn’t want me to wait for everything to be fixed before I traded my car in. I never would have gone forward with the lease knowing about the additional damage they “found” after the fact. I over it at this point. My patience ran out. At one point I asked for my trade in back and I didn’t want to keep the newer car. That’s when I was reassured in text how happy I will be once everything is finished. Now the kicker… my salesperson has been basically sexually harassing me this whole time. So to top it all off, I’m no where near comfortable with this person from the comments they made verbally to the day I picked up my car when I was supposed to be “so happy “ with the finished “cosmetic repair. Maus Acura should be glad I never filled a sexual harassment case on them. I’m sure if they have video surveillance outside the dealership, it can be seen. This has been the absolute worst purchase experience ever. If that wasn’t disgusting enough to deal with. I even missed out on some perks that you can take advantage of as a new Acura owner. Since this vehicle was a turn in on a previous lease from someone else. I missed out on the different trial offers that come with your new lease. To this day I’m still not able to set up my online account to be able to make payments online since the vin number goes to another owner that is not me. I’ve expressed that to my sales person and it was just ignored. I’ve called Acura financial services, they can’t do anything either. They just refer you back to the dealership.
Here I am about 8 months later, I’m having my car towed back to the dealership because it was not able to stay in drive. Who knows why my brand new vehicle shifts from drive to park while it’s still accelerating down the road. First on Saturday the car started showing the driver door open alarm every two to three seconds. Then the automatic doors would unlock and lock with the final malfunction making the car unsafe and not able to drive. Anytime I put the car in drive, and start accelerating down the road the car automatically kicks the gear back to park, jerking me and my passenger into the front window. This happened 4 more times till I could get the car to a safe place. Sunday, when the tow truck driver came to load the vehicle on the flat bed it did the same thing to him. This is the most unsafe “safety mechanism” that could malfunction. I’m thankful I wasn’t on the highway doing 70 miles per hour and the gear button automatically shift to park. I’m sure that would not have ended well.
Now we get to the most recent frustrating experience today. My car was diagnosed to need a sensor part for my front driver door. Of course the dealership doesn’t have it so they try to obtain it from another dealership but that dealership won’t part with it. I’m told they will now have to order the part and it would arrive around June 23rd. It’s May 23rd. That’s a whole month I’m estimated to be without my vehicle. I no longer live in Tampa but I work in Tampa. I commute about 3 hours a day. Now I’m missing work and losing money. I need a vehicle and I pay enough to have a reliable, comfortable vehicle that I feel safe in. Last time I needed a loaner I mentioned there were issues where I had to add bodily injury liability so this time I was proactive and made sure It was on my insurance cards and emailed them to service. After making my way to the dealership coming from south Tampa during 5 o’clock rush hour just before they close. I’m now told they can’t legally let me leave with a loaner because they don’t accept my insurance carrier along with two others. Their reason was because the dealership has previous claims that the insurance companies are not paying out. I’m sorry, that is not my issue. That is a Maus Acura issue. Absolutely not acceptable. I have the required insurance I that I am expected to have but I’m not able to have a loaner because of issues that are outside of my control. They offered to tell me that I could go to enterprise and get a rental since they have an account there. They would ONLY reimburse me for the daily rate. Not the additional insurance selections or the deposit that then rental car company requires. So by this time. Enterprise is closed and Maus is now closing so there was no upper level leadership or any management available to rectify my situation. Now I’m left trying to figure out how to get back and forth from an hour and a half away with no loaner vehicle and no brand new car that I’m still having to make payments on but not able to drive and rental car. I am beyond furious. I feel that they NEVER should have been able to consider this vehicle “new” and sold as a lease to me in the first place because once they found the additional damage that was not initially found it should have been considered a used vehicle, not eligible as a new car lease. I shouldn’t have to feel uncomfortable because of someone’s sexual comments and someone who can’t keep their hands to themselves. I’ve kept my mouth shut too long. Especially with the sexual harassment. Let’s see if gets the attention of someone who can actually help and rectify this situation. If not…any layers out there who think I have a case, feel free to contact me.
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