*** Buyer Beware *** If you work hard for your money and DO NOT want to worry about a vehicle failing you just a few months after purchase, I highly encourage each NEW and OLD customer that go to AutoNation to seriously reconsider purchasing a vehicle from here. My vehicle purchase here has caused nothing, but unnecessary stress, missed time from work, and a lot of money in just under the five months of my purchase. I purchased a 2020 Jeep Compass with 10,000 miles for my wife at the end of May 2020. We took a lot of photos of the vehicle’s exterior upon our purchase and later learned that those photos meant nothing to the now preexisting issue within the vehicle. There were tire scuff marks on the driver side tires and later on I learned that they (AutoNation) would use the same scuff marks to drop me from a warranty claim. A few DAYS later after our purchase the check engine light emerged on the vehicle’s dash. This vehicle was serviced not once, not twice, but three times until the issue was fixed. In May and June (literally a few weeks after purchase), the Jeep had to be serviced multiple times. In July, I got the vehicle’s oil changed from a Jeep dealership and asked for the technicians to check my vehicle for anything that needed to be changed soon, in which I was notified that my Jeep was in good condition. At the beginning of October, my wife was parked at a curbside pick-up and when she placed her vehicle in reverse the ball joint broke causing major damage to the vehicle. If my wife was driving on the freeway and the ball joint broke, she could’ve been seriously injured or died. We took a picture of the broken ball joint right after it broke for documentation. We had to get the immobile vehicle towed to AutoNation and I believed the vehicle should be held by the vehicle’s warranty (Wouldn’t you think so too?). When the vehicle was taken to the service department, it was like pulling teeth to get a loaner or rental. AutoNation did not care that my wife worked and could lose her job due to not having transportation. After a long time of waiting and explaining the issue to one of the head managers (Unsure of her name) at the service side, a rental from Enterprise was given to us. Erik, an Assistant Manager, from service side could care less about our situation and even made uncomical and unprofessional comments about one time a ball joint breaking on his vehicle and it was nothing, indicating our vehicle problem was a big joke. For someone holding the title “manager”, you would figure someone would be more willing to be helpful, not be [non-permissible content removed] about the situation. Especially, when you purchased a vehicle from their dealership that has been serviced multiple times in less than six months. One shady part of the rental agreement from AutoNation was the rental was only for TWO DAYS! Our vehicle was not even looked at or diagnosed by a technician until five days later. We were unknowingly being charged close to $40.00 dollars a day and we had to pay out of pocket! We were told by a sales representative that a rental would be issued under AutoNation the entire time our vehicle was there being fixed. I later found out after being charged close to $250.00 dollars that AutoNation would only provide the rental if it was covered under warranty. I was falsely accused by Erik multiple times of hitting debris on the freeway or a curb that caused this damage; yet again him insinuating that this was all driver error. The pictures that Erik and the technician provided as “proof” that we hit something that caused the ball joint to fail was the SAME SCUFF MARKS ON THE TIRE WHEN WE PURCHASED THE VEHICLE (yes, read that again). The ball joint had scratches on it as a result of the tow and they credited the scratches as what was another thing that caused the ball joint to break. We had proof that there were not scratches on the ball joint as soon as it broke, but that did not matter. I was basically told if I did not have pictures of the vehicle’s under carriage when I bought the Jeep or any other day then it could not be covered under warranty. So remember this, make sure to take pictures of your ball joint every day and all parts because AutoNation will not cover you nor does their service department care. I contacted the on-duty AutoNation’s Sales Director, Glenn and relayed all facts to him, in which he assured he was going to look into this and call me back. For the record, I’m still waiting on his call back. In the end, I had to make a claim with my insurance and pay my deductible in order to get my vehicle fixed along with an expensive bill from Enterprise. AutoNation does not care and were quick to make any claim void warranty. I write this to warn each buyer to remember my story so they won’t be in the same situation as me. Investing time, money, and having stress in a *certified* car dealership is not worth it and I believe everyone should know AutoNation is NOT a place to buy vehicles.
J Hernandez
Oct 16, 2020
