Business ProfileforJourney Auto Sales, Inc.

Test drove a 2014 Jetta today with this business. Took the car to a local mechanic for a pre-purchase inspection. The car had an empty coolant reservoir with an active and substantial coolant leak, a broken coolant fan, an active oil leak and timing belt had never been replaced with 199k miles on the odometer. Upon leaving the mechanic, the car began to sputter and overheat. Several lights appeared on the dash. I pulled over, called Journey, and the owner asked me to "limp" the car back to the dealership. Mind you I am a female, alone and 20 minutes away from the dealership. It was raining and rush hour in *********. I had to take a major interstate to get back where the speed limit is 70. This put me in great danger had the car stranded me on the side of the interstate. Journey obviously did not inspect the car prior to letting me drive it and stated it had been on the lot for a month. They stated there was no way a coolant leak was an issue because they would have smelled the coolant! I would advise anyone to not do business with this dealership and DEFINITELY get a PPI prior to giving them any money!

I regret the inconvenience. Like all inventory the vehicle passed a *************** inspection and was assessed when stocked in. It was driven by multiple people including you on the morning of the day in question and exhibited no problems.
The unit is a 200k mile turbo diesel priced at $4997. You left a deposit after your demonstration drive and returned later to take to your mechanic.
When you called upset at 4:30 you said the vehicle was overheating but during same conversation said that it was no longer overheating, and you thought you could drive it. Striving to solve the situation in the best manner for you, I suggested to "limp" it back to the car lot versus a tow. A tow at that time of day would have taken hours. We were down 2 employees out of five so had no one at that point to come to you 30 minutes away not to mention that also would have taken quite a bit of time with traffic. The term "limp" is common in this industry to suggest driving easy to avoid a total breakdown. Some vehicles are actually equipped with a "limp mode" for this reason.
At that point you hung up and would not respond to our call backs. After you hung up, I called my wholesale partner who I hoped might be operating in the area at that time of day. He agreed to go pick you up once we had a specific location then the vehicle could be towed later. You would not answer our calls to inform you of such. We texted attempting to get a location. You did not respond and pulled into the car lot in the vehicle ***** minutes later. The vehicle at that time was not overheating though had an engine light that was turbo and exhaust related.
We have been in business at this location for 27 years and have an excellent reputation. That is not because there are never mechanical problems but because the majority of clients, we engage with are pleased with our ethic and customer service. We operated with that same ethic and intent in this situation. Having done this for 37 years total, I long ago came to realize that one can only do their best. Regretfully, at times that will not suffice to please the expectations of all people.

I pray that after rest you have found some peace.

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