Complaints

This profile includes complaints for Prater Ford, Inc.'s headquarters and its corporate-owned locations. To view all corporate locations, see Find Local Branches.

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  Prater Ford, Inc.

  704 S Wall St Calhoun, GA 30701-2616

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  Prater Ford, Inc.

  705 S Wall St Calhoun, GA 30701-2615

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:05/07/2025

  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.

  I purchased a 2019 Kia Optima on April 10. It went into the shop a few days later. (In the shop 2-3 days.) They said it was an O2 sensor they supposedly fixed. That was because when trying to crank the car, it would jolt back-and-forth for several seconds. Then on April 19, it was doing the same thing, it would shake when you tried to crank it or it would stay crunk for several minutes even after pulling the key out, I have videos of this occurring. I dropped the car back off on April 20 because the car left me stranded in town for about 30 minutes because it didn’t want to crank. On April 29th I got the car back and then on May 1st it was doing the same thing not wanting to crank sometimes or stayed crunk for several minutes after pulling the key out. Also when it does crank, it still jolts back-and-forth for several seconds. On May 4th, I told them all of this and how messed up it was that I just bought a car from them and it has already been in the shop twice. I haven’t even paid a payment on it. I haven’t even paid the Ad Valorem tax on it yet. April 5th I called and spoke to the car salesman and he said that the upper management told him ,I guess, to tell me to use my warranty that I purchased when purchasing the car and that he had also checked the warranty and the warranty didn’t cover what this could possibly be. And you should take it to KIA. Also, when purchasing the car I asked for the Carfax and the Carfax stated that it was in a minor wreck or fender bender and that it had been fixed, the front bumper and the passenger side door after getting home we realize that the driver side back fender had a big dent in it, which not notated anywhere. we would either like our $**** back from the deposit along with the $*** that we spent to have the windows tinted or they can fix the problem completely. I do realize that the car was sold as is however, this is a little bit ridiculous and I do not trust the car to not leave me stranded. It has to sit in driveway

  Business Response

  Date: 05/22/2025

  The 2019 Kia Optima was purchased on 4/10/25. The 2019 Optima was running without any issues on that day. The vehicle was sold AS IS but Mr. and Mrs. ******** did have the opportunity if they wanted to purchase a Ford ESP Service Contract, which they did because the Kia Optima had over 80,000 miles on it. The 2019 Kia Optima had a preowned inspection done on it when it was traded in by our service department. ****** ******** contacted my sales professional the next day stating the vehicle was having a problem with a shake when she started the vehicle. I asked her to bring the vehicle to me (Duke Ankney sales manager with Prater Ford)  and I would get it  over to my service manager and have him look at the car. I gave ****** a vehicle to drive while the service manager looked at her Optima. It took the service manager over 4 hours of starting the car 35 to 50 times to have the issue finally happen. In his opinion he felt it was a engine mount sensor so he replaced them. The service manager drove the vehicle several times the rest of the day and even kept the Optima overnight to test it again in the morning. after several attempts of starting the Optima that following morning, it didn't have a problem. After a few more days ****** called the sales professional that sold her the Optima and said that the car left her stranded on the side of the road that it stopped running. After 30 minutes ****** said the Optima started up and she brought it to us at Prater Ford. She was upset of course and understandably, I told her let me get it back over to the service manager and do my best to figure out what was going on with the Optima. I did tell her "I promise to do my best to get the Optima looked at and hopefully fixed" We sent the Optima out to ******* Garage here in Calhoun to be looked at and have them diagnose what was going on with the Optima. It took them a couple of days to get it in to be looked at. They felt what was causing the problem was the Throttle body needed cleaned and the injectors needed replaced. Prater Ford than okayed to have the work done and then it took 3 days to get the parts and finish up. We then gave the vehicle back to ******. We spent with the 2 repairs $******** to fix a vehicle that was sold AS IS. In good faith we tried to assist Mrs. ******** the best we could. When she called again stating the issue was still there, mind you we have 2 garages now that worked on the vehicle and when done with it held it for a couple days to make sure it was good to go. Prater Ford instructed her to take it to a Kia store to have the 2019 Optima looked at by their certified mechanics. We here at Prater Ford feel we have been more then fair and transparent with ****** ********. Again I state this not to be mean or to sound uncaring, the 2019 Kia Optima was sold to ****** knowingly by her that the sale was AS IS.

  **** ******

   

   

  Customer Answer

  Date: 05/22/2025

  
  
  Complaint: ********
  
  
  
  I am rejecting this response because: who wants to buy a car from a dealership used or not, as is or not and have to spend money on it. Isn’t that why you get a different car? So u can have peace with ur vehicle? An upgrade Right? Not to have to pay the taxes on it then a payment and shop bills. This is not fair at all. 
  
  
  
  Sincerely, ****** ******** 
  
  
  
  ****** ********