Complaints

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

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  Sam Leman Ford

  1508 Morrissey Dr Bloomington, IL 61701-7038

• 

  Sam Leman Ford

  208 Landmark Dr Normal, IL 61761-2119

• 

  Sam Leman Ford

  1513 S Main St Bloomington, IL 61701-6761

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:06/30/2025

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  UnansweredMore 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.

  This dealership has failed to provide my bank and I, title paperwork to register the vehicle. It has been over 90 days and now have an expired temporary plate and cannot drive the vehicle. My bank is threatening to repo the vehicle because they do have the title. I have been told by the dealership over the last 90 days that it will get sent next week almost every week I inquire. This is a very poor business practice and I would never recommend this dealership or any of the multiple they own to anyone ever!

• Initial Complaint

  Date:04/25/2025

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  UnansweredMore 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 2022 Ford Explorer from Sam Leman Ford on 3/11/2024. This vehicle has had intermittent issues with hard shifting. Since owning it, Ford has replaced the transmission and starter. The issue still remains and is intermittent but poses a significant safety hazard. Example: Sometimes when accelerating to merge on the interstate, it bogs down instead. This could be fatal.
  
  With all these issues, I investigated the vehicles history and highlighted one specific event that has provoked this complaint:
  
  On 3/11/2024, I test drove the vehicle. On the way back to the dealership from the test drive, a check engine light came on. I asked them to take a look at the check engine light and let me know what was going on. They came back 2 hours later and said that the code was cleared, and it was good to go, so I bought the car and began to notice the issues. After many service appointments, I was able to get a copy of the service history that showed on 3/11/2024 "customer complains about check engine light". It stated that they found Rodent damage to 4 electrical circuits in the vehicle (circuits- CYD14,RE481,LYB22,SBBE6) and "repaired wiring". They did not disclose this information on the day of purchase. If they had, I would not have bought the vehicle.
  
  I have tried my best with their sales manager, **** ***, to get them to buy the vehicle back or make this right. The best **** was able to offer was $31,000 for trade in. This was after two weeks of him "working with his management and Ford manufacturer for additional trade assist." This offer was unacceptable, so I made contact with ****** manager, **** ********. **** was unaware of the rodent damage discovered and undisclosed on the day of the sale. This proves to me after two weeks of **** "working on it", he never addressed the issue of the bad sale with his manager.
  
  **** said he would call me back by the end of the day and failed to do so. I've given them every chance to make this right.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:04/01/2025

  Type:Product 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 bought my new vehicle from them in December. I was promised things on my car loan tbat was not followed through. My loan paper work was not submitted and resulted in my old car having a late payment. The dealership didn’t pay off my old car completely resulting in me having to pay for it when I don’t even have the vehicle. I still do not have plates for it. I have not received any paperwork on a loan for this vehicle and it’s been 4 months. Had a check engine light come on within 2 days of having the vehicle. Contacted them and never received a call back.

  Business Response

  Date: 04/09/2025

  Dear BBB,

  This complaint should be resolved. We had to resign some finance documents which caused a delay. Her vehicle is in the shop currently for the engine light and we have supplied a loaner vehicle for ******. The payoff delay was due to the delay on funding. We have agreed to reimburse her for that payoff shortage. 

  Sincerely, Sam Leman Ford

• Initial Complaint

  Date:03/20/2025

  Type:Billing 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.

  2 Issues here. First of all I purchased a Vehicle from Sam Lemen Ford in Fall of 2023. The first vehicle was a 2023 Ford Edge, It had roof damage I did not know about until I got home and realized it as I took pictures from an elevated Deck. This was a new car. The vehicle was replaced weeks later after complaints to Ford. I was surprised to see the damaged vehicle was repaired and is listed on the Sam Lemen Website for sale with no mention of previous damage on March 1st, 25. I have included my old Ins card with Vin matching the vehicle in question and pictures I still have of the damage taken the day I brought it home. I do not think it is fair to potential customers to list a vehicle as new when it has has major body damage repaired. Secondly, I was thinking about purchasing a new vehicle and drove 90 miles to Sam Lemen on March 1st, 2025. They seemed to be narrowing my search to 1 or two cars, ran my credit twice, once through Sam Leman and once through Ford. The deal they offered I did not think was a good one so I left the dealership. I made it clear to them I only wanted Ford to run my credit ( hard inquiry ), I called Sam Leman again less than a week later and Spoke to *****, sales Manager to see about getting one of the ford edges or another Escape. I was told by him that he would call ln about an hour. I made 3 more calls in next 4 days and was told he will call you back. To this day I have NOT been called back, email, text, nothing......therefore I am requesting the 2 hard checks be purged from my credit report since they failed to utilize the inquiries to explore more options as they should have. These two hard inquiries will be on my credit report for two years now.

  Business Response

  Date: 04/09/2025

  Dear BBB,

  One the first issue regarding the vehicle damage. The damage involved was minimal. We replaced the roof rails and corrected the dents with a pointless dent repair vendor. Under the Illinois rule on new vehicle damage disclosure, the repair needs to exceed 6% of the MSRP. The repairs completed were far below that threshold.

  On the second issue regarding the credit report. Mr. **** applied for credit on line before he arrived. We are not limited to how many lenders we may contact to secure a loan approval but try to limit it when possible. We almost always pull one for ourselves so we can determine the best lender to submit the application to and to assist us if we need to overcome a conditional term or dollar call back. In this instance we only sent it to one lender per our clients request. We do not remove inquiries due to a person's perception of what a good or bad deal may be.

  Sincerely Sam Leman Ford

  Customer Answer

  Date: 04/10/2025

   I am rejecting this response because :    First of all, I have estimates from 2 Ford Dealerships contradicting your assesment of the damage. This was not a simple Dent fix as the damage extended to the thick part of the metal. Secondly I find it offensive you would not disclose previous damage and hide under an obscure State disclosure law  advertising the vehicle as new......... When I buy a new car for 30 - 40 thousaand I EXPECT one that has has no previous damage. I will be sending in this information to ****** with photos and VIN / and whatever info they need to include this in the report. I posted this complaint on ******** and have recieved many a thank you and  other feedback concerning this matter   by exposingthe way you do business, hopefully they will tell others to be cautious. in refrence to the credit check, I was not worried about the check, my problem is your SALES MANAGER failed to contact me about another vehicle I was iinterested in.......... he told me he would ..........and failed to do so.........i called 4 days in a row......he has not called me to date. You did not address this, covering up for bad service. The reson I wanted it removed is he wasted my credit check by NOT following up with ford for another offer........ FORD already approved me..... Would have just taken another call. Again, POOR SERVICE. I will continue to post reviews about this on as many websites as possible and include your reply
  
  
  
  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 04/11/2025

  The estimates I received were verbal estimates, and I don't have any physical documentation. 

• Initial Complaint

  Date:08/03/2024

  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.

  I purchased a 2020 ford explorer from Sam Leman on November 30th, 2023. In December, I had two instances where my car would not start. I called them and reported the issue. They were not able to get me a loaner car to use while working on my car. I have now had the same issue where my car will not start about 50 times, it has happened 4 times this week. I have taken the car in to be repaired on three separate occasions and each time they were unable to repair my car. I called them this week to request a buyback and they are now refusing to buyback the car even though that is included in the ******** **** warranty act since my car has an extended warranty. I would like a formal complaint filed against them to assure this does not happen to somebody else as I am now going to have to buy a new car and will lose $14,000 when I do this due to the trade in value versus the amount owed on the car that they will not buyback for what is owed.

  Business Response

  Date: 08/14/2024

  Dear BBB,

  Thanks for allowing us to respond to this claim. We are aware of the mechanical concern and have attached the repair order from those visits. It was our goal to continue to work with the manufacturer and the customer to resolve the issue. Kaina requested a buyback, but that was not feasible as there was a large balance that was carried over from her trade payoff. Unfortunately she was upside down and that was no fault to our dealership. She recently traded off this vehicle at another dealership. We offered her more for the vehicle, but she opted to trade there. Unfortunately, the loss she referenced is partially due to the trade inequity and in some part accepting an offer that was less than what we have offered. Since the vehicle in question was traded, we consider the matter closed.

  Sincerely,

  Sam Leman Ford

  Customer Answer

  Date: 08/21/2024

   I am rejecting this response because:
  There was not a large balance that was carried over to that vehicle, I owed 1500 from my previous vehicle which has already been paid on by the monthly payment I have been making. I also never received a call back from anyone at the dealership. ***** ***** was supposed to be calling me back 2 weeks ago when he returned from vacation and never called back. Also, I was never offered a trade in from Sam Leman and the reason I refused to do business with them again is because of their lack of cooperation to resolve this issue. I’m not sure what else I was supposed to do with a car that did not start other than trade it in at a reputable dealership rather than one that had already proved themselves as distrustful to me. I do not consider this matter closed. 
  
  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:07/01/2024

  Type:Delivery 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 new truck from Sam Leman Ford on 3/30/2024. I was charged $922 for title and license fees. It is now 7/1/2024 past 90 days and I still have not received a title for this vehicle. Indiana bmv charges a $15 fee past 30 days.

  Business Response

  Date: 07/11/2024

  Dear BBB,

  We are aware of this issue and have tried to resolve it directly with Mr. *****. We use an outside service called *** to handle our out of state transactions regarding taxes, license, and title. One of the forms that was needed was a power of attorney that was needed to complete the paperwork. Mr. ***** signed this form at delivery, but it was later noted that the odometer was incorrectly listed as 27 miles when it should have been 29. We informed him of this error and sent him two corrected forms to sign with a prepaid overnight envelope to return to us. While he willingly signed the first two forms (they require 2 original copies), he has refused to sign the corrected forms. We have sent those on three separate occasions with pre-paid return envelopes. We see no justified reason why he would not sign the form again.

  We are attempting to see if *** will accept the original forms at this juncture, but it would be helpful if he simply complied with our request. Out of convenience, we have attached the two forms that need signed and notarized. These forms need to original and two are required. If he has lost or disposed the prepaid overnight envelopes we originally provided on three different occasions, we will reimburse him for that fee. If he elects to sign these forms, they can be sent directly to our corporate office (Sam Leman Ford **** ********* ***** *********** ** ***** Attn: License and Title Administrator)

  Currently there are no late charges that Mr. ***** will be responsible for from our dealership.

   

   

• Initial Complaint

  Date:05/16/2023

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  UnansweredMore 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.

  Hello. I bought a truck from sam leman in Bloomington Illinois to surprise my husband. The truck I thought was a great deal. I waited 6 hours for the truck to arrive after just talking to them 2 days before letting them know I was coming that Monday. So when I got there Monday truck was moved to another lot the same day I talked to them. Anyways got the truck there I noticed door rust. That kinda upset me because the pics online they had doctored them and there was no rust showing in the pictures. Anyways not a deal breaker my husband is a body man. Well they informed the truck had passed all inspections so I wasn't too worried about anything else. Got the truck home surprised my husband and a few days later he was checking things out to see what needed to be done. Well he got under the truck and started pushing on the frame on the back side and his finger went through the frame. How they didn't see it or how it passed inspection I will never know. Even a spot by the back driver side tire ont he frame is rusting through and getting soft. The truck isn't safe to drive. We called them and they told us to go trade it in at another dealership. I'm honest so would let the other dealership know about the rusting in half frame and I'm sure they wouldn't want the truck or I would take a even bigger loss. I have called and called and everyone I talk to says oh this isn't right I'm gonna have the main boss call u. I have yet to hear from anyone up there except the guy I am dealing with to drop the warranty and gap on the truck so I can hopefully recoup some of the money I am gonna loose on this truck when I find it a new home. But that's all mine and his conversation has been. He is one of the ones that said he would have someone call me but when I ask him when they are calling he don't respond. I have had the truck now since March and it's been parked since the last part of April because I don't feel safe at all driving it. I just want the truck fixed or something different