ComplaintsforCloninger Ford of Hickory
Need to file a complaint?
BBB is here to help. We'll guide you through the process.
Complaint Details
Note that complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. See details.
Initial Complaint
03/29/2024
- Complaint Type:
- Service or Repair Issues
- Status:
- Unanswered
My oh my. I would stay far from this place.I purchased my vehicle at the end of January 2024. I've had issues with Cloninger Ford of Hickory since then. First, the the finance person, **, charged us for a warranty that we were made to believe was included because the vehicle was a **** and we were buying a **** from a **** dealership. Then I never got my digital paperwork via email like he said I would. It took two weeks to discover that I paid more fir a warranty because I didn't get the paperwork til Feb 7th. Already by this time I was experiencing some issues that seemed fuel line related and while thankful I had a warranty, still didn't have any details on what it covered as I was never given any coverage info. Well fast forward to March. I took my vehicle in last week to a **** dealership down the road from my house to get it diagnosed. The fuel pump is bad. They call the warranty and apparently there is a 50 mile tie down. I'm like 48 miles away from Cloninger Hickory. I speak to ****** on Tuesday who said the service manager is releasing the tie-down at that time. Come Thursday it's still not released. Today is Friday and the service manager is telling the service advisor I'm working with at **************** that I should just come in to their shop. No, lies, deceit, procrastination. I don't want my vehicle anywhere near Cloninger Ford of Hickory. Still waiting a resolution to this matter. Resolution, funishe the job of releasing the tie down so I can get my vehicle repaired by somewhere near me and I can trust.Initial Complaint
10/27/2023
- Complaint Type:
- Service or Repair Issues
- Status:
- Unanswered
We took our ******************* for a recall , somehow our rotor was broken while in their custody , they are trying to convince us they didnt break it , the car was drivable before now us not , the service advisor even told my daughter it would be a higher price than the **** he quoted but he noticed a car seat in the car and wanted to give ger a break on the price the recall should have taken care of the problem with the brakes because of the line and hose , we had a licensed mechanic does i with them and I was told after 3 days of having our car they were taking it off the lift , , this is unacceptable , the rotor was not broke wheh we drive the car there and we refuse to pay for their negligenceInitial Complaint
09/28/2023
- Complaint Type:
- Service or Repair Issues
- Status:
- Answered
I'm getting multiple robocalls in a row from this dealership--6 in a row just this morning. It's clearly a robocall, but it reacts to my responses and claims to be a real person. I've never even set foot at this dealership. When I called to ask to be removed from their marketing list, the person said they didn't even know those calls were going out and didn't know who the right person would be to find out how to get my name/number removed.At first, I thought this might be a scam, but when I repeatedly asked the robocall for the dealership address, it sent me a text message with a link where I could book a time to visit the dealership.I repeatedly asked the robocall system to remove my number and stop calling, but it kept offering to answer my questions about their inventory.Again, the robocall system claims that it is a real person. This is ridiculous and unethical.Business response
09/29/2023
**************, we apologize for any inconvenience with the calls you have been receiving. We are piloting a new program that was presented to us and it has some issues we were not aware of up front. We have removed you from any call list we have here at the dealership and again apologize for any inconvenience. Thank you
***************
General Manager
Cloninger Ford of Hickory
Initial Complaint
07/20/2023
- Complaint Type:
- Service or Repair Issues
- Status:
- Unanswered
I purchased a 2016 ********** Jetta on April 20, 2023 for around $12,500.00. Within a week or so the check engine and oil lights started coming on. I do not live near the dealer so I took the car to a local AAA mechanic near my job. Over the course of at least three visits they replaced plugs and wires, replaced the oil cap, and checked for oil leak. I have to top off the at least one per week. The engine error code indicates a problem with the catalytic converter and the mechanic concluded that the piston rings are likely bad and oil is burning and fouling the catalytic converter. I reached out to the dealership after getting this information in July and was told by the salesperson that they could try to put me in a different car but the Jetta was valued at $2,000 - $3,000 because it was "messed up" (his words). No other assistance has been offered. I am now stuck in a car with engine problems and making payments on a $12,000 loan for a car worth a fraction of what I owe.Initial Complaint
07/17/2023
- Complaint Type:
- Service or Repair Issues
- Status:
- Unanswered
I took my truck into ******** **** around 6/22 to get warranty work performed. I reported to my service advisor that my headlight would get moisture on the inside of the light when raining or foggy and asked to see if it was covered under my **** Extended Warranty. He called me the next day and said it was indeed covered and they would replace both headlights. I noticed the next day when I went to hand wash my truck that they was a big scratch on one of the lens. This would have been hard to see in the service bay because the light are tinted from the factory. I contact my service advisor by email to let him know about. I did not hear back from him. About a week later I went out after dark for the first time and noticed the headlights we way out of aim. Then with the lights on, I noticed how severely scratched the one headlight was. It appears that it have been dropped on the floor at one time. They also scratched my truck when working on the headlight. The two scratches are just to uniform in distance and length to be caused by anything else.Someone from the dealership followed up to ask how my service visit was. I told it about all the emails I had sent my advisor, *************************** and that I never heard back from him. She said he no longer works there and she would have the service manager call me. He never did. I opened a claim with **** Customer ******************************************** and they told me that they contacted the service manager and he would be contacting me. He never did. I contacted **** again, and they once again reached out the manager and he said he would contact me. He still to this day has not contacted **** am hoping you can help me resolve this. My next step after the BBB is to contact the **** Claims administrator and see if they can stop payment on the claim to the dealership until this is resolved. I would like the damaged headlights replaced and the headlight aimed properly so they are not a hazardInitial Complaint
02/27/2023
- Complaint Type:
- Sales and Advertising Issues
- Status:
- Answered
Bought used 2020 explorer with ***** miles still under factory warranty. Purchased with unknown noise that dealer wrote I owe you to repair. Took in to have repaired, AC compressor was replaced but didnt fix problem. Took back in about a month later noise had got worse with transmission fluid in cooling system, they replaced transmission coolant and hoses which fixed transmission issue. When we got vehicle back had intermittent problem with coolant temp. Suddenly maxing out causing vehicle to go into limp mode and we had to trailer it to dealership. This time they replaced heater core and blend door, we got vehicle back with still the intermittent coolant temp. Problem. As well as a hiss in dash, no AC, and climate control not working correctly. Took back to shop and this time they have had it for 12 days and no updates or calls at all regarding status of vehicle from them. We called on about day 6 and was told they had to call **** engineers because they couldnt find the issue. We went into dealership on day 11 to ask about them buying it back, spoke with salesman *********************** and ask to speak to manager, talked to manager **. They tried to work out a trade offering us ***** for the vehicle which we purchased for roughly ***** with a total of ***** financed July 2022. My current payment is 765 and I was willing go up to 850 payment on a trade for a new explorer but they wanted me to carry over roughly ***** from my trade.Business response
02/27/2023
To whom it may concern,
The service **** here at Cloninger Ford of Hickory is currently going through the channels to try and duplicate and resolve the customers concern. In doing that sometimes it takes time for the manufacturer to either advise or send an engineer out to try and diagnose in person. The customer purchases the vehicle on 7/7/2022 with ****** miles....since then the customer has driven the vehicle nearly ****** miles, so we can't just buy the vehicle back. The customer also carried over roughly $8,000 and purchase during an inflated market. Unfortunately values of vehicles change weekly based on market conditions that are out of our control. We tried to trade the customer into a different vehicle and unfortunately they were not comfortable with the payments on the new vehicle with elevated interest rates and the negative equity that they currently have. Thanks
***************
General Manager
Cloninger Ford of Hickory
Initial Complaint
01/24/2023
- Complaint Type:
- Sales and Advertising Issues
- Status:
- Resolved
My wife and I purchased a used vehicle a couple of years ago and we still do service with Cloninger ***** I received several phone calls from sales people trying to get ** to come trade it in and buy something newer. I request each time to not be called again. They would assure me they would put a note in my file not to call. After still receiving calls I spoke with Manager ***************** on 9/29/2022 and he did tell me there were notes not to call, but the sales people must not have been scrolling down far enough to see the note. ***** said he would make sure that no one called trying to sell us another vehicle. Today on 1/23/2023 I received another call from a sales person. I am not sure what else I can do to stop the calls.Business response
01/24/2023
Good morning! We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience and sales calls to this customer. The file has been updated and all phone numbers on the customer's profile have been added and marked on the "Do Not Call" registry. This will stop outbound calls to this customer going forward. Again, we apologize for the inconvenience. Thanks
***************
General Manager
Cloninger Ford of Hickory
Customer response
01/24/2023
Better Business Bureau:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to my complaint, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
Thank you.Initial Complaint
01/24/2023
- Complaint Type:
- Customer Service Issues
- Status:
- Answered
I am making a complaint about the customer **********************. I had an employee call and leave me a message and I called them back and asked to be taken off the call list and before I could finish each sentence she hung up on me five different times. I do not know the person's name but I would like to have someone take care of this issue because that behavior was totally uncalled for.Business response
01/24/2023
To whom it may concern, I have reviewed the complaint and am now aware of the situation. The phone number in question was called because it was previously a customer of ours. The customer called in asking to be removed from our call list which was taken care of by one of our associates. Somehow during the conversation the call was dropped. The customer called in again after her number was completely removed from our system and spoke with our receptionist and a sales associate and yelled and cussed at them. Her number has been completely removed from our system and all phone call recordings were reviewed by me. Thanks
***************
General Manager
Cloninger Ford of Hickory
Initial Complaint
11/04/2022
- Complaint Type:
- Sales and Advertising Issues
- Status:
- Unanswered
Purchase a new ********************** June 2022. When purchased we were promised 2 free oil changes and tire rotations. We were give 2 coupons by the sales person, that contained a value of $44. We were told by the sales person and his manager these were good for 2 oil changes and tire rotations and we would not have to pay anything. To ignore the cost printed. They even scheduled the appointment for us. We we tried to have the service done on the appointed date and time, ********* refused to provide the service. They said we would to pay nearly $50 for the service. This is deceptive practice and I feel they took advantage and lied to us by both the salesman and the salesman manager. I have also filed a complaint with **** Cooperative Office on the deceptive practice by this dealershipInitial Complaint
10/31/2022
- Complaint Type:
- Sales and Advertising Issues
- Status:
- Answered
False listing. The price displayed on autotrader.com and even the company website stated $51,855. Once my wife arrived and test drove the car, the price changed to ******; $10,000 over the listing price.10/29/2022Business response
11/15/2022
This complaint has already been handled with the customer. The wife *********************** purchased the vehicle from ** on 11/4/2022 for the **** price of $51,855.
Thanks
***************
General Manager
Cloninger Ford of Hickory
*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. ↩
BBB Business Profiles may not be reproduced for sales or promotional purposes.
BBB Business Profiles are provided solely to assist you in exercising your own best judgment. BBB asks third parties who publish complaints, reviews and/or responses on this website to affirm that the information provided is accurate. However, BBB does not verify the accuracy of information provided by third parties, and does not guarantee the accuracy of any information in Business Profiles.
When considering complaint information, please take into account the company's size and volume of transactions, and understand that the nature of complaints and a firm's responses to them are often more important than the number of complaints.
BBB Business Profiles generally cover a three-year reporting period. BBB Business Profiles are subject to change at any time. If you choose to do business with this business, please let the business know that you contacted BBB for a BBB Business Profile.
As a matter of policy, BBB does not endorse any product, service or business.
Customer Reviews are not used in the calculation of BBB Rating
Customer Complaints Summary
22 total complaints in the last 3 years.
5 complaints closed in the last 12 months.