ComplaintsforCleveland Auto Wholesale Inc.

• Initial Complaint

  09/21/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I got my bike in March 2023 and a couple weeks after I had to replace my headlight and I've been trying to explain to them that the bike is starting to smoke where the callalic and engine is The Car lot refuses to work with me,, Cleveland auto wholesale in Eastlake Ohio

  Business response

  10/07/2023

  Hello,
  
  
  I am sorry Mr. ******* feels that we did not try and help him. He did purchase a motorcycle that we had in our office as a decoration. He purchased the bike on 5/18/23 where we explained to him that we do not service bikes since we do not have a mechanic that knows hows. He insured us that he has road motorcycles for years and looked it over. He was happy with the purchase. I did get a chance to speak with him about 30 days ago in respect to what I believe he is talking about in this claim. Mr ******* informed me it was my personal responsibility to fix any problems he has with the motorcycle till the loan is paid off that he has with us. I informed him that is not our agreement we made. I did offer for him to take it to a shop that we do business with to inspect it for his concerns at no cost. He informed me the bike does not run and it was broken. That I needed to pick it up and take it there and pay for the service and pick up. I let him know that we did not owe that to him. Mr ******* got very upset and hung up on me. 
  
  
  I am going to attach the buyers guide showing sold AS-IS as well as the We Owe showing again that we informed the customer we do not owe, due, or implied anything to him. 
  
  
  Is the customer asking to return his bike and have his loan forgiven? 

• Initial Complaint

  07/12/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  I'm making this complaint because I took my car to Cleveland Auto Wholesale to get my transmission fix in September of last year and was replaced with an old transmission. July 6 my transmission stop working again and when i took it to another shop I was told about the transmission. So when I called my warranty company GWC they told me that I have to take my car to the same shop that fix it last which would be Cleveland Auto Wholesale. When I called to tell him about my car on the 8th July the owner kept saying I have to call it in and see if the parts where still under warranty and said he'll call me back which he never did and when I called him on the 10th he told I'll have to wait to Monday to order the parts to my car and he'll let me know when to bring it in he never called me again I called him Monday and he told me the same thing so I called the next day Tuesday and finally told that he couldn't fix my car till the 29th of July I feel he is doing that cause my car is coverd with a warranty and he not getting paid but i think its unfair to make wait so long to get my car fix when I brought the issue with my car on the 8th which you made me wait 4 extra days for nothing

• Initial Complaint

  04/13/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  14 Feb 2022 I bought a vehicle at this dealership. Paid cash. Drove back to Grand Rapids through a snowstorm, so I couldn’t drive more than 30 mph. Got home the next day & decided to take it for a spin. It was warmer outside and I could go faster than 30 miles an hour. The car immediately started throwing an oil pressure light so I made an appointment at my local dealership to have it looked at and diagnosed. after inspecting the vehicle, the service department told me there were metal shavings in the engine & followed up w a video. I called the lot where I bought the vehicle and was asked what I would like to do. I told them I would like my money back & they can take the car back. They told me that instead of doing that, they would transport my vehicle from Grand Rapids back to Cleveland. they would install a new used engine in 4days. 2weeks went by & the excuses continued. 2more weeks and more excuses went by. told the salesman that it’s time to give me my money back if they cannot repair the vehicle. That was the last I heard from him after calls and texts. I reached out to the owner, who I found on the website of the sales lot. He told me he was on it and that it would get done and I would have my car in no time. Over and over I was given excuse after excuse from him as well. the computer broke, the tech working on it didn’t know how, the parts are delayed in the mail. 3or4 places worked on the car. during 1 of the phone calls w owner of the lot, I told him we are now a cpl days from hitting 2 months & that it’s time to refund my money. He said the car would be in my possession by 14 April. Today I was told that the car cannot be fixed & will not be returned to me. The salesmn said it will take “a few days more” to process the return.they will not answer the phone or respond to text messages since that moment. For almost 2 months ive had no car, they have had my money & no solutions. I can provide whatever docs necessary. I have text messages, the video, etc

  Business response

  04/25/2022

  Dealership response:

  
  

  We purchased the vehicle from ***** **** *******, which was declared a "green light" vehicle. That means the seller stands behind it, and it is eligible for a post-sale inspection to protect against engine or transmission issues. We always elect to have an inspection completed to protect the dealership and the future customer. In addition to the auction house inspection, we have either a 3^rd party technician inspect the car and our in-house technician(s). We have found that this best protects all involved from any pitfalls.

  
  

  When selling the car, we sell the car As-Is from the dealership. The prospective customer does have an option to purchase an after-market warranty to cover against any issues. The buyer is also encouraged to take the car for a test drive and/or have it inspected by a 3^rd party tto make sure it is up to their standards.

  
  

  In ****'s case, she was in a extreme hurry. She drove in from Michigan and there was an impending snowstorm moving into Cleveland as she was purchasing the car. She elected to not test drive and wanted to get home as soon as possible. I obliged, finalized the paperwork with ****, and processed her payment so she could get on the road.

  
  

  **** contacted me within a few days and sent me the video from the Mini Cooper dealer in Michigan regarding the engine and metal shavings. I was extremely surprised since we had it inspected so many times after initial purchase from auction. I let her know that I had to contact the auction house and the ******* service center where it was serviced and inspected after auction, to see if there was any recourse. I ultimately found out that there was no recourse and we had to make a decision what the next steps were.

  
  

  I offered an option to **** to have the car hauled back and to replace the engine for her. I found a used engine with 115K miles on it from LKQ ($3000), who tests, provides a grade, and offers a warranty on their parts. She agreed to the plan of action and we proceeded with the transport and I ordered the engine.

  
  

  We began the installation as soon as it arrived back at our dealership. My technician installed the new engine, but it was not responding to the computer in the car. We bought another computer for the car and it took a few days for it to arrive, and we shipped the car to **** ****** ** ********** to install the computer and program it to the car (VIN specific). They were not able to determine why the computer(s) were not accepting the reprogramming ($700 later)...and let us know that our only option was to spend thousands of dollars to buy a new computer.

  
  

  I felt bad about the situation, so I rented **** a car for a week so she could go see her significant other in Minnesota ($400). Let her know where things were in process and that I had to get the computer reprogrammed by someone else.

  
  

  I contacted a company in Illinois to reprogram the computer for $800. We had to take apart the entire interior dash of the car to retrieve the security immobilizer, which took a full day. Then we had to send the company the keys, computer, and the immobilizer for programming.

  
  

  Once the reprogrammed items arrived back, they were re-installed. This worked and the car finally started and ran, but it was running poorly. So we had to keep troubleshooting to figure out what the issue was...at this point, we were at a loss with the car and agreed to issue a refund to the customer.

  
  

  We all agreed to proceed with the engine replacement, and it ended up taking longer than expected. We feel we were doing everything possible to make the customer happy. We worked on this issue every single day for the customer. We stressed and had sleepless nights over the issue with this car. We also spent $11,295 total on the car we sold for $6,795...to provide a better product to ****. Instead of an engine with 190K miles on it, she would have an engine with only 115K miles on it. We wanted her to be happy and it didn't work out as planned.

  
  

  We didn't do anything malicious or intentional nor did we lie about anything. We tried to do the right thing and just didn't go as planned. Obviously, hindsight is 20/20...and we will do things differently in the future. 

  
  

  I also want to point out that we didn't have to do anything, we just felt it was good business to fix the problem and do the right thing. But we sold the car As-Is and the customer is responsible for doing their own due diligence...which she did not. There are unknowns in life and especially in the used car business. Sometimes things happen with cars that are just not predictable. 

   

  Russ K****

  
  

  
  

  P: 440-951-0808

  M: 330-697-6321

  E: **************************

  W: ClevelandAutoCars.com

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