Buying a new car wasn’t in Jordan Frye’s plans until he said he got burned on a used one.
Frye said he paid La Reina Auto Sales, located on North Tryon Street, $2,000 down on a 7-year-old Saab and drove it off the lot. Within six hours, he said, the car lost acceleration.
Frye took it to a Saab repair shop, which found major problems.
“They said the car was in an accident (and) it (had) hoses missing, hoses in wrong places,” Frye said.
La Reina Auto Sales agreed to take the car back, but Frye said it refused to return his $2,000.
The salesman said it was sold “as is” with no warranty or guarantee, Frye said.
The car is now back on the lot for sale. A salesman told Action 9 they fixed it.
Action 9’s Don Griffin said Frye made a mistake by not having the car checked out before he bought it.
Griffin went to the garage Frye visited and found out they charge $84 for a “pre-purchase inspection” on a used car. Owner Russ Cleaton said they look under the car and under the hood to spot problems buyers don’t see.
“I’ve seen them welded in half and put back together, major oil leaks that haven’t shown themselves (and) been wiped off,” Cleaton said.
If they find problems and you still want to buy the car, Cleaton said you can use their check-out list to negotiate a lower price with the dealer.
Griffin said if a car lot tells you that you can’t do a pre-purchase inspection, you should not purchase the car.
October 31st, 2010 at 4:22 am
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