Darcars

I brought my car in to this fine establishment through geico. I was in an accident the week before thanksgiving 2013. (Note that I’m writing this in June 2014). Started off great, my first geico agent of 5 was very helpful. I brought in the truck to get repaired the week after thanksgiving. I was quoted 2 weeks to repair the front end damage. Took 3 weeks. This isn’t even a complaint. Just wait…
So I get called and they say my car is ready. I eagerly return to pick up my vehicle.
Turns out it wasn’t ready, they were still washing it and buffing the new hood.
After waiting for 30 min for my car that was «ready» I did an inspection. what did I find? My first of many headaches. They did not pin stripe the new quarter panel that was replaced. (30 more min in the waiting room for me!) I’m just glad they have dr pepper in the vending machines. (Over the next 7 months I will drink more dr peppers than Forrest Gump at the White House)
Happy as a clam, I drive my baby home.
I note when I pull up my navigation that it does not work anymore. My 2^nd new geico agent says they don’t cover it. BS I thought as the very reason I pay insurance is to get my vehicle repaired in its entirety after an accident. He instructs me to take it to ford and have them do a diagnostic. They do, and say yes, it’s broken due to front end impact. Geico first refuses to pay the bill from ford but a few strong words and they cough up the dough.
Took another 2 ½ months for them to pay for a new one but surprisingly enough my grief isn’t with geico. (They lowered my insurance from $ 100 a month to $ 60 bc of the time it took to close my claim :)
So back to dumb cars… Dar cars… I’m driving for the first time at night and something seems off. My headlights are out of alignment like a strippers boobs after a 300 peso boob job in Tijuana. I bring the car back to them and they fix.
The next week, first time I have driven on the interstate. I am going home for Christmas to break bread and have some blood of Christ (red wine). Only a mile in, MY HOOD FLIES OPEN!
I quickly pull over and asses the situation. I’m not a gear head by any means, however I’m far from a moron. The mechanics did not put in the screw to hold the hood latch down. Wow. Wow. Wow.
Fast forward a few more months. I’m washing the truck and my bumper feels loose. I take it in and they said of oops my bad. So here I am again sitting in the waiting room drinking dr pepper. An hour later I’m off.
I figure it’s car tune up day, so I head down the street to autozone. I pick up new fog light bulbs as one has burnt out. Turns out even though I requested my silver star aftermarket bulbs be transferred during the repair, they weren’t. Karum the shop manager is just a yes man. When I asked for them to be transferred he said no problem, and they were discarded anyways. So I she’ll out an Andrew Jackson for a new set, and go to install them. The passenger side goes swimmingly, driver side is stuck. Turns out the mechanics half asses it and locked it in place while replacing. Another U turn to dar cars!
At least the dr pepper is cold.

You should always trust your gut! I had read the reviews on DARCARS and thought the negative reviews were probably just people blaming their negative experience on the dealership, since everything else was mostly positive. I still didn’t have a great feeling walking into the place (I’ve never seen more unprofessional looking sales people), but we ended up finding an older vehicle with low mileage within our price range. This part is entirely our own fault – I know never to sign contracts when trying to chase a toddler ever again – but we came home and realized the final price of the vehicle was TWO THOUSAND dollars more than we had been told. We called our sales person the next day, and he assured us this was because of the repairs we had agreed to have them do (we had thought it just needed an inspection and battery – but again, this was our own fault). \
I wasn’t terribly happy considering we have a family friend who is a mechanic and $ 2000 seemed incredibly steep, but as long as we wouldn’t have to service the vehicle for some time, I figured it was a lesson in learning to listen better and review everything prior to signing contracts ever again. Not even a week later, the car just turned off while it was being driven. We had it towed to our mechanic, who put in a new alternator. After explaining the situation with the battery, he told us based on what I had said, it was pretty obviously a bad alternator, not battery. No big deal though, people make mistakes and alternators can just go bad without any signs. Except he also informed me the car had an oil leak – something not so easy to miss.
When we went back to DARCARS with our concern, we were told that the price we paid ($ 2000 more than we had been told, and $ 1500 more than KBB value) was just the price of the car, and we should have purchased an extended warranty… which we were never offered. We had more than one sales person on our purchase, so it is definitely possible something got lost in translation (not to mention that, again, I realize this is partially our own fault), but I will never be doing business with DARCARS again. If the vehicle had been the original price we had been told and they had been upfront about the repairs, this would not have been an issue at all, but I feel lied to on numerous occasions.

A couple of problems from our Sep 2012 buying experience earns DARCARS the lowest rating:
1) We liked the competitive pricing of a Toyota RAV4, but were a little suspicious (given the low mileage) that something was wrong with it. I called about the car, asking if it was driven by a smoker, and was told by salesman1 «I used to be a smoker, so I can’t smell it anymore». Ok… when I went to the lot, I spoke with salesman2 and asked the same question. Different guy, but same line: «I used to be a smoker, so I can’t smell it anymore». Fishy. Based on the delivery of the line, I think it’s one they’re trained to lie – I mean «say».
2) DARCARS volunteered a CarFax that proclaimed the vehicle accident free. Closer inspection revealed the CarFax was from 12,000 miles and 18 months ago. (The care had since been in an accident).
3) I arranged financing through my bank, but DARCARS insisted that I fill out their credit application. I asked why it was necessary, and was told (you can’t make this crap up) that is was «some sort of 9 – 11 thing». Disgusting. I wrote in big block letters on their application «DO NOT RUN CREDIT SCORE». That seemed to do the trick, but DARCARS reps weren’t pleased about it.
4) Upon completion of the paperwork, it was time for DARCARS to turn over the truck and keys. The sales rep chose this time (again, after the sale) to reveal that they actually only had one key. Buyer-​beware, I guess, but… wow. (FWIW: dealer wants $ 310 for part/​labor to replace second key because it’s also a remote un/​lock jobber.)
To review, here are a few things to cover with them if you intend to purchase from them:
1) Don’t bother asking about smoking. They’d rather lie than tell you they don’t know/can’t say.
2) Ask to see a recent CarFax.
3) After agreeing to a price (suggest negotiating over phone so you don’t feel pressured to wrap-​up negotiations in person), tell them you will not apply for credit with them (unless you want to, of course). If they have you fill out anything that could be a request for credit, write «DO NOT RUN CREDIT REPORT» on it, next to your signature. Cross out, and initial, anything on the original form that states it will run credit check. The word «no» can be handy here too, in theory.
4) Ask up-​front what is missing. Both keys? Spare tire? Windshield wipers? It might seem trifling («of course it does!»), but my experience is otherwise.
jf