Autos Direct

You probably want to stay far far far away! These are exactly the people that give used car salesmen their reputation. I drove 3.5 hours to see a car they were advertising on autotrader, after confirming with them that it was still available. Only when I arrived and after I took the car for a test drive and after they left me waiting in the lobby (I’m guessing to build anticipation) they thought about mentioning that the price they were advertising on autotrader was $ 4,500 cheaper than the actual price they were selling for. When I brought that up they pointed to an irrelevant fine print in the ad that was talking about financing (I was paying cash). Even with the fine print the numbers didn’t add up (of course).
Off to a bad start, but it gets way worse. The car had the airbag light on and an attention light on when I drove it. The salesman test driving with me told me that the attention light was due to low tire pressure. Now that I own the car (obviously I didn’t buy it from these guys) I know that this was a blatant lie. For the airbag light, he told me that it was on because he was sitting on the passenger’s seat. I’m not making this stuff up! After the test drive was over, I pointed out that the light was still on while he no longer was in the car. He then called the manager who assured me that they would reset the airbag sensor, which was a trivial fix they would have no problem doing. The manager was extremely hostile that day by the way, trying to scare me into buying the car I suppose.
Thankfully I left that Saturday without buying, saying I’ll think about it, since I was worried about these warning lights. Monday morning the manager calls and he’s so nice and friendly that it’s like I’m talking to a different person. The sleaziness still comes through of course. I’m telling him I’m still thinking about it and that they would need to fix the warning lights. He assures me that they will absolutely take care of it. Tuesday he calls again, the warning lights are not fixed of course. I tell him that I’m still thinking about it. Wednesday I talk to them again and say that I would like to buy the car, assuming they can fix the warning lights and assuming I can take it for a pre-​purchase inspection. He says «we wouldn’t be doing our job right if we didn’t fix these lights». «I’ll get a guy to fix them right now» and he assures me they will call me back once that’s done to move ahead with the inspection and the purchase. I never hear back. I call next Monday and of course in an apologetic tone he tells me that they have sold the car.
I feel lucky I didn’t buy from them and you probably wouldn’t want to either.