GalvestonSahara

I purchased my Jeep from Clear Lake Jeep about 3 weeks ago. I originally went in to look at one that had been lifted, had alot of work done to it, and was on their website for 37,900. I thought, heck ya great deal. Went in to look at it,and saw a black on I fell in love with. 2013 sahara, 6 speed, 3.73, connectivity, lsd, all the goodies except for leather and nav. Didn't want them anyways.

So, basically, I was told sticker was 49,800 on it. I thought wow, that's alot. Then I added everything up. 5 nitto trail grapplers 35x12.5x20, 5 xd misfit 20inchrims, smitty rock sliders, smitty src front bumper, two sets of KC lites (windshield and bumper), Smitty oversized tire carrier, bushwacker color matched fender flares, skyjacker 4 inch lift, window tint, plus labor. Seemed like they outfitted a sahara, asked sticker for the vehicle itself, and then charged what the offroad shop charged them plus some. Which was 10k I saw their receipt for the work.

Anyways, I was able to get the price to 44k. 1% invoice below vehicle plus the 10k in goodies/labor. I thought I got a pretty decent deal. I know I probably paid 1-2k in conveinance. It was already done, warrantied, 8years 100,000 bumpertobumper and powertrain. During my negotiations.. I was told the freedom top cover in the back was the soft top. How the hell was I supposed to know it wasn't, I have never owned a Jeep before.

1 week later, when I went to install my "soft top", I realized I had no soft top. So, I figured I would go see my salesman, he probably forgot to give it to me. He then said he told me no such thing. I then, spoke with a manager, and he said it wasn't on my window sticker. I told him I never saw a window sticker. Well, then he showed me the invoice, and no dual top option. Only color matched top. I showed him what I was given, and it was options on a completely different Jeep.

I then told him, I was told there were two tops, and this needs to be made right. He said no, and that I signed a letter of arbitration and good luck. I was furious. I asked if this is how they do business, to sell 40 plus thousand dollar Jeeps and lie to their customers. Our hands are tied, we can't just give you a soft top. Plus, you have had the jeep for a week.I then said what does that have to do with anything? My grandmother died and I had to go to a funeral in Mississippi, which was the truth.It was a week long ordeal. He said he can't do anything about a week old deal.

So, I wrote a bad review on facebook, and reccomended that if anyone were to want to buy from used car salesman types, and be lied to, then buy from them. I was then contacted by the manager, and he offered to pay for half of the cost of the top, as long as I shelled out 1595 dollars. I said no. I then offered to show them a soft top for under what they were wiling to put towards the install of a factory one. They said no. They wouldn't buy it for me.

I have now been at sea for 2 weeks, and have talked to some people about this situation. My buddy in law school said there is a deceptive deal act or something of the sort where if I can prove that the car dealer lied to me to make the sale then the letter of arbitration is out the window, and that I am then eligible for 3x the damages. Now that could be the price of 3 dealer installed soft tops, or 3 2013 Saharas with goodies added. And thats 150k. And that's alot of soft top.

So, what should I do? As a Jeep community, what do you think would be the appropriate approach to this?
I have thought of writing them informing them of this act, and then informing them I intend to write the BBB if they do not make this right. And possibly quoting some parts of the act to show them I know what I'm talking about, and I'm not just some 25year old kid running around with daddies money as they had first thought. They were suprised to see I would be paying for this vehicle myself.

These are just thoughts, as I am still debating on what to do. Thanks for your response.

So, what do you think I should do? Leave the issue alone, bite the bullet, and go buy an aftermarket soft top? Or keep up with all of this back and forth shennanigans?

karls

Let them know that you've got legal counsel involved and would be more than happy to pursue that avenue if that's the direction they wish to go. I had something similar happen on a much smaller scale. I let the dealer know that my lawyer would be in contact with them shortly and in two days I got a check for the discrepancy. They were pushing insurance fraud and I wasn't going to be involved in it.

Usually if you talk to someone up top and let them know that you've been educated on the subject and already have lawyers ready to go, they'll buckle. It's cheaper to give you a top than it is to pay their lawyers or even the insurance for that type of situation.

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mbpike

I'd personally write the BBB even if they do make it right. People need to know that this stealership is a PITA to deal with.

remark

A lot of places have a policy that if you mention court or attorneys they will stop talking to you. They expect you will deal with their attorney at that point.

I would call the dealership and ask to speak with the dealer principle. I would then call Chrysler/Jeep and speak to them about their dealer and their practices.

Then get an attorney involved.

mbpike

I agree with Remark. I used to write service for a GM dealership when I was younger. While I never dealt with many lawyer threats, I did deal with corporate a few times (long funny stories). With that said, once you involve the corporate, the BBB, and the owner things always had a way to work themselves out in the customers favor. Just remain calm until it's time to get angry. And when it's time to get angry don't hold anything back. Personally I'd probably keep a lawyer out of it, take your lumps and buy a top on your own dime. And then use every chance you can to bad mouth and drive customers away from that dealership.

BrightSilverRubicon

x2

Also remember these are dealerships, I'm sure you're not the first customer they have pissed off. These guys are pros at jerking people around and then they go into the back room and have a good laugh about it. Once they have your money, good luck.

For me, my experience with the BBB was a total waste of time. I had little to zero luck getting their help. It was a long time ago, but basically you wrote a letter to the company you had a dispute with. The company would then reply with a response. No matter what their response was, If you do not respond to their letter, the BBB closes your case and considers the matter resolved. They can reply with big FU and if you don't respond, the BBB closes your case. I went back and forth with letters and the BBB did nothing. I was caught in a big circle jerk wasting my time. Maybe things have changed and their process is a lot better now, but ever since my experience I just role my eyes and chuckle when I see a business is part of the BBB.

It seems like you had some luck taking your complaint to social media. This is a powerful tool, so use it wisely.

Good luck and keep us posted!

mbpike

While I agree the BBB will do nothing to help the case, it will however lower the dealerships rating with them. When I was at the dealership we took the complaints fairly serious and dealt with all complaints as they came in.

texascodmw3

Sorry for your troubles. I'm really surprised that there was no window sticker involved. I'm not a legal expert but I thought its delivery with a new vehicle purchase was required. This is a very important document covering the factory equipment for that vehicle. Dealer add-ons are then documented separately. What people say really doesn't matter compared to the written docs. Some salesmen are outright liars and anyone can make mistakes.

I can understand the dealership wanting to source the soft top from their known add-on partners or mopar. If it were my business, I would not source things from just anywhere. Too often things are cheaper for serious quality reasons.

i had a near miss several years ago when buying a Chevy Avalanche. I started my conversation with the salesman with 4wd as the only demand, all else was optional. After spending time looking at 4 or 5 different trucks, he pointed out a Z71 that had a good match of the other options. They started the paperwork. I was reviewing the window sticker when I noticed the 4wd was missing. For those familiar with Chevy from years back, The Z71 package was Bilstein shocks and skid plates added to 4wd trucks. It could not be ordered on a 2wd. Well, no more. The Z71 badge had gotten popular so GM made it available on both. This discovery caused quite a bit of a ruckus as the paperwork was halted and the sales manager took over my deal. I and most of the dealership learned that day that Z71 no longer meant 4wd. I came very close to signing for the one vehicle in the mix that didn't have my one true requirement. As an experienced buyer, I should have caught this much earlier in the process and double-checking my window sticker prior to signing saved me.

If you don't have paper to support that a soft top was included, I would be happy with their offer to split the cost on a mopar top. I would consider that a good gesture since "on paper", they wouldn't owe you anything.

Best of luck to you and I hope you get things worked out.

HogHoden

Sounds like they are trying to screw you again with their offer to pay half. The MSRP on a new Mopar soft top on Mopar's site is $1895 (4-door, premium version). So if they are asking you to pay $1595 for your 'half' of the cost, they are not actually paying for any of it, and just getting you to cover their cost.

BrightSilverRubicon

x2

I was thinking the same thing earlier. I was like WTF?