17 Dec, 2018 → by ClaimboUser862453
Major safety issue with used car bought from Lithia Motors, Helena, MT

1

Update by user Jan 16, 2019 I stand by my 1 star review and if I could use a "zero" star review, I would. Lithia Dodge in Helena, Montana was a complete and utter disappointment. Not only for selling me a defective car, but also in how they NEVER responded to two complaints registered with corporate Lithia. As God and good fortune intervened, the steering issue was repaired by the body shop because the code for the steering came up on the diagnostic. Why Lithia's shop didn't come up with the diagnostic when they had it in their shop is a mystery. I hate to assume, but my guess is that they were simply not going to acknowledge nor pay to fix this issue. Bottom line, I would never, ever recommend buying a car from Lithia at ANY location. They do not stand behind their cars and they have absolutely terrible business practices. I will tell everyone I know about this. Sad thing is, it would have been better for them to simply do the right thing. It is experiences like this that give car dealerships such a terrible but deserved reputation. Original review posted by user Dec 17, 2018 On Friday, November 23, 2018, My husband and I purchased a 2012 Acura from our local Lithia Dodge dealership. After having test driven the car, we signed the paperwork and on the way home from Lithia, the car began pulling intermittently left and right. Notified Lithia of the issue on the following Monday. The Sales Manager, Jason Jahn asked to drive it to assess the issue. We got it in the following Friday, one week after purchase. He confirmed that the car was pulling to both ways when driving in town. We scheduled the car to be seen in the Service Department. The SD could not identify the issue, even after checking and rotating the tires, and performing an alignment. SM suggested we take it to the Honda dealership to identify, but stated that it was not a safety issue and they will not cover any cost associated with the car. We took it to Honda, paid for it to be checked out and they thought it was the Electronic Power Steering module and that the repair would be around $2700 with no guarantees that it would fix the issue. We took the car home and did some research on this issue. Turns out, the power steering issue has occurred on a fairly regular basis, beginning with mileage as low as 34,000. In numerous reports by individuals who were driving their 2012 Acura, the power steering fails without any warning from light indicators and when it does, it fails completely, making the car very difficult to steer to safety. I sent this info to the SM via email and initially, he indicated that he would not put his family in that car, and that he would be “working on this immediately, and hopefully get it traded out. . . . “ I asked about a possible lease, not going over our current payment of $320.00. He came back with a Jeep Compass for $485.00, which is higher than our payment. We have a budget and that is above our budget, and we didn’t really want a Jeep. When proposing he just take back the vehicle, we got no response from him from our December 12th communication. Today, December 17th, I emailed him indicating again, that we would like for Lithia to take back the vehicle. We got a quick response stating, “I hope I didn’t make you believe that we would be taking the car back.” So, now we have a $16,000 vehicle, with a extended service contract with a loan for over $18,000, that I am very uncomfortable driving on the highway, that I had to pay to get a second opinion, that would require $2700 in repairs that would need to be driven to Spokane Acura that Lithia will not pay for. Furthermore, when the SM drove the car, he parked it in a difference spot, under the dealership canopy, close to a pillar. Since I hadn’t parked it there, I didn’t see the pillar and took off the mirror and scraped the passenger door. So, with all the other issues, I had incurred damage to the car after only one week of owning it, and have to pay the deductible to get it repaired. To say I am furious as well as disappointed and frustrated is a great understatement. I will never buy another car from Lithia and I will tell anyone and everyone about my experience. You would think that taking the car back would be a better way to do business. We live in a small Western town. Lithia already has a terrible reputation. I thought we could have a different experience. Boy, was I mistaken!
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