Complaints

• Initial Complaint

  09/17/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Sales and Advertising Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  We purchased a used vehicle from this dealership mid-August and were ensured by the dealer that the truck was safe and in good condition. We had doubts about this dealership from the beginning considering we arrived to view the truck and they had several accessories listed online claiming to be installed on the truck that were not installed in actuality. They did not finalize our financing through our pre-approved company and still have not to this moment nor have we received any documentation showing what our actual final numbers through our pre-approved company would be - only a back up contract which should not be needed as we procured financing before arriving. We were also charged $200 in doc fees when their own website states $150 maximum. Put down a down payment of $3000 plus financing with pre-approval. We took the truck home to find fluid leaking all over our driveway the next day. We took the truck to a local diesel shop for inspection and they deemed the vehicle as needing so many major repairs that the entire engine, most of the transmission, and frame (rust) that this vehicle is not safe to be driven on the roads. We immediately contacted the dealership who ignored us for multiple days before just saying "bring the truck back" with no explanation as to what we would be bringing it in for, return? inspection? they refused to tell us. We took the truck back and they had it for weeks before telling us anything about it, would not tell us what shop it was taken to or what scope of work was being performed. We had to track down the shop who had the truck ourselves and they notified us that the severe issues we had brought the truck in for were not even mentioned to them, they were only asked to do a compression test. The dealer then called us back saying all is good with the truck, they would not look at the issues we requested, and expect the deal to hold firm.

  Business response

  11/07/2024

  First, We at Emerald City Motorsports would like to apologize for the delay in responding to this Better Business Bureau complaint, as we were in process of communicating with our customer and working agreements with them as well.

  The customer, ******* ************ husband ******* **********, first came into our dealership and looked at the mentioned vehicle, a 07 **** F250, on Aug 23, 2024, All sales associates were busy with other clients at the time and so the owner, Power ******, ended up helping him. Power explained the check engine light was on on that particular vehicle and the customer asked to use our scan tool to scan the truck himself. After scanning and test driving he said there were a few codes but drove nice. Power offered a discount for the purchase As-Is, Asking price was $12971.00, discounted to $12000.00. ******* said he will discuss with his family and let us know. ******* called back an hour later and said he and his wife would be down by 3pm. Family looked at it and said it needed a lot of work as in leaky roof, missing parts and some rust. *******, his wife offered $10000.00 because of condition, Power countered with $11200.00 and they agreed, signed paperwork and took delivery of truck. Next day customer said they took it to their mechanic for an inspection after the sale, and their mechanic told them the truck was beyond repair (no compression in the motor, transmission not working, lots of rust) and not drivable. Emerald City Motorsports agreed to pay for a 2nd opinion at a local repair shop near the dealership, TLG in *******, **. Emerald City asked them to perform a compression test, check transmission and DTC scan codes to confirm what the customers mechanic had stated. The mechanic shop was advised that the customers were already aware of the check engine light. TLG found compression and engine contribution test to be good. Engine compression is 350 psi across all 8 cylinders. Transmission was road tested, good. 4WD engagement and the transfer case motor gets stuck in 4WD high, and replacing transfer case motor and 4WD actuator was recommended. The scan codes were related to the glow plugs. As well as the transmission dip stick tube was not attached and outside the transmission cavity. Engine air filter is dirty. Emerald City authorized and paid for the repairs of 3 hours diagnostic time, glow plug harness wiring assembly, transfer case actuator and the **** solenoid 4WD vacuum actuator in good faith for the customer even after the agreed discount for the condition of the truck. Total repairs were $1343.70 on Sept 11, 2024. We feel we have more than done our "do good diligence" in this matter. Thank you for your understanding and time. Emerald City Motorsports Management Team.

  Customer response

  11/07/2024

   
  Complaint: 22296680
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  

  This business engages in illegal, fraudulent, and threatening business tactics. We caught them in multiple lies including but not limited to false statements they made in their BBB response. The scanner they provided did not work, which we informed them of. The shop they took the truck to confirmed to us that not only did they not check the issues we requested the dealer to check, but were never even asked to, ***** lied directly to our faces regarding this. They tried to refuse to honor our pre-approval and threatened us with a higher interest rate, to the extent that my financial institution had to get involved and reported them to the appropriate agencies. To this day they have not provided us with the multipoint inspection that we requested countless times. They continue to send me emails to purchase an extended warranty even after I requested they stop. They have been reported to multiple dealership agencies, attorneys, and the attorney general. If this business continues to contact me with anything less than an offer to take the vehicle back and reimbursement for our wasted time and money, they will be reported to the authorities for harassment. 

   

  Sincerely,
  
  ******* **********

• Initial Complaint

  07/30/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I purchased my 2009 ************* limited double cab 4x4 was a 5.7 l engine in March of 2024. According to the Carfax that was provided to me prior to purchase there had only been one owner, a *************************** have never been an accident and the title was clean. I told the salesman that I intended a tow a trailer to ****** in ****** as I only have 12 months to live and I needed this vehicle to be issue free which is why I purchased the best warranty they offered the 5-year or ****** mile GOLD warranty for an additional $4, 000. A month later the car started running terribly and all the dummy lights went on. The dealer didn't have a mechanic at that time so I had to wait an additional 3 weeks I told the mechanic at the time that I felt more to me like a head gasket was going out but what do I know I'm just a veteran F-14 driver and a 30 years experienced *** mechanical engineer. Their mechanic assured me was just a tune up basically spark plugs and coilovers that I paid $1,400 to fix that. A week later all the same dummy lights go off and the engine is overheating. I take it back to their mechanic and they now finally agree with me it is a head gasket. We send the claim to the insurance company and they immediately rejected it saying that the odometer had been altered nefariously voiding the warranty. I am the buyer why would I rest with the odometer after purchase? I didn't. The truck was most likely purchased at auction, but in all cases for them to sell the warranty to me that knowingly depends upon they're not being any alteration whatsoever to the odometer and then walking away leaving me holding the bag for $5,000 worth of repairs be cuz my car is now undrivable. every day I wait is another day of my life that I'll never get back and I've only got probably 12 months to live and these guys are s******* me over. I want to talk to the owner but they never let me they keep going from the finance manager to the warranty guy. WTF. Man up

  Business response

  08/05/2024

  We do value the time and energy spent with us and sympathize with your current situation. The vehicle was sold with disclosed miles, and was not tampered with by us or our vendors. Gold Standard requires the policy holder to perform regular maintenance and limits specific modifications or your service contract can be voided and your claim denied. Within 24 hours after buying this truck, you messaged the salesman extreme graphic sexual content that was unsolicited.  We have been empathetic with your situation but there has been a pattern of abusive behavior and nothing we have done justifies you threatening to kill my employees. We had to file a police report and have the officer call you after multiple threats against our lives. You have since doubled down on these threats in writing and the police have enough to arrest you if we choose to pursue it. We would like to hold off, and let the situation deescalate but no further action will be done if you continue to act in such way. 

  Customer response

  08/05/2024

   
  I am rejecting this response because. First off, the so-called extreme sexual whatever you said, at worse, was a misunderstanding from a conversation that I had had with your salesman as we drove to my bank in ******* to get the funds. I have traveled to 67 countries and there are a lot of countries with much different sexual mores than *******. Our discussion was academic for me and real world experience for your salesman as I was trying to understand why people in ****** seem to have acceptance of feminized men in culture in art, dance, and so on but still outwardly homophobic. My text was not meant for general public consumption and I was told that was his private cell number. Most importantly, the first amendment protects free and therefore this has NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS ISSUE. Next the sarcastic response I gave to Powerhouse during a long three weeks of back and forth where nothing seemed to be getting through to your people that this was your issue to fix, wasn't a death threat, but sarcastic dark humor blowing off some steam. Look, as of January 2024, I have a death sentence that my heart will maybe last 12 months at best and I fully disclosed that at the time I bought this truck to pull the trailer. My plan was (is if we can stop wasting my precious time) to purchase a small trailer and with just me and my dog go to ****** in June or July and stay there as long as I can reasonably function for hiking and fishing. The salesman was fully aware that I couldn't waste precious time being in the shop, and this is why I get so frustrated that exactly what I had asked not to do is being done at my expense. It's already August, and we are in exactly the same place as we were when I bought this truck. That's 25% of my life remaining time has been sitting around talking about fixing my truck. Don't tell me this wouldn't **** you off too! This is also why I bought what I was told was the best warranty you had and made sure that it provided coverage in ****** and **. Your company did not have a mechanic at the time of my purchase and my truck obviously slipped through the cracks. The tampered odometer would have been discovered prior to the sale of this truck had you been using Powerhouse in March. They were the ones who discovered the issue when providing data to the warranty company to fix the head gasket in June. Your company had a duty during your due diligence of the purchase of this vehicle to determine if the vehicle was in full compliance with the warranty issuing companies requirements and to disclose that properly to any potential buyers of the vehicle PRIOR to purchase. The only thing I was told was that the truck had been owned and used by a **************** and the odometer settings were changed from kilometers to miles for US customers. I took it on good faith that I was being told the truth. Why wouldn't I, we were engaged in a negotiation in good faith from the beginning. 

  Also my disclosure of use for a particular purpose, pulling a trailer in June 2024 to ******, grants another implied warranty. Here is the wording from Washington state law online.

  RCW 62A.2-315, called Warranty of Fitness for a Particular Purpose. This provides that when the seller knows the vehicle is going to be used for a particular purpose, such as racing or towing a trailer, and the buyer is relying on the sellers expertise to provide a suitable vehicle, a warranty is created that the item will actually be fit for that purpose.

  This truck was running rough from day one and even after you finally starting doing with Powerhouse the first of April, I took the VERY FIRST appointment available and brought my car in. Their mechanic said it was just a tune up, which was believable at the time, but after I spent the 1400 dollars for the tune-up and oil change and all else, 2 days later it was back to running rough again. This truck clearly had a blow head gasket before I bought it because its has always driven the same, except for the immediate two days after the tune-up and had always had the same dummy lights flashing since a few days after my purchase. While I was waiting for your company to get a new mechanical repair company I only rarely drove the truck to minimize further damage. It never once overheated or anything like that so I know the damage has remained the same.

  I'm requesting that your company fix the head gasket which is a 4800 repair and refund the money I spent on a useless warranty so that I can purchase another warranty somewhere else. I have already found a good warranty company that will honor the terms despite the odometer excuse going forward.

  Time is of the essence for me because this issue has already consumed 3 of the 12 months I was told I had left in January. I simply don't have the luxury of letting anyone steal anymore of my time. I served my country with honor and I would expect to be treated better than this when the chips on down on me and my life.

  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***************************;

  Business response

  08/21/2024

  We have worked out a resolution with the customer

• Initial Complaint

  07/05/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Purchased car on 6/13/23. Drove 27 miles. ******* overheating. Repair shop says a new head gasket is needed but the warranty I purchased with the car wont cover it because I only drove it 27 miles. *** labeled a preexisting issue by the repair shop and the warranty company, it should be fixed or the car returned. Many calls to the dealer, and the warranty company to figure out who is going to cover the issue. This should have been a quick fix. It is now 3 weeks with still no resolution. The car never should have been sold to me in this condition. Fix the car. Cover the first monthly payment.

  Business response

  07/07/2023

  Customer purchased a vehicle As-Is and a warranty. We have spoken with the warranty company and they agreed to partial pay to fix the vehicle. We have agreed to pick up this vehicle and repair it under their warranty this coming Monday July 10th. Our mobile mechanic will be towing vehicle from *****'s in ****** on this day at about 9am to Emerald City Motorsports for repairs. We are not able to cover the first monthly payment at this time. 

  Customer response

  07/07/2023

   
  Complaint: 20279636
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  I do not accept this at all. I never received an email, text message, or voicemail that this was going to happen. I did not authorize the dealership to tow my car or to work on it. I do not know if the repair shop is covered under the warranty (which is now close until Monday at 8am CST). I had it sitting at a reputable automotive repair shop for over 3 weeks. It should have been fixed by now. Spoke with a different person at the dealership on the 1st of July and they had triple confirmed that the warranty would cover the work at the current shop, along with the dealership covering any outstanding balance on the repair estimate that the warranty didnt cover. Now the dealership is saying they are moving my car. No. I moved my car and I will be making sure the warranty will cover the work at a repair shop of my choosing. And through all of this, there has been no rental car- because the work hasnt been done and still have to make a payment. When I purchased the car, I also confirmed that all fees, taxes, title, licensing was included. Today 7/7 I received a text that I am expected to pay an additional $90 because the estimated license fees were incorrect. It was all included. 

  
  Sincerely,
  
  *****************************

  Customer response

  07/11/2023

  Hello. 
  
  I am writing because things have changed in regards to my complaint #********
  
  Per the dealership response on 7/7, my car was towed from where it was parked.
  
  No more than 10 minutes after it had been towed away, I received a call from a worker at the dealership letting me know that because I left a negative review on BBB, the owner no longer wants to fix my car. 
  
  So now they have repossessed my car with no intention to fix it. If that was the case, it should have never been towed away. 
  
  Also per the dealership response on 7/7 it is stated that the work will be partially covered under the warranty. The person I spoke with today 7/10 told me that it is not covered but they do have the parts to fix it. 
  
  The owner of the dealership, along with workers have had 3 weeks to fix this issue before I ever sent any review to the BBB, now it is going on a month. 
  
  *****************************
  

  
  

  Business response

  07/18/2023

  So it sounds like there is some mix up in the understanding of the repair of the vehicle. There may be some time lapse as well since there is a third party being used here (BBB) as well as speaking with the customer and leaving voicemails. Let me see if I can help clear some of this confusion.

  We received a BBB complaint 7/6/23 from ******. We responded to that complaint 7/7/23, as well as by phone. We didn't even acquire ******'s vehicle and make an agreement to cover the extra cost until 7/7/23 after contacted her back via phone. ****** purchased a used vehicle on 6/13/23, and a warranty for that vehicle. It is ******'s responsibility to contact a shop to repair her vehicle to start the process, then that shop would contact ************ Company and direct them through the process of approval for the repair of her vehicle. The owner here at ECMS contacted ****** and left a VM on 7/7/23, as I referred to earlier, which ****** returned the call and stated she hadn't listened to VM yet but that she will. The message consisted of letting her know ************'s phone number and D&************'s phone number. Originally ASC had declined her claim through *****'s ****** and had contacted us asking about the vehicle's safety inspection report and that there weren't any pre-existing issues know to anyone. We stepped in to try and assist with the warranty company and a shop we use to ask ASC to reconsider the claim. *** then agreed to cover partial and ECMS to cover the remainder. ****** said that would be great. We sent out a towing company to pick up the vehicle from the shop ****** had the vehicle sitting at for what she stated to be weeks, letting her know we can make the repair at our wholesale cost since we were willing to pay the remainder of the bill. ****** contacted us back again and let us know that the vehicle was now at her home and not the shop anymore because they were charging her to store it. ****** gave her Sorento keys to the tow company on 7/10/23 and the vehicle arrived at our dealership late that day. We did NOT repo ******'s vehicle or take it to our shop that we use without her permission. Our shop wasn't able to look at the vehicle to establish which parts needed to be ordered until 7/12/23 which they also had to shuffle other appointments around to fit ****** in as a priority for us, which is appreciated that they are trying to accommodate. They then had to wait for the dealer to contact them back with ETA on parts. It is a little concerning to me that we have to keep responding to BBB complaints on this matter that we thought were in the process of being resolved. The time frames it takes to repair the vehicle are not in our hands, we are doing the best we can, even though we don't have to be involved we are trying to see what we can do in good faith to keep our customers happy. I also reached out to our shop again today and the dealer told them they can have parts later this week and then repair the vehicle the following week.

  To address the rental car portion of the claim, that is determined with ASC warranty company and or possibly whatever auto insurance coverage ******************* have. We do not have the ability to provide rental cars to our customers due to our insurance policy.

  And to address the last concern about licensing fees, on line #5 of the Buyers Order that ****** signed it says "estimate" for the license fees amount. This is always an estimate because it is regulated by the state and not our dealership. So that $90 fee that was mentioned is owed to us.

  Thank you for your time.

  Customer response

  08/05/2023

  As of Wednesday, August 2nd -the dealership has been trying to find a new engine since trying to fix just the head gasket did not resolve the problem. I am waiting for the engine to arrive to hopefully receive a working car. I will definitely update the BBB listing to reflect the end result, whenever that *** be. 

• Initial Complaint

  06/24/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Purchased used car ****** Odyssey, 2012 ) March 18 of 2023, put down **** cash with trade in. In May it was determined the vehicle had AC problems. I fully expected to pay out of pocket since this is a used vehicle and maintenance is to be expected. But after taking the car in, it was determined that the car was missing a hose. The ******** in ********* stated, they believed the car had repairs done, and the part had been mistakenly forgotten. I would then need to pay for repair, which would be costly for me. After consideration, I contacted Emerald City for assistance. I figured since the part was not on the vehicle and this was not normal, wear and tear, they should remedy the issue. I had to contact several times because I would never received a call back. I was assured at least three times that this would be escalated and I would get a call back with an answer or resolution, I never did.I had to call back and at that time I was told there was nothing they could do. Since this wasnt a safety issue, I was told this was not their problem. All I want is my AC to work in my car so when I am transporting my kids, I dont have to worry about it being too hot. I am a single mom with three kids and one of them is special needs and I cant afford these repairs. Emerald City didnt even have the decency to call me back the first time, I never even got to speak to the manager as he would never call back.

  Business response

  06/27/2023

  ************************* purchased a 2012 ***** Odyssey used from ** on March 18, 2023, As-Is, with $7000 down and a trade-in vehicle that we have spent around $2k in repairs to be able to resale. A few days later she cancelled her warranty she had purchased. 2 months after purchase we started receiving calls asking us to pay for repairs to fix her a/c that wasn't working. We offered to pay for the a/c hose she stated was missing, and she denied it. We performed our state recommended safety inspection per the *** 46.70.101, at the mechanic shop we use. ****** did not ask to take it for a full used vehicle inspection at a mechanic of her choice before purchase, she chose to do so after the fact, a few months after. We have spoken with her and advised her of what the safety inspection covers. We are still willing to pay for the a/c hose at our cost and tax exempt, but we apologetically are not able to pay for the whole repairs for a non working a/c that isn't a safety issue 2-3 months after the sale.

• Initial Complaint

  03/07/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  We purchased a 2015 ***** Tahoe on Feb 24th from emerald city motor sports, the salesman mentioned that the shifting may be more noticeable than what we are used to but that it was normal and the engine switching from V8 to 4 cylinder to save gas. Not even 20 minutes off the lot on our 3 hour drive home the car is shifting very hard, acting sluggish, and having a hard time accelerating. We called the dealership and were placed on hold for 20 minutes when we were hung up on and they closed. Once we get home the vehicle was making a loud ticking noise coming from the engine. We take it in the next day and the Tahoe starts shaking aggressively and the engine light is on and flashing. We can barely get in contact with the dealership and are being given the run around at that Point. Mechanic hooked it up to OBD reader and its reading cylinder 4 misfire, mechanic recommended fuel injector replacement, the warranty would not cover these parts, owner offered to pay the $900. After part replacement car is still setting off those codes and running horribly, mechanic gets deeper into engine and says its a bigger issue, refunded the owner entirely and told us the issue at hand needed to be fixed elsewhere. We get into a different shop they confirm the cylinder 4 is going to need fixed and an AFM delete totaling $8000. The Warranty they pushed on us is refusing to cover, warranty says these were pre existing issues in the car. All these issues started on our drive home, and less than 24 hours after buying the vehicle it is completely broke down. Owner offered to pay for fees for rental car or anything the warranty did not cover, but couldnt get a straight answer to covering the full mechanic bill of 8k since warranty was doing nothing. We believe these issues were pre existing since we barely drove it and the car is now just sitting. Have only communicated with owner via email, can never get him on the phone, his guys give us the run around everyday. It has been 12 days.

  Business response

  03/23/2023

  This has been resolved with the customer before I received this email and the customer is satisfied.

• Initial Complaint

  04/05/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  We bought a car from them after putting less than 100 miles on it and owning it less the 2 days. the car broke down. I contacted them right away and ****** the sales guys said the management would make it right. I had to spend over 3k in repairs to even get the car to run. After spending over 15k on the car itself. They lied and said it was in perfect mechanical condition. I have emailed them and they refuse to do anything to make it right. We should not have had to put that kind of money into a car that was in "perfect mechanical condition" according to ****** the sales guy. They should pay the repair ****

  Business response

  04/07/2022

  ************** purchased a 2011 mini ****** from us at Emerald City Motorsports on 3/6/22. From my understanding there was a little correspondence between ****** and customer which customer was told to email our store at ******************************* I first received email on 3/15/22 to address customer concerns. I replied right away and have stayed in contact with customer letting them know that they did purchase a As-Is used vehicle. We did perform our required safety inspection which is very limited to just making sure tires are in good condition, brakes work, wipers work, and lights work. Customer did not have their own used car inspection before purchase of their vehicle. We sent over all the documentation to the customer that they signed stating they were aware it was a used vehicle and nothing was guaranteed or promised. I had asked the customer for a copy of their estimated repair **** that I didn't receive, it was a encrypted message. Customer asked again what we were going to do about the repairs and I asked again for the estimate that was finally sent to me 4/5/22 and then I let the customer know I didn't work on Weds and would get back to them Thursday after I went over the estimate with my boss which is now today. It seems the customer filed this ******************** complaint before I was able to respond and offer a settlement. I will email the customer with our offer and see what they say but they filed this before we could offer something. The two estimates sent over are one for the repairs and one for a service maintenance interval. I am willing to pay the parts portion of the repair **** of $707.90, and the customer can take care of the labor and tax, which is $1162.12. Main info is attached. I can submit copies of paperwork signed by customer stating As-Is vehicle if desired. Thank you.

  Customer response

  04/11/2022

   
  Complaint: 16988762
  I AM rejecting this response because the cost to get the car running was just under 3k. The 60k mile service was $110 which is a maintenance issure and we expect those. but the rest of it should not be. No 14k car should run for less than 24 hours. The sales man was notified less than 24 hours after we purchased the vehicle that it was not running and needed costly repairs for it to be safe for my family.
  *********************

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