Yelp Review 58
Oslo Norway
4/12/2013Beware! I was staying in the US for five months and needed transportation so I bought a Ford Explorer from Salem in January 2012. Salem was very helpful during the purchase and since I'm not from the US, he helped setup the insurance at AAA right. As I told him, I wanted to buy with the option of selling the car back again to him at the end of my stay. Although he could not promise to buy the car back, he would give me an offer when it was time to sell. I should have realized then that I should not have trusted him. At purchase the car cost me $6500 with taxes. The car turned out to have a number of defects and I fixed the car at my local Ford shop for $2000. When I contacted him after five months he was not willing to offer more than $1200 for the car. The car was now in a better condition than when I bought it! I was fortunately able to find a reasonable buyer on Craigslist. I think the biggest problem I have with ION cars is that they give an impression of selling high standard cars, when in reality, at least in my case, it turned out to be a major disappointment - and Salem must have known this when he sold me the car. So please don't make the same mistake I did and let yourself be fooled by his smooth customer handling and trusting personality.
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When you contacted me on 5/16/12 to sell it back, it was unfortunate timing that I was not able to give you a better offer on your vehicle. This was at a time when I was in between locations and was only able to make offers based on selling vehicles to other wholesale dealers and auctions. If you were to contact me today, now that I have a new location, I would be able to make a significantly different offer. Our timing was just off.
In addition, I mentioned that you should try another dealer or sell it privately for more money. I actually make it very clear to customers what I can and cannot do, and if they can get a better price elsewhere. I let my customers know, as I did with you.
I appreciate the fact that you spent money to maintain the SUV, but sometime franchise car dealers upsell repairs that are not necessary and get the best of us. I wish you had contacted me as I can refer customers to places to get more competitive pricing on repairs and diagnostics. Also, your claim that the vehicle I sold was sub-par seems a bit off to me as you actually sent me a list of the repairs back in May, and all of the repairs were cosmetic and standard repair issues, that did not increase the value of the car or directly affect its functioning or safety. Again, I wish you had contacted me if you felt your car was a "disappointment" - hearing from you a year and a half later, there is nothing I can do.
Sounds like it all worked out in the end selling it private party as we discussed.
For those reading this, I continue to support and assist anyone who is interested in selling or buying a vehicle and I will remain an advocate for those who are from out-of-state and outside the country. Also, now that I am in a new and long-term location, misunderstandings like this are much less likely to happen. I make a point to always be available to my customers, so please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions. I will be happy to clarify or give advice about how to get the best purchase, sale or repair price for your car.