Run away!!!! I can't believe this just happened to me...buckle up, we're going for ride...
So, yesterday I go to Glory Auto Sales to look at a few cars I saw on Craigslist. When I get there, its a complete dump but I ask to see the car that's in the best mechanical condition out of one's I like. He tells me the Mitsubishi Lancer Oz Rally. I'm told he replaced hoses, and some other things. I think great! So let's pop the hood. The engine is covered in black oil goop that's been there for a loooong time. He says it's a valve cover gasket and it's only a $9 repair and he will fix it. (Why didn't he do it already then?) So I test drive it. He tells me how the car's great and tells how had been stolen off a car lot, because they left the keys in it, but recovered fine. He says he drove it to buckeye lake and didnt have any problems with it. Mentions nothing about it being a rebuilt title. Says he bought it from the dealership it was stolen from. I notice it sputters, so he says he will change the spark plugs. (Also, why didn't this happen already?) I make plans to come back the next day. So I ask if I can take it to a mechanic to get it checked out. "Sure, we encourage it!"
When I show up today and I'm late for my appoint for the inspection. He gives me the car history as I'm running out the door with the keys. "Look at this while you're there" He then asks where I'm taking it. "To the mitsubishi dealership" His eyes get big and says "isn't that expensive?" (Should have tipped me off...) "It's worth it"
After 2+ hrs at the mitsubishi dealership, the certified Mitsubishi mechanic tells me the car is a complete lemon and $thousands$ to fix,and totally unsafe to even drive! It has a laundry list of problems. 2 recalls, 3 accidents(one of which totalled it), massive oil leaks from engine (which would be a few part replacements to fix and $600 - $800 in labor to even take apart and look at), terribly rusted out frame in the front, bad calipers, (I asked him about them, he said they were fine) needed new ball joint to hold the wheel on (plus some thing I can't remember), had a broken sway bar(holds the back end of the car together) and some other things, which included the fact that 1 of the recalls may be un-fixable at this point because it would make the car basically fall apart... Crap it's a death trap.
I call Juan to let him know I'm on the way back. He asks "How'd the inspection go?" "Not good." "Well that's ok, I sold it to someone who had cash. We're waiting for you to bring it back. We close at 7pm please hurry." You've got to be kidding me, I had cash too! He sold the car I was looking at, while I was gone test driving it! So I head back to Glory. As I'm driving, the check engine light comes on. These fools wiped the code for the check engine light. Thank God I took it to Ricart Mitsubishi. It was far enough for the car to put the light on again. Maybe a 30 min drive because of traffic.
I'm so disappointed. Juan, you said the car was good. You lied. Now Im home reading reviews on the dealership (why didnt I do that earlier...) and I find out the state has sued them a few times, they've been kicked off BBB and have had multiple infractions and investigations for repossession of legit cars, rolling back odometers , messing up financing, sending titles extremely late and some other stuff. I signed up for Yelp just to let people know how bad this place is. Run away as fast as you can!!!!!! read more