Van Allen's couldn't be a better place to get ripped off. I was Told to look at a Nissan frontier by someone that knew I wanted a truck. When I looked at the truck it had ice cold A/C, ran nice, and even had new parts put into it including lightly used tires mind you the truck was 14 years old it was very nice.
About a day later it started having problems with shifting in low gears and the check engine light came on as well as the A/C no longer throwing cold air but warm air, I called and talked with Doug who showed me the truck and he had me bring it back so they could look at it. One of the guys there( Kevin) came out and drove the truck with me in it, the truck had many points along the drive where it had trouble shifting and said employee was quick to point it out when it occurred. When we arrived back to the garage he pulled the truck up to the building and went in to grab a device that took the check engine light off.He said to keep an eye on the vehicle in the next few days in case it happens again and that he will look up on the internet what's making it not shift correctly. The problem kept up and I called back.
When I called Van Allen's I let them know I talked to Kevin but they assured me that someone else was on it (Doug) and that Kevin was off for the day( this was a Friday and they are closed Saturday and Sunday). I called back again the next week and got (Doug), I told him the problem is getting worse and he told me to bring it in yet again, I left it there and he called me two days later telling me it was done and that he "couldn't replicate" the problem and that I could pick it up, as I was driving it out of the lot it happened again and the whole way home. At this point I was fuming mad and called Doug back, He said I could bring it back and they would have to drive it for a few days to see what the problem was and I let him know that Kevin took it for a ride already and noticed the problem but he (Doug) claimed that he didn't know that or that the truck was having any trouble at all with the shifting. I know he Knew about it, I told Doug myself three times specifically that it was having trouble shifting in low gears and also what kind of place doesn't communicate what's going on with the trucks on their lot. I am done with these clowns and am taking it elsewhere to be fixed I should have gotten my money back because I overpaid for it thinking they put a lot of work into it and they were supposedly good people but I work everyday and have to have a vehicle to get back and fourth and cant afford a rental car. I also gave them my old vehicle for $125 less then I could have gotten from the guys at the scrap yard because I thought I was getting a deal and needed quick cash for gas, but they still hosed me. They even charged me $13 and some change for "the gas they had to use".
Lets also go into there dealer tactics. As soon as I get out of the truck when the test drive is over Doug's standing in the lot and says to me are you the guy from Oneonta? Haha I haven't even stood up all the way and this guy is using that one on me. I tell him no and laugh it off and I get into the numbers, as soon as he hears this he tells me he doesn't negotiate the deals. He brings me into the place where there's five staff and four customers right on top of each other in a crowded area and they (Ken and his wife) start talking numbers and trying to make me make the deal in front of everyone. I told them I couldn't pay what they were asking and they said that "the guy from Oneonta was going to come and look at it" and "if he didn't want it they would sell it to me for my price". Well sure enough that guy from Oneonta never came and I got a phone call 5 minutes from their closing time to come purchase it. Now I'm stuck with a crap truck. Maybe he should focus on running one business because he cant keep his goons in line or maybe that's what he wants. read more
