Carousel Motors

Carousel Motors in Iowa City/Autohaus LTD On January 17, 2017, you sold the above referenced vehicle to me. I have since discovered that there are unexpected major problems with the vehicle and it is not capable of normal driving and use.

Your agent, Dustan, told my daughter the vehicle was suitable for “road trips” and “long term use”, beyond the everyday driving I described its purpose would be for. After finding herself stranded on the roadside with smoke coming from under the hood on Monday, she had the vehicle towed to Quality Car Care in North Liberty. It just so happens that she had already scheduled an appointment for the next morning to go over the vehicle thoroughly, as it had only been getting 7 mpg and leaking fluids.After David Hall, owner of Quality Car Care, thoroughly reviewed the vehicle, he stated that the repairs would total $2-3k. My daughter was not given a Buyer's Guide at the time of purchase, nor were there any posted on any of the vehicles she was shown on 1/16, or 1/17.

When we brought this up with Harvey on Tuesday evening, 2/7, and asked him to find her file, the color drained from his face. He spent a protracted amount of time locating this file, and then he produced a Buyer's Guide that he then copied and provided a copy of the front and then the back to Rachel. The top of the Buyer's Guide on the front of his original has just been filled out while we were waiting for him to return with the file. She had evidently signed the back of a blank Buyer's Guide, because there was not one ever created for the 2003 Land Rover; likely because it had come in a trade the day before per Dustan.

This is an FTC violation. When my daughter sat down with Harvey Ireland to sign the loan docs, he never gave her the forms to review in advance. He said, "I was able to get your payments down to $133 mo!". He had all the forms for her to sign folded in have and she was told "sign here, sign here, sign here".

She had been very clear that she did not want to pay more than $2400, and not exceed a 24 month loan term. Dustan told me the interest rate would be about 9% a month in one conversation and that she was being financed through Linn Area Credit Union, when he delivered the car to her at Press Coffee on 1/17. Harvey never stated "you are financing $4198.25, at 13.25% interest, over 39 months" This total includes $2900 for the vehicle, $5 membership fee to the credit union (who finances this????), tax, title, license and docs fees, $850 for a Gap Addendum (he mentioned GAP addendum that he added on already without asking her and told her when she questioned that charge, Harvey told her that "it was only $8 a month and that she needed it for this vehicle under $3000 because her insurance company USAA Casualty did not offer that and would not cover the financed amount of the vehicle." USAA does in fact have GAP built into their policies. Rachel was never given copies of the documents she signed, that had her actual signature on them.

They were unsigned and folded into an envelope and handed to her after she signed Harvey's folded documents at the X's he pointed to. Rachel describes Harvey's verbiage during that encounter being very similar to the rapid disclaimers read at the end of car commercials on the radio/TV. She was also never offered an extended service plan; I imagine you should have one on a menu style form...that could have been presented to her. These are legal compliance issues and potentially Truth in Lending violations.

I can't imagine that the thought of Carousel taking advantage of a young women, a recent college grad that has just returned from missionary work in South Africa and Swaziland, would sit well with them. My daughter was not interested in trading into another vehicle. ---- After David Hall, owner of Quality Car Care, thoroughly reviewed the vehicle, he stated that the repairs would total $2-3k, and the following issues were noted:  Throttle Body PTC Header  Oil Filter Adaptor Gasket  Crankshaft Oil Seal  Radiator Hose replaced  Throttle Housing to Manifold Hose removed and replaced  Water Jacket Plugs need replaced  New Water Pump needed  Valve Cover Gaskets need replaced  Oil Pan Gaskets need replaced  Timing Cover and Gaskets removed and replaced Although you will claim that you sold the vehicle “as is”, there are implied warranties that are enforced by the FTC in this case. The law also prohibits you from disclaiming or modifying such implied warranties.

You may only limit the duration of an implied warranty, typically the State law prescribes the reasonable period of 90 days. 15 U.S.C. 2308 - IMPLIED WARRANTIES § 2308. Implied warranties (a) Restrictions on disclaimers or modifications No supplier may disclaim or modify (except as provided in subsection (b)) any implied warranty to a consumer with respect to such consumer product if (1) such supplier makes any written warranty to the consumer with respect to such consumer Product, or (2) at the time of sale, or within 90 days thereafter, such supplier enters into a service contract with the consumer which applies to such consumer product.

(b) Limitation on duration For purposes of this chapter (other than section 2304(a)(2) of this title), implied warranties may be limited in duration to the duration of a written warranty of reasonable duration, if such limitation is conscionable and is set forth in clear and unmistakable language and prominently displayed on the face of the warranty. (c) Effectiveness of disclaimers, modifications, or limitations A disclaimer, modification, or limitation made in violation of this section shall be ineffective for purposes of this chapter and State law. (Pub. L.93–637, title I, §108, Jan.

4, 1975, 88 Stat. 2189.)

I purchased a "Certified" Preowned VW from Vince S. The Carfax was clean, single owner, no accidents, and Vince S.

Claimed it was perfect. After delivery of the vehicle, it was discovered the the entire body of the car had been repainted and tried to cover obvious damage. The paint job had sandpaper scratches, paint sags, runs, and poor bodywork still showing dents. The "certified" car was missing the VIN verification stickers since the car had been repainted.

It was also missing a key, battery cover, parcel shelf and had broken lumbar adjustment.

Because I gave them negative feedback, they basically told me I'm stuck with the car- have a nice day. I had to file a report with VW of A to resolve them being frauds.

We drove after work to visit Carousel Motors in Iowa City and arrived a few minutes before 6:00pm. (Evidently closing time) All sales people were standing and visiting.

One finally came over to us and we asked about the vehicles we had seen on line and if he would show them to us. We were informed that they were closing and no one would stay and open the cars up or give us any info. We could go browse ourselves and come back another time. We explained we had driven after work and would appreciate him just staying a few minutes to help us as we both work and its hard to get to Iowa City.

He was extremely rude and we came away from the experience not happy. We will never go back or spend any money with this company.

i was there a few months ago to get a vehicle. we were going to come back in a few days but i decided to google the sales guy.

guess what, he is a sex offender! i am so glad that we did not buy a car from them. do they screen their people? i cant be the only one that has googled one of them.

besides that. he was a real ***. whew, that was a close one. dont go there!

i dont care how long its been since it happened, it happened.

thats all that matters as far as i am concerned. check out the sales people before you give your money to any car dealership

In May and in October I attempted to,purchase a previously owned Mercedes, during the negotiations I offered to put down a deposit to hold the car until we completed the financials. In both cases I was told it was not necessary, yet the company sold the cars both time to another person before I could close the transaction.

Yes I was silly to think they would do it correctly the second time.

In both cases they did NOTHING to try to keep my business. The company only cares about the high end customers and cannot be bothered with the others.

My husband Daniel and I went in to Carousel 2 on 7/23/13 to look at vehicles. after test driving the 2002 PT Cruiser they had us fill out the paperwork and had us give them our debit card number for the down payment and we were told it wouldn't be processed until the following Monday after they knew the loan would be approved.

The vehicle broke down on my way home and I called them and they had to wait until the following day to tow it in. We then went in to the dealership to try to get out of the purchase since the vehicle didn't even get me home at which point they told me the paperwork was signed and it was a done deal I couldn't get out of it. At this point the $180.00 down payment had not yet been processed.They gave us a loaner car until the other was fixed.They called the next day which was 7/25/13 and had us pick it up. They called on Tuesday 7/30/2013 and told us they couldn't get us approved for the loan, We went to our bank that day and were told we didn't qualify for a loan from them either.

So I talked to Travis @ Carousel and when I asked about getting my down payment back he told me to wait until today (Monday 8/5/2013) until the finance department was in. We returned the vehicle this morning and were told they would not give me my down payment back and that they didn't have to.

If you are a "high end buyer", this maybe the place for you. However, for most of us looking to buy a car for the right price, I would advice you to TAKE YOUR BUSINESS SOMEWHERE ELSE.

Carousel Motors had a car in my price range that had exactly what I was looking for. I test drove it and the next day I called to inform the sales dealer who helped me, that I had the money and I want to buy the car. We agreed on a time to meet for the next day to purchase the car. THAT SAME DAY, I start receiving text's messages from salesman saying, "the car is in the processes of being sold." Next thing I hear, "the car is sold". I was furious! Not once did he mention to me in our previous phone conversation about partial payment and that the car was still on the market. If he would have informed me of that, I would have came to the dealership that day and bought the car.

Next day, I went in and spoke to the general manager of used cars. He had no care of loosing our business, kept dropping "high end" buyers to us and even told us that their method of not "pushing" their customers sometimes works and sometimes doesn't. Pretty much, the car was sold, we were upset and there was nothing he was willing to do to help us out.

I work in customer service and I'm applauded how Carousel Motors managers train their staff and how they handle certain customers. It was clearly their fault for not informing us with the right information and worse; they were not interested in taking care of us when we were clearly upset with their mistake.

I will never bring my business to Carousel Motors. I had a very stressful experience. They lack professionalism and under appreciate the importance of customer service.

They lied to us during financing of a new VW vehicle.

They are not honest and good people, pushy sales people and all about getting your money, they are not honest, did not disclose the details of the lease, until after signing all of the paperwork. We should have read all the fine- print. They were terrible at fixing the problem, after confronting they didn't try to make it better.

Don't do do business with them, they will rip you off for sure.

All they want is your money,

they are not customer friendly at all.

report bad business here!

Carousel sold us a car at a good price, but jerked us around for MONTHS on the registration, afters weeks of not having a registration on this car week had to call the DOT, and found out that they had sold us a car with a JUNK certificate! The DOT them selves had to press charges on them.

Then they didn't even offer to reimburse us the title and licensing fees, their only solution was for us to come in and "We'll get you into something new" yeah right, dirt bags. Go somewhere else for your used cars this is a terrible place.

I am sick and tired of trying to get Carousel Motors to accept responsibility for screwing on my Audi. The car had several problems and they refused to take the car back after their service department couldn't fix it.

The car was fixed by another local Iowa City mechanic and sold at a loss. Pat refused to return my call and played dumb when I addressed him in person. What an absolute ***.

I would never do business with Pat Lind and Carousel Motors ever again. Do yourself a favor and try a much better dealership in the I-380 corridor.

I purchased a car in 2006 and the sale person was pushy. The price they offered was decent but not great and that was after extensive haggling but I needed a car.

When it was time to sign paperwork they blindsided me with all these document fees and stuff and then they tried to sell me an extended warranty that I didnt really want but then the finance guy told me if I didnt use it I would get my money back. Since my girlfriend wanted it but I wasnt willing to pay for it since I felt strongly that I wasn't going to use it I was fine with purchasing it since I "knew" I'd get my money back. Well, 6 years later I go to pick up and guess what? Apparently I don't get my money back.

Nowhere on the papework did it say that I would get my money back! I simply trusted the guy and either he flat out lied to me or somehow messed up the paperwork! In addition to that, I noticed that I had multiple copies of the paperwork and they magically added $100 to the warranty and increased my finance rate by nearly 1% point! Those guys ripped me off big and bad!

If you decide to but from them you might want to bring a lawyer with you! Or at least have the lawyer look over your paperwork!

Carousel Motors (whether it be used or new) have the most terrible customer service/appreciation I have EVER experienced. Beyond the dealership/service sucking, Mazda USA is just as bad. I bought a brand new Mazda 2009 in late 2008, it had 9 miles on it. This past July, after only 57k miles, I was driving when the car had a catastrophic engine failure that occured seconds after the cruise control engaged and the engine revved to 4k rpms, would not shift and I heard a small explosion followed by pieces of metal hitting the ground below.

I was stranded along side the road at 10:30 at night outside of Atalissa, IA with a vehicle load of groceries.

I had the vehicle serviced at Walmart, Sears and by an individual. I was able to provide records from Walmart & Sears and dates/mileage when other changes occured but could not provide receipts for the supplies used. (FRAM filters, Valvoline synthetic). Mazda denied the claim on my powertrain warranty. Fine...I took it to Noel Automotive in West Branch, IA. Keith found a used motor, it failed leak-down and he ended up putting a second used motor in. The original engine block had three large holes blown into it and the torque converter had locked up. After the install, the car turned over and ran with no engine noise but when Keith tried to put it into gear, nothing. He felt the transmission was bad and consulted with someone from Precision Transmission. I could get a used transmission for about $1000, not installed. I decided, after speaking with 3 different service people at Carousel Joe, Andy and some technician as well as a former racecar mechanic and an ex brother-in-law who has 15 years of experience and is an ASE certified tranny guy with an education from Wyo Tech (all stated that engine failure would not cause transmission failure, at least never in their experience), that the engine failure would not have caused the transmission to fail so Carousel would need to look at it.

Carousel had the vehicle towed back to them (at my expense) and ran diagnostics (I have been without ANY loaner, rental, etc since 7/9/11 although I've asked repeatedly) Diagnosis codes came back - internal transmission failure. All the info was submitted to Mazda regional and today, they denied warranty stating that the cause of the transmission failure COULD be improper engine installation. Mind you, I said COULD not IS because Carousel does not take the transmission apart, they only pull it out and replace it. As a business man, Mr. Noel is not going to take the blame and eat the cost to repair my car simply because Mazda said he COULD have caused it. I've asked for a detailed statement provided by Mazda/Carousel stating the EXACT cause of the transmission failure, we shall see if they provide it. I've also asked Noel's to provide a detailed report including a description of the filthy transmission fluid that had been exchanged only 14k miles ago and they have graciously agreed to do so. The failure is either due to a defective transmission (we now believe that the engine failure could have been a result of such) or improper engine install. It is not, however, due to lack of maintenance or poor drivership.

I realize that being a single mother of four makes me an attractive target for some but I deserve to be treated fairly. I work at UIHC, I make less than $32k/year and have already extended my car loan by $3000 and 2 years. Carousel had no problem selling me a $22000 vehicle and should be totally ashamed of themselves for how they have shown their customer appreciation. I realize it's Mazda's call but really? So yes, Carousel Motors of Iowa City, their service department (Joe, Andy, etc..) and Mazda USA SUCK! And by the way, the recalled power steering system in my car needs to be replaced unless of course, I'll be charged for that as well. I see the response by Carousel's GM and all I can say is, I wish he would reply to me so I can see what kind of bs he dreams up and I'll make sure to follow it up with a visit in person. Complaints filed with BBB, Iowa Atty General Consumer Affairs and I am discussing possible representation from an attorney (I had to call 3 offices before finding an attorney who didn't have a conflict of interest due to past representation of this shameful "business"). Lessons learned? Keep ALL receipts ALWAYS and from now on, deal with the local Chevy dealership.

On May 5, we went to Carousel Motors to look at a 2006 Mazda 3 that I found at autotrader.com. On Saturday, May 7, we returned to purchase it if we could work out a deal. We got a deal done with the salesman, and then went to Josh's (the Finance and Insurance manager) office. Ok, here I let my guard down when Josh told us the salesman had "made a mistake", and the interest rate had to rise. He got me to sign for a different deal than we'd made with the salesman. Anyway, we drove the car home.

On Wednesday, May 11, while in Des Moines, Iowa on business, I called home to check in with my son. He told me that Carousel Motors called, then played the message for me. It was Josh, the F & I guy, asking me to return his call. I called him from Des Moines Thursday morning (May 12). He asked if we could "do me a little favor" (direct quote) and come back to Iowa City to sign some new paperwork. I told him the soonest that we could drive there was late Friday afternoon. At this point I'm suspicious of the "yo-yo financing" scam.

On Friday, May 13, we headed back to Carousel Motors after work. On the way down I called Josh, telling him that we might be late. This was a problem because he told us we needed to go directly to the University of Iowa Credit Union, who was doing the financing. They were expecting us to come in to sign new loan paperwork. Josh's response was that if we couldn't get there on time we would have to write a check for the purchase price of the car, because he had to get this deal closed and funded. I also told Josh that I was uncomfortable with signing new paperwork with the U of I Credit Union when I had already signed an installment purchase agreement with Carousel Motors. His reply was that once we signed the new paperwork that this document became null and void. At this point, not trusting anything that wasn't in writing, I asked if he was willing to write "null and void" on the installment purchase agreement and to sign off on it. Yes, he would do this. Next, I called the U of I Credit Union. They had never heard of us, didn't know anything about any paperwork, and that they never had Carousel Motors customers go directly to them to fill out loan paperwork.

When we arrived at Carousel Motors, Josh had great news for us: He had called the U of I Credit Union, and they had someone fill out the paperwork and over to the dealership. (Note that I had talked to the credit union 5 minutes before this, and they didn't know who I was. I told Josh that I was amazed at this; when did they get it here? His response was "Thirty seconds before you walked in".

We went to Josh's office. First, we all signed off declaring the installment purchase agreement to be null and void. Next, he want to finish signing the title over to us. I said no, I want to look at the loan paperwork first. He promised us that once we signed this (a credit union loan application) that we were "locked in to our interest rate". After looking through this for a bit I asked to talk in private with my wife. When Josh came back into the office, we informed him that we knew he was trying to scam us. I asked him how it was that the U of I Credit Union had delivered the documents for us to sign 30 seconds before we got there when they didn't know who we were? He responded that of course they didn't know us; we hadn't filled out the paperwork yet. (Remember"”this was the paperwork that the credit union had just "delivered".) When we got up to leave, my wife asked for our down payment check back. Josh's response was "That ain't gonna happen!" We told him that we had put a stop payment on that check this morning, just in case I was right and they were scamming us. At this point we left.

I wrote out the long version of this so you can compare the facts to the email that Pat Lind, the general manager of Carousel Motors, sent my wife the next week. The following is a cut and paste of his entire email, typos and all:

Tammy

In thirty years of selling cars I have come across a few rotten apples but you and your husband take the prize. I knew something was wrong when you two avoided us for a week.Your bank told us you stopped payment on your down payment check on the 10th.Funny your husband continued to tell Josh every thing was fine you were just too busy to come in.

I was ready to just write this episode off to experience until I got your nasty note.Please contact the BBB or anybody else you can think of because I am anxious to get all the details out.Check with your Lawyer and ask if stopping payment on titled property is a problem.Ask your Lawyer the legal description of "Conversion" .

To think that people like you have anything to do with education is very concerning.

Patrick Lind, General Manager

Ph. 319.354.2550

Cell 319.631.3829

Fax 319.337.6030

Of course, Carousel Motors is NOT a member of the Better Business Bureau. Now I see why.