Sport Center Imports

They just cuz.. Not kool ***. That's what they said

My husband and I had the WORST car-buying experience we have EVER had! We bought a 2015 Chevrolet Tahoe(with around 29,000 miles and some warranty left on it) from them that had been wrecked...twice.

Even though this was on the car fax, this information was not disclosed to us. We heard a noise in the rear of the vehicle, so we took it to a local Chevrolet dealership. We were told that the vehicle had been wrecked, not fixed completely, and unsafe for my children and myself to be traveling in. We were advised to contact the dealer first and give them the opportunity to make it right.

Sport Center Imports wanted us to bring them the vehicle and let them have another Chevrolet dealer take a look at it. We were given a vehicle to drive and was under the impression that they were going to do everything they could to make it "right". We sought legal advise. We were advised not to accept the vehicle after they had their mechanics look at it, but give them two options...

either find us one that was comparable, or buy it back from us. About a week later, one of the owners contacted us to let us know the Tahoe was fixed...it was just a coil spring that needed to be repaired. Once we explained that we did NOT want this Tahoe, and this was not we had paid all this money for, we were told they would find us one comparable. So once again, we were under the impression they were going to make it right.

When they found us another one, it had over 36,000 miles which meant no warranty....BUT we decided to go ahead and purchase it and put it all behind us (after having it looked at by our own mechanics). They agreed to pay the first one off (as a trade-in), and turn around and finance the second one. They did. However, a couple weeks later, we got a call from the owner letting us know that a payment was late on the first Tahoe (that we traded back in to them BEFORE the first payment was due) and that he didn't want it to damage our credit.

We needed to pay it and he would pay the rest of the Tahoe off. Once again, we had to threaten to get a lawyer. We had to contact the credit union to explain what was happening and that we didn't want our credit ruined. It has been a long, drawn out mess!

Instead of doing the right thing to begin with, we had to continuously fight with these people to get anything done. Now they have this very same Tahoe listed on their website.I am warning you...if you do not want a headache, I would look elsewhere.

I have since peeled their name off of my vehicle and want no part of anything to do with these people anymore!!!

I would never, ever recommend Sport Center Imports in Daphne, AL when purchasing a used car. These people are supposedly good Christians running an honest business but I personally have seen nothing of that. Of course when I found my "dream car" they did the whole, "There are lots of others looking to buy this car so you shouldn't wait too long to make your decision". I saw the Carfax, which was clean and they assured me they have a great mechanic who checks out every vehicle before it's sold.

I learned a very valuable lesson about buying cars: always take it to your own mechanic before handing over a check. We didn't do a proper inspection of the car, so shame on us too, but I think the mechanic should have seen the punctured radiator and condenser. Our brief inspection of the car's body showed it had clearly hit something because the flaps underneath were damaged and the front bumper was a bit out of place. We were told it had probably just been run up on a curb or something, no big deal, and bought the car. Besides, we were also told if anything questionable came up we could call anytime and they would have their mechanic take a look. After only a couple of weeks it began overheating and when the fluids were checked there was no coolant or oil at all. We just figured it was an honest mistake and replaced the fluids and kept on. (As a side note, whoever changed the oil before we bought the car torqued the oil cap so tightly that it stripped and we also had to have the plug replaced.)

Well, a couple months went by and the car overheated again. And again, no oil or coolant. So I took it to a mechanic, who immediately saw a golf-ball sized puncture through the radiator and condenser and said the dealer's mechanic should have caught that. He suggested we talk to the dealer about it. I called the dealer to see if they could help me out with part of the expense and they immediately became defensive, saying that it was either my fault or my mechanic did something to destroy it. I'm angry because of the way they handled the situation. Because of the first issue, the car now has a blown head gasket from overheating.

They're great while you're looking for a car but their mechanic obviously does not check everything with each car. Just beware that once you hand over the money you no longer matter, so just hope that your car isn't a piece of ***. Now after we've flushed $3,500 into fixing the car, I wish I had never trusted these people.