Hendrick Automotive Group: Breach of contract

I will keep this short, and if it needs to be expanded, I can add details as necessary or answer any questions.

Hendrick Automotive Group sold me, then unsold me a used Tacoma.

In mid-November 2014, I went in and bought a used 2006 BSP Double Cab. It was a great experience, probably the best car buying experience I have had, and I was hoping I would be writing about it back in November.

I financed the truck. The paper work was completed for the sale, the financing, and they even got the pink slip to the car I traded in (we signed paperwork where I got the car back as a dealership loaner vehicle until I could take possession of the truck). I was told to pick up the truck a few days later so they could have the outstanding recall fixed. It turns out that the recall was the cracked leaf spring issue, the one that everyone is still waiting for Toyota to take care of. So they said I had to wait until the recall issue was resolved. I was ok with that because the truck looked like it was brand new with service records for every 5k miles.

A week later I received my pink slip in the mail, and the dealership said we could redo the contract once the truck's recall issue was resolved.

Fast forward 5 months to now. The truck is now going to auction, even after I offered to buy all new aftermarket suspension components. Hendrick Automotive Group is now refusing to honor the original sales contract I signed and the verbal agreement we had.

While I enjoyed my experience at the local dealership for the initial sale, I caution buying any vehicle from this automotive group.

 

Sounds like that truck had more issues than just the suspension recall if they pulled the sale and sent it to auction...

 

Nope that was it. The "sale" happened the same weekend the air bag recall hit the news and their lawyers freaked out because in the recall notice, it said there was a potential for fire.

 

I dunno man, I still think it sounds like they found a lot of other issues with the truck and didn't want to risk selling it. I know it sucks now, but that could have potentially saved you a lot of headaches down the road.

 

Not an expert - but isn't it illegal to sell a vehicle with outstanding recalls? That could be the reason for cancellation?

 

The truck was in excellent shape. They told me it was just poor timing because of the publicity the air bag recall caused, so the lawyers stated they would not sell any vehicles that listed potential fire, death, and something else (maybe serious injury).

I understand their liability concerns, but even Toyota doesn't seem to be concerned with this recall.

I can't remember what the laws are in CA, but these trucks are being sold every day out here. It was explained that the lawyers are trying to protect the owner from any liability issues. So they are auctioning it off to let someone else sell it and pass the liability issue off to them. Even if I had Toyota install the lift and replace the leaf springs with Dakars, they say the recall would remain listed as open, and they could still potentially be held liable in the future if there was an accident or something. It makes no sense to me since the parts would not be on the vehicle.

 

Are you out money on this deal or something?

 

No. I would be absolutely furious if that were the case. All of the paperwork was done, they never processed it. They accepted my car for a trade-in, took the pink slip, did all of the financing paperwork, then after a week, undid everything after I told them I wanted to start paying on the truck.

I know it sounds petty. It's been 5 months of frustration (mainly with Toyota and how long it's been since the recall came out). I found the exact vehicle I was looking for after over a year of looking, and haven't found one since. I have a couple of buddies looking for me also and they are surprised at how difficult it is to find what I am looking for (looking in CA and AZ).

I just posted this up as a warning of what is likely to happen in case anyone ends up at one of their dealerships and has the unfortunate timing that I did.

As I stated in the first post, the local dealer was great. In fact, the local service manager suggested I sign a waiver and they sell the truck to me. His boss at the corporate level agreed. It was the corporate level person in charge of the sales managers that said no to the sale. And at one point I was told Ed Brown made the decision.

I think it is asinine that after 5 months, they decided they will not accept a logical solution (replace the parts at my expense) fulfilling a solution they stated a week after the sale (proof that the recalled components were replaced).

 

Gotcha. Agreed that it sucks. Best of luck.