Warning!!!

For those considering a very nice looking black '92 535 at "The Auto Place" dealer (located north of Dufferin and Finch in North York) for $7500 might want to think twice.

Car looked extremely clean and cared for, recently repainted, so was extremely interested in getting the it and probably would get it tomorrow, but i decided to "go smart" and do some research on the dealer and the vehicle beforehand.

So i searched for "The Auto Place" + Dufferin, and google came up with at least two bitter complaints coming from people on forums about being mistreated by the afforementioned dealership (one of the guys had his engine blow up on the way home from the dealership - and those bastards said it's his problem).
Then i decided to do a CARFAX on the vehicle and guess what, CARFAX record was perfect. Good! I thought.
But its a good thing I didnt stop there and called a friend that works at a dealership to pull some info on the vehicle using his internal tool.
Well, I was absolutely astonished to find out that the vehicle had been in two major accidents and changed at least 5 owners recently.
Very shady behaviour of one of the employees there (Leonid) - he basically would not let me even take a ride in the car while he is driving before I make a deposit and commit: "show that i am a serious buyer" in his words.
All these things had turned me off from the car, an i am just letting you guys know so you won't get in this trap.

Alex

A dealer who insists on a deposit before a test drive should be avoided at all costs. Sounds like a place to avoid; very shonky practices.

you shouldn't have a problem with it.
He wants to see if you are realy interested or if you just want to waste his time. But the deposit thing is usually more for high end cars, where the dealer doesn't want joyriders, so in this case it does sound shady.:confused

That's why i specifically told him that i want him to drive me around a block so i can 'feel' the car. Deposit for this is rediculous, all other dealers had no problem with doing it for me.
He says: "Leave a deposit, and if there is something wrong with the car, we'll return you your deposit". So i asked him straight: "So, who will decide whether anything is wrong?" He goes "We do".
I felt like slapping him.

Alex

That's why i specifically told him that i want him to drive me around a block so i can 'feel' the car. Deposit for this is rediculous, all other dealers had no problem with doing it for me.
He says: "Leave a deposit, and if there is something wrong with the car, we'll return you your deposit". So i asked him straight: "So, who will decide whether anything is wrong?" He goes "We do".
I felt like slapping him.

Alex

:)

"Leonid"!? I smell Soviets, snif, snif :D

That's why i specifically told him that i want him to drive me around a block so i can 'feel' the car. Deposit for this is rediculous, all other dealers had no problem with doing it for me.
He says: "Leave a deposit, and if there is something wrong with the car, we'll return you your deposit". So i asked him straight: "So, who will decide whether anything is wrong?" He goes "We do".
I felt like slapping him.

Alex

What a freakin MUPPET! You definitely should have slapped him up upside his kermit head!

Thats kind of scary that the car was in two major accidents and changed 5 owners and that did not show up in Carfax...

It sounds like that dealer is just a bunch of sharks... what morons.

i think carfax only reports if the accident caused $3000 or more damage. it might be a lower number, but they dont report everything