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Suburban Subaru


14 Hartford Tpke, Vernon, CT 06066 (map)
Today 9:00 AM - 7:00 PM
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Dealership Sales Review

1.3 out of 5 starssales Rating
Worst Car Buying Experience EVER
Written by plaidpineapple on 08/24/2009
This is a long story, but I'll make it more brief. I should have been suspicious when the tag had a WAS price and a NOW price. I saw them take in the trade and put the car on the lot, it was NEVER the WAS price. I bought my 2004 Subaru Baja here with the understanding that they would fix the couple things wrong with it- tailgate latch stuck open and there was a vibration in the steering. They said they would fix it before I drove it home. They said the wheels needed balancing. Well, i drove it home and both problems were not fixed. So I made an appointment to bring it back. I did- they balanced the tires AGAIN, and brought it back home and the problems were STILL not fixed. I looked at the latch, and all they did was spray WD40 on it. Despite that it obviously was not fixed, they just gave it back to me. At this point I didn't want to lose time at work for the latch, so I fixed it myself. The pin was rusty, and no amount of lube was going to make it not stick open. Meanwhile, I get a call from the sales manager saying I owe him money for the car. [violative content deleted] I paid for the whole thing with a bank check. I checked with my bank and well what do you know- my bank left out a digit in the middle. So I was going to go in on the weekend to give them the balance. Before that happens, the manager calls again looking for his money- mind you everyone had missed this bank typo and they have signed over the title to me- so far as I'm concerned, I'm doing this on my own time. But the guy is obviously a hot-head and starts accusing me of trying to get away without paying for the car! Yikes! Then they say they're holding my registration because they LOST the title for the car I traded in! Boy these guys have their act together! SO thats taken care of and I bring the car back in for the wobble. AFter a test drive with me in the car, they see that there is a vibration not only in the steering wheel, but also in the brakes. They deduct that the rotors are warped and decide to machine them. Well, that didn't work. They try to machine them on the car- it got worse. They eventually turn them so much that they are at the minimum safe thickness and decide to order new rotors. Another trip in later and they do it. I drive home and wouldn't you know it- there's still a vibration in the wheel! SO, I bring it back again. they feel the vibration (which they obviously ignored last time or else they wouldn't have given the car back as fixed). SO they balance and rotate the tires. . . . AGAIN. And you guessed it, i find the vibration still there later. Now I bring it to the local tire shop who say the weights are too big for that size tire and that they tried, but couldn't fully balance them. Something about there being an unusual about of 'bounce' . I tell Suburban about his and now they are willing to give me new tires of my choosing. Hey now- they are now taking MY WORD about this and offing new tires? With no additional inspection? Sounds to me like they know about the tires and were trying to get away without changing them. Ok, so I do my research and find tires I want. I call my sales rep to tell him. He very quickly brushes me off because he's with a customer and gives me his email address. Sure, I'm an email kind of guy. So I immediately send an email. No response. I'm patient, he's busy, I'll give him a week.... Nothing... I email again to follow-up. Nothing. Three days later, the second email bounces back. Hmm? But not the first one. I email again from a different account, no bounce back. I call his cell to try an confirm- no answer, but I leave a message to call me back. No call back. Several days later I call again- no answer. So at this point I've had the car 3 months and I still have the same problems they said they were going to fix in the first place. I'm going to keep trying, but I'm not hopeful. I've contacted the BBB, but they've ruled in favor of the dealership because they are trying to fix the pro
  • Recommend this dealer? No
  • Purchased a vehicle from this dealer? Yes

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plaidpineapple on 12/06/2010
This didn't end well.... AFter reading my reviews, the General Manager contacted me. He wated to make me happy, but his efforts were weak at best. He said he would 'trade me out' of my car at 'close to my purchase cost'. Well, turns out that 'close to my purchase cost' was straight wholesale. So I'd still lose over $4,000 in the deal. Unacceptable. They were more interested in selling my car again and getting more profit from it from my misery than making me happy. Whats worse is that they never fixed my problems regardless how many time I brought the car in. They even convinced me that the vibration I was feeling was 'normal' for a Subaru and I must just not like the way they ride. The stupidest thing they did was to put 4 tires on my car from another Baja to prove to me that there was nothing wrong with the tires. They did that, I drove it, and found the shake still there. They later had me drive another Baja to show me thats just the way they drove. It shook worse than mine! Turns out this was the car they took the tires from and mounted on mine- and these tires were not balanced. So nothing came from this test than a big waste of my time. I eventually got rid of my Baja and took a huge financial hit. But at least I didn't give it back to them so they could make even more money off their mistakes. I've recounted my 5 month tale of anger and frustration in my blog which you can read here: http://suckysuburbansubarusaga.blogspot.com/ Nothing has been embellished- this is EXACTLY what happened. Don't let Suburban Subaru take YOU for a ride.
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