Russ Darrow Mazda of Milwaukee

!!! Russ Darrow Mazda conducts criminal activity. Avoid this dealership and Buyer Beware !!! –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– On Wednesday, July 1st I went to Russ Darrow Mazda on West Metro Auto Mall Drive to look at a Mazda Certified 2019 Mazda CX3 for $19,194. I inspected the car and test drove it and started to negotiate pricing on it. The sales representative that I dealt with, Jose, claimed that the Certified warranty that was clearly shown in Russ Darrow's online advertising (I have a screen capture of the actual online ad) really meant that the ad should've read that it was "Pre-Certified". He showed me on a sales sheet that the actual Certified Warranty would cost $5980. I was appalled to the say the least and told Jose that Russ Darrow is price gouging and doing false advertising. He was argumentative for about 10 minutes and would not admit that Russ Darrow was wrong. I told him I'm no longer interested in the vehicle if they would be adding an additional $5980 on top of the $19,194 sales price and I walked out. Within 3 minutes, as I was driving away, Don the sales manager called me and claimed that the $5980 was a huge misunderstanding and that they would honor the advertised price that includes the Certified warranty. I was dismayed to say the least that they would think I'm naive and gullible to even consider paying for a Certified warranty. There was clear intent that Russ Darrow was going to price gouge me for Certified warranty that is included within the price of the car. I got home and called Mazda of North America to discuss what Russ Darrow was doing to me and I explained the situation that one of their dealerships was charging nearly $6000 for a Certified warranty on top of the a. Mazda called Russ Darrow's action "ludicrous" and they opened a case file and gave me a reference number. Russ Darrow finally honored the $19,194 advertised sales price and I bought the vehicle. I picked up the vehicle on Thursday, July 2nd. However, it was until later that day when I stopped to fill up with gas 200 miles away, that I noticed Russ Darrow had removed the splash guards from my vehicle prior to delivery and never told me. They committed theft by removing accessories off of the vehicle without my knowledge. Luckily I downloaded all images of the car off of their website and emailed Russ Darrow on Friday, July 3rd. They advised me to bring the car back so they could put back on the splash guards. I'm also experiencing a constant "Low Engine Coolant" warning light coming on consistently every day. It's clear that they removed crucial engine fluids at the same time they removed the splash guards without my knowledge. I will be following up with Mazda North America to further my complaint. I no longer feel safe driving this vehicle as I don't know what other criminal actions Russ Darrow committed against me in retaliation for filing a price gouging complaint with Mazda of North America. Don Thurber, sales manager and Jose Santiago are the typical sleazy used car guys — they're total cliches of what you think of a deceptive creepy used car guy. Avoid Russ Darrow dealerships altogether unless you want a lot of stress and want to be defrauded and deceived. Check out Boucher Mazda in Racine or Hall Mazda in Brookfield. You won't regret it.