ComplaintsforSouthern Select Auto Sales Inc.

• Initial Complaint

  03/26/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I bought a truck from southern select auto and they said they would fix the rear end which they did not, the cap for the u joint that they installed fell off because they put the wrong part in and caused more damage to the truck which could of led to a serious accident or even death, all in all they sold me a vehicle that is going to cost 2x the amount to fix it than what the vehicle is actually worth, and lied about the repairs

  

  Business response

  04/02/2024

                *** **** *****               **** *** ***               ***** *** *****
  
  *** ***** made two trips to Southern Select Auto sales. The first interaction was to pick a vehicle he wanted to purchase. Mr. ***** chose a 2006 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 pick up.
  Vin # ***************** with 186,000 miles for $*******. Upon test driving the truck Mr. ***** felt a vibration and asked if we could fix it so he could purchase the truck. We agreed a deal was made and a deposit was left on the truck.  We called the customer to come in  and redrive the truck with the salesman. Mr. ***** drove it and said it was a marked improvement and went ahead with his purchase. Again the purchase was made after test driving it again. Mr ***** at the time of purchase was offered an extended service contract being the vehicle was sold as-is he declined the offer. After a problem arose we offered to take care of it. Mr. ***** stated there is no way he would have our mechanic work on his truck. With that being said and the vehicle being sold as-is with no extended warranty and an offer of repair. We feel Southern Select Auto sales has extended all of our courtesies to Mr. ***** at this time.
  
                                                                                                     Respectfully 
  
                                                                                                      Southern Select Auto sales
  

• Initial Complaint

  12/28/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Sales and Advertising Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Purchase date: December 5, 2023 2010 GMC Sierra SLE Sales Contact: **** ****** I purchased truck from Southern Select but was never told the truck was rusted to the core. It’s about 90% rust underneath it. I gave them good hard earned real money. They gave me a badly rusted product a lemon basically. You have to see it to believe it. I’ve posted the pictures that were never sent to me prior to closing the sale. It’s absolutely aggravating ! On top of the price I paid I also paid $1300 for the shipment. The sales guy is like oh it has just some rust. He took some outside pictures of the truck and sent those over to me but never the rusted areas underneath it. He never sent me the under carriage pictures where the actual damage is. It is an absolute piece of junk. The frame is also all rusted its peeling off effortlessly. Then on the day of the pick up knowing that all the lights on the dashboard are on, he stated that he could have fixed the wheel speed sensor but that the driver was in a rush. He knew long time ago those lights were on and the truck has serious issues but never fixed them. The truck can’t be driven safely unless you wanna put your life and your family life in danger. I paid $1300 more to ship it over me. The metal comes off to the touch easily. That’s a $5K repair. That’s another $10K-$15K expense. Everything underneath the truck must be changed. The bolts are all rusted. They don’t come out. The shocks are peeling off. It’s very scary to even look at and think you gonna ride on those. The gas tank got holes everywhere. All the dashboards lights are on. All the fluids in the truck are dark. There is oil and fluid leaks everywhere. I sent them a message about my findings it’s radio silence. Thank God this was caught in time before anyone got hurt. This is totally unacceptable. They got good money in exchange for a piece of junk. The entire deal is unfair on its face. The truck is disintegrating and it should have never been on a lot for sale.

  

  Business response

  01/08/2024

  Southern Select Auto Sales acknowledges the above customers concerns and have reviewed the customers complaints in the above statement. We have attached screenshots of the pictures that were sent to the customer on 11/25/23 prior to the purchase of the vehicle. There were over 25 pictures sent in addition to a walk around video that clearly showed the undercarriage of the Vehicle as well as any other rust spots on the truck. Prior to the purchase of this vehicle, we recommended ***** ***** to the customer to schedule a 3rd Party Inspection, or any other Service Garage around our area and we offered to take the truck there for the customer to get inspected. The customer did not follow through on the given options for an inspection. We also asked the customer why he would be buying an ** vehicle with rust when he lives in **. A CarFax report was sent to the customer that showed previous services and locations of the vehicle. At no time was this vehicle under described or misrepresented. It is unfortunate that this situation happened and was not brought to our attention directly. As a family owned dealership we would in no way put another family in jeopardy. We sold the 2010 GMC Sierra with 180k miles AS-IS.

  Customer response

  01/10/2024

   I am rejecting this response because:
  
  They didn’t send me the truck under carriage pictures. 
  The business sent me the pictures around the truck, the engines and the side panels, the engine, the truck bed. Basically all the good areas and they left out the bad areas that would have raised red flags instantaneously. They never sent me pictures under the truck where there were tremendous accelerated rust, hidden below it.
  it’s true they asked me to inspect the truck locally or hire an independent mechanic to inspect the truck but I never got to it. The rust underneath the truck was never revealed to me not once nor was the extent of the rust underneath the truck. This puts my life and my family life in grave danger because once you see what’s hidden underneath the truck, the rusted frame, the rusted suspension, rusted gas tank, etc. You would never ride in that truck or put your children in it. 
  Yes the truck was sold as is unfortunately not everything was revealed as is and it should have never been sold to anyone given its condition. 

• Initial Complaint

  06/21/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Sales and Advertising Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I bought a truck from them on July 16th 2022 first of they cut the parking brake cable of which is a safety hazard because it had other issues with the parking brake and need $1700 worth of parking brake work alone but didnt tell me about that. Then when I was driving it home to ************ the transmission wasnt shifting right but I thought it might just me not being used to a gmc truck but it turned out the transmission was bad from the beginning . Eventually it started shifting so bad it wasnt even driveable and so I had to stick another $3400 into a new transmission plus many man hours and not being able to run my excavation business properly because I wasnt able to haul my **** pound excavator which is way under the weight limit of the truck so basically a truck they sold me for $19,000 which is a lot of money for me that wounded up costing me $30,000 all together including the money I originally paid for it.

  

  Business response

  06/28/2023

  Southern Select Auto Sales is writing in reference to the complaint ID: ********. It is unfortunate to hear that this situation has occurred to a fellow customer. We take great care to ensure that important matters such as this are properly managed with each and every sale we make. This vehicle was purchased on July 16th, 2022 AS-IS. The customer has not reached out to our dealership in the past 11 months since purchase. We were unaware of any issues the customer was experiencing during this time. The above complaint stated the customer was using the vehicle to haul ***** pound excavator within the past ****************************************************************************************** the time the vehicle is owned by them. Unfortunately the customer did not contact the dealership after driving off with the vehicle to ************ from ****. If the customer had contacted ** in advance we would have offered assistance or resolution to the matters when they occurred. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused and would like to offer the customer a solution. Please contact ********************** at **************. We appreciate the feedback and hope to hear from you soon.

• Initial Complaint

  07/09/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I bought a 2009 *** X5 from southern select auto March 5 2022. Test drove it the same day no issues. **** reassured me that the car was fine. Drove the car back home which was about 22 miles out park it for the night. Came back out the next morning started it out it in reverse the check engine light comes on and the a/c stop working . Havent even had the car for 24 hours. I called **** he got the car towed back to the shop and said the issue was the heat control sensor which caused the check engine light to come on which did not make sense to me. He had the car for about 6-8 days and had the issues fixed. I had to **** back out to the dealer to pick up the car. Less than 72 hours the check engine light comes on and the car is not accelerating now.I called **** again he advised me that he was not covering the tow and that I need to have the car towed which i did. They wanted the car told to their *** mechanic at ******. I spoke with ****** southerns select specific mechanic at ******* ****** told me that it was the throttle and that the vehicle was in good condition and that there were no other issues that he could see but the throttle. **** from southern select had the car towed back to his shop. ******* select tried to make me pay half again for the parts but I rejected it because they agreed what was goin on wasnt right. Finally the parts come in. Ive been with out my car for over a month since the purchase. Finally get the car back / 5 days later the car start doing the same exact thing. Not accelerating and the check engine light is on. Called the dealer back he said he will no longer fixed the car / he would not give me my money back which I ask for countless times when the car first broke down, he would not give me another car also. Took the car to the dealer they inspected the car the same way ****** did at ****** but the dealer advised me that their is 17k worth of work that needs to be done. Sent that in to southern select. No resolu

  

  Business response

  07/14/2022

  Southern Select Auto Sales is in receipt of the above referenced customer complaint and appreciates the opportunity to respond. On March 4, 2022 we sold a 2009 *** X5 with ******* miles AS-IS. As stated in the customer complaint, the customer test drove the vehicle with no issues. When the customer purchased the *** there was no check engine light. The customer signed on March ****** Notice of Vehicle sold without any Warranty agreeing the buyer will bear the entire expense of repairing or correcting any defects that presently exist and/or may occur in the vehicle unless the salesperson promises in writing to correct such defects. Contact was made with the customer acknowledging his concerns with the vehicle. On March 7,2022 the vehicle was towed to Southern Select for a diagnostic, the tow was paid for by Southern Select. He stated that the vehicle went into reduced power mode. The customer signed a ***************** agreement and acknowledgement stating tow was paid for, Southern Select paid and replaced the heater control,which is what caused the vehicle go into reduced power mode, added antifreeze, test drove, no issues, fixed undercarriage panel the best we could as the customer requested. Then in April contact was made again with the customer, we advised the customer to take the vehicle to ******, this is a third party service that is not associated with Southern Select Auto Sales directly, but does work on ***s. We paid for the tow to ******.They looked over the X5 and told us that the vehicle needed a throttle body. We offered the customer to have the labor done here but the customer would need to pay for parts. The customer refused to pay for parts. Due to the estimated cost to repair from ****** it was a little costly, so we got towed back to our facility to replace the throttle body. We ordered the throttle body, and gasket from **** ****. When we got the part, we noticed that the air intake was cracked, so we ordered one for the customer and also installed that at no cost. On April 23,2022 the customer again signed a ***************** of ********* and Acknowledgement for replacement of throttle body, replacement of air intake, and paid tow from ******. The customer did not invest in any of these repairs or parts purchased. The customer then took the vehicle to ***s dealership where he was estimated over $17,000 for needed repairs. The main concern for him was the check engine light, which indicated it had a transfer case failure, I immediately located a transfer case for him for $350. I told him if he paid for the part, we would take care of all the labor and fluids portion of the ****. He did not want to participate..The customer then requested a full refund over 2 months after purchasing the vehicle AS-IS. When he was denied a full refund of the *** and refused to do a trade-in for equal value, we could not come to an agreement. The customer was requesting to trade the *** in for high priced vehicles without paying the difference. We have acknowledged the customers complaints and concerns for the past 4 months, spent hours on repairs and labor at our cost. The *** is 13yrs old with 142k miles on it, that was sold AS-IS. Southern Select Auto Sales has made multiple attempts in assisting the customer to find a resolution and he refuses to put any money into the vehicle. We can not rebuild the car for him, but we definitely went out of our way to help after the vehicle was sold.

• Initial Complaint

  02/16/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  In January 29th I received a call from **** a sales rep telling me I need to pay the deposit for the truck by pay pal . I sent them $3500 via pay pal. Later the called back after receiving the money. Say I owe an additional $350 for fees . I told them Im not paying for pay pal fees . They told me to bring $3500 vlcash in the next day and they will send me back the money on pay pal. So thats what I did . I gave them $3500 in cash. They refused to send me back the money. On pay pal. They blocked me on all avenues of communication phone text social meadia they also told me that if I come there they will kick my *** . I disputed the $3500 charge with pay pal . **** the sales rep then went to the police making a false claim for passing bad checks . I never wrote them a check. They also said I never game them cash when I did on the 30th of January when I picked the truck up. The same day the truck broke down and the transmission broke. They refused to help me and told me they will call the police and ruin my life if I call them or come out there to return the truck. I paid $16,000 for this truck gave them $5000 as a down payment. They refuse to give me the extra $3500 back. That was sent via pay pal. I have to now pay $2600 to have the transmission repaired.

  

  Business response

  02/28/2022

  This is a response to ****** Strimpels statement and complaint against Southern Select Auto Sales and employee ***** ***************************** made multiple visits to Southern Select looking for a vehicle to purchase. On January 15, 2022 ****** made the decision to purchase a 2008 Chevrolet Silverado 2500HD. In order to secure the vehicle purchase, ****** needed $5,000 for a down payment. He was only able to leave $1,500 down via Debit Card. He explained to **** the salesman that he needed time for his checks to clear in order to come up with the additional $3,500. *************************** signed a **** of Sale stating $5,000 was the final total amount of the down payment. Two weeks had passed since the signing of the paperwork, ****** was delaying on the remaining balance due of $3,500 and said he still needed time for his checks to clear. On January 29th, 2022 ****** came to Southern Select offering to pay the remaining $3,500 via PayPal to salesman ***** We worked with ****** on finding a solution to pay off the down payment. On that day ***************************** sent salesman **** via PayPal the $3,500. Our salesman **** withdrew the $3,500 as cash that was deposited into the Southern Select account. The following day ****** came back to Southern Select to finish the remaining paperwork to finalize the deal. He took the truck off the lot and later that day ****** called stating he had taken the truck to his mechanics shop. He claimed that the truck had a bad transmission. We offered ****** to return the truck back to the dealership. We informed ****** that we would like our mechanics to inspect the vehicle and diagnose the issue. We sold the vehicle AS-IS, informing ****** prior to purchase that he has the option to take the truck to a mechanic while test-driving. ****** stated at the time he did not need to do that. ***************************** denied our offer to bring the truck back and all other solutions. He escalated the situation by demanding his money back. We made multiple attempts to reason with *****************************. A week later ****** made a false claim with PayPal over the $3,500 that was then taken out of salesman ****s account. ****** did not reach out to us to discuss this matter and refused to find a solution. The partial down payment of $3,500 recoup was an unauthorized transaction. We have multiple receipts of proof via text & signed paperwork for this purchase. ***************************** never made a cash transaction with Southern Select Auto Sales. He scammed Southern Select Auto Sales of the $3,500 via PayPal and still has the truck. He has made false claims on Southern Select Auto Sales and the salesmen. We had no choice but to take the legal route and make a report with authorities. The sheriff came to the dealership, reviewed all the paperwork and read all the texts. We handed over all the information requested by the sheriff. The sheriff stated he would contact ***************************** and offer him the solution to pay back the $3,500 or charges against him will be made. His comment to BBB was made after authorities were involved. We apologize for the delayed response, this matter escalated to an investigation. Southern Select Auto Sales offered multiple solutions to resolve this. Unfortunately we were scammed and our salesman **** suffered the repercussions

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