I had a pre-purchase used car inspection done on a vehicle (Black 2008 Ford Expedition EL, VIN #1FMFK205X8LA01111) for sale there and discovered that based on a Ford Technical Service Bulletin (TSB 08-7-6 to be exact) that the vehicle was at risk of facing a well-documented Ford engine problem (Google "Ford Expedition spark plug problem or the above TSB). Based on the vehicles' engine build date, this SUV had the old spark plugs which could get stuck in the engine head and, if the spark plugs went out while I owned it, I would be responsible for the repair as the warranty would not cover it. The first sales manager I talked to agreed to do all of the repairs needed (plugs, battery, brakes, door handle) but was not willing to come down more than $400 off the sticker price or he would lose money because of the $1,000 of repairs I want done. He also wanted to start negotiating with the vehicle's previous day price even though he had marked it down $1,000 that day. Fine, no deal I say. I call back a week later, negotiate with another sales manager to have all the repairs done and buy it for $1,000 off the sticker price (even though I agree to pay their processing fee of $389 which he says is standard throughout VA even though a dealership six miles away faxed me an offer for a comparable vehicle for $289). He sends me a buyer order laden with spelling errors (remplace spark plugs? I didn't know "replace" had an m in it. One occurrence makes it a spelling error, three times makes it grammatical) and exclusions. I emailed him my corrections and asked him to send me the corrected buyer order so that we could finalize the deal and I can put a deposit on the car. I call that night to see if he received the email and I am told he is unavailable. I call several times the next day and get various stories (he's in a meeting, he's tied up, etc.) Finally, a full twenty-four hours later, he emails me and says he has no problem with my changes/additions to the buyer order. I say great, send it to me so we can move forward.

I check online the next morning and the vehicle was still listed as for sale so I call and escalate the situation. I find out from the general manager, Tim,&nbspthat he doesn't feel comfortable selling me the car because he would lose money with over $1,400 of repairs (wow, that's $400 more than what the sales managers told me. I guess they didn't get the memo). So here we go with shady sales techniques, page 1, paragraph 2. So, I negotiate with a person of authority in his dealership, one of his sales managers, and he won't honor our agreement because it shouldn't have been offered to me at that price. Whose fault is that? Then he tells me he'll get back with me on an estimate of the repairs because his service department is so busy so we can work something out.

So what do they do in the meantime? They lower the price to what I had negotiated it to, and ship it off to another Sheehy dealership in MD. Do not buy from them as they do not keep their word, they are dishonest, unprofessional and are looking for any suckers they can get over on. As Tim, the general manager told me, only 1 in 50 buyers has a used car inspection done. Don't be part of the 49.