I don't like to give negative reviews, but I think you should know I've bought several vehicles online, and this was frankly the worst experience I've had. I spoke with the Autonation Salesman and asked him to send or post some more detailed photos of the interior and exterior. I also said I was concerned about the tires because I was planning to drive the vehicle 1200 miles back to Spokane, WA. He sent me a photo of the engine, a couple pics at an angle of the front of the vehicle from both sides, and a shot of the drivers seat looking in from the door. I asked if you could put better tires on it, and the salesman said no, you don't do that, and you don't negotiate on price either. He sent me a phone video of walking around the car, with an extreme close-up of the tire tread. I couldn't see what brand or size the tires were. I told the salesman I was still interested, but I wanted some details about the warranty. I didn't hear anything from him for a couple of days. The Autonation Salesman sent me a text saying the vehicle was now out on the lot. We called the Autonation Salesman Friday morning because our bank needed a sales order that had the VIN printed on it in order to process the loan, and he said he'd send it. He finally sent the sales order tow days. I never got any documentation about the warranty until I got to your dealership. After flying all the way to Denver, he picked us up at the airport and the Jeep had the check engine light on. The Autonation Salesman said it was because somebody didn't put the gas cap on tight, but I have a 2016 Jeep so I knew there is a specific message for this. As we drove, the check engine light flashed and a tone sounded, indicating that the fault was recurring. Luckily I had a code reader with me, so I checked the OBD codes and it said misfire on cylinder #5, and it was a persistent code (meaning it had been on for at least 5 starting cycles). That told me that even though I'd made arrangements a week in advance, nobody had actually driven the car to see how it ran. It was hard to tell if the engine was actually missing, because the jeep had oversized knobby tires on it that made it ride very rough, and rubbed against the sway bar when you turned the wheels sharply. The salesman commented “yeah, these tires are really rough.” Other things I wish I would have known before travelling 1200 miles: The carpeting is loose all through the interior. The jeep has ski rack brackets drilled through the fiberglass top - that were not visible in the photos I had been sent. The drivers side floor mat that was thrown in the back has a hole worn through it. The driver's side door lock switch doesn't work. When we got back to the dealership, I asked again about getting different tires for my long trip home. I told him I wanted the Bridgestone 265/70 R17 KO2 tires that came on it, and I'd be willing to pay your cost for them, since I know you can get tires a lot cheaper than I can. He went away and came back with three options for tires. Two of the three options were pickup truck highway-tread tires that wouldn't be safe on a 1200 mile winter drive, and I could have bought them cheaper at Les Schwab. There is an Autonation Jeep dealership directly out the window from where we were sitting, so I know you could have gotten appropriate tires. We waited at the dealership for over three hours while somebody installed spark plugs in the jeep. At one point, The Salesman came back and said they had to get a mechanic who was more familiar with jeeps. I have changed spark plugs myself in less than an hour on the same jeep engine. We finally got out of there around 7pm. Right after we left the dealership I texted the Autonation Salesman to ask if the Autozone warranty would cover the door lock switch. He texted me back two days later and said he'd look into it and get back to me. I went and got the right size tires for the vehicle myself, and bought new floor mats for it. First thing I did when I got to Spokane was to take your pink license plate frame off and throw it in the trash.
Clay Malinak
Mar 29, 2021
