Tom Legare

Review of Walts Live Oak Ford

Be forewarned and do your homework before buying a...

Be forewarned and do your homework before buying a vehicle from this dealership, they take advantage of the elderly. My father, a 91 year old gentleman who had been in Live Oak for 31 years and purchased numerous vehicles at Walt's ford; purchased a used 2015 Kia Soul (base model) 64, 600 miles with a trade in (2012 CRV AWD EXL) 91, 237 miles, Dec 2018. The trade in vehicle was worth significantly more than the vehicle being purchased and yet they charged the gentleman $612.00 to close the deal. In addition the dealership only provided one key for the vehicle and the gentleman wanted a spare key, so he had to drive to the KIA dealership in Lake City to get another key and paid $74.90 for the key. The gentleman wanted to have the vehicle's transmission fluid changed and purchase new tires. According to the dealership, they told him it did not need new tires but he wanted to get them anyway, for safety reasons. Seven days after he purchased the vehicle, he had the service done at Quick Lane (Walt's Live Oak) and they charged him $582.00 for the tires and transmission fluid changed. Based on the amount of vehicle purchases this gentleman had made over the years (repeat customer) and the lucrative sale concluded in December 2018, you would think the dealership in good conscience would have discounted or comped some fees, THEY DID NOT. However, they did provide one free oil change service and that was in March 2019.

I did make contact with Bryan (GM) and discussed my concerns with my father's purchase experience. They acknowledged my perception on the appearance of this purchase and subsequent costs to my father, but maintained my father's concurrence of the business transactions. Apparently, this is how this dealership does business and how they treat a valued and loyal customer who trusted them.