Erica Benedetto

Review of Haggerty Buick GMC

Used car buyers beware!

Used car buyers beware!

Back in July, my mom and I were looking for a reliable, used vehicle and found a car we were interested in on Haggerty's website. I called and spoke to Al who said he'd have the car ready for us when we arrived. We went there a few hours later, test drove the car and decided we liked it. We talked at length with Al about how we wanted something safe and reliable and how we'd be taking it to Missouri (where my mom lives) to do safety & title inspections. They knew this furthermore because we did not pay sales tax upon buying since we'd be taking care of that in MO.

Al swore up and down this car was such a great car, he'd let his daughters drive it and there were guys in the dealership that were hoping to take it home (I find this hard to believe since the car was on the lot for a month, but I digress). We asked him many different times about the inspection the dealership does and he promised us we're getting a good quality car in safe working condition. He (and his manager) said Haggerty stands by their cars and want to make sure they are putting safe vehicles on the road. My mom and I felt good about buying from them and closed the deal.

We were duped. Not even 2 weeks later, my mom took the car for safety inspections and failed them. 3 different mechanics (including one licensed Buick GMC dealer) told us we shouldn't have been allowed to drive it from Chicago to STL in the condition it was in. The torque strut mount and rack & pinion were broken and the power steering was leaking (an additive was found to help mask the problem), among other issues. We asked all three mechanics if this was an issue that happened in the last 2 weeks and all three agreed it was in poor condition prior and that any halfway decent inspection should have caught it. All three quoted us between $1,000-$1,800 to make it safe to drive and pass inspections.

We called Haggerty, hoping they would stand by all the promises they made and instead they told my mom "maybe a rock hit it" and then told her she signed an agreement that the car was sold "as-is". So much for standing by their inspection and cars TWO WEEKS after selling it and performing a "50-point inspection'. After continuing to press them to stand by their word, they offered my mom ~$200. What a complete joke.

Don't buy into their "used car inspections" and "trusted reputation". If you do have problems, they will talk down to you and not stand by their cars.