Help: D&M Motorsport Chicago rip off

[38talon]

Hi together
My name is Steffen and I'am from Germany. I seek the help of this forum now because i made a very bad experience with D&M Motorsport in Glenn Ellyn / Chicago. Their website is www.dmautosales.com
I bought a Superformance Cobra from them last year in Mai. Part of the deal was that they put shoulder harnesses in the car. First thing is that they told me to forgot to put the belts in the car and told me to send it. Until NOW i dont have the seatbelts. Second and worst thing is that the car arrived here in Germany with a bad cylinder head gasket. My shop here had to pull the whole engine to change it because of the bolt size and the fact that its a big block. Very expensive thing to do. There was also one of the bolts from the driveshaft missing and the others were loose. This could have lead to a major accident. The car had also a front damage which was professionally repaired but never told to me.
I called D&M the last year I guess more than 50 times but there is no reaction from them. I have the feeling that they just want to make money and as soon you payed they dont care anymore.
Has anyone made similar experiences with this company?
What should I do now?

Thanks Steffen

[Woodz428]

If the car is brand new,the head gasket and missing bolts sound like an installer/builder issue. The body damage may have been incurred in shipping. I would contact SPF headquarters and address the issue with Lance, the owner, if you continue to have problems with them contacting you.

[Clois Harlan]

I hate to hear you were treated this way Steffen, I hope you get everything resolved to your liking soon. SPF is a good company, I am sure they would want to keep their customers happy and saying nice things about SPF?

Clois

[38talon]

It's not about SPF! Its about D&M Motorsport - a SPF dealership who sold the car to me. I bought it used but with only 2500 miles on it. And i would expect from a good company to tell me if the car had an accident and was repaired and of course tell me the problem with the head gasket.

[Remod]

Steffan,

The internet is a powerful tool, and you can definitely hurt D&M's sales with a consumer watch posting such as this.

If you have not done so already, I would call them on the phone and explain that you are left with no other choice than to go public with this situation.

If you did in fact buy the car with no warranty written or implied, then you need to realize this is a lost cause. There is some risk in buying a car sight unseen as you have discovered. Just let it go and enjoy your car! Life is too short to spend it chasing your tail!

Too bad you didn't contact a windy city cobra club member to check the car out for you BEFORE you purchased it....

Good luck!

[Remod]

By the way Steffen,

What color is the car ? I was there at D&M looking at Cobra's about last May...

I probably saw it there.

[computerworks]

Originally Posted by Remod

If you have not done so already, I would call them on the phone and explain that you are left with no other choice than to go public with this situation.

Originally Posted by 38talon

I called D&M the last year I guess more than 50 times but there is no reaction from them.

You are correct...They need to talk

Anyone in that area know someone at D&M to give them a heads-up on returning a phone call?

[Remod]

All I'm saying is D&M deserves a chance to defend themselves before their name gets dragged through the mud.
Apparently Steffen has not said the right things to these guys, or the truth lies somewhere in between both sides of the arguement.
If D&M does not respond in any way, then they deserve to get trashed.

[jwoodard]

Steffen's first post stated he had called them over 50 times with no response. It sounds to me that he has given them every opportunity to make it right. Posting here is timely in my opinion.

[RodgerH]

Originally Posted by Remod

Apparently Steffen has not said the right things to these guys, or the truth lies somewhere in between both sides of the arguement.

On what basis did you make this statement? Why would you assume Steffen might be lying or telling less than the whole truth?

[aldersonjames20]

I know that anyone adding their opinion at this point would be meaningless. I just want to let you know that whatever the situation is on both sides of the story, I feel for you, the Cobra consumer.

What matters to me is that you have this bad taste in your mouth about a car that probably was a dream purchase for you just like mine was for me. There is nothing more gut wrenching than buying a car that isn't everything you expected and were told it was, no matter the situation or who is to blame, beleive me I know (not the Cobra, but another car i loved).

Buying a Cobra is supposed to be an amazing event, rich or poor, USA or Germany, man or woman (well...). I hope it all works out in the end, but you can never get back that experience... I am truely sorry for you... again, not taking sides, or blaming whomever... just sorry.

James

[TerrysSPF]

Steffen: Sorry to hear about your ordeal. I've been to D&M on several occasions (nearly bought a solid black 01 SPF from them a couple years ago) and found them to be very upfront with me about their cars. I also know the people that do their engine installs for them and they are top notch. Since your car has a 460, I doubt that they did the install (they usually put 392 crates in their cars) so your car was probably a trade in to them on something else. Perhaps they knew nothing about the front end damage prior to selling it to you, but I agree with you that they should have known about your other problems if they did an inspection of the car before putting it up for sale (which they should always do). Perhaps you can get them to give you the prior owners name and number (if he agrees to be contacted) and you can speak with him about the car. -You could learn a lot from that.
Mike Jr. is a good kid and good at what he does (which is sell cars)........but he is definately a "car salesman" and not what I would consider "helpful" after the fact (JMHO). His job is to move cars out of the showroom (and he'll talk you into it if you let him). Cars requiring service after the deal is done, doesn't seem to be his specialty (although if he is now the "Manager". it should be). If your salesperson (Dave) isn't doing enough for you then call and ask for Mike Colando Sr. Last I knew he was the President of the company (unless Mike Jr took it over in the past couple years) and he was always helpful and very attentive whenever I went in. I've also seen him in action dealing with customer complaints and he seemed willing to do whatever needed to be done to solve the problem.
50 unreturned calls seems like a lot (a little exaggeration on your part perhaps??), however, it should only take a couple of calls to solve your problems. Give Mike Sr. a call and see what happens. If that doesn't get results..............they deserve the criticism on this one.

-May we all learn a little something from this and about buying cars (especially these types of cars) "sight unseen".

[Excaliber]

I totally understand the "As Is" clause when buying a used car. HOWEVER, the engine problem was discovered upon delivery, or so it sounds like. "As Is" cannot be used as an excuse to knowingly sell a defective product without revealing the flaw. Perhaps the dealer didn't know about the flaw(s), but if he DID, he should step up to the plate.

[aldersonjames20]

Yep, I bought an MR2 from a "race" shop in Atlanta one time, only saw pictures. Man, did I walk funny for a week or so...if that car was delivered that way, and you can prove it, I would be asking for the full bill to be payed by the stealership that sold it ta ya...send over Hanz and Franz to "pump dem up"...(in case you are not familiar, that was a SNL skit, not me making fun of the Germans... lived there for 5 years, loved it and the people....no really, I did).

James

[38talon]

Thanks again for your posts.

Well, so far nobody from D&M contacted me. From the posts I noticed that some of you called D&M so they should know about this already. Looks like its going to be like always - I end up calling them again.
Please dont get me wrong - I love the cobra and i have so much fun with it but it's just plain sad that there are some people out there who just want your money, sell cars that need major repair, tell you the car is perfect and dont care about you anymore once you made the deal. From a company like D&M you can expect a good customer service which is obviously not the case.
Remod - thanks to offer me your deist harnesses but i already bought some. I'am just in the process of putting them in myself. Maybe you or someone can give me some help how. I discovered a screw behind the seat underneath the carpet. Looks like the bolts go in there but i have a problem how to remove that screw. Its a flathead screw with a little hole in the middle. From the look it seems that it was just glued in there. Any suggestions?

Thanks again
Steffen

[Tommy]

Steffen -
This is not a comment about who is right in your dispute with D&M, but perhaps it will give you some insight. I lived near Kaiserslautern Germany for about five years. During that time, I had a disagreement with a local auto dealer over a repair job he did for me. At first I thought he was dishonest. I later learned that German auto repair shops approach repair work differently than do American shops. He wasn't dishonest. He was different than I expected because our cultures are different. Perhaps some of your communications problems with D&M come from cultural differences rather than inappropriate behavior by either party. Good luck with your car.

[Remod]

Steffen,

I'm glad you are enjoying your car. Forget about your bad experience and know that you will never let something like that happen to you again.

In regards to the mounting of the harness, I can't really help you. My car is in winter storage so I can't take a hard look at how they are installed. This is something that needs to be done correctly, so don't rely on guess work.

Have you been to the SCOF library yet ? There may be a how-to in there ?

Good Luck!!

[Don]

We all learn from these experiences, especially when involved on a personal basis. Years ago I purchased an out of state auto from a Dealer without a personal inspection and the vehicle delivered differed in major ways from the discussion, pictures, condition, etc. It was sold " As Is "

After lengthy attemps to resolve, phone calls, registered letters, etc I contacted the Attorney General's office, with complete documentation, in the state the auto was purchased from. With their quick intervention, there was a mutualy agreeable resolution.

I recall, I think, it was mentioned that having used registered/certified US Mail , helped the case since there are supporting Federal laws on using US Mail to perpetuate a fraud. Those with the legal expertise, correct or ?

[poisonsnake]

steffen, I bought a slightly used SPF a few years ago from Dynamic in Ross, Oh. My engine spun a bearing w/3500 miles. Needless to say, upon disassembly the motor was junk(not the 400hp performance motor that was documented. Internals....stock with a cam. Built by Performance Engineering..No return phone calls!!!! Don't let it get you down..what goes around ..comes around!