Carz R Us 1 — Local services in Armington

Be afraid be very afraid, I ordered engine for $1150 told was good and tested and had warranty. I ordered it and had a shop put it in for $400, labor to install, I have used this shop for 13 years with no problems (I am a car dealer) once the motor was put in they called me and said the motor had rod noise under load and also smokes when reved up.

When I called Carz to tell them of these issues I found things a bit colder then when I ordered, I told them I could ship it back to them for $90 instead of the $150 they charged me, I was immediately told "oh then I suppose you will want your money back for that to.. they said I would have to have the motor returned and then tested to proceed, I told her to accelerate my loss and refund I could send her a video of it if she liked, no way forget that idea..

Anticipating issues from them on my refund I drew up a very complete description and identification of this motor for their delivery person to sign and complete, thus not having them to tell me they did not receive the motor etc further delaying "their process" After no contact from them for 8 days I just called credit card company and had the $1150 charge I had paid them reversed (credited) back to me (after opening a dispute)

My shop where I had the motor put in called me, coincidentally the same day as charges reversed, and said he was contacted by Carz R Us and imagine this, they told him they had never received the motor (their retaliatory angle I'm sure and why not just call their freight company first anyway?) He said he explained to them about form I had signed, dated and filled out by their freight company and assured her the motor was picked up by their hired people!

After hearing this I called the number on the form I had the freight company sign and complete, I got some young man on the phone that explained to me he only dropped off the motor in some other town near us for them to ship on, I wanted another name to call his superior, and was told he would have to call him first? I then got his name and called him (just curious where the motor really was) he said it was sitting in a warehouse in St Louis as the they had lost all the paperwork (hmmm) and wondered whose motor that was, (this is a company Carz told me they had used for years) ha what a joke, I'm glad I had the foresight to get that form signed or I'm sure my refund would of been in limbo for a long long time and return amount would have been who knows if any. No motor no refund etc.

Lastly I called her and told her about the motor deal and said I told him to call her to explain where motor was just FYI, and also told her of the CC reverse deal (like they didn't know) and explained to her if they had any remorse they could help pay the $800 I'm out for installing and then uninstalling their BAD MOTOR! She gasps and says several times oooh I don't know about that! with no offer of any type of consideration for MY $800 LOSS ....AS I SAID, BE AFRAID!..SHOP ELSEWHERE!!

Oh and BTW never got any receipt with this motor and my bookkeeper called them to get try and get this for our records, this was BEFORE we contacted them about any issues, when my bookkeeper called and Identified our company she was immediately interrupted and told that this was a good and tested motor! she explained to them she was only calling for a receipt... she then apologized and said she thought she was someone else...ha,...

Cars R us is essentially an auto junk yard where vehicles are either parted out or scrapped. Most of their business is done via the internet. They do have some running vehicles though. By the owners own admission, all of these have "salvage" titles. There was one there that I actually looked at that was visually in good condition and decided I might like it. I did some homework and got a title report which came back clean except for the salvage title (no surprise). I also identified that it had been sold in auction. I found a website that will give you pictures of damaged auction vehicles, a description of the damage, mileage at the time, etc. That was $3 well spent.

With this knowledge I went back to Car R Us and I took it for a VERY short test drive. They didn't put any plates on the car, dealer or otherwise. So taking a drive around a few blocks is all you can do without fear of getting a ticket. Due to the damage I knew had occurred, I wanted the body shop I use and a dealer mechanic to inspect it. After my short drive, I asked about keeping it overnight to take it in in the morning for an inspection. Here he started to hem-haw around. It was near closing time (5:00) and the owner said he didn't have time to get the dealer plates around (despite the fact that they work well after closing time nearly every day. I live very close and can hear them working and running their equipment). Anyway, I said I'd be back in the next couple of days so he would have time to do whatever he needed to do. When I went back, he suddenly was very cool to the idea. He said his plates aren't good out of town (?) and that I could only have the car for 1 hour (Armington is a very small town with no services - it takes nearly a half hour to get anywhere, let alone having time for a decent inspection). And due to the remoteness of the business, there’s very little chance someone else interested in the car would just drop by when I had it.

At this point, we argued a little and I asked if he didn't want to sell the car? He said he did and I made an on the spot offer that was roughly half of what he was asking for it but he declined. So, I'm left to assume there is something more than skin deep wrong with this car and he is hiding it. I was prepared to purchase it the very next day, but not without an inspection. Any car dealer on the up and up is more than happy to let you check a car out in almost any fashion you want. I've even had a dealer to tell me to take a used car home and try it out for a few days. This business has a very bad reputation for the vehicles and parts they sell. Anyone local does little or no business with them. I was hoping they could redeem themselves with this sale. But all they did was cause all sorts of red flags to be raised and lend credance to their reputation.

Do yourself a favor. Don't take the risk and take your business elsewhere. BTW - if you are looking for a BBB listing for them, it is under the name "CAR PART HELP". You will never find them under "Cars R Us".

BTW - If you DO decide to purchase a car from here, do yourself a favor and check underneath for a Catalytic Converter. They've been known to...

I really hate to leave anyone a negative review because I understand as a business owner things happen. But when you make no attempt to fix your mistakes I feel I am obligated to inform everyone else why they should not do business here. I purchased a used manual transmission from Carz R Us. Was told it was in good working condition, no issues. When the transmission got installed the reverse gear synchronizer was worn out. The transmission would grind whenever trying to shift into reverse. I contacted Carz R Us about our issue. Keep in mind they shipped me this transmission (almost $400 to do so). I was told there was nothing they could do. So we where going to drive the truck to a transmission shop and get an estimate on getting it fixed. Before we got out of the parking lot with the truck 1st gear went out. The truck would not move in first. I again called Carz R Us and they directed me to their website to file a claim. I did everything they asked. Provided documentation, jumped through a million hoops, and then all of a sudden the info I provided didn't meet their "criteria". After sending another email asking what they where going to do to help with my issue i received no response. I again reached out several days later looking for answers.... no response. I have no choice but to contact my financial institution to see if they can help me with the charges, which I really hate to do. Do yourself a favor and pay a little extra at a reputable salvage yard that stands behind the...