Newark Rides — Local services in Big Grove Township

On November 1, 2024, I bought a 2016 Porsche Macan S from Newark Rides. Michael, let me know that the only issue with the vehicle was that the radio needed to be replaced. Michael was so confident in the reliability of the vehicle that instead of me flying down to take the car for a test drive, I could get it shipped to me, and he would throw in a free 6-month warranty covering the engine and drivetrain. This sold me on the vehicle, as the team at Newark Rides had been nothing but upfront and seemingly honest to this point, but I would not have bought the car if he had not given me the warranty.

I got to enjoy the car for about 2 months after delivery before I started noticing a strange ticking noise coming from the engine bay. I called the dealership on January 29th to see if we could get this looked at under warranty, and Michael let me know that I should get it looked at by a local shop before I send it down for warranty work. The ticking noise slowly upgraded itself to a knocking noise over the next week, so I took it in to get an oil change, and the automotive technicians let me know that there was metal in my oil filter, but not in the oil they got out of the pan. I called Michael again, insisting that I send it in for repairs before they got too costly, and his response is that the warranty company probably would not cover it unless there was catastrophic engine damage, and I should keep driving it until that damage happened. I did not continue to drive it, but instead decided to park it in early February, when a low coolant light came on the dashboard.

I called the dealership again on February 19, insisting that it get looked at. Instead of paying to get it towed to a Porsche specialist, the dealership helped me get it transported to them on March 7th.

I would then follow up with the dealership a week after, and Michael let me know that the first shop was looking at it, and they thought it was just a high-pressure fuel pump. A few weeks go by, and I call the dealership again. Michael let me know that the first place they took it to couldn't figure out what the problem with the vehicle was. I call again the last week of April, and by this time the dealership had started to screen my calls, as it would take multiple calls to get someone to pick up, and Michael would always be busy so he couldn't talk to me and no one else knew what was going on with my vehicle, not even the service department, as they said that it was at a different shop.

I called again later in May, letting Michael know that I needed the vehicle soon, and he let me know that the third shop didn't know what was wrong with it and that they were bringing it back into their local service department to see if they could fix it in-house. I texted him later in the week letting him know I needed the car by Sunday and didn't get a response.

I reached out to the dealership again in June, and Michael let me know that they can't fix it and the dealership would be buying the car back from me, and he just had to talk to the owner to iron out the details. I thought this was a great deal for me, and I started looking for new vehicles to replace the Macan.

The dealership continued to screen my calls whenever I would call the previous week, and I didn't get ahold of them until today when they let me know that they would not be buying my car back but instead giving me $2000 to fix it myself, or they would pay for half the repairs if I would pay for half. Michael sent me a text today letting me know that I drove the car more than 200 miles, so I should consider myself lucky that the dealership is willing to cover anything at all, and the text seemed to have a sinister undertone, in my opinion. The owner has been made aware of the situation by the manager of the dealership and seems to be completely uncaring to the fact that I had been walking to work during the months of February March April and most of May, and that his staff seems to have been lying to me for the past several months to cover up the fact that they didn't want to get my...

Recently edited for context: initial buy was 2 years ago....

This place is the absolute worst! The people there act all nice Nick, but are total pieces of trash. I just got out if the military and was buying a car. My mom offered to do so. We went to Newark Rides and she paid in cash. 4 people counted it more than once to get the full amount. The next day, my mom realized she forgot her license there and asked me to pick it up. They told us we were $900 short and refused to give the license back (which is illegal). They demanded that we give them an extra $900 or else they would pull the paperwork and report the car stolen. We would have happily paid it if there was a mistake, there is audio and video surveillance, but they refused to show it. They threatened to call the police for theft by deception. We called the LaSalle County Police and found we were in the clear. They (Newark Rides) grudgingly gave back the license, cursed at us, and tood us to leave. While I was turning on the car, the older man, Nick's dad, walked towards our car threateningly and kept shouting at us. There is no professionalism here and they are a bunch of lying skeevy people. Do not trust them, do not buy from here.

Edit: I believe that Nick or or one of the other employees followed me home from work one time as an attempted intimidation attempt about a week after the sell. I get off work at 11pm and there was a car waiting in the parking lot that followed me out. There was a thing on the window advertising Newark Rides. Going on a very convoluted route home as something felt off, they continued to tail me prompting me to call my family and the police. Upon seeing the police behind us, they took a turn and drove off.

For your safety, do NOT go here. They are a bunch of unhinged people that try to cheat and steal from their customers...

Went to newark rides in spite of all the 1 star reviews. Bought a ford focus for $5400 cash yes you can buy cars for cheap but expect problems, told jeff the salesman that id be back to pick the car up 5 hours later. He said he would have "their mechanic" make sure the car was all good and ready to go, should have been my first red flag, (inspections should be done before being put on the lot) so i had the car for 5 days now had my mechanic look at the vehicle. They told me the car needed need tires (no big deal), needed new motor mounts because they were worn and the engine wasnt sitting right, air filter was dirty no big deal. All shocks and struts need replaced that is a big deal, have 2 exhaust leaks so they recommended new exhaust, sway bar. So total repairs $4300 after parts and labor. Mind you two seperate mechanics looked at the car and came up with the same conclusions. Jeff tells me after i called that he could not help me (suprise, suprise) and that he could get the work done way cheaper. At this point i really dont trust the snakes at this place. My advice is to take the car to your mechanic BEFORE you purchase anything from here. Otherwise you will end up paying 10k for a 5k car. I wish there was a way to add pictures to this review as my mechanic sent me pictures showing all of these problems. The best they have is you need a new mechanic. Well 2 mechanics saying the same thing is good enough for me. Jeff did say to bring the car back and they could fix the problems at my expense. But if i go back i know for a fact i am going to blow up so its not worth my time...