Rome Preowned Auto Sales Inc. — Local services in City of Rome

I honestly don't know where to even start, I'm so baffled I'm even in the position to having to write this nasty review. I guess I'll start with, I purchased a 2010 Mazda 3 from here in February at about $8.5/9k. Absolutely adore the car, it's standard, just up my alley. Matt was very easy to work with, or so I thought. Usually when buying a used vehicle that's seven or so years old, you expect to have to replace petty things such as tires, etc. I was involved in an accident not three weeks later with Oneida county, which caused well over two grand in damage to my car. It was still "safe" to drive, and as I had no other mode of transportation, I did so. I did inform the dealership, Matt specifically, the day after the incident occurred, as it had happened late at night. I already knew the tires were going to need to be replaced and it being almost summer, I didn't see wasting the money right away. The county had just settled with me to repair my Mazda 3 late in September and didn't get me the check til November. I informed Matt when the car was in the shop, in case any problems followed that they were responsible for. I was informed by the shop that my rear tires were so dangerous, I needed to change them immediately. Upon me going to get new rear tires, the shop discovered my shocks we're the culprit behind my tires being chopped. They informed me shocks need to be changed every fifty thousand miles, and this was never done with this vehicle. I purchased my vehicle, again, in February 2017, at 61k miles. Also, the shop pointed out I had had a broken, not worn, stabilizer bar end link that was not due to my accident in March. Which typically is no big deal, it's still safe to drive, but over time will destroy other parts. So I brought this information to Matt personally, as I only dealt with him and thought very highly of how he "put the customer first". Once again, he'd been very aware of how long I'd struggled with Oneida county to settle and how long I'd needed my vehicle repaired, and when he basically laughed in my face and told me that he can't see blaming the dealer, I lost all faith in this dealership. Especially after reading some of the other experiences other customers have had similar to my boyfriend's, who purchased his vehicle just one day after I had mine from them. His brakes and rotors were bad. He brought that to them as it was within warranty. They claimed to have replaced them, two days later he still had the same wheel shake when braking and when the car gets up to, not over, sixty mph. I've got to say, I've never been so baffled and mind blown in a negative way over a used car dealer. Not to mention, insulted the way I feel I'm being taken advantage of! My shocks for my car are approximately $400 and that's $400 I do not have around Christmas time to dump into a car for a repair I don't feel I'm responsible for. I had barely had the car long enough to even feel it out, not to mention when the shop replaced my gas tank due to damages, he discovered my exhaust pipe was completely rusted through under there. If you ask me, they don't really inspect their vehicles upon arrival and I'm once again, extremely disappointed. Not to be petty about it, but I wouldn't let any of my family or friends from Rome or the surrounding areas attempt to purchase a vehicle from here. I only wish I'd read the reviews prior...

06/19/23 Update: So it turns out due to some electrical problem affecting a fan my vehicle was not cooling itself off the way it should be. My vehicle was then held for approximately eight months because they had to replace the engine. After which I was able to pick it up.

A few months later, my vehicle experienced a problem with a vacuum hose. Which they probably took care of.

Right after I picked up my vehicle, my car started leaking oil like you wouldn’t believe. Apparently this was due in part to a “rotted oil filter” this, of course was a cause for concern to me because they just replaced my engine less than a year ago. So it would stand to reason that a new oil filter would go on to a new engine having newer parts and new oil.

I was led to believe that these vehicles undergo a checklist, you know something that lets them know that they’re not going to sell a car that’s going to take a nose dive after a couple of months (much as mine did). It’s really hard for me to judge my experience, considering I have had my car for shorter than I am actually paying on it. I even went as far as to ask for a different vehicle, and they take the vehicle that they sold me back. They treated it like a full trade in, instead of making things right. Ariel was awesome in taking care of my correspondence. I however, wish they would have taken a very close look at the vehicle before they sold it to me. After getting my car back, my brakes squealed like you wouldn’t believe when I drove it off of their lot. I had to replace the back brakes and rotors, and I have to do the front ones next.

I don’t know…. Take away from this experience what you want.

Update: 06/2022 Electrical problem with my car on I-90 I’ve had the car for about 7 mo, It died right on the thruway. Will keep you posted on how this was handled. Purchased my first vehicle with the Dakota’s help in November 2021 (Nissan-pathfinder), purchased the vehicle from start to finish online through phone, email, and text message. I couldn’t be happier with my vehicle.

My wife needed a vehicle in March 2022, I called Rome PreOwned, they took such good care of me the first time how could I not? Dakota, took his the time to show us options, and again hit a home run. After a couple days we dove off the lot with another great car (Ford- Fusion) !

My thanks to Jay, Dakota, and the entire Rome PreOwned staff...

I've known of Jason's good reputation for year's selling car's and even know a lot of the happy customer's who've purchased car's from his as well . That's why when I was in need of a car , I already knew that I wouldn't go anywhere else to get my new ride . I'm so glad that I did . Anthony is so awesome and got me approved for my loan and in my new car so fast , my head is still spinning . I called him on a Friday and by Tuesday I was driving my new car home . The whole experience was so comfortable and exciting with no high pressure sale's tactic's and he answered all my question's and addressed all my concern's and I knew when I signed on the dotted line that I would be in good hand's . I even purchased the extended warranty that made me feel even more confident that I made the right choice to go to RPO . I bought the 2014 Acura MDX and I'm so impressed at how clean and new it is . It's like a brand new car and was so clean and detailed and even had a full tank of gas to ride around and fall even more in love with my new ride and get used to it . A great BIG thank you to Anthony and all the wonderful people who work at RPO and a BIG thank you to Jason for having such a nice selection of used car's that are all like brand new car's and for hiring such a professional sale's team that respect's you and goes above and beyond to make buying a new car such a nice experience . Thank You !!! ...