Herlong Ford, Inc. — Local services in Edgefield

DO NOT PURCHASE FROM THIS DEALER IF YOU LIVE OUT OF STATE. THEY WILL TRY AND CHEAT YOU. JUST READ ALL THE OTHER REVIEWS FROM OUT OF STATE PURCHASES.

As an added note: the owner reply below asking me to contact them to make it right was completely worthless and just to make it look like they would fix the issue. It took weeks to even get Wes on the phone and when I finally did nothing good came from it. He is rude and disrespectful and did nothing to help with the issues with this supposedly excellent condition truck.

I added photos of the brakes that this dealership supposedly inspected and said were good. It's a pain sometimes but thank God we have a state safety inspection in VA. If I had hooked a trailer or heavy load to this truck, I wouldn't have been able to stop. Way to put people in danger Wes.

I am editing this review one more time to try and fit everything into it. It is going to be long, so please read it all. Especially if you are thinking about purchasing here from out of state. I live in Va. and back in March 2024 I bought a 1996 F-250 from this dealership online and sight-unseen. The price was about $12,000. According to the NADA, this price is very good approaching excellent condition. This truck is in fair condition at best. It also had aftermarket modifications that were not mentioned in the listing. I shopped for months looking for this specific year truck as I have always wanted one, but I wanted it stock which is VERY hard to find, so when I saw this one that appeared to be unmodified I jumped on it. The problems started before it even got in my driveway. I had mentioned to the salesperson I wanted a crew or super crew cab specifically because I have kids and we planned on getting a camper and using this truck for family trips. Well, imagine my surprise when the truck rolls off the trailer and I jump in to see someone had removed the backseat and installed a giant speaker box. This was not mentioned in the listing, nor was it shown in the pictures. On top of that, the tires were less than 50% and the windshield wipers were completely shot. Over the course of the following weeks I also discovered the reverse lights didn’t work, a brake light was out, the brakes were worn out and needed replaced, the steering gear had not been greased in who knows how long (there was ¼ inch of caked on grime over EVERY single grease fitting), and it had a coolant leak. I expect some wear and tear on a 28 year old truck, but for near excellent condition pricing I also expect it to be mechanically sound and safe to drive.

On top of everything listed above, they didn't even bother to detail the truck or fill the fuel tanks. The windows were all filthy, seats were not cleaned, the floors not vacuumed, and there were coins glued in the bottom of the glovebox with some stick substance I can only assume was dried soda. They had to have seen that too because the paperwork for the truck was in the glove box.

After much back and forth, they agreed to pay $200 towards the seats and $276 towards the seat install and fixing the reverse lights. Total repair bill to get this truck up to speed to pass a BASIC STATE SAFETY inspection is over $1600.

Now about the manager. Wes is a very condescending person. It took weeks to even get ahold of him, he doesn’t return calls and is never available when you call. I get the feeling he avoids customers who have complaints and just hopes they give up. He spent the entire 30 minute call telling me I didn’t know what I was talking about, I was lying, he knew more than me, and it was my fault for not inspecting it before I bought it. I asked him if his service department inspected it and he said yes, so why do I need to inspect it when a “reputable dealership” already had. He had no good answer and just said I was making the issues up again.

Bottom line: don’t do business with this dealership, especially if you live out of state. They will rip you off and blame you for it. Terrible service all around.

Wes, you have my number if you want to fix this then call and talk to me...

Whoever changed the oil on my son's truck failed to properly reinstall the oil pan cover/protector. Fortunately we found it before any damage was caused.

The oil pan thing happened over a year ago. But my experience with Herlong's Service Department has been full of highs and lows, mostly lows. Communication is the key to good customer service and that is something that is seriously lacking in the service department. My son's truck is still under an extended warranty and each time there has been a warranty service issue, we have encountered extended wait times (keeping the truck for a week or so) and no call backs when we called for updates.

We had an issue with the sunroof, the truck was at Herlong's for 10 days, several waiting to see if the vehicle was covered. I was finally fixed, but again, lack of communication and sense of urgency.

Most recently we discovered a coolant leak and took the truck for service. Bear in mind that living in Augusta, we have a one way 25 mile drive to Edgefield. A week later we were advised that although the leak had been fixed, an additional problem in the same system had been found. This required an additional parts order and another week of waiting. Again, lack of communication. We finally had to get a loaner vehicle (asked for, not offered) and after 3 weeks of waiting were finally told the truck was ready. My son and I drove to Edgefield in the loaner to pick up the truck. Upon arrival, the service department was already closed, but they had left the truck for us, it was Friday afternoon, go figure.

Imagine my surprise, horror on the way home when the check engine light came on and we started hearing weird sound, like air escaping from under the hood. What bothers me most is that when I called for an update earlier that, because my previous call had not been returned, I was told the issue was fixed and the truck was being test driven. How someone couldn't have heard the noises the truck was making is beyond my comprehension (lack of attention to detail).

Needless to say, we will be back at Herlong's on Monday with the truck. I think my biggest issues are lack of attention to detail, no sense of urgency when you already know you have an unhappy customer and lack of communication.

My sales experience initially at Herlong was somewhat rocky. This however was remedied when Wes Herlong personally took care of the sale and he got us a great deal on the truck. However, after my dealings with the service department, I would be reluctant to recommend Herlong's to anyone looking...

Buyers Beware!! - Dealer not reporting Hail damage on titles! This dealership had falsely advertised a vehicle as a higher trim model, which is an average of $3,000 difference in pricing based on other local dealerships. However when we caught their mistake, the sales manager, Jim Foley, got upset and said they would not change the price at all. On top of that there was a major storm the night before and hail damage had occurred to most of the vehicles on the lot. They had called and offered to take $750 off the price and said there were 10-15 dings in the hood of the car. We showed up and immediately saw there were 50+ dings in the hood, there were almost the same on the roof, and the pillars/panels above the doors also had dings. This car would have been totaled by an insurance agent. We called them out on that as well, saying that the car should be priced much lower because the resale value will be tanked after the title/VIN search reports Hail damage and they admitted to our face "Well, that is only if we claim it on our insurance" which means they are not going to report the hail damage if they can just rip people off and sell the vehicles with a tiny $750-1000 "discount"

Check this dealer out on BBB.com - they have 12 complaints open and only 1 resolved, as well has horrible reviews. This is the definition of a scam dealership, i hope this saves someone from the heartache of this place.

**Added 5/9/2025: I see you have added a reply below. In that reply you try to deny the fact that your employees admitted that you do not always report damage. I have the whole conversation recorded, so please stop trying to lie. I asked for the price to be reduced because the Truck's resale value is now WAY LOWER as the title search will show "HAIL DAMAGE" on it. Repairing it or not, that still lowers the resale value. Your employee looked me right in the face and said "Well, that is only if we report it to insurance." I was taken back, because that means no one can trust your dealership AT ALL for any reputable cars. Your whole car lot was affected by that hailstorm, and your sales manager Jim felt that taking $1,000 off the price was the "only thing he could do" to make a fair deal. That is beyond ripping people off. The truck had over 50+ hail dings and looked like a golf ball with how textured it was.

Stop lying. If you want to make it right, show proof that all the cars Carfax reports now show they have had hail damage, and drop the prices on those...