Auffenberg Ford North — Local services in O'Fallon

So I know google reviews can be sketchy. You don't know whether to believe them or not. In all my years i have never written a review like this but hope it helps someone that may buy a car from Auffenberg Ford Ofallon Illinois.

I bought a car from Danisha (Sales rep) in end of December 2023. She was delightful to work with and a new sales rep. However, while on test drive she told my 19 year old son that she smelled the burning smell like he did and they would take care of it. They new the Chrysler 200C they sold me had a very bad leak in the engine.

In March 2024 I noticed leaks in my garage and it only got worse. Called Mike in the service department and asked him to check. Mike was amazing and did a great job. However, the leaks were not covered under the powertrain. It would cost me $2000 for the repair and it definitely was there in December 2023 when the car was sold. Danisha admitted.

I called the Sales department 6 times, and left messages for Danisha (Sales rep) and managers through customer service. They not once returned my calls. All the reaching out not once did they even care of the situation. They didn't reach out because they knew what happened.

The greatest part of this is that my son buying the car was Danisha's first sale ever so I felt like I was doing the right thing as a regional sales manager myself. However, she didn't call us back either after 3 attempts.

Mike in the service department was absolutely amazing and I have no complaints there. I enjoyed my communication with Mike and he was completely on top of everything. I added one star for Mike in the review.

The sales department is horrible at Auffenburg Ford Ofallon and I advise anyone buying a Ford product to not go there. Some of the other Auffenburg dealerships are great and I have bought cars from them. However I will tell you the Ford dealership is absolutely horrible given my situation.

However, I didn't complain or cause a scene. After my attempts in communication I paid the service fee of $2000 and will never go to Auffenberg dealerships again.

If you are reading this. Please go to STL or the Belleville dealership. This is a warning.

Comment to Dustin below from his response: In no way shape or form did anyone call me when the problems arose. You mentioned recorded lines. Hard to record someone when no one called back. I called over 4 times leaving messages with your customer service because they said your sales department was very busy. One of the times I was out front of the dealership when i called. Not one person was in the showroom but your sales people. Dustin I myself am disappointed in your comments and blaming it back on the customer from your lazy research of the situations. Your comments are disturbing and credibility should be looked at going forward. Good day to you. As I said before I don't want anything from your company. Just trying to warn others to never go to your Ford dealership in...

Super smooth transaction, very satisfied with my vehicle purchase experience, but I do have a recommendation. I was put in touch with Auffenberg through the American Express Auto Purchasing Program and received an immediate discount. Ali T., who is a super friendly and skilled salesperson, reached out very quickly. I liked that I was immediately in touch with my sales agent rather than an "internet sales" person who would just later pass me along to another person (which happened with other dealerships). They also did several other things to show they wanted my business, such as discounting further and throwing in a major free upgrade. They also shopped banks and got me a very good interest rate of 5.7% (in 2024! where I think the average is 10% or more). I know this has to do with credit scores and so on, so this will vary by customer. My point is they really showed they valued my business and wanted to do right by me. This does lead me to my recommendation. It was clear to them that I was not a typical buyer and understood their financing tricks. I really hate how dealerships try to hide the actual interest rate under the monthly payment to do add-ons at the end that only show a slightly increased monthly payment but cost a lot of the length of the loan. I also knew they'd try to throw in a warranty. I asked for the APR I was getting but they wouldn't say, so I just whipped out Excel and calculated it myself. I also asked for the warranty terms and conditions in advance. I might have purchased it if I had time to read all of the fine print. But they waited to the close to try to upsell me. Since I didn't have time to read all the fine print (which they never actually provided in person either), I passed on it. They even tried to double team me and offer me the employee rate. I enjoyed watching the sales tactics at play because I teach persuasion and negotiation at a university. So, I was having a good time! Hey, I understand it's their job to increase commissions for themselves and the dealership. But tactics should be modified when it is clear the customer is approaching negotiation differently. With that said, they've earned a customer for life. When I am on the market for a new vehicle or need to purchase replacements, I will do so through them. Auffenberg was a pleasure, has a beautiful dealership lot, plenty of inventory, and highly skilled staff (so be on your best game and ready deploy your own negotiation tactics). They also have a diverse workforce, which matters to me. Shop around, but don't...

Extremely upsetting and frustrating experience. I bought an almost new 2021 Explorer with 12,000 miles in November 2022. We were promised we would be taking care of. The Explorer has had problems with codes and transmission issues. After several frustrating calls, many “I will call you backs” but never did, and after BEGGING for a loaner car, they worked on it. The Explorer had an engine and wrench light come on the very next day. We called service AND sales. Left a voicemail with service, never received a call back. Sales said they would call us back and never did. We ended up calling a closer dealership and scheduled an appointment for the next week. Before our appt, (On Christmas Eve on a Saturday) the Explorer threw several dashboard lights and starting making a terrible noise. We had to miss Christmas Eve mass with my family because we had to take it back home. On Monday, we called Auffenberg and they said to bring it in and that they had 2 newer Explorers and gave us their prices. The sales manager said he didn’t blame us for wanting a different car. He said they would pay us back for that car. He gave us the price difference for each car compared to the one we had. We were getting ready to head over when my Explorer wouldn’t even shift out of park. It was stuck in my garage. Auffenberg scheduled a tow to come get it. We ended up making a drive over to Auffenberg to look at the newer Explorers . We were treated with respect and they showed us the 2 Explorers. Our salesman and sales manager again told us the prices of each car. They let us take one of them home since my current one was not drive-able. A few days later, they call and say they are working on my car. I asked if they worked up the figures for the new one (the salesman said he would give us price difference of my down payment, loan balance, and new car). He said “our website was wrong and the car is actually $8,700 more than what we told you and what our website indicates.” We called the sales manager and the general manager… we said we just want our money back. They said they can’t give us all of our money back unless we trade. We haven’t even had this car a month and a half. Most of the miles we put on it were from driving back and forth from the dealership. They are completely okay with watching us loose $4,000 over this deal. We just can’t understand why anyone would treat their customers like this. We simply just want our money back. Do not do business with...