Lum's Auto Center — Local services in Warrenton

UPDATED:

After posting my original review (below) we were immediately contacted by the service manager, who arranged for everything to be taken care of. They reordered the tires to have them shipped in overnight, and got us on the schedule to have the safety recall corrected. They ended up needing the vehicle for longer than expected for the recall work and were able to supply a loaner car overnight so that my husband and I could get back and forth to work and we didn’t need to wait in the showroom. It was, in the end, exactly the service that we had previously known and expected from Lum’s. We have been assured that they are working on changes to the service department so that others don’t face these same problems, and I’m optimistic that they will follow through on it. The fact that when our issues were brought to light they responded so well is encouraging.

Original review: After initially being happy with our purchase of a Toyota Sienna from Lums, we have been increasingly disappointed in their service department. A MAJOR recall was put out on the power sliding doors - one that can cause the latch to fail and the doors to open while driving. It took three attempts to call them, leaving messages and finally walking into the shop to get them to make us an appointment. We were then informed that they would not provide shuttle service or a loaner car during the entire day that it would take to fix the vehicle, which would leave me stranded in their showroom with my young children. I asked them to contact their manager to negotiate a loaner vehicle, and NEVER HEARD FROM THEM AGAIN, leaving my van with a continuing safety recall! We also have had numerous issues with the tire valves leaking, the tires separating, etc and they continue to tell us that “these things happen” and if we want to fix the valve stems it will be hundreds of $ on our bill, even though the car has less than 30,000 miles on it. The latest issue is that we had the car in for an oil change and asked them to again check the tires because of shaking in the vehicle and low tire pressure. They informed us that we would need two new tires in the future, and added air to all of the tires. Over the weekend, one of the tires began to separate, and we took the van back in. They ordered two new tires and we were told they would be in today. Not surprisingly, we dropped off the van (now running on a spare), and the tires are not there, leaving me without a vehicle. I’m not sure I will be purchasing from Lums in the future, because while their sales department may be good, their service...

I took my jeep in to have a oil leak repaired that they had to remove my transmission to get to. They needed the jeep for a week, but it took a little longer because some other things got damaged in the process and they had to wait for a part to fix that oops.They had to keep my jeep a week longer than originally planned. When they told me my jeep was finally ready I drove 2 hours to pick it up. I've had bad experiences in the past with other dealers. So before I left with it, I decided to crawled under it to look it over. I found missing bolts in a few places. I went back in to have them make it right. The service writer acted as if it was no big deal. The mechanic told him the bolts just wouldn't hold in the threaded holes. So I then talked to the service manager and took him out to my jeep. They had the jeep up on the rack and I showed him what I found. I then noticed multiple stripped and cross threaded bolts and a coolant leak that they created along with improperly installed hose clamps. We taped all issues we seen, and they would get it all taken care of. The manager said he'd go over everything and look for more while that all got taken care of. They kept my jeep for two more days to get everything corrected. I returned and I still found a few missed things. We corrected it before I took my vehicle out of their shop. My wife took off in it as I followed her home. We got a few miles away and my wife pulled off the road. She said it sounded funny and then she showed me. I knew what the sound was. It had blown the intake off. I pulled the cover off on the side of the road and found that it had loose clamps and missing hardware becauseit was not installed correctly. I reinstalled the intake tube so we could return to the dealer. They wanted me to leave it again and I said no. I asked them to get me the missing hardware and I would fix it myself. Nate the service manager said he would get it taken care of. He was great about getting in there and getting it corrected. He worked on it in the parking lot with me...

WORST CAR BUYING EXPERIENCE IMAGINABLE. WORTH READING BEFORE SHOPPING HERE.

People don't leave reviews on Google unless their experience was remarkable, and mine was remarkably bad. I have been stunned by this dealership in what is in the best case scenario, negligent and incompetent, and the worst case scenario, predatory and criminal.

Told me I was approved for a loan based on documents I provided, took $6,600 from me on the spot, then told me a week later that I wasn't actually approved.

Called me and told me I need to change my home address with my bank to get approved for the loan, or else I would be in "big trouble" (I did this, and I told them it would appear on my next bank statement. They said this was okay.)

Someone else called me a few days later and said if I didn't have a bank statement TODAY, they were taking the car back. (Luckily, I was able to provide one and avoid having the car repossessed).

Backtracking, the car had electrical and mechanical issues the week I drove it off the lot. I called them and told them about it, and they say the warranty I purchased from them isn't active until 30 days after the purchase, which they allege had not actually happened yet. They refused to fix the vehicle. (After 30 days had passed, I tried again, and they said they could get it fixed a month and a half from now at the earliest).

I sold them my vehicle on May 21st. They insisted that I SHOULD BE THE ONE making June's and possibly July's monthly payment on the car they bought from me while they sort out the mistakes they made on their back end.

Out of the blue, they send me a PARTIAL REFUND for taxes and licensing fees that I paid as part of my loan (upwards of $2000, also not legal to issue a partial refund for this) and told me to drive my car 1,500 miles TO NEW MEXICO to have it registered.

I purchased the vehicle on May 21st, and it has taken until today, July 9th, for this nightmare to end.

Unforgivable behavior for any group of adults, let alone when selling cars is...