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My girlfriend and I were in the market for a new car, and had been looking online for cars for some time. This car was going to be hers, and she wanted to get an SUV because we only have a small 2-door car that makes it hard to carry large items. We live in the Chicago area, but grew up around the Champaign area, and our families still live there. Since we weren't finding any good deals on anything in the Chicago area we decided to look in the Champaign area for a vehicle. We found a used Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo that was being sold by Bill Abbott's, and called about it and set up a time that we could look at it. It was older and kind of high mileage, but the salesman assured us that they rigorously examine all vehicles before sale and that this vehicle carried a Gold-check or star for its condition. The body and interior were in great condition, but upon popping the hood we noticed that the hood struts were blown and the hood would no longer stay up on its own. There was also a missing cap to one of the fluid containers under the hood and some of the parts to the underseat jack set. We complained that some of these issues were a safety issue, such as: missing a jack set, because what are we supposed to do if we get a flat?. The salesman said that he would have the parts to the jack set and the cap ordered, but refused to replace the hood struts because it wasn't a major issue. He refused to ship it because it would cost too much for them to ship those parts to us in Chicago, we thought that was kind of ridiculous but eventual agreed because we figured we could go pick it up whenever we went to visit our parents sometime. He also informed us at that time that a "motivated buyer" had come to look at the vehicle and that there was a possibility that if we walked away it wouldn't be here for too long. There might have been somebody there, but I think that he was just blowing smoke. It didn't really add any pressure because we where planning on getting it anyways and I saw right through it anyways. We took it for a test drive and it seemed to do alright, so we negotiated for a little while, and proceeded to buying the vehicle. It took awhile for the deal to be completed, maybe an hour or two, but we finally got it done. The gentleman that was actually in charge of closing our deal, told us it was bull that the salesman refused to send us those parts directly and told us he would have it taken care of. He also offered us the 3-Year pre-owned vehicle warranty. It was $1,500 more, but I figured as old as the vehicle was and for as many miles as it had on it that we better get it because we were bound to use it in 3 years and the price of repairs without the warranty could well exceed the price of the warranty. We asked whether we had to bring it back to Bill Abbott's or whether we could take it anywhere and they told us that most Jeep dealers would honor the warranty. After a month of having the vehicle we got our first chance to actually use the warranty. My girlfriend pressed the button for the window to roll down and the window fell straight down and wouldn't roll back up. To make it even worse it was during the middle of a blizzard. Since we had the warranty, I told her to find a dealer and have it fixed. We ended up taking it to Ziegler in Schaumburg. They looked up the warranty and quickly replaced the motor in the door for $100(the deductible of the warranty), Ziegler told us that it easily could have cost $500 to replace that part so it was good that we had the warranty.
As we'd agreed the parts finally showed up that were missing...2 months later...and they were the wrong parts...and the cap wasn't included, just the jack set. I never drive the vehicle, as I stated it's what my girlfriend drives, so one day when we were both driving in it I noticed a horrible scraping noise every time we hit a bump. It sounded like the muffler was scraping on the ground, but I checked that and it was firmly sere, so I told her to take it in since we had the warranty. We took it back to Ziegler, and received a phone call from the mechanic there a little while later. He informed us that all four shocks were leaking or completely blown, the differential fluid was overly contaminated with metal particles, and that the brake pads no longer had any pad left on them it was just metal tearing into metal so we would need all new pads and rotors. He asked us what we wanted to do and I told him about how we had the warranty so to just take care of it. He then told me that the warranty doesn't actually cover any of those repairs because those parts are considered wear items. I wasn't really prepared for that and went on to inquire how much it was going to cost to have it all fixed and he said it was going to cost over $1,500+ to have it all fixed. I told him I would have to talk it over with my girlfriend and that I would have to get back to him. Irritated I called Bill Abbott's and was directed to their General Manager - Travis. I explained to Travis that we have had this vehicle less than 4 months and that there is no way we should have had this many problems already. Travis informed me that he's been in the business for 15 years and that Bill Abbott's has been there for over 40, and that you don't make it that long putting bad cars on the road, whatever problems we were having aren't a result of purchasing the vehicle from Bill Abbott's. I told him it was a direct result of purchasing it from them, no pad's just run out in 90 days, they already had to be on the cusp of gone. He told me that the mechanic was just trying to swindle me and that neither of us knew what we were talking about. I told him that the mechanic was a Jeep dealer mechanic, and he told me that doesn't make any difference, that they are just as dirty as the next guy...all I could think to myself was how idiotic and ironic it was that such a thing would even come out of his mouth. He basically confirmed that there is no loyalty to the brand, even by himself, because he just stabbed this other guy in the back to save his own hide. He told me that if I really wanted to I could drive down there and him and I would both jump underneath it and check it out. I told him I wasn't about to risk my safety driving a vehicle with that many problems 250 miles south just so that he could tell me the same thing, and that I would be contacting a lawyer and following any legal recourse that I had available. I think Travis thought I was bluffing and that it would cost more money than it is worth, but what he hasn't taken into account is that some companies give free legal aid to their employees as a benefit of working there, my girlfriend's company being one of them. He went on to tell me again about his 15 year track record and Bill Abbott's 40 year. The bickering went on for about 10 minutes with me becoming increasingly frustrated, I never yelled, name called, or blew up though. I explained that I was trying to keep my cool and that we just weren't getting anywhere, but promised that we would be in touch. I called the mechanic and told him to do the work, because we couldn't afford to be without 2 vehicles, I work and go to school, and my girlfriend is currently working long hours. Even if it turns out that there are no legal actions we can take, I will never ever buy another vehicle from Bill Abbotts in Monticello and am trying to save somebody from making the same mistake.
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Bill Abbott Chevrolet-Pontiac is a dealer in Monticello, IL. Bill Abbott Chevrolet-Pontiac offers Chevy and Pontiac. Please feel free to Rate and Review the Bill Abbott Chevrolet-Pontiac Dealership so other Car Buyers can know what dealerships in the Monticello, IL area are great and which ones are just so-so. You can also use the Map below to locate other Monticello Car Dealerships quickly and easily!
Bill Abbott Chevrolet-Pontiac
Bill Abbotts in Monticello sold me a used Lemon
