21st Century Auto Group 21st Century Auto "SCAM ARTISTS" springfield, New Jersey

 I originally met with my salesman Greg at 21st Century Auto, Springfield in November 2011. I was told I could pick up the 2006 BMW X5 I purchased in cash for $25,600 in 24 hours. After not hearing from him all day I reached out and he informed me I had to wait until the 14th. Of course the 14th came and went with no phone call. On Tuesday the 15th I spoke to Daniel (Sales Manager) who told me I would have to wait until the funds cleared their account and it could take up to 10 days. On the following Thursday I called my financial institution and was informed the funds had cleared my account and were already deposited into 21st Century’s account. I immediately called Daniel and was told I still had to wait 10 days. I finally received a call on November 21, 2011 from Greg the salesman to pick the vehicle up. In our conversation, I was told he needed 24 hours to prep the vehicle, meaning service and cleaning. I came in on the evening of the 22nd to pick the vehicle up and to no surprise the vehicle had NO gas in it and was not cleaned or serviced. Greg drove the truck to the gas station in back of the dealership and put $20 of the mid grade gas in the truck. On the way back to the dealership the vehicle immediately starting shaking and the check engine light came on. The mechanic was called and a part was taken off of another “used” vehicle on the lot and put on mine. After replacing the part the car was no longer shaking but the light was still on saying something was wrong. I told them it was not a good sign that the vehicle was already acting up and I hadn’t even taken it off the lot yet. I informed my salesman I was not comfortable with taking the vehicle and insisted he cancel the deal. Greg said this was not a possibility and the mechanic told me it was nothing wrong, everything was fine. I was also told if I had any problems to bring it back and they would fix it. I took the truck and left the dealership. No sooner than I got down the highway the brake light alert popped up. To my surprise the vehicle had no brake lights and the door handle to exit the car was broke which both are safety hazards.  I called Greg the next day and left a message but as usual received no return call. The morning of the 28th I went outside for work to start the truck and it did not start. I thought the problem was within the engine and not the battery because the vehicle had power. Later that day, Monday, November 28th 2011 I dropped the vehicle back off to the dealership and was told I would receive a call the next day on the 29th from the mechanic. While at the dealership another couple who purchased a silver X5 off the lot told me their salesman told them not to buy the vehicle sold to me because it had major problems. I am not sure why I was not informed of that information and sold something else. After calling the dealership continuously for 2 days leaving messages and begging the receptionist to get someone on the phone, I sent a fax explaining the whole situation and asking again for the deal to be cancelled. I finally received a call from another sales manager named Mark. I explained the whole situation to Mark that occurred from day one and that they had the car for service the second time now and nobody communicated with me what the problem was or what was being done. Mark said he didn’t not know anything about the truck being there and Greg no longer worked for the dealership. He said he was going to speak to the mechanic and call me back. About 2 hours later he called me and said the vehicle would be ready the next day. I asked what was wrong and he said he didn’t know but would have the mechanic call me. I still never received a call from the mechanic but Mark said the issue was a bad battery. I got the truck back and had it about another 5 days before the engine started smoking really bad and coolant level light came on. I was stranded on the NJ Turnpike in the middle of the night in a broken down car. I paid to have the truck towed off the turnpike and called AAA to tow it from Route 9 back to my house. The next morning which was Friday, December 9, 2011 I had the truck towed to Open Road BMW in Edison since the truck was a Certified pre-owned I figured the repairs would be covered and the truck would be fixed properly. I received a phone call from my Service Advisor at Open Road informing me the truck needed a new engine, motor, radiator and fan. I was told I would have had to hit something pretty hard for this to have happened and I didn’t hit anything. There was also no damage to the body of the car indicating something hit it recently. The advisor suggested I return the vehicle back to the dealership that sold it to me because the vehicle 9 times out of 10 had the issues when sold to me and was patched up to cover to work temporarily. I immediately called Mark at 21st Century to inform him of what was going on. He instructed me to have AAA tow the vehicle to them now so their mechanic could look over the car to see what was wrong. They received the car back on the lot later that evening on the 12th and called me on the 13th to tell me the fan broke and they would swap me into another car due to the issues with the one sold to me. I went back to the dealership on the 13th and Mark had one of the salesmen help me. I told the salesman I only wanted the X5 truck because that’s what my heart was set on. He said the ones they had had 35,000 more miles than the one I had and the one that was the same mileage and features as mine had major issues. I told him they had nothing for me then and I would like my money back. He spoke to Mark and mark took me out back with the mechanic to show me what was wrong on my truck and said I had to take one of the other X5’s they had although it was not the same value. He said my truck had depreciation now due to me driving it which I only drove it 10 days at the most in the month of having it because to them having to service it multiple times. I told him that made no sense and I was not comfortable with anything they had on the lot. He then put me with another salesman who showed me a 2005 Black X5 with 53k miles on it. When I sat in the truck it would not start and had to be jumped. Once he got it started I began to check the vehicle out. I was not surprised when I realized the moon roof was broken. We went back inside and the salesman told Mark they had nothing for me. Mark said the black truck had mechanical problems and had to go in the shop. I asked again for my money back and was told there was nothing more they could do for me. I left and reached out to Consumer Affairs the next day. 
 
To this day I do not have my money back nor do I have a vehicle. At this point I feel I have been scammed and ripped off. I was left the money used to purchase this vehicle from my father’s Insurance policy. I am a single mom of two and do not have the financial resources to throw any money away. I bought this vehicle for me and my daughter’s as our family vehicle. I realize I am not going to be able to get anywhere on my own dealing with anyone at 21st Century and need your help to resolve this problem amicably. I’ve spent over $200 in gas (didn't get to drive vehicle long), $500 having an amp and bass box installed as well as towing multiple times.