I purchased a used Mazdaspeed3 2008 in March of 2009 from Gary Yeoman's dealership in Daytona Beach Florida. I found the car from searching the internet in hopes of finding this particular car. I live in Arkansas so buying a car in another state was making me extremely cautious to begin with. The company sold a lot of cars from eBay and their internet store so I was giving reassurance from the online salesman, Steve Ferrarri.
Before purchasing this car I ran a carfax on it and it came up clean. The car had been originally bought New from Gary Yeoman's and I was told it had been sold so the owner could get a different type of car. I asked the salesman through email and over the phone interaction if the car had any work done to it or had been modified in anyway. Steve assured me it hadn't. I flew to Daytona and went to see the car in person. I took it for a test drive with Steve. It was a dream come true. This car seemed perfect. Steve went over the warranty, it was still under manufacturer's warranty because it had 32,000 on it only. So I bought the car. As I was leaving Steve told me he couldn't find the second the key and he would locate it and mail it to me. No big deal I left for Arkansas with my dream car.
Seven months later my check engine light comes on. No big deal I take it to the dealership in Arkansas. They tell me the 3rd cylinder is going dead, big deal, he said since it's still under warranty he would file to get a new engine put in it. I've babied this car so I'm thinking I've bought a lemon. Nope, I get a call from my Arkansas dealer saying this car has a VOIDED warranty because of modifications made to the car that were reported two months before I bought my car.
There are no modifications currently on the car so my dealer contacts the warranty office and says that it had been brought in and flagged because of adjustments made to the computer and those are probably what caused damage to the cylinder.
So to review, after being told the car hadn't been modified Steve Ferrarri of Gary Yeoman's sold me a previously modified car that no longer appeared modified with a VOIDED WARRANTY that he told me was still in effect.
I have the webpage saved and it states EXISTING WARRANTY, I have the warranty information Steve gave me, I just assume something wrong is going to be fixed.
I call Steve Ferrarri, tell him my predicament and my frustration. He ADMITS he sold me a car under warranty, and says he'll get back to me tomorrow and he will take car of it. Never calls. I call again, tells me he is working on it, he says he will call me by the end of the day, never did. He did this four or five times so I call and talk to the general manager and it is the same stuff. They just keep lying for one another and say they are working on it, and they will call me back and they don't. It's been two weeks and I'm carless and they seriously act like its not a big issue that they sold me a car under false pretenses.
I told the General Manager how awful this has been and that if I don't get something in the works soon I'm going to put it in a lawyers hands. Instead of reassuring me, he tells me if thats how I want to do it, do it. Also, he's working on it and he will call tomorrow.....
Do not buy a car from Gary Yeoman. They are dishonest and if you don't get a carfax, and everything in writing and a good attorney I have a feeling they will figure out a way to ruin your buying experience.
Did I mention I'm a college student, 23 years old and this was my first real car experience purchase. This car was my graduation gift from my family for getting my Master's Degree.
Avoid Gary Yeoman's Internet and Store Location. God bless you for reading all of this and thank you for your time.