ELITE MOTORS OF TAMPA TIRED OF BEING TAKEN ADVANTAGE OF TAMPATAMPA Florida

His aggrevation comes simply because we sold the vehicle before he could buy it. I told him that we had a deposit on the vehicle and he did not want to hear that. He wanted me to tell the customer that placed the deposit on the vehicle that it was his because he called about it a few hours prior. There was no arrogance whatsoever on my part. I told him that I can not hold vehicles based on conversation and heresay. This guy is a clown and wishes he was MicrosoftBill.

The owner, Greg, is rude. That's about as plain as you can put it. Call yourself a businessman, and being direct being a part of the game, but don't add rudeness to it.

I called Elite Motors about a convertible they had listed for sale - originally for "$17,995", dropped to "$15,995". Sounded like a good deal, so I called. Greg answered and gave me an attitude laden speech about their greatness in the business, and how I should look at the car on eBay and leave them feedback etc. - all of which I happily heard. After this I discussed them dropping the car off for an inspection at an independent mechanic I had picked. Before agreeing to do this, Greg started asking me question after question about the shop, in an almost intimidating tone. All of this I had no issues with, until the kicker where he said, no matter what happened, or what the inspection report showed, he's not going to budge from the price - of get this, $16,995 plus dealer fees. Apparently all their prices are "finance prices" that are after a $1000 down payment. Today their listed price is $16,995 - I have no idea if that's before or after that adjustment.

15 minutes later I called to say "Greg, listen I'm going to pay you cash, or with a cashier's check... I just want to confirm that you WILL charge me $16,995 plus your dealer fee, plus any cost for shipping the car - not including any taxes, and you're unwilling to budge on the price" "Yes" "Even one dollar" "Correct" "Alright, well good luck selling the car" "Click".

In the 5 cars I've purchased in the last 4 years, I have yet to come across a dealer with such an attitude, especially in such an economic condition, ESPECIALLY in that of Florida's with real estate and tourism down so much. What was especially surprising was Greg's unwillingness to justify his statement or to consider anything that the inspection would show up. Oh, and nobody at Elite had any records on, or any idea of the condition of the vehicle, clutch, service history or even easily measurable things like its brakes or tires.

Given such a position by the *owner* I can clearly see the original poster's experience, and would flat-out disregard the rebuttal.

There is always two sides to a story as we all know:

First and foremost we keep the very highest standards of customer service of anyone in the industry. We stive to provide all of our customers with the highest levels of service and vehicles for the lowest possible price. This is a very difficult industry due to the high amount of competition. Mr. and Mrs Page came to our dealership on September 19th on a Saturday to look at our inventory. They were given a price sheet for all cars that were available. The price of every vehicle is clearly marked on our inventory sheet as well as on our web site. They told my Manager Dave ,that they were pre-approved at their Credit Union so they were ready to purchase a vehicle if the price was right. They decided on the 2003 Mercedes Benz ML350 that was listed for $16,977. After driving the vehicle they came inside and told Dave that they were only approved for $15,000 total. Dave then explained to them that they would need $3419.00 down to get the vehicle. They discussed it and said they wanted to look around and think about it. As they were leaving I told Dave that I wanted to make a deal and that I would sell it for minimal profit and the total would be $15,500.00 with Tax and Dealer fees. They agreed on the price and that the vehicle needed some interior repairs so we agreed to fix them as part of the deal . Nothing else needed to be done and no other verbal agreements were made. Every transaction we make we clearly state in writing what items we agree to repair, add or improve as a condition of the sale. The form that both Dave and the customers signed clearly states that nothing is due to the customers. When the issue came up about the Cd player, Dave told the customer that due to the large discount in the sale price of the vehicle that we could only provide them with a replacement cd changer at our cost which would save them money versus them having to pay full retail. Nothing was mentioned at the time of the sale as far as any extra keys or anything about motor mounts. As we all know by now, if you take any car to a service repair shop and especially the New Car Dealer, their Service department is a large income source. The Dealer will always find something that a car needs as far as repairs go.

The second part that I need to inform the readers about is in regards to the financing of the vehicle. The customers were approved at their Credit Union. They came in on a Saturday and purchased the vehicle without the Loan Draft that they are required to give to the Dealer as part of the purchase process. They promissed us to come back on Monday with the Draft. Monday came and went with no draft. We then had them drop off the car at the repair shop for the interior repairs that were promissed. The vehicle was repaired and still no draft . We processed the title work and produced the Credit Union the lein receipt and letter the customer gave us stating their approval. The Credit Union would not release the funds without the Draft that was given to the customer. When we expained to the Credit Union that the customer will not return our calls they told us to report the vehicle stolen to the proper authorities. We were then transfered to the Credit Union fraud department and told the same thing again. Not wanting to call the Police Department we tried to contact the customer and finally got them on the phone. They told us they were holding the draft untill we bought them a set of keys and a cd changer. Dave being a retired 20 police officer expained to them that was against the law and we would be following the Credit Union's advice in reporting the vehicle stolen since they would not provide us with the draft. The customer then brought us the draft and demanded we give them the tag for free for their troubles. We told the customer that again that was not part of the agreed deal and that the tag was C.O.D. as stated on the Buyers Order/ Bill of Sale. The next day Mr. Page came in with the cash needed to pay for the license plate. I saw he worked for a carpet cleanning company and I told him I needed my carpets cleaned at my house and we joked and laughed at getting a good deal from him on them getting cleaned. At no point did he state his disappointment with the service or the vehicle purchased.

We have sold over 300 vehicles on Ebay and have a 100% approval rating. Selling that many cars and having not one complaint is a true test to the type of cars we sell here at Elite Motors of Tampa. Most vehicle sold are sight unseen and purchased with veiwing just photos. We spend more on service and conditioning our veicles then anyone in town. We strive to provide the highest quality vehicles and our history proves it. I would incourge anyone that is interested in a vehicle to first come here and see the quality of our vehicles first hand. I would also like to offer anyone who reads this complaint and puchases a vehicle from Us a future full tank of gas and full detail (a $250.00 value).

We feel that this complaint is so far from the truth that it needs to be removed from this site. I agree that this is an open forum and anyone can list a complaint but I also feel due dillegence needs to be done when posting a complaint and we should be notified before its posted.

Thank You
Rene Cejas and Greg Sarantis
Owners Elite Motors of Tampa