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Beware - Bill Cook Audi Farminton Hills, MI Certified Pre-Owner, Bad Dealer

 
sofajr sofajr
New User | Posts: 2 | Joined: 02/06
Posted: 02/08/06
10:30 PM

I recently purchased a Certified Pre-Owned Audi from Bill Cook, Suburban Imports in Farmington Hills, MI.  Worst experience I have ever had.  The car was actually not certified pre-owned even though it was sold with a big certified per-owned sticker & price.  The Catalytic Converter broke on my way home from the dealership.  They did replace at no charge.  The tires looked old when I purchased, so I asked about them and they told me they couldn't be on there unless they passed the inspection.  Two wks later I had a blowout on the highway and the tire dealer told me I had 4 bad tires and 3 different sized tires, on my Quattro AWD system.  They replaced the tires no charge (but didn't replace the spare until I went back and complained), but today (2 months later) I took the car in for a bent wheel and was told that the tires they put on were not "round" and will have to be replaced on my dime (shaking & pulling) - I believe they put defective tires on my car on purpose (they weren't very happy to replace them to begin with).  They left me stranded in Ohio and refused to help me pay for an $83 repair that was clearly part of what should have been included in the certification.  Bill Cook's son spoke with me and refused to help me  as the namesake of the Dealership, he felt he already lost my business and would not stand behind his product or the Bill Cook name.  I have consulted an attorney, but I have no recourse since the things that were immediately wrong they took care of and I no longer care to have them work on the car.  Please beware!!! and DO NOT PURCHASE FROM THIS DEALERSHIP!!!!!  

 
Complant monitor Complant monitor
New User | Posts: 1 | Joined: 03/06
Posted: 03/08/06
03:00 PM

Interesting commentary. The dealership replaced the tires on your vehicle including the spare. They were installed by a Firestone dealer which was arranged through the dealership. If those tires failed they are covered under warranty. Make a quick trip to the dealer, they will check out the tires and replace them under the tire warranty.

You were also immediately reimbursed $83 for the oil change performed on your vehicle by an Ohio dealer upon return from your trip. You were originally asked to pay for the service and see Cook for reimbursement because the Ohio dealer wouldn't accept a Purchase Order from Cook with out processing a credit application and Cook does not utilize corporate credit cards.

Sounds like you experienced some car trouble but after review I don't see that you were taken advantage of. The vehicle is certified and under warranty as it was when you purchased it.  

 
sofajr sofajr
New User | Posts: 2 | Joined: 02/06
Posted: 04/18/06
06:12 AM

Beware of Bill Cook Audi/Suburban Collection Southeast Michigan and all their affiliates.  As you can see by their posted reply, under the guise of "Complaint Monitor".  The dealership did indeed replace the first set of bad tires, but they did it at the dealership, they DID NOT have a Firestone dealer replace, we were there at the dealership.

I have contacted the Attorney General and the Better Business Bureau, which referenced this site.  My current complaint is that they replaced my bad tires with tires of the wrong size.  When one of my "new" tires had tread seperation, I took it to Firestone where they told me I had 4 tires of the wrong size on my car.  Unfortunately I couldn't go back to their dealership to have them replaced again because they are not trust worthy and I do not feel confident that they will honestly repair ANY vehicle, especially mine!  

The oil change reimbursement they refer to above was a terrible situation.  They told the AUDI USA rep on the phone with my husband as a witness that they would take care of the charges no problem, but when I took a cab to the dealership in Ohio to pick up my car they refused to pay unless I fronted it!  This was not part of the agreement.  Certainly if Bill Cook does not authorize any corporate credit cards, they knew I would have to front the money and they should have told us that to begin with.  The dealership and Audi have on record how awful Bill Cook was to deal with, Audi even apologized to me for the dealership treatment.  Bill Cook would not pay for it, saying I can pay for it and then get the receipt to them and they would reimburse me.  After much hassle, they told me they didn't care what I did, but they weren't going to pay it, so I did pay for it and they did reimburse me.  As a consumer I'm sure you know the quality of that kind of customer service.  

The topper, love how the dealership or as posted here the "Complaint Monitor" do not see a problem with how I was treated or the fact that they will not reimburse me for the tires I had to replace.  They responded to the BBB saying that Firestone said the tire size was fine, despite what Audi said.    

You've been warned stay away from this very large dealership, look for Suburban in the name and then Flee!!!  You will regret buying from them.  I do - $26,000 of huge regret and don't be fooled by this "complaint monitor"!  That's just plain dirty.  

 
superlady superlady
New User | Posts: 1 | Joined: 02/07
Posted: 02/12/07
10:18 AM

Since I have not bought a car yet from Cook, I will definitely keep your complaint in the back of my mind. I did plan on buying a newer Audi, but now I am not sure if it will be from them. I have visited the dealership a couple of times and let me tell you....those sales people are pushy! They talk to you as if you were born last night..."this is the last one", "a buyer paid over sticker for this car".  *** Cars are barely selling due to this state going to *** and they're gonna try and feed me that crap!  Not to mention I was verrrrrrrry insulted when they offered me $10,000 to trade-in my 2001 Audi A6 4.2  
Be prepared for an aggressive sales pitch when you go in.  

 
Weequayed Weequayed
New User | Posts: 1 | Joined: 04/07
Posted: 04/06/07
04:16 AM

I concure with the complaints about high pressure sales.  Recently I was in the market for a new car for both my wife and myself so I've been to many different dealerships in the past 8 months and Bill Cook was by far the worst.  Before heading into dealers I read up on shady negotiation tactics and they used every trick in the book.  I almost found it entertaining.  Their goal is to get you on impulse, and hide the true numbers.  They want you to be uninformed and to buy today on a bad deal.

Even after they see that I've done my homework and I have a folder full of information on invoice prices and monthly payment senarios, they still treated me like an idiot.  They were downright rude, making me feel like a bad guy for wanting a good deal.

Eventually I got to meet the GM who gave us a sob story about having to feed his kids and we left.  On the way out the he gave my wife a shake and a wink which almost made her gag.

Save yourself the trouble and avoid this dealership.  

 
alhollywood alhollywood
New User | Posts: 3 | Joined: 11/06
Posted: 04/06/07
07:30 PM

I cant beleive anyone thinks that you can find an honest car dealer out there anywhere. buyer beware all through life but especially at a car dealer. shame on you.  

 
VWowner VWowner
New User | Posts: 1 | Joined: 05/07
Posted: 05/24/07
06:32 AM

I did purchase my VW Cabrio from Bill Cook 5 years ago, but it was an easy sale for them bcause I wnet in knowing what I was going to purchase.  My problem has been with their service department trying to rip me off.  Last summer they had my car for a week becasue they were unable to figure out what the problem with it was.  Everyday myself or my husband would have to call about the progress, and we were told something different everytime we called.  They finally figured out that it was a mass air flow something or other, and charged us $600 to replace this part.  We picked it up, and a week later I dropped it off again because it was having the same stalling problems that I originally took it in for.  They kept it for another day, and figured out that some small part was corroded and need to be cleaned.  Once they did that the car worked fine.  So needless to say, who knows if I really needed the mass air flow part.  This week we took it in for a stuttering problem it was having when I was idling.  They told us we needed to replace all of the spark plug wires, spark plugs, and an evap purge valve.  They wanted to charge us $850 for all of this work.  We decided to take it to a local autobody shop.  They are charging us 1/4 of the price to replace bad spark plug wires.  They looked at the evap purge valve ($425), and said there is absolutely nothing wrong with it.  They said the car is running great since they swapped out the bad wires.  Also the whole time we dealt with the dealership, they were trying to sell us their 40,000 mile package which was another $800, and had absolutely nothing to do with what was wrong with my car.  Nobody in the service department listened to my husband when he complained that we felt like they were trying to rip us off.  They were quick to just push out the door.  Stay away from the shady, overpriced service department!!!  

 
Nilay Nilay
New User | Posts: 1 | Joined: 07/08
Posted: 07/11/08
09:06 AM

Dear sofajr,

Thank you very much for your post.  I am in the market for an Audi A8 and will take your advice and stay away from Bill Cook.  In my opinion, if there is any doubt, there's no doubt.  

Thanks again.  

 
alisia333 alisia333
New User | Posts: 1 | Joined: 04/09
Posted: 04/21/09
09:08 AM

I agree 110%.  My car was in an accident in 2005, they forgot to put the cover on the electrical box under the wheel well and after 3 years of water getting into the electrical system without me knowing I had $8000 worth of electrical damage.  Since the original $8000 repair my car has been into their dealership 6 times with random electrical issues.  Their answer to me about the cover for the electrical system was that sometimes plastic grommets come out and the covers fall off. WHAT???? You are telling me that Audi Engineering is willing to testify that their plastic grommet design is faulty and they can randomly fall out.  I don't think so, not when you are paying $34,000 for a car.  Bill cook Audi should be under review for certifications to make sure they truly have Audi certified professional mechanics working on these cars, especially when you have to pay $800 for your 75,000 mile maintenance check up!  

 

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