Just stumbled on to this and felt I should speak up! We have sold many theft recoveries over the years, as we feel that, sometimes, they represent a below fair market price on a car for a reason other than an accident. The reason they are cheaper, is because they have suffered an insurance claim and consequently may not have a warranty available from the manufacturer. This is a clean title vehicle, there is no salvage or rebuilt brand on the ownership, and in fact the vehicle was in perfect and original condition with only 2450 kms - definitely not something we would tell someone to avoid with a ten foot pole. Yet this purchasers bill of sale was still clearly marked as an "insurance total loss due to theft", so that there would be no ambiguity. We always make it clear to our purchasers that there may be an issue with the manufacturers warranty, because there is absolutely nothing we can do about it. We don't want headaches like this one, so why would we mislead a customer to "trick" them in to buying a vehicle we could have easily sold 10 times over. This car did in fact have warranty in tact the week it was purchased as per a phone call to Subaru to verify that fact - the customer was told that - and also told we couldnt control it being cancelled. the problem with theft recoveries is that their warranty can be cancelled at any time, and we can't control it in any way. It is ridiculous that manufacturers can get away with this on undamaged units, nonethless they do. This poster claims they were not informed of this, but in fact - in an email sent to me recently she makes it clear that this was discussed before she bought the car. I have already met with her husband once, and offered to split the cost of a 3 yr warranty to offset the original warranty. This is not a "useless aftermarket warranty" There certainly are some aftermarket warranties like that, but this is not one of them - hence the cost! This is as close to bumper to bumper as you can get with little difference from the manufacturers warranty and some distinct advantages over the manufacturers warranty as well, such as not having to return to a Subaru dealer to have your warranty work performed. This would in fact be giving them an additional 6 months of warranty over what it would have had new. I didnt hear from them again until I received an email in December, requesting we meet and discuss what we can do to rectify the situation in a manor suitable to both parties, I phoned the purchaser within minutes of receiving the email, and told them I could meet with them anytime. I am certain we will resolve the issue to the satisfaction of our customer, and this reply is not directed at them, but simply a statement to clarify some facts. I take our reputation seriously, and I am well aware the power of an online presence, and customer reviews.
re the pricing - First of all - we are in Canada, cars are significantly more expensive here than in the U.S. so no comparing to U.S. prices here. The vehicle was purchased for $27000....including taxes and fees!! The actual purchase price of the vehicle was $23500 and the vehicle had only 2450 kms. $27000 is about a $4-5000 saving from a new one at the time of purchase, $25795 did not include freight pdi, other fees, or taxes. This was at a time when these were very new and hot in the market, and there were no discounts available on new ones...in fact many were being sold for more than msrp...and for that matter - they are still hard to get a deal on! Rest assured - the purchaser wouldn't have bought it if they didnt feel it was a good deal, they are intelligent and informed people. (a new XT btw is almost $42000 with taxes!)
as an aside, For my own piece of mind - I have to say... It is easy to get online as an anonymous character and bad mouth a whole profession of people as some of the responders here have chosen to do, even though the OP has stated that they feel the issue is not with us! Not so cool... its mindless slander like this that take away from the usefulness of these forums. I would suggest that people like this stop hiding behind an online persona, and come see us in person so we can dissuade them from this opinion and put their fears to rest. We aren't anonymous...we are easily found online and in person. We don't lie to our customers, if we have a car for sale with any type of issue, we tell them, and they decide wether to buy it or not, if they buy it - it is clearly stated on their contract of purchase, as this one was. We simply dont need the business that badly. I would rather close the doors first. When I read the comments here from somebody who doesn't know the first thing about me or my business, bad mouthing me and my staff, calling us liars, I find it rather unsettling, and it makes me want to lash back...but I cant...because they aren't a real person. We aren't some big company that buries your issues in layers of people who can't really help with your problem. We are people just like any others with families at home and a conscience we have to deal with every day, we have been in business for almost 50 years in the Ottawa area, have a perfect record with BBB, we never run from a customer with a problem, and we arent running from this one. We have offered them a very good solution already, and have agreed to meet with them again in a further effort to resolve this issue. the ball is currently in their court.
If anyone has read this post due to a similar problem, please feel free to call me for advice and the best options available, if you have purchased a vehicle with a cancelled warranty and were NOT informed of any total loss or other issue that may cause a warranty to be cancelled by your dealer, you may have recourse, and we can advise you what to do. Sellers like that are the ones who make it harder for all of us in this proffession.
sincerely,
Fred Orr
Owner
Orr Motors
