Pugi Volkwagen

You know that Seinfeld episode where they go to the dealership and George makes the comment to Jerry, “It’s a dealership, of course they are trying to screw you.” Well this place is that comment embodied. I came to check out a reasonably priced 2007 Acura MDX. I drove 60 miles from Indiana to test drive the vehicle. My sales person was Rodger. He was a typical salesman but friendly enough. He gave me the valet key for the test drive. I did not think anything of it. The car drove great but I noticed that the gas tank would not open. Rodger informed me that a business man traded the car in and upgraded to a new VW Atlas. He said he knows the man took care of the vehicle and that he would have a technician look at the door to the gas tank. He also said that the batteries were dead in the key fobs but if I bought the vehicle he would replace the batteries and get me two working fobs. We did some negotiations and agreed to a fair price of $7300 including taxes and fees for the vehicle. The Pre-Owned Manager, Scott Spisak, came and confirmed the sale. Scott took me out side and showed me a back door to the gas tank through the trunk and said that he was able to open the latch door to gas tank from there and that it now works. As I was waiting for the car to be detailed and gassed up Rodger came back to show me the keys. He said that he was able to open one fob but that the dealer did not carry the battery it required. He told me that he just put new batteries in his wife’s key fob and it cost less than $7. He assured me that the key fobs worked and all I needed was the battery, which I could get from any auto parts store. He also said in the event that they did not work I could call them back and his manager, Scott Spisak, would help me out. He said not to worry though because it was a 2007 car and that batteries in the fobs die all the time. He assured me that he, his manager Scott Spisak, and Pugi would resolve the issue.I did not want to purchase the car and find out I have a problem with the fobs. I went to a Napa Auto Parts down the street and purchased two batteries. I had a technician from Napa install one of them in a fob and it didn’t work. She said there was evidence of water damage.I took the keys back to Pugi VW and informed Rodger that 1 fob did not work. He told me to meet with his manager, Scott Spisak while he went on YouTube to find a video of how to replace the battery. Scott right away was rude and confrontational. He said that he was not going to fix fobs on a 12 year old car. He said that he was not an Acura dealer and he was trying to be nice to me when we agreed to the sales price and terms of sale of the vehicle. I told him that Rodger had already agreed to give me 2 working fobs. He said that “it does not matter what his salesperson said, he was the manager and he was not going to do it.” When I asked him if the word of his sales people matters he replied by asking, “What if he offered you a million dollars am I responsible for that too?” I am not sure how he got from 2 key fobs to a million dollars but I replied by saying, I am not talking about what if’s; I am talking about what actually did happen. He said he did not care what his salesperson said he was not going to honor the agreement.

Scott did agree to reimburse me for the cost of the batteries and told me I could leave. When I asked him if he knew the cost of the batteries he asked me for a copy of my receipt. Not sure how he was planning on paying me back without that info. He then said he would issue me a check on the next Monday and took a copy of the receipt. He kept the new batteries so I am unable to return the batteries for a refund. I confirmed with him via email and he assured me that he “turned in the receipt to the office this morning” and that he would, “personally have the check put in the mail today.” Will update if he stays true to his word or not.