- Report: #1206343
Complaint Review: Gateway Classic Cars - Lake Mary Florida
Reported By:
Robert Jones -
Matthews, North Carolina,
Submitted:
Updated:
-
Author Not Confirmed
Why?
Gateway Classic Cars
635 Century Point Lake Mary, 32746 Florida, USA
Phone:
407-771-2000
Web:
www.gatewayclassiccars.com/
Categories:
Business Rating:
(0)
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Gateway Classic Cars Buyer Beware of Gateway Classic Cars - Tampa, Orlando, St. Louis - They All Lie Lake Mary Florida
I found a classic car on Gateway Classic Cars website and called Chris Grazer (salesman) to discuss. I specifically asked him if the car was a numbers matching car and he told me yes. He said that Gateway would only sell number matching cars. In fact, he said that he checked it himself and everything was good to go.
I drove to Lake Mary Floriday and purchased a car on December 15, 2014. Mr. Grazer was present at the time of delivery promised that I would received a clean title within 3 days. Four weeks later I received a title in the mail. However, after standing in line at the DMV for over an hour, wasting my time, I was told that the seller did not sign the title so NC would not accept it. I then called Christine at Gateway Classic Cars. She was rude and totally unprofessional. She told me that NC did not know what they were doing. She promised to call the NC DMV and fix the problem. Finally, two weeks later the form did arrive and I registered the car with North Carolina.
However, the NC Fraud and Theft Bureau informed me that the title did not match the VIN plate on the car and the serial number on the frame did not match the VIN plate so now I am required to post a surety bond for 3 times the value of the car and NC will not allow me to keep the original VIN number. This is going to lower the value of the car by thousands of dollars.
I asked Gateway to take the car back and exchange it for another car that was able to be legally registered in NC. But they refused.
They are now refusing to take my calls and are blaming me for the problem. But all I did was pay this company $32,000 dollars for a car that is not what they represented to me.
Stay away from these guys. They do not honor their word and will leave you hanging.
2 Updates & Rebuttals
BradGCC
Alabama,USA
Incorrect
#2UPDATE Employee
Mon, August 03, 2015
Nowhere on our site does it say the vehicle is numbers matching, nor did we claim that. Ironically this car had an engine in it that did not become available until years later. So, any research would have easily shown that it COULDN'T be numbers matching. We did everything possible from our end and his state told us all he had to do was have a VIN verification done and the car would be titled with no issue. He refused to drive the car 5 miles to have it done. Nothing we can do to help it he refuses to drive a few miles to rectify the situation. Buyer's remorse and wanted us to buy the vehicle back and that wasn't going to happen.
GCC
O'Fallon,Illinois,
GCC's Response
#3UPDATE Employee
Wed, February 18, 2015
Our company has been in complete and consistent communication with this customer. He is correct that the title and VIN had a clerical error and received one incorrect digit. After finding said error, our accounting staff spent 2 hours on the phone with his state's DMV to find the appropriate resolution. We then called our buyer to advise how to best go about getting the issue resolved. We also uncovered, a vehicle will be bonded for theft if there is reason to believe the car is stolen. This customer was already issued a new, clear, title to his name with a simple one digit clerical error. The appropriate fix is an easy one; a VIN verification form gets filled out and a new title gets issued. We do not turn our backs on our customers. Instead, we listened to his account of the situation and took it upon ourselves to source out the best resolution. In regards to selling solely "numbers matching" vehicles, this is simply untrue. Some of our represented inventory online is marked clone or tribute which easily shows as non-number's matching vehicles. Cars that are 30-60 years old in many cases do not have the original drivetrain due to wear. Lastly, seeing we are a consignment dealer, we do not hold physical titles on hand. The seller brings in their title once cleared funds are received. We then reassign the title to the buyer. This process can take a few weeks and is a normal policy for consignment dealers. This policy is in effect to detour fraud.
Gateway Classic Cars
