Complaint Review: Ugly Duckling Car Sales - Torrance California

I have been had. I have been scammed and I have been thoroughly scammed. But as I discovered on this web site, I am not alone. I am not the only one who was taken in by the smooth as silk promises of Ugly Duckling. Let me tell you my story.

I went to The Duck, as they like to be called, on February 2, 2002. Living in Los Angeles without a car is not a good thing, and being that I had credit troubles in the past, I figured that I would be able to get a car there. When I woke up that morning, I was determined to buy a car.

I went to the lot at 10 AM. Immediately I was swooped up by an eager sales person, who filled out some quick paperwork. Then, oh goodness, he and all the other sales people had to make a group run somewhere and move some cars. So he told me to take a look around the lot and pick out a car. I proceeded to do so and fell in love with a burgundy 99 Saturn SL1. I cautioned myself, and told myself to look some more, but my heart was set and my mind was made up. When I sat in the car, I was sold.

After the salesperson returned, we proceeded to go through all of the infinite amounts of paperwork. I was more or less prepared, with documentation and all of my references. However, I had to rewrite everything all over again on THEIR forms.

After a very long wait, which included several more runs by all the sales people, I was finally approved. All this took all day. I finally left around 6 PM, happy as a lark with my car, despite the twice monthly payments which were nearly $400. But I felt that was the price I had to pay for my credit.

That was in February. In May, the car started running hot and going through antifreeze like crazy. It took less than 2 minutes for the temp gauge to get all the way to H. I took it into the shop, thinking all I needed was either a new temp gauge or to have the radiator flushed. But, I got a phone call, telling me that I had a blown head gasket and repairs were not gonig to be the $70 I had expected, but anywhere from $500 to $1100. Needless to say, I was nonplussed.

This happened right around the time for another car payment. Hmm...do I pay the note on a car I cannot drive? I called Ugly Duckling and complained about the problem. It immediately became apparent to me that they were not surprised, and in fact, they quickly offered to fix it, providing that I came in and gave them the next two payments. Somehow, that didn't sit right with me, and I wanted it in writing. Well, you know as well as I do, THAT never happened. My offers from them went from we will fix it all, to I had to pay 1/3 to I had to pay it all, and it would just be tacked onto my twice monthly notes. I didn't think so.

At some point, I came to the decision that I would voluntarily surrender the car, being that paying these notes AND a huge repair bill was not going to happen. I called Ugly Duckling, gave them the address of where the car was and when they could pick it up. To date, this car has STILL not been picked up, which only leads me to surmise, that they REALLY don't want this car, because Oh Gosh, they might have to spend some money to fix it up enough to sell it to someone else.

The wonderful love of my life has begun investigating options for me and he came across the testimonials in this site. I hope that people will check this site out before buying ANYTHING..I know that I wish I had of way back in February.

G. Hughes

San Diego, California