Advantage Chevrolet of Bridgeview

My experience with Advantage Chevrolet of Bridgeview has both positive and negatives associated with it. I noticed a pre-owned car that was the make and model I’d been looking for and it had the lowest mil both positive and negatives associated with it. I noticed a pre-owned car that was the make and model I’d been looking for and it had the lowest mileage within a 200-mile radius of my location. They didn’t have pictures of it online yet so I called to inquire about it. I was greeted by an internet salesperson Anthony who was probably the highlight of my entire interaction with the dealership. He gave me what information he had and then said the salesperson Eddie would get me more. Almost 48 hours went by before Eddie contacted me and he did provide me with pictures of the vehicle from his cell phone. The car looked great! Eddie told me the vehicle was a recent trade and ensured me the vehicle was going to be inspected by their service team and all maintenance would be done before it was sold. He also stated they were putting new tires on the vehicle. This dealership does something I’ve never seen another do. They will post an online price and then add on a 1000 dollar “reconditioning fee” for any pre-owned vehicle. They state that this is standard practice, and they can’t send an unsafe car out to the road and would be embarrassed if something unclean or mechanically unsafe left the dealership. After asking a few more questions I agreed to purchase the car. Anyone buying a car in 2022 knows that when a seemingly decent deal comes up, they’re gone fast, and you need to move fast. I did a credit ap and was quickly told by Eddie that everything was good and the visit to the dealer would be a fast one, but he refused to discuss terms and rates with me saying that was only done by the finance department. When I asked to talk to the finance department, he said they’d only discuss things in person. He did say I’d be in and out of their dealership. I set an appointment for the next Saturday as I was coming from out of town, and I showed up at the time agreed upon. When I walked in there were no salesmen, and no Eddie. I was told they were all in a meeting. I waited for almost 30 minutes past the appointment time before being greeted by Eddie. After this we looked over the car and I noticed the tires were mismatched pairs, but he ensured me they were new, and the vehicle had just been serviced by their team. The car was dirty, and it had recently snowed in the area, so I didn’t do my normal inspection (which is my fault). I was also in a rush to get home, and this was supposed to be an in and out deal. I ended up waiting almost three hours to get in to finance. I was literally the only customer in the dealership, had approved financing, and all the paperwork on my end was done before even stepping foot in the dealership. Angel in financing was great, and after I got back to see him the transaction was fast, and Angel was personable. We made the deal, and I left the dealership. I don’t think I got a great deal by any means on the pricing of the car (especially after the “reconditioning fee” but it was seemingly still the best option within a 200-mile radius for this make and model. On the drive home it was clear they hadn’t cleaned the interior of the car at all. There was dirt and dust everywhere and a lot of animal hair. They put the bare minimum in to a detail. I purchased the vehicle on January 29. I took the vehicle home and chose to look at the air filter of the car, something I normally do when I purchase a pre-owned vehicle. It was filthy and had clearly not been changed during the dealership “reconditioning.” I then looked at the cabin air filter and it was so clogged that it had separated to give any air flow at all. These are things I would expect to be looked at and addressed during inspection and “reconditioning.” The real problem began 10 days after my purchase. During a normal drive my wife experienced a blow out on one of the tires. I met her and swapped the tire for the spare just thinking it was bad luck but then I noticed the condition and tread of the tire. It was dry rotted with extremely low tread. I looked at the date code and the tire was made in 2012. They had replaced TWO tires with new, and the other two tires were the factory tires from the 2013 model year vehicle I purchased. I had to replace the tires immediately, that was the only solution to make it a safe vehicle. When I called and asked to speak with the sales manager I was given over to Kelvin. He stated that they probably should have changed all four, but if I wanted to buy two from them I could do so at their cost, that was simply all he could do. The salesman Eddie just simply said it’s a pre-owned car. If I had purchased this car with no reconditing fee applied all of that would have been acceptable and 100% on me. I bought a car they sold as being mechanically safe and sound, inspected by trained technicians that had new tires. Absolutely none of that was true. This dealership should be embarrassed by the sticker they put on the back of this car advertising for them and should take a hard look at their practices regarding service of vehicles and customers. More