Unsafe Tires

Here's a complaint on the Best Business Bureau website (BBB.org):

8/19/14 Guarantee/Warranty Issues

Complaint: I purchased a motor vehicle from Richards Motorcars (dealer) and as this purchase was made in Massachusetts the warranty period and conditions are specified under Massachusetts General Law Ch. 90 Sec. 7 and provides for a 90 day warranty period. At the time of and a condition of the purchase the dealer agreed to replace the tires on the vehicle in question as the existing tires were not in satisfactory condition and posed a safety risk. Instead of replacing the tires with new tires, the dealer chose to replace the tires with a used set that have been found to be defective having separated belts within the tires. I have since taken the vehicle in question to another dealership where the new dealer has found serious and potentially dangerous issues that have to be repaired. At this time Richards Motorcars will not assume responsibility for covering the warrantee issues even though I am still in the 90 day warranty period in violation of Massachusetts Law.

Basics Overlooked

This may not be that large a deal, but again, the claim their cars go through a rigorous certification process, and that they are up to date on dealer maintained maintenance -- except that it's clear they ignore the very basics, most likely to save every cent they can. Just take a look at the horrible condition of the cabin air filter when compared to the replacement.

Tire Trickery from Cars.com

Buyer Beware
by Dissatisfied Customer from Portsmouth, NH | February 20, 2014

I purchased a 2011 Mercedes from Richard's Motorcars in November 2013. During the initial buying process, they agreed to get a second smartkey made for the vehicle. It took a full month, and a lot of phone calls to finally receive the second key. Also, when we did the inspection of the vehicle, there was a gash in one of the tires that we wanted replaced, which they again agreed too. When we picked up the car, they assured us that they changed out the tire, but come to find out, they just took off that tire, turned it around and put it back on! I will not be purchasing another vehicle from them!

See the original post here.

Nothing Like an Inch of Water in Your Trunk

After the first heavy rain I heard sloshing, and then found an inch of water in the trunk! Just another wonderful surprise. They did opt to fix this, which turned out to be a bad light housing gasket, but it was just another issue in a long line of problems for this "certified" car.

Bald and Bent Spare Tire

Surprises just kept coming. The spare tire was present, as had been checked before hand, but I hadn't thought to do an extensive review -- this was, after all, supposed to be a reputable dealer, who did a certified pre-owned inspection. When I did take out the spare, it was not only FLAT, the rim was badly BENT. After repeated complaint, the dealer did provide a used spare tire, that at least had some tread on it.

Goodbye Alternator, Hello Dashboard Lights

Not long after owning the car, the alternator went, stranding me a few times, while figuring it out, and leaving me with a barely or completely non-functional car. All the lights and errors would come up on the dash. Service Engine Soon, Battery Critical, Traction Control Disable, Transmission Issues, and so on.

Towing the Dead Car

Another thing I became all too familiar with -- calling for a tow truck to come and take my car to the shop. All too frequently the car stalled, or just completely died. I had issues with the transmission, alternator, battery, and on and on. I had to have a DEAD CAR towed far too many times.

Bad Google Reviews

Check out the Google review here. Loads of horror stories.

Vehicle Condition Lies

The web posting for the vehicle condition made it sound like it was in mint condition. That couldn't have been further from the truth. It was not a One Owner Car, the Exterior had damage (some of which they fixed prior to delivery), Regular Scheduled Maintenance was not performed (more to come in future posts on that), there were MANY mechanical issues, there were multiple ACCIDENTS on record, there was evidence of body work, it was NOT dealer maintained, and so on. Much of this appears to have been intentionally hidden, and the, most likely fake, Carfax reported played a large role.

Check Engine, Low Oil Lights, CCV valve issues

A sight I would become way too familiar with. Low oil light, and check engine. This would happen after a large plume of blue exhaust exited my car, at random. A replacement CCV valve ended up being the fix, but a lot of time, money, and effort, went in to figuring that out.

Yelp Reviews Aplenty

Lots of negative Yelp reviews, take a look.

Go to the bottom where it says:
31 reviews for Richards Motorcars that are not currently recommended.

Yes, there are positive reviews as well. I suggest you consider if you want to take that CRAP SHOOT on your new car.

Doctored CarFax Reports??

Ask for a CarFax report and and check it thoroughly. Ask them to pull it up in front of you. They presented me a report that showed NO accidents and it turned out the car had TWO accidents, despite the fact that their site and testimony was that there were none. I pulled a report on my own and it showed the accidents.

Coming Soon!

Complete details and documentation on my HORRIBLE experience purchasing a car at Richards Motor Cars in Malden, MA!