How Herb Chambers Tricked Me

I bought a Pre-Owned Lexus from Herb Chambers in Norwood, MA.  The reason I chose Herb Chambers was because I thought they were a reputable dealership.  They also had a 3 day money back guarantee.  I figured I would pay a little more at this dealer than I would have in a private sale, but I wanted a piece of mind.  Little did I know.

The day I bought the car, the GPS was not working properly when I drove away.  The display would show the icon that represented my car, just going off in a random direction.  It was clearly not where my car was located.  On the second day, after the GPS display showed my car three towns away from where I actually was, I called the dealership.  The dealer informed me that they would "take care of" me, and not to worry.

When I brought it in, they said they could not replicate the problem.  I explained that it did not happen all of the time.  After a few more visits to the dealer with the hope that the problem would be replicated & repaired, I finally decided to take a video of the GPS issue with my cell phone.  It was at this time that the Service Representative finally conceded that there was a problem & the GPS was not functioning properly.  The Technician even witnessed it while driving the car, and also agreed. 

Once the issue was identified, Herb Chambers Pre Owner Manager, Joeseph Bere, informed me that he would either fix it or we could trade it with another vehicle to my liking.  But once they realized that it was an expensive item to fix because there was no way to easily diagnose the problem, he said that they would not fix it.  He offered to let me trade my car in for another one.  The only problem was that the only other car that was similar to the one I bought was $9,000 more.  I was not prepared to pay an additional $9,000, or have a car that just did not fit the criteria that I was looking for (color, equipped with GPS, gas mileage, etc…).

Now I am stuck dealing with the Attorney Generals Office, Consumer Affairs, and once I go through hose channels, I may have to contact the Better Business Bureau and possibly file a small claim.

I wish I never bought a car from Herb Chambers.  It is a bad experience.  Oh, and I almost forgot to mention the faulty brakes!  I had a very bad shake in the car, within a week of buying it.  I had to bring the car in 4 times before they figured out that the calipers were faulty (sticking in the closed position).  To their credit, they did replace them, but only after my safety was in jeopardy for 3 months!  And that is the only reason they fixed it, because it was a safety issue, and they could be in some legal trouble if they didn’t. 

Don't buy from Herb Chambers.  And definitely don’t believe anything they promise.