DJ Auto - Opinions?

[ZacFields]

Okay, on Saturday I bought my second car from them. Bought a 2003 Ford Focus a couple years ago and a 2001 Ford Explorer on Saturday.

Does anyone have any experiences to share?

For me personally, I've got nothing but good things to say about them. The Focus they sold me has been flawless. No problems at all in the slightest in 2 years of owning the car. We still love it and plan to drive the car for the foreseeable future.

When I test-drove this Explorer last week, I instantly knew I wanted it. It was very comfortable, the exact size I wanted and it was in my price range (I wanted to pay cash). I went in to make an offer, and Bob (the guy I worked with) didn't even want to sell it to me because when they went to move the car back to it's spot after I test-drove it, the check engine light was on and they felt like it was idling rough. He said he wanted to get it checked out before he would be comfortable selling it to me.

Well he got it checked out and it was a bad plug wire that was throwing the check engine light error and causing the rough idle. He had all new plug wires installed and still let me work him down a little on the price (I got it for $1,300 below fair book value for the vehicle).

Just curious if anyone had any good or bad experiences with them. I have another friend who bought a Honda Civic from them about 3 years ago and she hasn't had any problems either. They seem like a no-nonsense dealership that does its best to sell quality cars.

[FiFdYnUtZ]

i have heard all good things about them as well..

[NewSpeedSteed]

I have always had a great experince there.
They were very honest and open even on both occasions I have gotten two cars from there... I did test-drive stuff there often too- which they were cool with.

I got my first car from them a '93 Camry with 177k on the odo for 3 grand, I thought I was crazy to buy it but it lasted a long time and is most likely still out there (had about 240k when I let it go). I also got my '99.5 Audi A4 from them, it had been test driven and curb checked hard in the front end and they paid to have it fixed and still took 2 grand off the sticker price.

I know they seem kinda shady but I haven't heard anything but good things abut them. I would have gotten my '04 Grand Cherokee there (my current dd) if I hadn't found one with less miles.

Zac even though I saw your Explorer pic on facebook toss it up here. I had a 99 Explorer Sport and loved it, hated getting 15mpg though. Oddly my Jeep is getting 18-19mpg mixed highway/city and its a 4.0 I6 and my Explorer was a 4.0 V6 guess it shows which design is more efficient.

[krustindumm]

They accused me of breaking a car on a test drive.

Mazda 3, told my friend over the phone that it was a nice car, no problems, great condition. He brings me along, he doesn't know shit about cars. We get there, salesman is telling us two other people test drove it that day, and it is flawless, but the brake rotors are completely rusted. Then he won't let us both go, 'company policy'. My friend stays, salesman argues that if he wants the car, he has to drive it (my friend fucked up and introduced me as 'his mechanic'). We argue, finally I go by myself. As I'm leaving we watch two other people who came at the same time leave on a test drive together...huh.

I'm driving it easy because it's still cold, but it is missing a bit. So I get about to Target before the CEL comes on. Car starts acting up, missing really bad. I make the mistake of trying to get on hwy 30 anyway, as soon as I get above 45 it sounds like the motor is coming apart, mind you, I haven't even had the chance to beat on it yet. Yes, I was going to, gotta check everything, but I hadn't even gone above 3500-400rpm yet. I pull off at 6th street and the car dies. Takes me 5 minutes to get it restarted, then I limp it back.

When I pull in the motor is still knocking like a bitch. CEL is still on. Salesman starts going off on me, so I but out my OBD scanner and pull the codes. IM readiness is totally incomplete, meaning the reset it right before we got there. Also codes for missfire, cyl 1, 3, and random, knock sensor, SO2 B1S1, SO2 B1S2, and the variable intake runner system. Right away I know the problem. Those cars are famous for eating the screws off the variable runner throttle plates, they have a recall, and this one must not have been done. Probably awhile ago too, because the cat is probably fried guessing off th B1S2 fault. Other problems were warped rotors, blown shocks, weak motor mounts, it pulled to one side, and clunking out of the front suspension.

Funny, it was 'flawless' for the 'other people'.

[sLoWnStEaDy]

kinda "hot/miss" with me I guess... They get some pretty interesting vehicles in there quite a bit during the summer but IMO the sales people are just assholes. A couple summers back I was looking for a new toy and they had three vehicles I was looking at. one was an older Fox Body, a late 70's Camaro and a 3rd gen Trans Am. All of them had their share of "mods" but nothing crazy.
Either way I drove the mustang first, I liked it but the interior was kind of rough, then I drove the 3rd gen (wasn't really too excited as I have already owned 3-4 3rd gens) and when I asked to drive the 2nd gen camaro he told me to get lost as "I am obviously wasting their time adn just joy riding with no intentiones on purchasing anything". I showed him the cash and he was still being a dick so I left. went and bought a '73 Torino from a different place, took it to his lot with the price/dealer tags on it and told him how much of an asshole he was. That was the last time I went there...

[Stutz]

I went there to look at an 02 gtp when i went to test drive it the first thing the guy did was open the door into the car next to it. Started it up the abs light was on. I start driving it and when i put on the brakes it was the worst metal on metal sound ever. I was embarassed to drive it but it was a nice looking car, black 18s tinted windows, slp cat back exhaust. The valve cover gasket was leaking bad! and they wouldnt come down more then $200 bucks on the price and wanted me to trade in my 97 gt and would only give me $500 bucks for it. Screw that lol.

[Drifte]

Have had nothing but bad experiences. Im glad they didnt screw any of my friends over though.

[Deimos]

My friend got a stratus from them with saw dust in the engine. They sold me the Rs with no working electrical (I had no car knowledge) then went to another shop paid 280 to get it fixed then it caught on fire and I did it myself it. When I got it from DJ's it had house chords for wires. I HATE DAVE JONES and want to punch him in the face when I see him at the track.

[sparkles]

My friend got a stratus from them with saw dust in the engine. They sold me the Rs with no working electrical (I had no car knowledge) then went to another shop paid 280 to get it fixed then it caught on fire and I did it myself it. When I got it from DJ's it had house chords for wires. I HATE DAVE JONES and want to punch him in the face when I see him at the track.

Sawdust in the engine? I've seen it in trannys before to stop them from slipping, but no motors. Usually they just try to throw in some gear oil to quiet things down.

[69gt4speed]

What coworkers have said its a hit or miss w those dj cars. They buy them at auction cheap and don't do crap so who knows, I sure wouldn't buy some hp vehicle from them as mo than likely had the livin piss beat out of it. A run of the mill commuter might be ok if normally a good car.

[Deimos]

My friend got a stratus from them with saw dust in the engine. They sold me the Rs with no working electrical (I had no car knowledge) then went to another shop paid 280 to get it fixed then it caught on fire and I did it myself it. When I got it from DJ's it had house chords for wires. I HATE DAVE JONES and want to punch him in the face when I see him at the track.

Sawdust in the engine? I've seen it in trannys before to stop them from slipping, but no motors. Usually they just try to throw in some gear oil to quiet things down.

Yeah it was like five years ago. I don't know why you wouldn't you the lucas oil stuff it works good.

[Domestic Disturbance]

I like that silver 98 gt they have there. Be a great drag car.

[Clinical]

i remember going up there back in july of 08 - with cash already knowing I wanted the 95 5.0 5spd GT they had. Had the cash with me.

Had 77k on it and they wanted like 4,800

I went to test drive and they were just bein dicks about it in general cause of my age.
I just said fuck it and left, not going to take that.

[StreetSweeper]

I know The owners personaly and we have raced with Rob one of the other sales man a side from bob. They have allways been great to us, baught my old ladys car havent had problems yet. Rob allways steers me in the right direction! But just like any shop not everyone is satisfied so some people will have shit lists to!

[s13kid]

I bought my supra there. Timing belt went in 3 days. It needed front struts and that jazz. Car is solid now, no major issues since then.

[85XR7Project]

Some people don't understand that the term "As is" means they made sure it was safe and threw it out onto the lot. If they have a tendancy to buy cars from dishonest owners you will get shitty cars. It can happen anywhere, I used to work for Witham's in CF and I can't tell you how many clients I had say our prices were to high (Maybe because they were). People always find things to hate about dealerships.

[krustindumm]

Some people don't understand that the term "As is" means they made sure it was safe and threw it out onto the lot. If they have a tendancy to buy cars from dishonest owners you will get shitty cars. It can happen anywhere, I used to work for Witham's in CF and I can't tell you how many clients I had say our prices were to high (Maybe because they were). People always find things to hate about dealerships.


Being dishonest about the condition of the car is not a very good business practice though. I can understand the salesman being worried about younger kids beating up on cars on test drives (ref: my previous post), but maybe they should ride along then? Telling my friend that the car was in "great condition" was blatantly dishonest. Claiming the car had been driven twice before that same day was blatantly dishonest. I caught them this time, how often do they get away with it? I wouldn't try to claim that every car they sell is junk, but that one was, and it reflects very poorly when I tell everyone I know the story. Which I do as often as possible.

Go to a dealership like Chezik-Bell Honda or Cedar Rapids Toyota, and you can be assured to leave with a quality vehicle. If for some reason you have a problem, they will work to ensure you are satisfied. No vehicles will leave their lot (excepting dealer auctions, of course) with any mechanical or electrical problems, and even most visual blemishes are repaired prior to being offered for sale. I'm not saying smaller dealerships should try to compete with that level of quality, because some people want cheap more than reliable, but they should not try to hide the defects.

[Domestic Disturbance]

x2 what George said. At the end of the day you get what you pay for. Whether its a great dealership or not, those smaller used dealerships still have a high likelyhood of problems compared to the big guys. Dishonest things may happen, but in the end you gotta know the chances you take buying used.

[ZacFields]

Well here's an update on my DJ Auto experience.

My truck started to idle really rough a few days after I bought it. I'd go out to start the car in the cold, and it wouldn't stay started. It'd go up to 1,500 RPM for about 2 seconds and then it would drop all the way down to zero. To keep it running, I had to give it a little gas for about 30 seconds until the engine warmed up. At that point, it would still idle rough but it would just barely hold itself. Then when the engine was completely warm, it would idle "good enough" but still pretty rough once it dropped down around 750 RPM.

I called Bob at DJ Auto hoping that maybe they could just take a look at it for me for free. Then I'd take it to a shop and have the work done. After all, the car wasn't having these problems when I test-drove it and they had already done some work (about $200) to it before selling to me for under their sticker price. Bob told me to bring the car in and they'd take a look at it for me and let me know.

I got a call later that day saying that they looked at it and then called Ford to see if they had any advice on it. Ford said it definitely sounds like the intake manifold gasket was probably leaking air, thus un-metered air was getting into the engine and causing it to run lean and is occasionally a problem with the 2001 Explorers. DJ Auto called a shop and found out that it would cost between $200-$320 to get this work done. Then he pretty much blew my mind when he told me "We really want to get this fixed so that you'll be satisfied with the car. These situations don't come up often, but we're going to pay for half of the repair cost since this problem came up a couple days after you bought the car."

Very cool move on their part. So a $300 repair cost would only cost me $150. As it turned out, they took it to the shop and the shop determined that a bad spark plug was the culprit. The shop kept it all day and checked a lot of things and replaced the spark plugs. When Bob called me back, he told me my car was at the shop and ready to go. I asked him how much I owed him, and he told me the DJ Auto was covering the full cost of this repair (Around $75), and that I should call him back on Monday (after the holidays) if I had any more problems with the car.

Overall, you're going to get lemons sometimes, and you're going to get bad experiences with used car dealers. Like someone said before, they sell these cars "as is" because they have no way of knowing how that car was treated before they got it and they have no idea what parts will break and when. I can understand DJ Auto being a little rude when kids come in because they've always got some pretty cool cars out there and probably get a lot of young kids coming in who just want to drive them, waste some gas, and leave.

This dealer though... to offer to pay as much as $160 out of pocket to repair a car that was sold and paid for over a week ago is VERY cool. Most dealers would just show you the "as is" contract you signed and tell you to get the hell out. These guys bent over backwards for me and I couldn't be happier with them.

[Deimos]

I still wanna sock him in the face

[85XR7Project]

I bought my Mountaineer from Dan Deery in W'loo and it had the ABS light on and the rear hatch latches didn't work at all. I told them I wanted it but wasn't buying something that I couldn't use a door on, it was like pulling teeth! Not to mention I tried to get them to replace the ABS sensors but no go all I could get out of them was "Most people prefer not having ABS." that was prior to me about having 3 accidents because of the damn brakes locking up. I'm done with those jokers.....

Why even bother telling me they check vehicles for safety? A vehicle that has ABS has it for a reason, its a $30 fix for christs sake!