Max Auto Sales

Maria, First, we want to say that safety is a huge concern for us. However, regardless of how much effort and concern we put into it we still have not figured out a way to predict how and when some vehicle components will fail. Sometimes it is possible; sometimes it is not. A brake caliper locking up is one of those things that is difficult to predict, if at all. We don't want anyone to be in an unsafe condition. It's why we inspect EVERY vehicle. We are one of the few, if not the only, used car dealership here in Lafayette that has 4 full time techs whose sole job is to inspect and repair every car as needed. We have extreme confidence in our techs to inspect and repair the vehicles as best as possible. You have to remember that we ourselves also drive our vehicles. We drive them as our own, with our families in them. It is on our tech's own best interest to do the best job possible. Some cars can be repaired, and the ones that can't we send to auction. For your vehicle in particular, we spent over $1000 getting it ready. We spent $574 in parts, and $429 in labor. We worked on the sway bar links, hi and lo side valve cores, and mounted and balanced 4 new tires. We did a full safety inspection, which includes looking at the brakes. The brake pads and rotors were obviously good or they would have been replaced. It's not something we shy away from which is easy to see just by looking at the sheer number of brake jobs we do monthly. You state you were told that there was rust; we don't deny that. Every car has rust, and the older the car is the more rust it has. But rust is not necessarily a safety concern, nor does it indicate a pending malfunction. Rust around a brake happens within 24 hours; all you have to do is look at the brake rotor of any car that has sat still for a 24 hour period after the rain. In most cases, the existence of rust, and looking at rust on a housing or shield, is not sufficient enough information that our mechanic, or any mechanic, can determine that the brake caliper will lock up. Brake calipers lock up on both used, and newer cars. For your specific vehicle, we inspected it, tested, it and drove it. You can see in the attached photo that we performed an oil and filter change, and a full “used car inspection” which is how we discovered the other items that needed to be repaired and which we delineated in the first paragraph. We drove it several times running errands, and even home and back. There was no indication that there would be future brake caliper issues. There is only so much that can be done to make sure a car is in good, running, and safe condition. It is a used car; the only way to be absolutely certain would be to buy a new car instead of a used one. You said yourself that you purchased a “used” car, in “as is” condition. When we purchase any car we know there may be issues needing repair. It's the nature of buying a used car. We accept that responsibility and the cost of making whatever repairs we find it needs and that are discernible at the time. We're simply asking you to do the same. You purchased a used vehicle. You even say you did so on “as is” terms which also means you did not want to purchase the optional used car warranty. That is where our responsibility ends. That is also the point where you accept the responsibility and possibility of unforeseen issues that you may have to deal with in the future, and bear the cost of repairing those. We think it is unfair that you of course wanted to purchase the vehicle for the lowest possible cost, and then still want to hold us accountable and to bear the costs of repairing the unknown, and unforeseen future costs, at some other repair shop 2 hours away, that we can't verify. We regret that you chose to leave us a negative review, we feel it is unearned and unjust, and we are sure our customers who read this will feel the same.

Maria, First, we want to say that safety is a huge concern for us. Saying it's unimportant is misleading on it's face; it's just flat out not true. However, regardless of how much effort and concern we put into it we still have not figured out a way to predict how and when some vehicle components will fail. Sometimes it is possible; sometimes it is not. A brake caliper locking up is one of those things that is difficult to predict, if at all. We don't want anyone to be in an unsafe condition. It's why we inspect EVERY vehicle. We are one of the few, if not the only, used car dealership here in Lafayette that has 4 full time techs whose sole job is to inspect and repair every car as needed. We have extreme confidence in our techs to inspect and repair the vehicles as best as possible. You have to remember that we ourselves also drive our vehicles. We drive them as our own, with our families in them. It is on our tech's own best interest to do the best job possible. Some cars can be repaired, and the ones that can't we send to auction. In regards to your vehicle in particular, we spent over $1000 getting it ready for sale. We spent $574 in parts, and $429 in labor. We worked on the sway bar links, hi and lo side valve cores, and mounted and balanced 4 new tires. We did a full safety inspection, which includes looking at the brakes. The brake pads and rotors were obviously good or they would have been replaced. A brake job isn't something we shy away from; it's easy to see just by looking at the sheer number of brake jobs we do monthly. You state you were told that there was rust; we don't deny that. Every car has rust; the older the car is the more rust it has. Rust is not necessarily a safety concern, nor does it indicate a pending malfunction. Rust around a brake happens within 24 hours; all you have to do is look at the brake rotor of any car that has sat still for a 24 hour period after the rain. In most cases, the existence of rust, and looking at rust on a housing or shield, is not sufficient enough information that our mechanic, or any mechanic, can determine that the brake caliper will lock up. Brake calipers lock up on both used, and newer cars. For your specific vehicle, we inspected it, tested, it and drove it. You can see in our records that we performed an oil and filter change, and a full "used car inspection" which is how we discovered the other items that needed to be repaired and which we delineated in the first paragraph. We drove it several times running errands, and even home and back. There was no indication that there would be future brake caliper issues. There is only so much that can be done to make sure a car is in good, running, and safe condition. It is a used car; the only way to be absolutely certain would be to buy a new car instead of a used one. You said yourself that you purchased a "used" car, in "as is" condition. When we purchase any car we know there may be issues needing repair. It's the nature of buying a used car. We accept that responsibility and the cost of making whatever repairs we find it needs and that are discernible at the time. We're simply asking you to do the same. You purchased a used vehicle. You even say you did so on "as is" terms which also means you did not want to purchase the optional used car warranty. That is where our responsibility ends. That is also the point where you accept the responsibility and possibility of unforeseen issues that you may have to deal with in the future, and bear the cost of repairing those. We think it is unfair that you of course wanted to purchase the vehicle for the lowest possible cost, and then still want to hold us accountable and to bear the costs of repairing the unknown, and unforeseen future costs, at some other repair shop 2 hours away, that we can't verify. We regret that you chose to leave us a negative review, we feel it is unearned and unjust, and we are sure our customers who read this will feel the same.

Thank you so much for your 5 star rating! We do our best to be the best, and we really appreciate your kind words.

Thankyou Erica!!!! We sincerely appreciate your buisness; welcome to the Max family.

Thanks Jordan! We sincerely appreciate your 5 star review, and thank you for your business.

Thank you Tommy for the 5 stars; we are trying hard to be the best used car dealership in Lafayette.

Thanks Ramsey! We sincerely appreciate your review.

Starr we are sorry to hear of your daughter's situation. We cannot comment on what another mechanic may have said, but we can say that your daughter purchased a used car and as such it makes sense that the battery would not be "new". What we can say however is that we do drive all, and we mean ALL, of our cars several times before we sell them. If there was a problem at that time then we would have fixed it. Unfortunately we cannot predict what issues the car will have in the future. It is the nature of buying a used car. We also have that risk when we accept them in on trade. It is a well known fact that sooner or later the car will need a repair but what kind of repair, how soon, or how much, cannot always be predicted. The car ran fine when we drove it, it ran fine when we sold it. Sadly, we cannot predict the future. Buying a used car can save you a lot of money, but then you have to accept that the car is not new, that sooner or later all things wear out, and that by purchasing a used car there may be things that wear out sooner than if the car was new. Again, what those are, how soon, and when, is not something we can predict. We do think your daughter got a fair deal based on the price because the price is set by guidelines from much larger companies which much more information on the car's value, it's usable life left, estimated cost of repairs, etc. So that means that the price we set, based on their information, takes into account the cars age and usable life and predicted reliability and repair costs. Again, we are sorry your daughter is having these issues. We are sure you and your daughter did not buy a used car expecting it to be like a new car as some people do, but sometimes it is easy to forget the nature of buying a used car. We wish you the best of luck working out details on your Prius, and of course we are happy to look at it should you want us to.

Thanks Jeremy for your 5 star review! We sincerely appreciate it and hope we can earn your business again in the future.

Thanks Michelle! We appreciate your 5 star rating, and we thank you for your kind review!