Blackstar Motors

This letter is being written in direct response to the complaint made by my customer(s) *** and ***s who purchased a 2010 GMC Terrain from my business, Blackstar Motores, LLC on October 20, 2017.

In the days leading up to the time of sale, I afforded my customers absolutely all the time that they desired to test drive, view, and inspect the 2010 GMC Terrain. No limits were put onto what they were allowed to do or look over regarding the Terrain, as buying a car is one of our biggest purchases in life and I understand that. The Terrain performed just as it should, and was found to be satisfactory in every way by Mr. and Mrs. prior to purchase. During their viewing period, my customers were also made aware of the Terrain's Autocheck Report, which showed that it...

At the point of sale, when the Federal Buyers Guide was filled out and signed, it was clearly and concisely explained that this was a 'used motor vehicle, being sold as-is, where is, with absolutely no warranty being offered, either expressed or implied, by Blackstar Motors LLC. The paper clearly states that past the point of sale, the customer will pay all costs for any repairs."

This Buyer's Guide is filled out and signed so there is a clear understanding of the agreement being made, and so that there are no false promises or hopes of a future guarantee or warranty. I have a copy of the signed Federal Buyer's Guide that was provided to Mr. and Mrs. at the time of sale. I am including it in this correspondence to show that the expectations were clearly outlined at all times, and duly agreed upon.

As stated in the second sentence of the complaint, the 2010 GMC Terrain executed its duties without a single issue past the transfer of ownership. For 8 months, to be clear. Long enough to have covered over 6,000 miles of driving (per Mr. in our meeting on June 29). The Terrain performed trustworthy enough over their ownership that it was used to drive on a vacation to Colorado, because, again, it exhibited no sign of issue up to that point. As it was explained to me by Mr., the failure came with absolutely zero warning, right up until the moment of failure. This says to me that the Terrain was in good and sound mechanical condition right up until a catastrophic failure occurred. Clearly not something that was planned, or even could have been predicted and avoided.

I want to be perfectly clear on this; I am very sorry for what happened to the *** family on their trip, and for the failure of the Terrain. Never would I set up a customer for failure, or wish a hardship on a very valued customer. However, it has absolutely, positively, nothing to do with me, or with my business. I held my end of the deal by selling them a vehicle that passed their pre-sale testing, a vehicle that per their own statement provided them with completely trouble free driving for 8 months and that they were very happy with throughout that period. I provided all necessary time for pre-sale inspections, and sold it having passed a Missouri State Safety Inspection just as I should.

I am also including in this correspondence a copy of the Carfax History Report which I ran this morning (August 3, 2018) at a cost to me of $39.99, just the same as any individual can do prior to purchase. Carfax is a privately run, for profit business that has done a wonderful job making the buying public feel that they are entitled a Carfax Report with every vehicle purchase, or that the dealer must be hiding something. This Carfax will show just what the Autocheck showed, which is that this is a clean title vehicle, with 2 previous owners and no accident history reported. I choose to use Autocheck because it is provided to me by the auction company of which I am a member. This allows me to keep my cost down, in turn, keeping my prices low which I'm certain the ***' appreciated at the time of purchase. Carfax wants all dealers to have a monthly subscription which for a business my size would cost in the neighborhood of $400 per month. For a dealer carrying 10-15 cars at one time, that is simply too much money to invest, considering I get autocheck for free. Carfax also hugely frowns on a dealer posing as an individual to run a history report at the individual rate. This is exactly what I explained to Mr.. These are not the rules I decided on, rather this is by the design of Carfax, a privately run for profit business.

In the time following my meeting with Mr., Mrs. has taken to social media (namely Facebook) reporting that we sold them a vehicle which was a 'Lemon Vehicle' and stating that if the Carfax had been provided that they would have known that. I'd also like to explain that this GMC Terrain was not a 'Lemon Buyback Vehicle', as can be backed up by the very Carfax being demanded. At any given point in time, all individual customers are welcome and able to run their own Carfax and make a decision based on their subsequent findings. There is absolutely zero reason it needs to be made mandatory for a Carfax to be provided when they are readily available to the buying public for a fee already. While her public comments have been deeply hurtful and disappointing, I have publicly acknowledged the situation, again apologized, and recognized her right to be upset at the situation which, I'll reiterate, was entirely out of my control or responsibility.

I have worked very hard over the last 10 years to build a business that has a very good reputation, sells quality used vehicles, and not only earns a customer's business, but also makes them a friend and repeat customer. I cannot list the amount of repeat customer's I've earned, and many of my best friends are people who began as a customer, right here at Blackstar Motors. In fact, I've been a groomsman in the wedding of a local police sergeant who began as a simple customer and is now a dear friend who traded with me more than 5 times over the years. This is not achieved by using bad or questionable business practices.

While I sincerely hat what happened to the *** in this situation, unexpected mechanical failure is a possibility with the ownership of any motor vehicle. Understandably, this is made more difficult when outside of factory warranty is simply out of the budget and I do my very best to provide the best solution possible for each customer. I have a very solid 10 year track record of doing exactly that, and will hopefully continue on for many years to come. I sold the *** a very nice 2010 GMC Terrain, which well pleased them form the point of purchase, through 8 months of daily driving. I could have never predicted the future failure, and never promised a warranty for any failure at any point past the exact point of sale and transfer of ownership. There is nothing more I can, or should do in this instance.

The only resolution that will be reached from this complaint is that I am providing the requested Carfax Report solely in good faith at the repeated request of my customers, and I will again sincerely apologize for the ***' situation. I wish them only the very best going forward.