Arrogance gets in the way of what could be a gamechanger.
For those that don't know this service used to be "Wheel Kinetics" out of Arizona. It rebranded to Crosscut.
Rebrands are usually a byproduct of bad exposure and a desire to get away from them.
Simple elevator pitch: you get the most efficient car-buying experience at prices likely to be lower than anywhere else, but you sacrifice pretty much all protection you might or might not get elsewhere. There's no warranty, the videos openly disclose that you might end up with repairs - some major.
I actually have no problem with this - I knew what the risks were. The price for the car was way lower than others on the market, and ultimately the car was perfectly driveable; just had not been maintained like it was supposed to be, as identified later.
In exchange, you get a speedy money transaction (no loans), fully online paperwork, and even assistance getting the car shipped to you. All told, you'll spend way less time than at a dealership despite being local.
Once I got the car, I had my mechanics check it out. I felt obligated to keep "Dennis" informed along the way. This is when I detected the main issue and why I would never recommend someone use this service until and unless they change.
They don't want your feedback.
They get heavily defensive anytime you mention anything - even when you're not asking for anything but just informing them so they know and can make changes to their process to better service customers.
He even questioned why I was having my mechanics inspect when theirs already did. That's a huge red flag. ALWAYS have your own guys review a used car. Point blank period.
The default excuse "many happy customers" is a Chewbacca, frankly. You should want ALL, not just "many". But I digress.
Because here's the first thing: they claim to use mechanics to review the vehicle for obvious things. Clearly, their mechanics are either incompetent or ripping them off and lying to them, because the things identified could not have been overlooked if they'd really done their job.
- Oil had not been changed over at least 20k miles. I have pictures of this.
- Both O2 sensors and the catalytic converter were basically failing (because of a lack of routine maintenance); to identify this, one would have to run the car for an extended period to get a check engine light (good mechanics know to do this because the converter has to get sufficiently hot to throw an error). Had to be replaced. Arguably one of the most expensive repairs possible.
- Old codes were left in about airbags having been deployed from a prior accident (prior to the dealer buying the car). Not cleared. (entry level mechanics know to do this before diagnostics).
- Rough idle - the dealer claimed it wasn't, but both mechanics I used confirmed the idle was way rough. The catalytic converter was part of this, but also the codes not being reset to where the computer could "relearn" things. (entry level mechanic)
On top of this, the vehicle was previously reported stolen. This was disclosed - but the local DMV reviewed some nationwide database and found something that indicated a salvage title (total loss, due to theft) should have been issued, then a rebuilt title to confirm it was fully driveable (I don't agree, but that's the law). There's evidence of body work, just not "total loss" damage.
The AZ DMV issued a clean title to the dealer, presumably because they don't care, but each state handles it differently. Dealer got defensive (because they know what the local DMV is implying) - I don't make the rules. It's plain black letter: they still go through a "Non-Salvage" process if there was ever a salvage RECORD (theft), even if there was no salvage title (total loss), because they don't know what might have happened to the vehicle prior to resale.
Normally, cool dealers will work with the buyer to try and make it right - whether that means refunding part of the money or something else. That's not what I asked for.
What I wanted was for them to recognize that a customer could not register the vehicle purchased, and at least offer to do something to help. Instead, the dealer will call the DMV a liar. Which helps nothing - it's the government, we all know how that works out.
Now, I and my contact are working with the local DMV to verify that they indeed require that it be reported as salvage even though it really wasn't, and if so...it means the information provided wasn't what it needed to be. Then I may have to work with AZ DMV and find out why they didn't issue it as salvage to the dealer.
The big issue isn't the title or the repairs, really. Things happen with used cars. I knew the risks.
The big issue is a resistance from the dealer to just do right by the customer when things happen, apologize for issues, etc.
Because with better people, this could be the future of carbuying.
February 10, 2023
Unprompted review
