Absolute Auto Sales

It started out as an incredibly positive experience. Derrick, the owner, worked with me to find a perfect first car for my son. I wanted something safe. Something reliable. Something inexpensive. He had a 2001 Mercedes CLK 430 in stock, and it seemed like the perfect vehicle. It had a slight shimmy when I took it for a drive, but he said he would have it looked at when he did the inspection. He wouldn’t give me any more than $ 5000 for my 2010 Nissan Versa, because it did have some slight cosmetic damage, but overall the Mercedes appeared to be a really good deal for my son at $ 8000.
The vehicle passed inspection, and Derrick told me he even had a mechanic put in a new wheel hub, because one of the lug nuts was stripped, and he did not want my son to have a blowout and not be able to change his own tire. He showed me a receipt that said he paid $ 550 for it.
He struck me as thorough and honorable, as well as knowledgeable.
That was November 24.
In December, my son did, in fact, have a blowout, and it turned out that the lug nut was, in fact, stripped. Nothing was replaced. I wound up paying nearly $ 900 to replace the bent rim and tire that resulted from that incident. I contacted Derrick and told him that the person who claimed to have replaced the hub on that wheel may not have been completely honest. He said he would look into it.
It is now early February. I took the car in for a scheduled maintenance and had the mechanics at Mercedes run a diagnostic on the car. Imagine my shock when they told me that the front brake rotors were worn 2 mm below standard, which could not have happened in the 2 ½ months we owned the vehicle! There are significant oil leaks in the rear main seal. The front engine and transmission mounts are worn enough to be dangerous. The rear spring link bushings are worn and have caused significant damage to the rear tires, so the other tire in the rear has to now be replaced. Oh, and the lug nuts on that tire? Several of them are stripped as well. The Mercedes mechanic told me he honestly had no idea how this car passed inspection! The grand total for this mess? $ 6000!
It certainly appears that Absolute Auto Sales simply had someone stick a state inspection sticker on the car without actually… you know… inspecting the car! It certainly appears that if Derrick didn’t know about all the problems, he didn’t want to know and simply wanted to sell the car, without consideration for my son’s safety.
And after several emails and texts to his phone asking him to call me, asking him for information about the outfit that performed the inspection, I have been ignored. I did not ask for any kind of refund. I simply asked him to call me to discuss the problems and to give me the name of the person who did the inspection on this car — a car, which I bought for $ 8000, but which will cost me more than $ 14 000 thanks to this apparent fraud.
I realize I bought a used vehicle. I realize there is no warranty on it. And I certainly do not expect a refund. But the damage to this vehicle should have been obvious to anyone performing the inspection. The fact that he now refuses to get in touch with me and to give me the name of the person who did the inspection is telling.