Own A Car
reviews and complaints

I was sold a vehicle that hadn't been smogged. I wasn't informed until a day later. They said they would take care of it, but it's been 2 weeks and I still haven't received the vehicle.

I bought a car from Own A Car and just 3 days later, it's already in the shop. It's still there, and I haven't gotten it back yet. It seems like Own A Car is too cheap to have certified mechanics fix it properly. I even had to do the service person's job for them just to find out when I might get my car back. Overall, it's a really bad place to consider buying a car from.

Fraudulent predatory business, they sell way overpriced vehicles that are salvage titles. This company needs to be shut down, they prey on young buyers. They sold me a car and stated that there was minor frame damage, we found out the vehicle was actually a salvage title. We are currently seeking legal action. This company needs to be shut down, they're horrible.

Worst company to buy a car from, they overprice them and have hidden fees in the contracts they don't explain when you buy. I've been struggling for over a month to find a company to refinance my car because of their prices! They argue with you and aren't helpful at all! Rude customer service and a big mistake buying a car from them!

Just like all the other reviews. My wife bought a car, and within 30 minutes of driving it off the lot it had problems. On top of the transmission completely going out, the computer for smog reads doesn't at all, meaning it had to of been illegally smogged. From what I understand now after reading other reviews, this place takes advantage of people and doesn't make sure the cars are safe to drive. I'm gonna try and make it a point to warn others as much as possible. BUYER BEWARE.

Scammers, Own A CAR of Fresno is the lowest scum I have ever seen. Having two of their guys come onto my property and slash all 4 tires of my Kia I was buying from them. All because Larry the salesman said because I did not return his phone calls regarding that my car payments have been lowered. I had the car for over a month. And then for them to say that they could not get me financed and that i need to return the car that they just slashed all four tires on. I put $2500.00 cash down payment, and they refused to return my down payment. WHat kind of *** is that?

On 7/27, I called Own a Car Dealership 'bout a special they was advertisin'. I spoke with a lady, who said her name was Mandy. I was askin' 'bout buyin' a Ram Truck. She told me to apply online. So I did. After checkin' my credit, she said I qualified for the vehicle. I drove all the way from Bakersfield to Fresno. 'Fore I left Bakersfield, I texted Mandy and she said I was approved. I still got them text messages. When I got to the dealership on ***, they told me a whole different story and said the info they gave me was wrong. When I asked to talk to the boss, they wouldn't let me and said he denied it. Their ads ain't truthful neither. I can show ya copies of my texts if ya want.

I recently bought a car from Own A Car on October 9th. However, on October 20th, they contacted me and asked me to bring the car back. They promised to give me back my deposit. So, I returned the car on October 20th. Today, on October 21st, I checked my bank account and noticed that they only deposited $800 instead of the $1100 I put down. I called them to inquire about this and they explained that the $300 deduction was for the mileage I drove in the vehicle and to cover the cost of detailing the car.

I paid about 21k for the car. The transmission is already going out. And it was in a small accident, that was never disclosed. It has 3 different colors. I called Own A Car first, they said they will go through the proper steps, an hour later they went through the proper steps. I have a $500 deductible, but I can’t even afford the deductible. And honestly, I don’t want a car that I almost got hit in due to the transmission locking up. I would like a solution to this situation.

I bought a car from Own A Car. I paid $10,000 down and two $750 deferred down payments. I received the monthly bill from their finance company, West Lake Financial, but I forgot to make the payment for two weeks. Then, Own A Car repossessed my car at my workplace, McDonald's at S ***, without any warning. I called West Lake Financial to pay my outstanding balance, but they directed me to contact Own A Car. When I reached out to Own A Car, they informed me that they had repurchased the car from the finance company. This situation seems suspicious, and I would like to request a refund if possible.

I traded in my car for $26000 and owed $24000 to the finance company. They said I would get a $2000 check from the dealership, and told me to pay $500 as my down payment. But the finance manager said I was tricked and that the $2000 was actually part of my down payment, including the $500 I paid. The person at Own A Car Fresno lied to me just to make me sign the contract. I feel like I've been cheated. Own A Car thinks the contract is legal and won't help me fix this.

I went to buy a car and they told me a price. I paid them and when I was halfway through the contract, they gave us a different price which went up by almost $12,000. They gave me two days to return the car. I called them 15-30 minutes after leaving the lot and told a representative that I no longer wanted the car and wanted my money back. I went back to the dealership, but they refused to give me all of my money. They only returned $2,700 out of the $3,200 that I gave them. Other customers have received their money back, so why not me? They cheated me and advertised falsely with the wrong price. I want my $500 back.

I bought a 2017 Ford Fusion hybrid from Own A Car. I made my payment to Westlake Financial on time, but they returned it, claiming they didn't know where it should go. So, I sent them another payment, but this time it was late. I included the VIN on the check. They cashed my payment and repossessed my vehicle. All my stuff was inside, and I had to pay $150 to retrieve it from the tow yard. Own A Car wouldn't assist me in getting financing again. They told me that if I wanted the car, I had to find my own bank loan. They're also keeping the $350 payment I sent in, the $6,500 down payment, and they won't refund my money.

I was kinda unsure when I saw the numbers, but everyone was pushing me to sign it. One of the papers I signed said I could return the car within 3 days, but I'd have to pay a restocking fee of $500. So, when my husband took it back on the third day, they kept our $1000 deposit and said it was okay. My husband mentioned the contract said $500, but they just stared at him like they wanted him to leave. I just want my $500 back, it's clearly written in the contract and I have proof. I ignored some warning signs too. First, there were no price tags, and second, they really pressured us. They didn't give us any time to discuss it with each other. They even have a banner with a 5-star rating from ComplaintsBoard.com. Anyway, what they did isn't right and I need some help, please.

I bought a car from this place in January, and right away I started having problems. My car, a 2017 Ford Focus hatchback, needed new front wheel hubs for $442. Then they told me my front tires were bald on the inside, so I had to pay $170 for that. They said it was because I needed a front alignment, which cost $89.99. In May, I had to get a new wheel bearing for $250. And let's not forget about the oil light that came on just two weeks after I bought the car. That cost me $80. I put down $2,500 for this car. Did they even bother to check it or do any maintenance before selling it? It seems like there were a lot of things that needed fixing, and I had to pay for all of it. I really want to be reimbursed. I think the sales guy, ***, was just trying to get his bonus. Oops, I accidentally clicked the wrong photo when trying to upload the first one. All the photos are just copies of the invoices. Sorry about that.

I bought a car from Own A Car like a month and a half ago. After a week or two, I started noticing problems with the car. I took it to the real manufacturer dealership, but they wouldn't touch it 'cause of the changes made to the car. The car, in its current state, won't pass California smog legally. The service manager told me to go back to Own A Car and check if they had any records of the car's last smog. He said it must have been done illegally 'cause the car doesn't have a catalytic converter. On top of that, my car's power steering is leaking, and it'll cost me 1600 bucks to fix it, plus other issues it has. Keep in mind, this car is 4 years old and has only 30000 miles. The car's computer has also been messed with. When I went back to the dealer, they wouldn't let me talk to the main manager and just gave me the runaround. They told me to come back the next day. Now I'm screwed. The car has a lot of problems and won't even pass smog legally. I'm super frustrated.

My car got taken away in March 2022. I paid all the fees to get it back, but I still owed for May and June, which added up to $990. I made my May payment, but then Andrea called me a week later, threatening me because she claimed I hadn't paid. I asked her how much I still owed, and she couldn't give me an exact amount, just saying it was "at least 900 something" (her words, not very professional). However, based on my statements, I only owed $495. Since then, I've made several small payments of $200, $100, $50, $50, so now I only owe $95. But Andrea keeps harassing me, insisting that I'm months behind and still owe "I don't know, at least 900" (again, her own unprofessional words). I keep telling her that my statements say otherwise. I've been trying to go and dispute it, but work has been keeping me busy, and I've been out of town for the past two weeks. I won't be back until Monday the 5th, when I can finally go in. Yet, she keeps calling me every day, threatening to repo my car again. I just want all of this to stop.

I went to buy a car, I called and made an appointment to come in for a specific cat. When I got there they couldn't find the car and no one knew what happened to it. I was talking to a guy who got interrupted by another salesman who said he was the owner. *** took over the sale and told me lie after lie. The billboards on the way there say you can get a car for $500 down and they don't care about your credit score. They checked my credit and charged me $2000 down. Another billboard says a warranty comes with the car, but they charged me $3200 for it. I noticed the car system was in Spanish and didn't know how to switch it. When I got home, I had someone switch it to English and found valet mode on, so it wouldn't drive properly. I called *** and he said to bring the car in. I couldn't make it because they're an hour away from me. I took it to a Dodge dealer since it's the manufacturer, and on my way there, the system said it was overheating and powered down. As I tried to turn into a gas station, the car wouldn't move and a truck almost hit me. I called ***, who is supposed to be the owner. Yes, I was upset because my car died, and he told me to calm down and not talk to him like that. He was very rude and said he's just a salesman and can't do anything. I said, "You're the owner," but he said he never told me that. My mom was with me when I bought the car and remembers him saying that. I had to pay to get my car fixed before I even made one car payment. The website showed a price of $27,000. When I asked about it later, they said that was a cash price, but that's not what it said on the website. They use false advertising to get you in and then lie to you. That's a terrible business practice.

This company is shady as heck! They approved me for a car in March . The car looked fine and drove smoothly when I test drove it (I only went up to 50 mph at the time). We started filling out the paperwork, and halfway through, the salesman mentioned that it had a salvaged title due to a "Fender Bender." They had us sign a paper acknowledging the car had "MINOR FRAME" damage due to the FENDER BENDER. I noticed this because the back bumper was red underneath, and you could see where they painted over it. No big deal to me, it's just a bumper, so I drove it home (an hour away). However, I noticed that the car shakes once I reach about 65-70 mph. I slowed down, not knowing what the issue could be. When I got home and tried to put my kids in the back seat to go to the store, I noticed that both back seat seat belts were about 60% ripped! Half of the seatbelt was ripped and hanging on by a thread. I immediately called Own A Car and told them that they sold me a car with no seatbelts, and it is unsafe to put my kids in the vehicle. They told me to come by the next weekend so they could take a look at it, but then COVID hit, and everything got shut down. I kept driving it like that since it was my only vehicle, and I couldn't lose my job, especially during the pandemic. Fast forward to a few days ago, 4/13, I decided that if I'm going to be paying $600 a month for this 2015 Acura TLX, then I might as well upgrade and pay that for a newer 2020/2021 model. So, I contacted Acura Bakersfield, and they quoted my vehicle at about $17k for a trade-in and offered $2500 towards a down payment assistance since they were having a trade-in special for spring. They were going to approve me for a 2020 Acura, and everything sounded good until they ran the VIN number on the Acura I had. What do you know, a major RED FLAG went up, and they backed out of the deal. They said it's a no-go because the car has a salvaged title. I told them that I knew it was from a small FENDER BENDER, but the salesman for Acura Bakersfield told me it's not a small FENDER BENDER. This car sustained SEVERE DAMAGE to the frame. My jaw dropped, and then it all clicked. That's why the seatbelts were more than half ripped, and the car shakes when driving above 60 mph and makes a grinding noise when making sharp right turns. He told me the carfax report on it is bad, and they value the trade-in at $10k because of that. Since I still owed $22k on it, they didn't want the vehicle and said goodbye! At this point, my wife and I are beyond angry at Own A Car. They lied and led us to believe that they sold us a reliable, safe family vehicle when it wasn't even close to that. It's unsafe and shouldn't be on the road with no functioning seatbelts and the dangerous wobble when you speed up. It's a hazard to drive. We called Own A Car immediately that same day and told them what was happening. We wanted to trade the car in immediately and didn't want to drive it anymore because it is unsafe. We are not going to pay for a vehicle that's a time bomb ready to fall apart at any minute. The guy we spoke to, named Joe, told us that they would take it back for the full value of the car and get us into a safe vehicle for our family. So, we showed up today, 4/17, and I had my suspicions that they were going to give us some nonsense. Sure enough, they only valued the trade-in at about $15-16k, and they wanted us to cover the remaining $6k and a down payment to get us into a new vehicle! This is complete nonsense, and we shouldn't have to give them anything. They should take their vehicle back and give us our money back since they lied to us and sold us a vehicle that shouldn't even be on California roads or highways. They gave us no other option and basically said, "Have a good day, bye." Now, we are left to drive back with this hazardous vehicle. I'm pretty sure what they did to us falls along the lines of consumer fraud, and I will be seeking a lawyer's advice and services moving forward. This is outrageous!

Furst of all, evrything was done via text due to coronavirus. I was sent 3 links of different vehicles to see if I liked any of them. One was a white 2016 Kia Rio with 80K miles for $9,000. I liked this vehicle and informed the dealership representative. He text me back 3 days later, on April 6th and told me I had gotten approved for the vehicle. First he told me my payments would be "below $300 a month for sure" . Then, he texts me and tells me no, nevermind, its going to be $353 a month. I said fine, I guess I'm okay with that. So he asks me if he can meet me to sign papers and exchange cars. I was told they were going to take my previous vehicle (2009 chevy cobalt) and $750 for the down payment. The sales rep came to my residence that same day and was in a different car than the one I was shown. The car they got me approved for was a black 2018 Kia Rio with 40K miles and it was roughly $14,000. So 2 years newer than the vehicle I was shown, and $5,000 more than the vehicle I thought I was buying. I was frustrated, but considering that it was a newer vehicle with lower miles I did not complain because I thought the monthly payments of $353 and down payment of my old car plus $750 for the newer car was reasonable. So I paid him $400 cash when he dropped off the car and made an arraignment to pay him the remainder of the down payment in two weeks. I signed all of the paperwork on the trunk of my old car since social distancing had to be in place. There were stickers all over that said "sign here" and he briefly explained to me what I was signing. Since we had already spoken in detail about the specifications of the contract I took him for his word and signed where indicated. A week later, I got a call from their office stating that I needed to contact the finance company called Zinc to do an "interview". When I did contact them, they stated that my payments were going to be $380 per month and asked me if I was aware of that. I said no, I was not aware of that since that is not what I was told. I went down to their office on April 10th and spoke to someone in financing at own a car named ***. He told me he didn't know where the miscommunication was. He apologized to me and told me he was going to fire the sales rep that handled my contract. He told me "just make two payments on this car and come back and I will get you refinanced and get you into any vehicle you want". He also told me he would make me a key for keyless entry to my vehicle as the finance company also stated that I was supposed to be provided with one. He told me to come back on Monday April 13th and he would make me a key. That same day, I received an invoice from them in the mail for the amount of $600. I was upset and confused but figured I would wait until Monday to get my key and ask *** about it. On Monday April 13th I called and spoke to ***, he told me he had to contact the mobile key service and he would call me back. A whole week passed and he never contacted me. I called multiple times and was always sent to his voicemail. The next week I received numerous harassing phone calls from the office from multiple different people stating that I still owed them $600. I told them that amount was inaccurate and that I was not going to pay them anything until I received the key that I was promised. On April 21st I went down to their facility and spoke to the finance manager ***. He told me the misunderstanding was that I hadn't signed the check that they received for my old vehicle that they had auctioned off. The check was in the amount of $750 and had to be endorsed by me. I signed the check, and also paid them the remaining $300 that I owed them for the down payment. So in total I had paid them $1,450. Which was more than the 10% of the new car's value, which is what I was told I needed to pay to get the deal approved with Zinc financing. I was told by *** that I had completed my payments due to them. They also called and had the key service come make me my key-less entry key. I was relieved to be done with them, but then they began calling me again on April 24th stating that I still owed them $300. I said what? No, I signed the check and paid you guys $300 last week. Then I was told that I was going to be sent to collections If I did not pay them and I said that's fine because that is not what I was told last week, I was told that my account was paid off . I spoke to *** and told him I paid $750 check and $300 debit on April 21st. He went to check on this and placed me on hold. When he came back he said okay, I'm sorry for the misunderstanding, yes you are paid in full. I said thank you and we hung up. He called me again 2 minutes later and said no, never mind, you do still owe us $300. I was beyond frustrated at this point, and asked to speak to a manager. I was placed on hold and then hung up on. I called again and the same thing happened. I called a third time and I finally spoke to ***. He asked me if I had my contract with me, I told him no I don't have my contract, I'm at work right now. I am a healthcare provider and an essential worker. He told me to call him when I had my contract with me so we would be on the same page. I have done research and learned that the term for this whole situation is "fraudulent misrepresentation". I was blatantly lied to by the sales representatives in order for me to sign the contract. I was then lied to by multiple different people in the office when they told me on April 21st that my account was paid in full. This is my 3rd vehicle I have purchased from them and have never had any issues like this. I am extremely disappointed by their entire staff and management team. They should know that it is not okay to lie to customers just to make money, especially at a time like this. I am a front line worker and just wanted to get a safer vehicle for my family with everything going on these days. I will never deal with them again after this awful experience and would not recommend anyone doing business there unless they want to be lied to and disrespected.