Rant about Fitzgerald Auto service in Gaithersburg/Germantown
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Anonymous
| STAY AWAY!!!!!! Fitzgerald and their employees are complete RIPOFF SCAM artists and very DISHONEST!!!! They will try to gouge you and treat women like crap! I have never encountered such a rude, innapropriate and unprofessional service center in my life. I went to have my 5 year old Toyota (with approximately 80,000 miles) diagnosed as it would not start. Was told the vehicle needed a new engine-and they could give me a remanufactured one for close to $7,000.00!!!! They added that there was no coolant (due to a leak that would not be visible as it leaks only while driving) and the engine basically "melted" (this is a car that was purchased new and was regularly serviced and maintained at another local dealership-and was also recently serviced-I only went to Fitz for their free loaner car program, which is basically useless as they will give you a tiny car, even if you need and are repairing a family size car). There was no indication that the car was overheating, no engine lights came on, no warnings...it just "died" on the road. I was told the diagnosis would be free when I brought the car in. When they realized that I would be taking my car to another shop for a second opinion/repairs, they told me to pay a $150 bill, for looking at it. I had the most unfortunate experience of meeting with Mr. Pat Nugent--who was rude, condescending and totally unprofessional. He basically told me that I was being charged as I was not doing the repairs with them. When I complained that they were deceptive, he said "well I can take a few dollars off the bill as they charged you for supplies that were not used"-this reduced the bill by about $14. I paid the bill just to get out of there and not deal with this place! He was also speaking rudely about me to another male customer (who looked like a scraggly biker type) and they were all laughing along with some of Pat's colleagues! When I went to tow the car out of there later that evening, the car was blocked on all sides with other cars and I could not get it out (they knew I would be towing the car and said a truck could get to it). When I called about this, they were once again rude, and after being put on hold for quite a while, said they would free up the car and would call me back when they moved the other cars around it....ONE WEEK later---I hear nothing from them. I finally went there only to have another negative encounter with MR. RUDE (Pat Nugent), who does nothing to make it easier for me to get my car out of there...and in fact makes it more difficult. He was so disrespectful that he upset my young son who witnessed the whole thing. Finally, I get my car to another dealership in the area....Learn that the engine is FINE!!!! Nothing overheated, there was plenty of coolant, no leaks and it basically needed a timing belt for a cost that was a FRACTION of what Fitzgerald quoted! I will NEVER set foot in this place again, nor will I ever purchase another car from them (we own another car from there). I plan to report them to the better business bureau, and possibly go to the media with this. I actually called Toyota to complain about premature engine failure---when it was not their fault at all! (even though I do think Toyota is not of the quality it used to be)! These people are true scam artists!!! |
Anonymous
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Wow, that does sound like a terrible place. And the Fitz guy sounds like such a trustworthy, no frills "aww shucks" type on the radio ads when he talks about "The Fitz way."
I do hope you file with the BBB. I'm sorry you had to go through this. It truly sounds awful. Car dealerships are the worst. |
Anonymous
| They are not the cheapest place around, but I did have to take my 2001 Prius there for some repairs regular shops could not do and had a pretty good experience each time. In fact just about to go pick up the car now. Pat's the person who handled my case and I really can't complain. |
Anonymous
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Wow. I have had great service at the Rockville location.
I had a horrible time at DARSCARs in Shady Grove. I was left stranded at the Metro with my 2 toddlers on a super hot summer day after I angered the shuttle driver because I woke him up from his nap! He was sleeping in the shuttle in the Metro parking lot! I had to take a cab. They didn't even reimburse me for my cab fare. DH has to take his car in now to another mechanic. They suck! So avoid them too, OP. |
Anonymous
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My BIL is a car salesman and he always says that you should never get your car serviced at a dealer! Find a good mechanic.
FWIW, I tried to buy a car from Fitzgerald last year and they were so difficult to deal with. I ended up buying from a different dealer that was more efficient and willing to give the same price. |
Anonymous
| I recently bought a new car from them and had an amazing experience. I was expecting to take my car in to be serviced by them but maybe i need to think twice... |
Anonymous
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Wow, I would have called the cops to get the car back!
Shady dealerships are the worst! We had bad experience with Ford at Gaithersburg also. Scam us $1200 and fixed nothing. |
Anonymous
We've always had Ford and while we have never bought from Sheehy in G'Burg, their service is top notch and we use them when we get our Ford Escape serviced. When it comes to Fitzgerald, when I was looking at trading in my Volvo XC70, I checked out the Hyundai Elantra at the White Flint store. They didn't have the cars in stock, forcefully suggested to us to put a deposit on a car I hadn't seen and on and on. We weren't very happy there and when I finally was able to test drive an Elantra, the salesman kept telling me to slow down, speed up, do this, do that when I wasn't going over or under the speed limit by any huge amount. We left and never returned. Went down the Pike to Congressional VW/Mazda and got a great 2012 Mazda 3 for a great price by a FANTASTIC salesman (Ali Hatam). Congressional is the only car dealer in the area with a 5 star rating - top notch folks. |
Anonymous
This is what happened to us at Fitzgerald Subaru when we were trying to buy our new car! They were adamant about us leaving a deposit, so we gave up. |
Anonymous
| I've never had a problem at the Rockville or Germantown locations. Sorry for what happened OP. Your car was stuck there for a week? |