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December 2023 by Trevor C.
I hate Lafontaine in Highland now. After searching all over for a car to meet my specific needs, I finally found one at Highland Lafontaine, or so I thought. I had to buy all new tires for the car before I could even use it. That should've been the first red flag, but I was stubborn because I really wanted this car to workout. Not even a month into ownership I had to return the car to the dealer for repairs to the heating system and the suspension. Lafontaine's repair shop diagnosed the issues and ended up holding onto my car for just under a month (way longer than I expected). Also while in possession of my vehicle the service shop employees left marijuana paraphernalia in my center counsel. They never made amends for it either. They just brushed it under the rug. As a courtesy the dealer provided me with a free loaner. Except their private rental company is ran by mob bosses who call you and threaten you if you don't pay quick enough. When I finally got my vehicle back the service department told me they ended up repairing something completely different than what they originally told me and that it should've fixed the issue. They didn't touch my suspension. About a week after the repair I had to bring the car in again for a check engine light. I asked about the paraphernalia left in my car and was met with skepticism as though I made the whole thing up. Now I finally took the vehicle to 2 other places to get a second and third opinion and lo and behold my car needs a new cam shaft assembly. A repair upwards of $1000. I've spoken to a lawyer and I qualify for the Michigan lemon law act since the car has spent more than 30 days out of use due to service, has had multiple repairs and is still under manufacture warranty. I wish Lafontaine would have made me whole the many, many opportunities I gave them, but they chose not to.
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November 2023 by MI P.
BUYER BEWARE! It all started great. The salesperson was helpful, and the facilities were incredible. What dealership has a gift shop and Bistro??!! It is in pricing and paperwork that get you. 1 they automatically add a vehicle prep line to the tune of $1300. When I questioned it, the answer was "We will circle back to that" 2 I requested an extended warranty of 5yr/100,00 miles. Cost $4000 I found an identical vehicle at another dealership that was 10K miles less and $1500 cheaper. After sharing this information with the salesperson. All I got was excuses on how their pricing was fair and that the purchase price was reasonable. "Let me see what I can do" I never got a call back from the salesperson. I heard from other representatives but in the end, nothing changed. I spent the better part of two days with this. What did I do? Hard pass! I purchased an identical vehicle with 10K fewer miles from another dealer and saved $1000 in warranties from the same companies that they were offering. BTW I also got free oil changes for as long as I own the vehicle. If you decide to do business here watch the fine print. You must wonder. If they overcharge you on warranties when they are trying to win your business what will they be like when you need service?
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August 2023 by Greg H.
Don't ever buy A car from this place. Mine sat for over three months using one of their loaner cars. I allege that They knew what was wrong with the car before they sold it to me.
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July 2023 by Teufel H.
I know the thought of going into the dealership and making a major purchase is stressful and time consuming. But it's different when when you deal with a professional that knows what their doing and already has the solution. That being said, we have had another awesome experience with Tonia Kelley at La Fontaine in Highland. She literally goes out of her way every time to make a seamless transaction. Thank you again La Fontaine 15 years and counting. You definitely have an all star there.
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May 2023 by Barton B.
Horrible post-purchase communication with Anthony Sands. Seemed too easy buying, but found out why when the truck arrived. The truck wasn't detailed as promised, dog hair, coffee stains, salty road residue still in the fenders and hardly any of the major scratches (through the paint) were disclosed. This would have been a key factor in comparing some of the other trucks I was considering purchasing. Some were attempted to be repaired unprofessionally and made it even worse. The cost to fix these will put this truck hundreds, if not a thousand or more than some of the trucks half the distance from me. Anthony sold me a "ceramic coat." Tried charging $1200 for it, I caved at half to just get the deal done. When I got it, it didn't even feel like it was waxed, let alone coated. When I had the car detailed to how I thought it should have arrived by a professional, he said the truck was never ceramic coated. Worst part is the truck had wheel locks on it, but no lock key. When I tried to get ahold of Anthony he said he tried calling back a couple times. Nothing in my voicemail or missed calls. (This wouldn't be the first time). The kicker is, we had been texting and emailing as well, if he wanted to get ahold of me he could have used multiple approaches, he simply didn't want to. I tried calling both used car managers after he never called me back as promised to rectify the lock issue. I guessed at their email because they weren't calling back from the voicemails I left. I opened up chats on the website and asked for them to call me, nothing. I even called the dealership again, they said they had seen one manager in that day and would hand deliver them a message, nothing. So then I reluctantly emailed (pretty much the only form of communication I knew Anthony would answer) the receipt from drilling out the wheel locks. It's been over two weeks and I haven't seen a penny. There probably aren't a lot of clients that can just float them a $400 loan. Everything on their website says they treat you like family. This experience (my fourth) of buying a car sight unseen has been anything but and makes me second guess ever doing it again.
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May 2023 by Rob P.
I bought my car from there a few years ago. After 2 weeks, the brakes were grinding. They claimed it was lot rot on the brakes. Nope, they were in terrible condition. Ended having everything replaced on the brakes. Now, 2 years later, I had someone rear end me doing less than 5 mph. paint is chipping off the rear bumper. I took it to a couple of places for an insurance claim, they showed me where the back bumper was repainted terribly. The hatch on the back was dented before I had purchased it and used a screw driver to take out the dents and repaint the hatch. Now my insurance doesn't want to have work done on it because of a prior repair done terribly. NEVER GO TO THEM!
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March 2023 by Alex F.
Absolute worst buying experience I have ever had . I bought a certified pre owned vehicle and added all sorts of warranties . Once the car hit 100k miles, the control module broke completely . The part was on back order from GM . When I called the dealership for help the response "it was good car when we sold it to u, that's not our issue." For monthes I went back and forth with Tasha (used car manger). She told me that she can get the part for me . That made no sense because corporate GM and every parts department in the Metro area told me it was on a nationwide back order for monthes. When I told her to order it , she gave me bs excuses why she couldn't order it She was either lying or didn't know what she was doing. The dealership refused to help me fix the car, sell it or trade it .I lost thousands of dollars on the car and it completely ruined my credit . In the end they just stopped returning my calls and e-mails . Worst dealership in the world .
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February 2021 by arvinmahida
Two major annoyances with this parts department, first is that if they have a part at the collision facility, they won't get it to you the same day, and won't let you pick it up either. The second, when I asked for a better price, the gentleman at parts rudely informed me that "Yeah, that's the retail price", when we both know damn well there's room to play. Ended up buying the part from a competing dealership that sold it $29 cheaper.
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June 2018 by Adnan K.
Customer satisfaction for them does not exist. They promised me a second key and a manual for the Evoque i purchased from them, one month later and dozens of calls, they said that i am a lier and they never promised me any thing
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March 2016 by Patrick H.
Disorganized with bad information from the start. I found a truck through GMC's website, verified the pricing on LaFontaines website, then contacted the dealer. I heard back from a concierge, Eric Szymczak, with a quote showing pricing that was almost $4,000 higher. Once I emailed back their own link and he checked with his manager, he was able to confirm the lower price. After a few more emails I scheduled a visit. I was told I would be meeting with the sales manager Joe Hill and the truck would be ready for me to look at. The day of my visit I arrived early and told the receptionist I had an appointment with Joe. She brought back one of the salesmen, Barry Mitch, who would be helping me instead. Barry had my file, but was unsure of the specific vehicle I was interested in. After I pulled up their stock number on my phone, Barry found the truck in the computer and I asked to take a test drive. I was left to wait since the truck had to be found on the lot and cleared of the snow from earlier that week. Once we got out for a test drive, we discussed pricing. My main uncertainty was what price I would be charged sales tax on since the advertised price was about $9,000 less than the msrp and secondly what the other fees would be. Barry assured me I would only pay tax on the final price. The next oddity was when the dealership called wondering why I was late for my appointment while we were driving, a oversight in the system I was told. Once we got back and reviewed the numbers on paper, I realized that tax was charged on an intermediate (supplier) price which added to the total figure. Then, although I previously explained I wasn't trading in a vehicle, I was given a total price which didn't include plates (another $300+). I explained the total price was higher than I was looking for so Barry, after checking with his manager, was able to knock $300 off. I asked to take the truck overnight to show my wife and was on my way after some paperwork. I was headed back Friday when Barry called and suggested I keep the truck another night because I was still uncertain. He explained he would come in Saturday, just for me, and we decided to meet at 10 when they opened. The next day I arrived to find Barry with another customer. Thankfully LaFontaine does have a nice kids area since I had my wife and young son along. After some time, we finally sat down and I explained that the price was still a little high. Barry had to check with his manager again and said we could split the difference. Unfortunately I realized that they were splitting the difference from their original figure instead of what we last discussed. They could not come down any further, so we shook hands and I left.
While I realize it was a small difference in the end, the whole experience was anything but "the family deal" LaFontaine's famous for. Hopefully I can find a similar truck at a dealer who is truly interested in my business without the games.
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May 2013 by bena.bused
This is the worst dealership I have ever been to. I guess I know what the "family deal" is now. Incompetence runs rampant here. I don't write internet reviews but after the shoddy workmanship and subsequent smoke and mirrors BS I received from them I felt compelled to warn other unsuspecting customers.
Took my wife's truck in for road debris damge (insurance claim), minor body damage and minor undercarriage (leaking pinion seal) work. After 10-11 days we pickup the truck and within 20 minutes the abs light comes on the brakes pulsing badly, later the parking brake light comes on. Took it back in and Mike the body shop manager tries to tell me I need rotors and pads. Why am I talking to the body shop manager? He doesn't have a clue and proceeds to tell me that they quoted our brake job a year ago but we did not have it done there. I need to talk to the people that did my brake job. Funny. The brakes worked fine before I dropped it off. I had to remind him that I had them put in a bearing hub that I had just purchased since it was going to be in the shop anyway, because he was insistent that changing out a pinion seal could not possibly affect my brakes. So I guess their payback is to screw up the brake job I had done down the street. They ruined a perfectly good set of brakes and wanted me to pay. Oh, I forgot. They first tried to get it done under my insurance. I could not beleive they tried to jam that one through. I'll be notifying my insurance carrier as well. Stay Away from here! I have bought vehicles here through my company and have recommended them to friends and family. Never again. Don't take my word for it, read other reviews around the web.
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December 2010 by jerrybeaudet
Check all the reviews on other sites. This place is awful the way people are treated. As long as you are giving them money they are wonderful and that is the end of being nice. After the sale they could care less about you. Get everything in writing even the simplest and smallest things like appointments. STAY AWAY.
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July 2008 by mlalain31
I tried to purchase a Honda Accord they had on the website for $4981. The sales person ran us around for over two days and kept telling us there was something wrong with the car, but that the mechanics didn't like Hondas and he was having a hard time getting out of them what was wrong with the car. Well I called back, because I wasn't getting a call back from my salesman, and he finally told me it had a blown trans. So I asked him about a Buick Regal they had, and he told me to come down and check it out. So my son and I drove all the way over there, looked the car over and wanted to buy it. But to our amazement another salesperson told us they took a $100 deposit on it earlier in the day. Well it would have been nice if they would have told us that, so we could have saved our time and gas. So I figured after the way we had been treated so far at LaFontaine, that we would go somewhere else. Well low and behold, come Monday a very nice girl from their customer service group called me and asked how my experience at their dealership was. So I told her what had happened, and she said she would talk to a manager and call me back, or a manager would.
Well it wasn't until the next day that my salesman called us back and told me that do to the run-a-round so far, that the dealership would put in a new trans and sell us the car for the original $4981. I said excellent and made a appointment to go over there again to finally see the Honda. My son liked the car but not the mechanical problems, but if the dealer was going to fix the trans liked we were promised we thought why not. We then proceeded to their other dealership down about 6miles to finally meet with our salesman. We told him that we wanted to come to a deal on the car if they fixed the trans, and that there were 5 other problems with the car and if they would fix them we would be willing to pay more for the car, so my son could have a reliable car for school. Guess what happened? No call the next day, so I called the very nice girl in customer service to see what could be done. She again told me she would get the used car sales manager to call me. This time I did get a call, and boy was he rude. He basically accused me of hasseling the "Girls" upstairs. He then proceeded to tell me he is the guy that makes the final decision and that they would put a new trans in the car and if I wanted it, it would be $6995. And that he had no interest in fixing the other issues with the car. Even talked to the owner of the dealership group, told him what had happened and he promised to meet with his people and call me back the next morning. No call, figures. Well if this is their "Family Deal" I don't want to be family. So I would tell you guys to look elsewhere when looking for a car.
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November 2007 by jeannecarrier
Great place to do business with, they really take care of your every need. We highly recommend dealing with Mandy, she is the best.
