Theilen Auto Sales

We appreciate the positive review. We try to be helpful to anyone we have contact with through our Dealership. If you purchase from us or not that day. We are glad you found a unit that works for you. We may see you in the future. We are proud to have been awarded Dealer of the
Year Award by the Iowa Independent Auto Dealers Association. Thank you from Rick & Tim & our staff that work very hard to do our best for the people.

That is the Consumer side, here is the dealer perspective.  This is a one owner Enterprise Unit.  These often sit for 2 months before they are offered for sale to Dealers.  That is where the smell comes from; sitting in the sun with the windows up while the air gets stale from all the carpets and plastics in a newer vehicle.  

This vehicle is $6,000.00 under book.  It is at the very top of CarGurus’ search platform as a “GREAT DEAL” within 100 miles of our zip code.  The bumper was scheduled to be buffed to remove the scuff marks and have that thumb-sized hole repaired.  T

That is the Consumer side, here is the dealer perspective.  This is a one owner Enterprise Unit.  These often sit for 2 months before they are offered for sale to Dealers.  That is where the smell comes from; sitting in the sun with the windows up while the air gets stale from all the carpets and plastics in a newer vehicle.  

This vehicle is $6,000.00 under book.  It is at the very top of CarGurus’ search platform as a “GREAT DEAL” within 100 miles of our zip code.  The bumper was scheduled to be buffed to remove the scuff marks and have that thumb-sized hole repaired.  This is a very common fix from baggage and strollers being slid in and out of the back of a min-van.  The repair estimate was $270 and again, this vehicle was $6,000.00 under book?

Thanks to the stormy weather lately, our repair shops have been backed up.   Waiting for a repair appointment, however, is certainly not going to prevent us from putting a vehicle on the lot for sale.  Especially a vehicle that we are able to offer at such a GREAT PRICE.  Such a great price, by the way, that someone would be willing to even consider driving 2 hours to see it.  Did I mention this van is $6,000.00 under book?  
I am not sure what this customer expected to find; that we had made a pricing error?  That the cheapest vehicle of its kind, at the very top of CarGurus’ “Great Deal” pricing format was “Showroom-Perfect”, barely distinguishable from a double the price BRAND NEW VAN?

Consumers shop on price, period.  We try to keep our vehicles at a price point that works for our customers.  All dealers must make decisions daily on which things should be fixed.  Anything they fix, adds to the price of the vehicle.  For instance, they normally don’t replace all 4 tires when only 2 need to be replaced.  Not only is that just wasteful to throw perfectly good rubber into a landfill, but it also adds hundreds to the price and most people know the new front tires are what is important.  Some things do not have to be made perfect because people want, more than anything, to purchase an AFFORDABLE used vehicle.

I believe we have a history of consistently making the RIGHT decisions when it comes to reconditioning vehicles and staying affordable.  Not only have we been here for 40 years and have received many past awards, we also sell to our local Law Enforcement agencies and the local college.  This bad review is very disappointing considering we did nothing wrong.  We even gave these people over book on their trade because we realized they had come a long ways.  

Most people would be happy to save THOUSANDS if their new vehicle had a couple hundred dollars’ worth of cosmetic problems.  I believe their long drive is more the issue than our vehicle.  Road fatigue, however, is temporary.  This review is permanent and I believe it should be removed. Less ...

This absolutely WAS a "gramma's car".  Her children live out of state, flew back to get her mother's affairs in order to put her in a care center and sold this vehicle back to us since we were the dealer she had originally got it from.  

Two quick things:  First, this car is a 2004 and in remarkably good condition for a 14 model-year-old car, so I am not sure what "wear" Paul is referring to but it is not a new car and deserves to show a little "wear".  Second, this test drive was on a cold winter's day.  Although the car had been checked over thoroughly, it ha

This absolutely WAS a "gramma's car".  Her children live out of state, flew back to get her mother's affairs in order to put her in a care center and sold this vehicle back to us since we were the dealer she had originally got it from.  

Two quick things:  First, this car is a 2004 and in remarkably good condition for a 14 model-year-old car, so I am not sure what "wear" Paul is referring to but it is not a new car and deserves to show a little "wear".  Second, this test drive was on a cold winter's day.  Although the car had been checked over thoroughly, it had also not been driven much in the past few years as the previous owner aged out of her driving years.  The Temperature Gauge was original.  It was a $12.00 part and a 10 minute fix.  Apparently the sending unit fired fine when we checked the car over, and a week later, on a below zero day, it didn't want to fire.  We fixed it immediately.

I am very sorry for Paul's inconvenience on his test drive.  I am even more sorry that he left so abruptly and we did not get the opportunity to diagnose and explain the problem so he could take it out again.  But I am deeply disturbed he felt the need to write a review for all to see that insinuates we misrepresented our vehicle to him.  We did not.  

I have all the paperwork and phone numbers of the previous owner and other parties involved and they will corroborate this information.  I hope there is a way to remove this untruthful and potentially damaging review.
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