Russ Darrow Group
Reviews and Complaints

So I thought I was making a great decision going to the car lot with great credit getting me my first car off the lot but Russ Darrow sell lemon cars. They sold me at 2021 Volkswagen Tigue, Juan check engine light came on and oil pan keeps cracking now they’ve had my car more than I’ve had it myself. I pay a car note they won’t take the car back and I’m still paying a car note for a car that they’ve had more than me now they’ve had it for a week now for oil pan and they still have not fixed it and I keep calling up there and they still have not fixed it. I don’t know who to talk to everybody. I talk to keep giving me the runaround. I don’t know what to do somebody help me Russ Darrow need to be put out of business, and they need to be suit and pay everybody back for all the trouble that they causing people people.

You will see a "Live Market Price" online. Russ Darrow Crysler Dodge Jeep will NOT honor that price. I don't know about the others in Russ Darrow Group, maybe all use this scam. The will ad-on charges for some BS coating protection. They will not honor the Live Market Price. The ad-on cost will be massive and provide you with little actual protection (if they even did what they say in the first place).

Scammers.

Purchased a 2016 Jeep Patriot from them last November with 100,000 mile warranty. Was lied to about the price of the vehicle, told it was $17999 the paperwork signed online also said $17999 that I signed,and looking at my loan papers I was given after signing it was over $23k. $6k over NADA! Had I wanted to pay that much I would have bought a brand new car elsewhere! When I tried to tell them before I picked it up as they had to do repairs on it first, that I changed my mind and didn't want it, I was told since everything is done electronically it was mine and I had no choice. Other dealers in a 10 mile radius have a grace period to return the car after it's picked up if you have any buyers remorse. I hadn't even had it in my possession yet. It took 3 months to get a working radio as they told me before picking it up, a new one would be installed right away. They reinstalled the old one and did not mention a new one was on back order until after I picked it up and brought it back right away to complain and ask what kind of shadiness they were trying to pull. Had to bring it in for warranty work and was told I had to agree to $140 labor fee if the warranty company deemed it didn't qualify.

Bought new 2021 Jeep Wrangler from Russ Darrow in Milwaukee, WI. Got temp plate on 5 17 2021. On 6 22 2021, still have not got permanent plate or title. Called dealership and of course nobody knows anything. Nobody calls you back. Filed complaints with Wisconsin DMV, Chrysler Capital, Jeep of Aurburn Hills, MI. And BBB. Meanwhile, no plate or title. Russ Darrow is the Post Office of deLerships. Stay away!

Took my car in to get checked out for mini firing, was told they were to bust which was Monday, so Tuesday I go back after leaving work early and now I was told I need an appointment why the hell the guy didn't tell me that yesterday, the young gentleman was apologetic and asked who, looked around he pointed to him, and he stated he should of asked if I wanted to set an appointment, guess I will not be going back there and not refering anybody, that was lack of informing customer, I'm heated up and left work at 11.

I purchased a 2011 KIA sorento from your wauwatosa KIA dealership on June 25th 2018. i still have yet to make my first payment on the SUV yet. On Friday July 20th my entire dashboard went crazy with every light flashing on and off this also including the screen on the dashboard for the radio. i immediately pulled over and turned the car off and when i tried to start it back up it would not start. i had it towed back to your dealership for them to figure out what is wrong. and then i also told them about the other issues i was having with the car ( a slipping transmission, a very loud noise at start up which i had figured out was coming from the timing of the motor) and also a few minor problems of not much concern. After they had got my truck and got a chance to look at it. they found out my transmission was failing and i need a new one. along with a faulty piece that has to do with the timing i believe it was a gear. and said that my battery caused the electronics to go crazy which i am really hoping is right because i have never seen anything like that before and it has me extremely nervous. So needless to say there is a ton of work that needs to be done to my truck less than a month after i had bought it. and my first payment is not due until the 9th of august. I am very disappointed i feel like the timing and transmission are both very major things that should have been caught on a inspection of the vehicle. and it should not have been sold like that. now they are trying to get me to pay for them. luckily i had bought a extended warranty from the dealership the day i purchased this vehicle... but it does not cover $700 worth of parts due to a "engineering upgrades" and parts that need to be replaced but are not actually "broken" which i believe is absolutely unreasonable with the short amount of time i have had the car. with a company of your caliber i would expect much better. i came to you with the intention of buying from a reputable dealer hoping not to get screwed. and apparently i did not make the right choice. I am hoping maybe this email will find someone who is actually willing to take the time out of there day to help. There is a lot more that went on with a very disrespectful employee in the location. my registration not being paid for because of a paper work error. I am dissapointed from the start of this process and hoping this is not how this maybe it is this dealership and not the company. Thank you and i hope to hear from you soon.

I went to Russ Darrow in Appleton WI in April 2017 with the intentions of looking at a car to purchase. After we agreed upon a price, they took my drivers license and my SS# in order to "run" my credit. That was fine except after a back and forth of 30 minutes after the payments were more than I wanted to pay, I decided to obtain my own financing thru my own bank. When I returned home my email inbox started lighting up. They in fact had given my information to EIGHT additional finance companies and all EIGHT of them ran a hard inquiry affecting my credit . When I questioned them and told them I never authorized this, they said, oh yes you did, I had signed some credit inquiry form with very small print allowing them to openly share my information with any one they choose. Will NEVER go to Russ Darrow again, and want the word out about their deceptive business practices.

Purchase Date 05/18/2017
My son purchased his 1st car from Russ Darrow Kia. He purchase the car on 05/18/2017 but did not actually receive the car until 06/06/2017 due to multiple issue found that needed to be repaired. He was told multiple different times that his car would be ready but they kept pushing the date out. The items we found wrong after purchase:
corroded mirror (had to be replaced)
hole in passenger door where lock was
bad brakes (they fixed brake booster, brake pads and resurfaced rotors)
the car needed a front end alignment.
AC stopped working
They did not even clean the car.
he believe they had fixed everything and took the car on a road trip From Wi to CA. The Check engine light came on so he took it to a VW dealer. The following codes showed up:
P0102, P0098, P0113, P2096(leaks in the exhaust system). they noted that there may also be an issue with the catalytic converter.

Now for the sale itself, :
1st they told my son the engine warranty would be only $10.00 extra a month when it was actually $32.00 a month (we have gotten them to cancel this). They turned down the extra maintenance package for $300 + dollars but the gentlemen had my husband sign a form which my husband thought it was a plan rejection form. (his fault for trusting the sales person and not reading what he was signing), but it was approving the plan.

I had asked them how they can put a car on the lot with soo many issue, they did not have an answer. I asked what they were going to do to compensate my son for such a horrible experience, their reply "we gave him a full tank of gas". I have purchased many used cars and doing so understand there are going to be your normal wear and tear issues, but I found this situation heartbreaking being my son's first experience in purchasing a car.

Do not go to any russ darrow in wisconsin, so I was there 4/21/15 to refinance and was denied. So I called the original location where I bought my vehicle from and explained how do you sell me a 20, 000 dollar vehicle and won't help me refinance? I got a appointment so I spoke to rosie on 4/28/15 told her the situation about the refinance and my credit, she ran my credit. I then called her to tell her I wanted to either sell or trade my truck. Rosie told me to come in on 7/17/15 and again she ran my credit after apprasing my truck, like wtf who does that. So I called to talk to her and
Rosie no longer works there, gee I wonder why?

I went to Russ Darrow Super Store to see what I had won on the game sheet that was sent in the mail. So when I went in there, I was there for over 5 hours, they had my keys, and would not give them back, they took my car key off my key ring with out my knowledge. The Disclosure statement was never on the car, I was over charged for the car, the finance charges are very high and when the car is paid off it will cost over 30, 000.00. I was forced in to buying this car, I was never allowed to look at any other cars. I tried to take the car back and was told there was nothing they could do for me, and I was stuck with this car. I can not even get it refinanced because they over charged me for this car. I am going to see what my legal rights are.

I received a credit offer from Russ Dartow Honda on Brown Deer road so I looked at their used car inventory and found a car I liked. I called first and then went to the dealership on Saturday to complete my financing so they could get the car from another location on Monday morning. On Monday I spoke with them and was told the car was sold. I then called the Madison location and was informed that the car was still for sale. I called Russ Darrow Honda back and explained that there must be a mistake because Madison said they have the car. They called me back after they said they investigated and said someone was thinking about buying the car but thought it had mechanical issues and that they would not sell the car to me because it was " a piece if crap ". Over the next few days and evenings they had me go through their online inventory and choose another vehicle. Each vehicle I chose was "sold ". For two nights we were called to come drive vehicles they thought I would like . I should mention all these cars were on their lot or the one. 5 miles away. After I went and drove the cars I was told that they had too many miles for my financing. When I asked why you would have me come and drive them they just shrugged their shoulders. They then found a car I was interested in and I drove it and sat down to go the paperwork. The sale an came to me and told me the monthly payment and I said for what car? It was several thousand more than the Internet price, I was also told I had to buy an expensive warranty and pay an extra thousand dollars since my credit wasn't great. Funny, I thought the high interest rate was my punishment for my lower credit score. All the sudden all the salesmen left and the General Manager came out and was very brief with me. When I questioned the huge increase I was told that this deal would not work and he stood up and shook our hands and said goodnight, no car! I called about each car from other Russ Darrow lots that they said had been sold and each was was still for sale. It became clear to me that they were only going to sell me a car from their lot or their nearby Nissan lot. The last car I called to see about was at their Appleton store and I got a very nice saleswoman named Sadie that said yes that particular car was still for sale and she was looking at it! She then asked what was going on and I told her my story. I filled out their credit app so she could get me the original car from Madison but the next day it really was sold. She worked very hard to make it right and set me up with their Corporate Finance Director, Spencer. He was very nice and arranged for me to purchase one of the cars I was interested in and asked me to go to the Russ Darrow Nissan store at 11;00 on Saturday morning to sign the finance papers and take delivery of the car. I was told that Nick their GM would handle it personally and Spencer assured me Nick would have it all ready for me. I arrived and was offered a seat and a young salesman approached and let me know that Nick would be coming in later and that the car Spencer arranged financing for had been sold the previous Monday! ( this car is still to this day being advertised on their website). I did not get upset just asked if there was a similar vehicle that I could look at. For the next three hours we looked at several car but none like the Ford Edge I was there to buy. After three hours of this I walked across the showroom to a desk with about 5 men sitting there and said I was not interested in buying the Chevy traverse they were pushing on me and that at this point they should call other locations and try to find a Ford Edge. I let them know that I would pay more and deserved to be given that option. A man then spun around his chair and asked me what I did for a living (sales) and asked me if people walked into my office and told be how to do my job? I said no but it's been three hours and I have had a very bad Russ Darrow experience. This gentleman which I discovered was indeed Nick said " not at this location" I said your wrong I arrived this morning to take home a car that you didn't even realize was already sold so I am having a problem with this location! He then said I am denying you a sale and goodby!
I couldn't believe this happened again! I had someone else with me on both occasions that assured me I was polite and very understanding and way to patient with them. I cried all afternoon and just felt like I didn't understand why this was happening to me, all I was trying to do was give them business and pay for a car! I called Spencer and he apologized and said he would buy a ford edge at auction for me on Monday and get one like I wanted. He indicated that this was not common practice but since I had such a poor experience with Russ Darrow that he wanted to do this for me. He said to be available by phone so he could get my ok before he bought a car at auction. I cleared my work calendar and waited for his call. He texted me later to say that there wasn't a match and that it would take some time to find what I wanted. I was emotionally exhausted, behind on work ( I have two jobs) so I went back on their site and found a newer model that was a few thousand dollars more and asked him to work up the numbers for me. He kept saying the price was not listed but on their mobile site it showed the
Price, when I pulled it up on my laptop it did say call for price. He told me he was not making money and giving me it at cost but the amount was the same as it said on their mobile site. The VIN numbers were the same so I knew it was the same car. He was generous and gave me a warranty at cost and the price was fair so I said ok I'll take it. He had to get the car from Madidon and have it delivered to the Waukesha location. I asked if I could come in the next day but he said my financing would expire if I did not go that night. The Internet listing ( which I have pictures of) said the car had leather seats and Sirius radio and blue tooth and many other upgrades offered on the base SE model. I arrived and the car was still being cleaned and I was helped by the best Russ Darrow employee I had encountered, Junior. He took all my information and introduced me to the finance manager. In the meantime he showed me the car and let me drive it. It was 8:30 by then and dark and I was not feeling well so I depended on the description of the vehicle and honestly did not inspect to see if every option was there. I saw the LCD screens and the button for the Bluetooth phone and the Sirius satellite button so I believed it was there and it was late and I wanted to sign the papers and go home. I also knew I had to subscribe to Sirius radio and I would have to read the manual to learn how to set up the blue tooth so I figured I would do that in the morning. I realized the seats were not leather as advertised but I was fine with that as I was so sick of Russ Darrow and the process that I just wanted it to be over. This took up three valuable weeks of my life. I pushed the phone and Sirius button on my car the next morning and the LCD screen said this option was not installed on this vehicle! I called Junior and he said he would call Spencer and find out what to do about it. 48 hours later and no call back I just texted Spencer. He said I chose the car and he gave me such a great price that they lost money ( I paid the stated Internet price) so there was nothing he could do about it and that their Internet ads were often incorrect. He said they rely on the cars vin #s to give them those details and they are often incorrect and there is nothing he could do but sell me the Sirius radio at dealer cost and while he values me as a customer he is not able to do anymore for me. I also noticed tonight that my car has manual headlight! What car in 2013 has manual headlights, it was not advertised that way! To sum it up I was a patient customer that only stuck with Russ Darrow after several unpleasant experiences because one nice saleswoman put me together with the finance guy who kept my business because he was able to get me a great interest rate. I am not a gluten for punishment and this was the only reason I kept going back. They wore me down until I bought a car that was falsely advertised as having features it did not, the one owner it advertised was a car rental company and my purchase was rushed. Yes I could have examined it in the dark with a fine tooth comb but I didn't and I am stuck paying. $430 a month for a vehicle that doesn't have many of the advertised options. They got me, good job! I am a very outspoken saleswoman from two prominent Milwaukee families that own half a dozen businesses (they spend several hundred thousand dollars on fleets every January ) and I am very active in the community. I will be sure to share my Russ Darrow experience. This is a good case for you never know who you are meeting and how far their voice can be heard. Spencer never saw the car and I know he had no bad intentions and Sadie (Appleton) and Junior (Waukesha) represented Russ Darrow well. As for all the other employees I dealt with at their Honda and Nissan stores I consider them liars and wasters of my valuable time. I was lied to, called a silly White lady ( yes this happened at the Honda store), insulted, made to feel as if i was being difficult, dismissed and denied a car purchase by two dealerships, and finally purchased a car that was falsely advertised! I would say Russ Darrow has a lot work to go on their business practices!

We received a mailer from them that was completely misleading. Normally I wouldn't waste my time to go out to a dealership, but I thought I read the fine print, which was also very misleading. We thought we were going there to collect $25, 000, and were given $2 and a lottery ticket. This flyer really made you think you won. It was a scratch off style, and the print on the flyer itself made you feel like if you scratched 3 $25K amounts, that you've won. It's hard to explain unless you saw it. When we called we were told that the number on the flyer was a "winner" and that they cannot give out information over the phone, we have to go to collect our prize. So we went. When we arrived, we could tell immediately that the vibe in that place was very antsy and looked like everyone was being duped. I'm sure we weren't the only ones, and this is the SLEEZIEST way to make a dime and to get people to WASTE GAS to come and collect what they think are winnings. I know I am not the only one who fell for this, because there were OTHER CUSTOMERS SAYING THE SAME THINGS. Not only that, but the forms they wanted you to fill out when you got there wanted you to give you their social security number and run your credit. I didn't give them permission to do so at all. The woman also was speaking very softly to the guys at the desk when she walked away with our "so called winning flyer to check the numbers" (hardy har har, that was a funny one that kept us going). All I can say is they are greasy people, and we are Mazda owners, and I'm GLAD when we purchased that thing in cash, and guess what, we WANT TO GET A NEW MAZDA down the road, but certainly not from Russ Darrow, they seriously screwed that up on the first shot!

Russ Darrow are the biggest liars on earth. They told me when I got my car I got a package deal to have free maintenance at their location for three years, come to find out that meant only three oil changes for three years. When I bought my car they said they put a credit towards it which would be taken off of the price, which they never did. They sold me a car i thought was "rare" "special" worth more then regular Ford Focus`s and boy I sure did fall for it. They told me my loan was 5 years when turns out it 6. They also didnt tell me for my car my tires only last every 50, 000 miles what crap! so I have to spend almost 500 dollars every 50, 000 miles to get new tires on top of my car payment and car insurance. This car vibrates when it is on and in park or when I am stopped at a stop sign, and their service department found absolutely nothing wrong with it thought its still broken. On top of the fact you wait for 2 hours for an oil change what crap. This car is a complete lemon, and they knew it wasnt worth anywhere near as much as they sold it to me for. but they played a good bs show! so congratulations i hope your happy that you rip all of your customers off. I will never ever buy another car from Russ Darrow and I will never recommend anyone to buy another car from Russ Darrow EVER.

I found a car I liked on their Russ Darrow site that was listed at 10998.00 I went to test drive the car and liked it so we went in to talk about financing. The guy took our info. Walked away and all of a sudden some other guy comes over Josh I think and says the car I'd 16999 I said no you have the wrong car and showed him the one I was talking about. He brought in the sticker from the car which said 16999. I asked why it was posted as 10998 and he lied and said he just sold a very similar car the before and that's what I saw. I said that was ironic they had two cars with the same color year and mileage. So we went to leave when he followed us out and said if saw something we might like he would call and I said no if you can't explain this don't bother. I pulled my phone out with the picture of the vehical I saved and held it up, he seemed irritated and said just hold on ill he right back. He returned a couple minutes later and said he spoke with RD3 which I guess is what he calls Russ Darrow the third. He said Rd3 will sell it for the price I found on the internet. Against my better judgement we went back inside before signing the loan papers we decided we should look at the vehicle one more time and he said ok stay here I'll pull it up when he did so there was mass amounts of exhaust coming from the back which he ignored. I questioned it and first he tried Changing the subject and then he said its an SUV they have a lit of exhaust and I said ok I'm not stupid but that was really a lot when he knew I wasn't going to drop it he told me if it would make me feel better he would drive back by the service department to ha e them look at it. Literally 2 minutes later he drive up with the stereo blasting. I assume trying to change the topic so I asked again and he said he spoke with the mechanic and everything was fine. So after purchasing the car we drive a block away and hear a horrible noise start when I turned the air on I tried calling the dealership and they were closed now so I figured I would call Monday well I go home run into the house to grab something and back to the car. When I started the car in the underground garage there was so much smoke I couldn't see the car next to me. I had to prop open the door to try and get some of the fumes out. I called and spoke with the salesmen on Monday which happens to be the manager at the Waukesha location too and basically too bad it was sold as is when I asked why the info sticker had all of the boxes checked off that everything was inspected and working when it clearly isn't he said if it turns on its working maybe not correctly but if it works they check yes it passed. Then a friend if mine looks under the hood and checks the oil and said there was none at all and to immediately drive to valvoline to get oil I paid 20 to have oil added that day. Then I took the car to their service department and exolai.ed everything I waited there over 3 hours. While I was there oddly a finance guy comes up and starts telling me how he has the same vehicle just a different year and how it had a sludge engine I'm thi.king why is he telling me this? He recommends an extended warranty that would cost more per month than my car payment so I figured he was just trying to sell me something. Well after all that time and being late for work the service guy comes up with my keys and says they can't find anything wrong with the car. I was shocked to say the least but what was I going to do? I figured maybe someone had forgotten to replace the oil when they took the car in and maybe everything would be ok? Nope! The smoke had gotten worse and after 3 days I checked the oil and again completely empty. So I took it to a mechanic in town and paid almost 400 for a diagnosis and tune up he tells me he's sorry to say it has a sludge engine and that the engine would eventually seize and stop working. He said furthermore whoever I had bought the vehicle from knew because when he took the engine cap off it looks like someone literally took there finger and cleaned the sludge around that area so you couldn't see it without an experience eye. So now it makes sense why that fiance guy was talking about sludge engines. Boy what a coincidence...

They pushed for me to buy the car by the end of the month and when I wanted it they put me through a bunch of hoops. They told me the car was in fine order and should be great for my family. When I picked it up it seemed fine. After a hundred miles I started to hear a loud noise. The muffler was shoot along with the breaks and tires! I was told that the tires were not safe and the bakes could have failed by a local car shop. Called Russ Darrow and they said they would do the work at cost. I am on the other side of the state and it was more trouble than what it was. After this I gave the van a good look over. Found rust all over it! Bubbleing up on the fenders and even the roof. These people are horrible people who peddle crap cars and lie to get them sold. Custmer service dept. was rude as well. NEVER BUY A CAR FROM RUSS DARROW!

I purchaced a 2006 Ford Mustang from the Russ Darrow Kia of Fond du Lac on 4/29/11. My sales persons name was Michael Pionke. At the date of purchase Mustang’s windshield had a spidering crack on lower, drivers side portion of it. Mr. Pionke knew nothing of this until I pointed it out to him. After a deal was struck I received a “WE WILL DO” to fix/replace the windshield. I called on June 29 and talked to Mr. Pionke stating that I had 9 days off of work, from July 2-11 and would like to get if fixed. I was assured it was being taken care of. On July 5th, after not hearing from Russ Darrow, or Mr. Pionke I again called the dealership this time bypassing my sales person and talking directly to the service department. I was told to drive down from Oshkosh to Fond du Lac so they could take a look at the windshield to see that yes, it was indeed cracked and yes needed to be replaced. I was told again that it would be taken care of. As of July 17, I have not received a call from Russ Darrow, nor Mr. Pionke. 3-plus weeks to get a windshield replaced is unacceptable.

I had a problem with the Russ Darrow Kia service department in Waukesha. We took our Kia in for some warranty work. When we picked up the car it was parked three inches from a jutting brick wall and there was a big dent/scratches in the bumper. When we pointed this out to the customer service department they buffed out some of the scratches (not succesfully since they were pretty deep) and told us we would have to bring the car back on Monday to talk to the service manager, Bob Sterling. When we brought the car back on Monday, (the first thing I noticed was that all of the serviced cars were now 3-4 feet away from the wall instead of inches, ) Bob Sterling didn't want to look at the damage and instead told me that there was no way I could prove they did it and they refused to check the security cameras at my request, saying that they had 18 of them and they wouldn't be bothered to take the time to look through them. He used a very aggresive tone with me and told me that there would be no way to prove they did it and the fact that I was upset about the situation was not his problem. He said I would have to take it to my insurance, even though insurance rates go up with every claim. Bob Sterling even went so far as to tell me that if I was going to get upset over something like this then he didn't want me for a customer. Now there is $750 damage to my car that they did and there is nothing I can do about it. I am upset about the unprofessional manner with which I was treated in addition to the fact that they have zero liability for handling my vehicle and doing damage to it.