Burdumy Volvo- Avoid them like the plague!
 

Cutting and pasting in my Yelp review. But simply, these guys are incompetent from the management level down.

Burdumy Motors Inc - Huntingdon Valley, PA

Burdumy Volvo is a nightmare. Please read my story before using them.

I live in California, and was looking to purchase a super rare 2000 Volvo V70R off eBay. I sent the car to Burdumy to do a pre-purchase inspection since I would be unable to see the car before purchasing it.

Burdumy listed the following issues- Tires needed replacing, a spring seat needed replacing, one strut was leaking, the top motor mount was torn, and that a light bulb for the rear license plate was burned out. I specifically asked about rust, and they said there were no issues. I talked to them on the phone about the car and I was told it was a "great car". I asked if they would buy this car for their mother, and the response was Yes.

Two weeks later the car arrives in California. I take the car to the top rated Volvo independent shop in Northern California, Fast Lane European. The check the car out a find the car is an absolute mess.

Some of the issues-
-All mounting points for the radiator (which supports the intercooler and other critical components) are broken. It is being supported by one single bolt and hanging precariously.

-The car has been hit in the front and rear (not on the CarFax), but you can see damage where the fender attaches to the car.

-The front end of the car has been replaced with a GLT front end (non-R). Also a majority of screws to mount this bumper are missing. The fog lights are gone as well.

-The power steering pump is damage with a 1/2 notch in the pulley. This will destroy the serpentine belt quickly and often.

-The engine air guide is completely missing from the car.

-Check engine lights and ABS lights are on with codes.

-There is rust on the hood including bubbling and a 4 inch end of the side of the hood is rusted.

-The hood is mounted very high on the passenger's side and will not open unless a second person is bouncing the hood while the hood release is pulled.

-The brakes are heavily corroded and not stopping the car properly.

-Every motor mount on the car failed and the drive train is so loose that the angle gear is hitting the bump stops.

-The cooling system has bloated components about to fail.

-The ball joint boots are torn and one ball joint has a lot of play.

-The kick panel under the glove box has broken tabs and is falling off, requires replacement.

-Both struts are completely corroded and failed. They look like they came from the bottom of the ocean they are so bad. My master Volvo mechanic comments that he has never seen one in his life this rusty. He also need to replace all the strut mounting components due to corrosion.

-Both spring seats have failed, not just the one Burdumy mentioned.

-The sway bar end links are completely corroded and failing.

-The inner fender panel on the driver's side is completely loose and rubbing on the tire. It has a huge chuck cut out of it from the tire rubbing.

-The inner fender panel on the passenger's side has a hole cut in it for some unknown reason.

-The brake lines are improperly installed and twisted. Very unsafe!

-The fan shroud is broken and a large part is just missing.

These are just some of the issues. To fix the ones that my mechanic says is necessary to make the car safe costs $6,000!!! This car was purchased for $4,200, so we are talking about 150% of the car's value in necessary urgent repairs. I call Burdumy Volvo and discuss this with the service manager and the owner's son after sening them pictures of all the issues, and they seem to think they did a good job inspecting the car. They both tell me, "if the car runs, stops, and and isn't blowing smoke out of the tailpipe, then it is a good car." They seem to believe that when they check items off on their pre-purchase inspection report as being in good working order, that they do not really need to check those items. At least a dozen of the issues my Volvo master mechanic found as being major issues were supposedly checked by Burdumy and given a clean bill of health.

I made my decision to buy this car and transport it 3,000 miles to California largely based on Burdumy's inspection and claim that this was a "Great car". Their inspection process was irresponsible and extremely misleading. I warn anyone taking a car to their shop to read this story, if they can't even do a basic pre-purchase inspection, do you want them doing any serious work on your car?!?

You should forward your above post to Volvo HQ for their comments and /or reactions.
This sort of service /advise from one of their licensed dealership members does not give Volvo a good reputation.

A horrifying outcome for you.
I just hope that with all the repairs done ($6,000 worth) that she rewards you with ongoing reliable and pleasureable service, mind you I suspect that she has a very dubious past and you are reluctant to proceed further with her.
I dont think I would be keen myself.

I would hire a lawyer and sue them. You hired them to do an important job on a car that you had hopes of being a collector.

Besides that, I don't think that I would EVER hire a stealer or independent Volvo shop to inspect any Volvo for me. My fear is that they have been servicing the car and still have the owner as a customer and would tell me ANYTHING to get me to purchase the car. They have car inspectors located ALL OVER THE US that do car inspections. One organization is called Lemon Protectors, etc. Also, seems as if the car has very little rust for a PA car. I grew up in Pittsburgh and man they have ROUGH roads. Snow, ice, salt, etc., unless they had a winter beater, all those cars are rusted out and banged up.

Sad to read about your experience. But seriously, those folks would be buying that car from me and paying all expenses.

I contacted Volvo of North America on Friday regarding my experience. No clue if it will matter, but I did send them the information.

I doubt any lawyer would be too excited about this case. Sure I could probably prove negligence, but I am not sure what kinda of damages I could get based on paying them $120 to inspect the car. Not to mention the Lawyer will want money up front, etc. I an to just going to suck it up. But I also want to go out of my way to share this so that people avoid Burdumy Volvo.

Also, I was buying the car from a dealership, Philly Auto and picked Burdumy Volvo because it was the only shop I could find that was reasonably close to Philly Auto.

Is this link below the one relating to your purchase?

2000 Volvo V70 R Turbo AWD Wagon - Philadelphia, PA - Philly Auto

Found this on Philly auto's website just now.
It shows under their sold listings.

I truly cannot believe that you dont have a strong case of misrepresentation based on that full report and photograhic evidence. (assuming its the same vehicle)

The last page refers to 'autochek buyback protection' being applicable to the vehicle also.

Yes, that is the car. Philly Auto did offer to take the car back, but by that point I had $1,140 in shipping the car to California, $250 in paperwork fees, $505 to the CA DMV to start the registration process and get temporary tags, bought new tires, and the mechanic had started working on the car. Not to mention it would cost me another $1,140 to ship it back. Also I do not have the title, and won't get it from the DMV until it passes CA inspection.

So if I returned the car I would get my $4,200 back, but I would be out way over $4,000 in expenses and have no car.

Sad situation. I would be going after my $4,000. Just can't imagine why they would do that to you. Maybe you can simply fix a couple of things and sell it. Get some of your money back.

I looked at the ad on Philly Auto and the pics make the car look pretty good. I don't think they tried to hide any of the blemishes. The thing that caught my eye is that the car has had less than 50 miles put on it in the last 2 years. That would scare the hell out of me. I have shopped a lot on-line for cars and have trained myself how to read photos. I have made a couple of 300 mile trips to look at cars that I would not own. I treated one of them to pay for my trip as their car was misrepresented.

You may also want to contact AutoCheck. They may share in the failed errors. I think some of them give some sort of guaranty on their reports. Philly Auto may also have some liability as a professional dealer, they should have seen the evidence of the accidents. But I'm sure they will shift the blame on the Volvo dealer, having surrendered the car to them for the inspection.

Yeah the pictures definitely avoided some key flaws like the rust on the hood. Also they avoid the kick panel that is falling down. I think you can barely see a small issue if you know to look for it, but it is far from obvious. I definitely think Philly Autos pictures were selectively deceptive. They showed just enough of the flaws to seem trustworthy.

I last talked to the owner on Friday and will try again tomorrow. I think my goal at this point is to get Philly Auto to cover 50% of the urgent repair costs. I actually have an eBay message from them that clearly states "zero mechanical problems" before I bought the car.

Dang, this deal just keeps getting worse. Had a car shipped from Albuquerque to Miami for $600. Your trip was another 1,000 miles. I'm glad to hear that Philly was willing to do the right thing. Maybe you can get them to throw you a bone, anything would help.

Try sending all parties involved a letter to share in the drama. If AutoCheck, Philly and the Volvo dealer chipped in you can get some relief.

From the pics (I found it before diff posted the link) and I could see some of the damage. Fogs missing, hood up on drivers side, rear bumper paint damaged, door molding chipped, motor rail off, metal rusty under the hood, strut mount on the drivers side off center, passenger side lower dash loose, etc. Overall the paint and interior looked good.

Again, sorry to read about the investment on a disappointing purchase.

Their ad also reads "NO ACCIDENTS".

hmmm. not a good situation at all.

I must say that the advertisement and pics/reports etc sure made her look like a very nice buy and I can see why you were taken in.
Sad especially as you did everything right short of travelling there yourself.
All looks so genuine and honestly presented.

You should see your lawyer as rspi has previously suggested also to discuss this at the very least.
Present him/her with all your information including Philly Autos website advertising, reports and their offer to buyback etc in writing along with everything from the Burdumy Volvo Servicing Centre, and your communications with Volvo - North America.
I believe it to be not unreasonable for you to be reimbursed all your espenses in purchasing,transporting, and ongoing DMV expenses, etc along with legal costs based on your expectations of being able to rely on the promising reports and inspections received on your behalf and in good faith.
The costs may need to be shared between the car dealer and the Volvo service Centre and as you know already, one party has admitted liability by offering to take the car back.

Originally I assumed the not R front bumper was due to the owner wanting to avoid curbs. Now I am pretty sure they did this due to a front impact. While Philly Auto was somewhat deceptive, I find Burdumy Volvo's inspection to be inexcusable. They were the ones that I based my purchase on, and they missed a TON of obvious issues.

Looking at the pics on PhillyAuto and I don't see these lights on the dash. Did they clear them (or pulled the bulbs?) before you got it? Reading the ad and what you got makes me wonder if they did a bait and switch. Does the VIN match? :eek:
I agree with rspi & difflock54... at least contact a lawyer. Hope this works out for you.

I noticed myself when browsing thru the pics that the dash warning lights were absent.
a lot seems to have gone wrong since the photo shoot.

Wow that is strange. I live in the N.W. and whenever I take my Volvos in through the years and I have them do a repair they always seem to find 18 more things wrong with it. Go figure. You maybe should have asked the dealer how much it would cost to get it up to snuff I bet they would have bent over backwards to find problems thinking they would be fixing it. Live and learn.

They just reset the lights. It is the common brake control module failure. I can reset it, and the lights will come back on after driving a while. I think the longest I can go is about 10 days, so I assume there is a failed solder joint. At some point I will take the time to get it repaired. Right now I am planning on driving it without putting any more money in it and seeing if the car will be reliable.

Wow. The lesson I take from this is never to buy a car sight unseen, no matter what.

I passed up one that was a half-hour drive from home. I feel better about that choice now.

I agree, that is the lesson I learned. I did everything "right" in theory, but I cannot trust anything but my own eyes.