Reviews
Great experience buying from Frank
I bought a 2009 Tacoma from Frank remotely. He spent a lot of time on the phone with me and ultimately a FaceTime call going over the good and bad of the truck. Nothing was left out. He was kind enough to drive the truck to the Toyota dealer for a PPI and that completed the transaction. I wish all car dealers were as easy to work with as Frank was.
- Customer service 5.0
- Buying process 5.0
- Quality of repair —
- Overall facilities —
- Overall experience 5.0
- Does recommend this dealer
- Shopped for a used car
- Did make a purchase
Got a Great Car
So if you are looking for warm and fuzzy, this won't be the dealership for you. But if you want a great car at a fair price with a knowledgeable dealer, go see Frank. I knew exactly what I was looking for and had been looking for a few months. I contacted Frank when I saw a car I was interested in on cars.com and he immediately got back in touch with me. He accommodated my work schedule and met me after work to look at the vehicle. He had all the info about the car, even gave me details about different model years that I might want to steer clear of with this particular vehicle I was looking for. Very knowledgeable about where my vehicle came from, honest about what was replaced recently, what might need to be done in the future. When I told him what price range I was in, he really worked with me. He waited a week for me to get my finances together and held the car for me with a deposit. He had the car detailed and clean. I picked up the car on the day and exact time I wanted to and was in and out in 15 minutes. Frank had all the paperwork ready to go. I love my new (to me) car. I'd definitely see Frank again in the future if me or my sons were in the market for a used car. He knows his stuff.
- Customer service 5.0
- Buying process 5.0
- Quality of repair —
- Overall facilities —
- Overall experience 5.0
- Does recommend this dealer
- Shopped for a used car
- Did make a purchase
Out-of-State, online shopper!!
I took a chance....and it worked out GREAT!! I am a “Jeep Lover” and when my old Liberty “passed away”, I began looking for another one. I knew exactly what I wanted, and finally found it online. The only issue was that the ‘07 Jeep I found was in New Jersey....and I was in Missouri. My hubby was NOT enthusiastic, but agreed to call the dealer (Frank Krause) and inquire about the Jeep. After talking to Frank a couple of times, we took a leap of faith and purchased the vehicle, sight unseen (all we had were photos). Frank told us about the previous owner, the condition of the vehicle, the history, etc, and he gained our trust. He gave us the name and contact information for a vehicle shipping company, and even though it took a few weeks, I got my Jeep. And it is EXACTLY what I wanted!! Excellent little Jeep! Even better than Frank described! Because of the covid mess, the DMV paperwork was backed up for 2 months, but we finally got it all. Bottom line..... I took a chance, bought a car online (sight unseen), and thank God I bought it from an honest man (Frank Krause). It was a little unnerving to send thousands of dollars to a man in New Jersey that we’d never met, but absolutely everything he told us about the vehicle, the shipping, and the paperwork was “spot on”. Thank you, Frank. Your honesty and integrity are very much appreciated, and will be remembered. Online shoppers: This is your man! -Terri H-B
- Customer service 5.0
- Buying process 5.0
- Quality of repair 5.0
- Overall facilities —
- Overall experience 5.0
- Does recommend this dealer
- Shopped for a used car
- Did make a purchase
Deal on Trust -- long distance buy and delivery
On behalf of my daughter, I took to searching for a vehicle for her. She had an urgency for the vehicle. This would be her first vehicle for which she bought and paid. The complication (to me) was that she is presently 2,500 miles from me. She wanted a Toyota Tacoma but was on a tight budget. My wish was for her to get one with relatively low mileage. I saw one at Frank Krause Automotive. The additional wrinkle was that the dealership and truck was in NJ while I'm in MA and my daughter in Montana. My daughter liked what she saw in the photos. I liked the mileage but neither of us would be able to put our hands on the truck before her buying it. In addition she'd have to get the truck delivered to her in Montana. My daughter worked it out with Frank with only my limited involvement :). In short, she got the truck as Frank described it to be and she loves it. Frank arranged the transportation and explained it all to her. I greatly appreciate Frank taking care of my daughter.
- Customer service 5.0
- Buying process 5.0
- Quality of repair —
- Overall facilities —
- Overall experience 5.0
- Does recommend this dealer
- Shopped for a used car
- Did make a purchase
Where to start
While searching for a solid pickup truck for my 19 year old daughter to ferry her things back and forth from college in Rhode Island, we found and were smitten by the 2007 Ford Ranger offered for sale on Cars.com by Frank Krause Automotive. The truck looked great, and this blinded us to the mechanical issues that we should have seen before buying. However, the truck looked good, was exactly what we were looking for, and we agreed on a price, albeit higher than we wanted to pay and higher than KBB and NADA suggested. Frank is an interesting man. Just reading other reviews about him, he diagnoses mental illness, thinks that steering systems are "accessories", and personally attacks anyone who submits a negative review. I can't wait to see his response to this review. He doesn't stop talking and won't let you get a word in edgewise. DON'T LET THIS DISTRACT YOU FROM THE VEHICLE! That was our mistake. When we went to pickup the truck, we concluded the deal in the parking lot. Now, I know these are odd times, with COVID-19 and all, but it seemed a little unprofessional to me. I should have taken that as a queue for me to walk away. Also, the fact that he did not yet have the title to this vehicle should have also been a warning flag. MY BAD, I trusted Frank. As I was driving off the parking lot, I figured I'd better try the 4WD, and to my dismay, the truck let out a God-awful grinding/whining noise and would not drive. I immediately turned around and took it back to the lot. After arguing with Frank about how shifting into 4WD should work and sound (he suggested that the vehicle should be stopped, but the owner's manual says it can be shifted at ANY SPEED, and suggested that "older vehicles make noises"), Frank assured me that he'd get it fixed in a day. Fast-forward 7 days, and the truck was still not fixed. I asked for my money back, but he would not agree to that, and insisted it would be fixed the next day. Finally, 8 days after giving him our money, the truck was repaired and I finally got a title. On the way home (an hour plus drive), I began to hear a nasty grinding noise coming from the front wheel. When I got home, I discovered a VERY bad right front wheel bearing, which I had to get fixed at my local shop for $400. I subsequently had the left one done as it, too, was making a bad noise, for another $400. Additionally, some small things that top tier dealers do that Frank Krause did differently: 1. Delivered the truck with a practically empty tank of gas. Not a big deal, but for the price we paid, I would think he could have thrown in a few bucks for gas. 2. When we arrived to pickup the truck, Frank didn't even get up off the floor where he was working on another vehicle to thank me for my business and my patience in waiting over a week to get the truck repaired. Very unprofessional. 3. The truck wasn't even on the lot! It was parked on the street a half a block around the corner out of sight. We couldn't find it for a couple of minutes, and Frank offered no help. WHY? He knew we were coming. 4. Gave me a notice of a safety recall needed on the airbags. He had the vehicle for over a week after I purchased it (and God knows for how long before that) where he could have gotten the recall taken care of for free, but now I have to deal with it. Again, not a big deal, but most other reputable dealerships would not sell a vehicle with an active safety recall like this. 5. Frank trusts his mechanic waaaay too much. What kind of mechanic misses 2 bad wheel bearings AND a faulty 4WD shift actuator? I was very disappointed with the service he provided and the vehicle he sold us. I would be wary of any vehicle offered by Frank Krause, and if you do decide to do business with him, make sure to get an independent mechanic to look the vehicle over before purchasing. Also make sure you don't let him talk his way out of anything, he's good at that!
- Customer service 1.0
- Buying process —
- Quality of repair —
- Overall facilities —
- Overall experience 1.0
- Does not recommend this dealer
- Shopped for a used car
Bob, no one strong-armed you into paying a price "higher than we wanted to pay and higher than KBB and NADA suggested". as a matter of fact, you fail to mention that I sold the truck to you for $1000 less that the advertised price and yet you came from over an hour away for this truck, evidence of the unavailability elsewhere of this 13 year old Ford Ranger with only 76000 careful miles. If there is so much of this product available elsewhere at prices that KBB and NADA suggest, you would not have bothered to come all this way for it. Bob, you are very good at taking my previous statements out of context for your own grandstanding purposes. You state I "diagnose mental illness". A man's own father told me his son had anger management issues, so that's not my diagnosis, it was that of another and I would trust in a father's judgement of his son. You state that I believe that "steering systems are accessories". Once again, not my belief, as this statement was taken out of context, for I referred to another customer's steering fluid leak as an accessory to his engine and powertrain, not his car. He had a powertrain only warrantee, and his steering system was not covered as an accesory to it, and you made it seem as though I likened the steering system to his stereo system. Bob, I told you that I deal with a title company and could have the title delivered to me in 24 hours and I in fact did. You were no owed any title until all checks including the one from your loan company cleared, but I provided you the title when you picked up the truck. Many New Jersey buyers still wait for their titles due to the fact that the DMV here just opened a week ago and delays are long due to closure because of the Chinese virus. Bob, we did our deal in the parking lot, and I do have a nice office in one of my buildings. In these times of the Chinese virus, safety for all and common sense overrides the appearance of professionalism, and as much as possible, health-minded people prefer the outdoors whenever possible and practical, so excuse me for preferring to remain healthy and minimize my exposure to potential germs strangers such as yourself may be carrying by conducting business with you outdoors. Bob, you contradict yourself yet again saying that the truck let out a grinding noise when you shifted into 4WD and "would not drive" Obviously the truck would drive because you "turned around and took it back to the lot". I don't know how fast you were going when you shifted into 4WD, Bob, but just because the owners manual says you can do it at any speed doesn't make it a wise choice to engage it at any speed, nonetheless, I agreed of course, to replace any parts needed to have the 4WD engage as per the owners manual operation. I never would have "insisted it would be fixed the next day" because I do not manufacture or stock the parts needed to make all repairs and I have to rely on my mechanic who works for me as well as other dealers to have the time to make those repairs, which leaves the time promised outside of my control. My mechanic replaced one component for the 4WD and then, discovered that it needed a second component and there was a weekend involved, so yes, it took one week to complete, but the repair to the 4WD actuation was completed correctly. Bob, I, you, and my mechanic drove this truck and none of us heard any noise from a front wheel bearing, it was NOT apparent at the time of sale and it manifested itself after.. You state that you "began to hear" the wheel bearing noise on the way home. You failed to alert me to this, or I would have made that repair, and those parts are readily available. "Top tier dealers?" Bob, do you really think you are buying a new truck from the Ford dealer, with a courtesy full tank of gas, a breakfast bar in the waiting room, and complimentary loaner cars? You bought a 13 year old truck, a good one at that, with a glitch in the 4wd actuation, that I repaired, from a small local dealer
It took you over a week to repair the issue and you refused to refund my money after I asked just a day after the purchase. Feels like bad faith to me.
Great Experience with our purchase!!
Frank knows his cars in and out and has been known in the area to sell quality hand picked used vehicles at his dealership. Myself and family have purchased a number of cars over the years and we recently bought a used Honda CRV that is like new! We love it. Smooth and Easy buying experience. Thanks again Frank!
- Customer service 5.0
- Buying process 5.0
- Quality of repair 5.0
- Overall facilities —
- Overall experience 5.0
- Does recommend this dealer
- Shopped for a used car
- Did make a purchase
xxxxxxx
BE AWARE STAY AWAY FROM THIS xxxxxxxx HES A FRAUD ! just looking at his face makes you want to punch him . Paid a lot of money for car all kinds of things wrong with it . Of course the one major thing that needed to be fixed isn’t covered under his lame warranty. I PLAN TO REPORT TO BBB .
- Customer service 1.0
- Buying process 1.0
- Quality of repair 1.0
- Overall facilities —
- Overall experience 1.0
- Does not recommend this dealer
- Shopped for a used car
- Did make a purchase
It always annoys me to have to take the time to respond, to such inaccurate reviews such as this one, but my readers deserve to hear the truth, and the truth is always something that can be documented. First of all, this customer is not from Spring Lake, as he states, so he starts as a liar before he even begins his rant. Spring Lake is a fine community of upstanding and refined individuals, and would never tolerate the behavior this customer demonstrated from its inhabitants.. The last thing I am is the fraud he accuses me of being, as I have been in business in Spring Lake alone for over twenty years and such a fine community would not support a fraud any where near that long in the very same location, so that is therefor his second lie. The sight of my face makes him want to punch me? This is indeed a very pugilistic individual, so much so that it is a matter of public record that the police were called when he picked up his car initially because he had such a temper tantrum, and exhibited such potentially violent behavior, issuing physical threats, that the officers had to calm him down because he became so unstable in the middle of a transaction and when the police were dealing with his unstable behavior, his own father, who was present, told me, in front of the witnesses present, that his son had anger management issues and apologized for his embarrassing outburst. I made a mistake doing business with an such a whack-job who it became apparent to all on location, should be medicated if the public is to be subjected to his public displays of anger. This is a grown man, yet I am twice his age and he wants to punch me and this is the second time he has issued the same threatening behavior and now my readers are all witness to this threat. Lets talk about his third lie. He states that there was all kinds of things wrong with his car and in fact there was only a nail in one tire that I had my mechanic repair it and his air conditioning, after it became warmer outside, needed some additional refrigerant, which I also was happy to have my mechanic take care of in an additional visit later. Just because the customer was so unbalanced and unhinged, I provided free of charge, a three month - 5000 mile power-train warranty from a national warranty company. This is not my warranty, I am not in the warranty business of warranty, this is not a lame warranty as the customer states in his fourth lie, this is a coverage that he can have repairs made anywhere in the country by any certified garage or dealer, hardy lame, and it was with my compliments that I provided it. His complaint is now a power steering fluid leak, which he called me about five weeks after his purchase, and I explained to him that the steering system is an accessory and not a major powertrain component that would be covered by the warranty I provided. I further stated that I would be happy to have my mechanic diagnose his leak and offer him any needed repairs at my dealer cost, which would surely be half what he would expect to pay. This is a 13-year old car, it may be expected to have such minor issued develop, but at this stage, well over a month later, I am not to be expected to remedy them, although I tried to be both helpful and cost effective. Go ahead and report me to the BBB and I will have ready for their review, the police record of your explosive public behavior, before you even left with this car, and their record of your threats of physical violence seen and heard first hand by not one, but two credible witnesses on site, your continued issuance of physical violence displayed in your review here, the copy of the warranty I gave you free of charge, and this record of how I handled your minor after-sale issues in a responsible and professional manner. Further, I suggest you seek professional psychological help and medication for your anger issues, because no one needs to be subject to your irrational behavior and you have in front two witnesses, displayed much cause for public concern and I now must choose to no longer be of any help to you because you are demonstrably unstable and as such are not welcome on my property unless you would like to encounter the local police again.
Good buying experience
Frank found a buyer for my 20-year old Jag. Then he found a great substitute: a super Chevy Silverado (15-year old) in mint condition to replace the Jag! Great practical transaction. He might sometimes be a little grumpy. But I’ve worked with him for 20 years and he’s always been straightforward. I’m a happy customer.
- Customer service 5.0
- Buying process 5.0
- Quality of repair 5.0
- Overall facilities —
- Overall experience 5.0
- Does recommend this dealer
- Shopped for a used car
- Did make a purchase
Stubborn Seller
Does not budge on price. What he quotes he wants. Prices too high. His prices are much higher than the KBB value. He claims he has the only car like it.
- Customer service 4.0
- Buying process 2.0
- Quality of repair —
- Overall facilities —
- Overall experience 4.0
- Does not recommend this dealer
- Shopped for a used car
- Did not make a purchase
Who cares what you think about the prices of my cars or whether I chose to budge or not with respect to price, or how my prices relate to KBB. At the end of the day, the market as a whole, not you, Action Jackson, will dictate whether or not I can sell my cars at the prices listed. Since I have continued as a dealer for some thirty years, I must be selling cars successfully, and pricing them fairly, or they would not continue to sell. You are publicly exhibiting dissatisfaction at your failure to work me over on price and you are free to shop elsewhere and hone your negotiating and haggling skills on another dealer.
Frank's cars are bad
Met up with him like 2 weeks ago, and he was a very nasty guy. Im taking my business somewhere else, where the people are nice to the consumers
- Customer service 1.0
- Buying process 1.0
- Quality of repair 1.0
- Overall facilities —
- Overall experience 1.0
- Does not recommend this dealer
- Shopped for a used car
- Did not make a purchase