Purchased my car in July 2007 after speaking with sales rep. via phone calls for a few weeks. Was told I qualified for a "new" program that gives second chances to deserving customers attempting to rebuild credit. For $1000 down I could choose from over 20+ new/barely preowned vehicles that would count towards all 3 credit bureaus and in return I after making payments on time after 6- 12 months I could refinance OR I could trade in for a another car. Well, long story short I drove home with a HUGELY overpriced '02 PT Cruiser AS IS, but promised it had no defects so after 6 months, I can trade in or finance at a lower rate. I felt as though because of my credit this was the only option for me. I drove the car home and it overheated as soon as I pulled into the driveway. Clay Cooley would not take the car back because legally the car was now mine, even if I had it less than 24 hours. They told me that it just needed the fluids changed. As it turns out, it overheated about 4 x's when I discovered they sold me the car with a hole in the radiator. Very very dangerous, but hey they got their $$$ so they didn't care. Please whoever reads this...BE CAREFUL! After 3-4 months of timely payments they then sold my account to Bayquest/Affiliated Financial. (They are even more of a nightmare- check my complaint filed under "Bayquest" on this site...always losing payments, counting $ towards interest and not principle, etc...)Learn from my mistakes...
1. Always get a Carfax report. If they won't gie you one - LEAVE ..no scratch that - RUN!
2. If they offer a sweet deal like the one I was offered (6-12 months refinance) get it in writing.
3. Ask probing questions about their option to sell your account to a different company AFTER you've purchased from them.

This goes for lovescars62 that obviously works for Clay Cooley and that responds to all the bad reviews against Clay Cooley. I've been reading all the bad reviews from Clay Cooley and from personal experience of doing business with them I can guarantee that most of them are legitimate complaints. Clay Cooley is a dealership that takes advantage of people that need a car and have bad credit. My advice to people that have bad credit is to buy a cash car for the mean time until you better your credit. Clay Cooley sells used cars that are terribly in bad conditions and a week or month later from purchasing a car they break down and after that you're on your own. Not only do you have to pay your car note but also end up paying for car repairs that are too high to be able to afford. Life isn't perfect and people go through hardships do to circumstances in life. It's not always better to blame a car dealership for peoples misgivings but it would be nice if Clay Cooley sold reliable cars for people to purchase then maybe you guys wouldn't have 31 complaints on BBB.