RI
Robert Houde III
Mar 30, 2026
I took a 93 mile trip from RI to Leavitt Auto & Truck on January 9 to look at a 2018 F150 Tuscany FTX 5.0. Buying a truck was something I had been saving and striving toward for some time. I took the truck on a test drive and it had issues with stalling out and sputtering. I went to leave, but Leavitt repeatedly ask that I go "waste some time" in the area while they looked over the truck. A few hours later I was able to complete a brief but uneventful test drive. An agreement was reached that Leavitt would find the root cause of the issues and make repairs that would permanently resolve them as a condition of purchase. I agreed to trade in my faithful and fully operational FJ cruiser as part of the deal.
I took delivery of the truck two weeks later, Leavitt stated they replaced the VCT solenoids that were the cause of the issues on the test drive. Within a few days, on my second or third drive in the truck, it was throwing misfire codes on two cylinders and running rough with the check engine light illuminated. I completed an entire tune up on the truck on my own dime. Leavitt states that their vehicles come fully serviced, but considering I was pulling factory spark plugs out of the motor and the air filter was a disaster, it was clear this wasn't the case. The tune up did not resolve the issues and the truck would not pass inspection with the check engine light on. When I initially brought this to Leavitt's attention, Bob told me to go "wiggle some wires."
I called Leavitt again and they agreed to bring the truck back for review. They refused to tow it up so I had to drive it while it was misfiring. I suspected that the direct injectors were leaking, causing the misfire, and Leavitt confirmed this. They stated they would only replace the two that were on the cylinders throwing codes, so I spent $900 on parts for them to replace the other 6 as well. They had the truck for two weeks, put 300 miles on it, and returned it to me telling me it was all set. During this time they put me in a barely holding together, saturated with cigarette smoke loaner car that didn't even have fabric on the seats. It was disgusting.
Within a few days the truck again was throwing sporadic check engine lights and codes for knock sensors, low voltage, and other issues. I brought this to Leavitt's attention and they were dismissive. A few days later, at the beginning of March, I went to start the truck and something failed catastrophically. I heard something metal break in the motor. The engine would barely run, it threw codes for almost every cylinder on the driver's side, and it was inoperable. I called Leavitt and told them what was going on, and what I got from Mike was a combination of "we can't stand by the vehicle after this long" and "one of my mechanics walked off the job, and we have a backlog of work, so we wouldn't be able to help you anyway." I explained to Mike that it had barely been 9 weeks since I signed papers, the truck had barely accrued 900 miles since I signed, and 3 of those weeks and 300 of those miles the truck was with them. He again told me he "couldn't stand by the truck after this long" and to "use the warranty we sold you" and hung up on me.
I had the truck towed to Tasca Ford in RI. They tore into the motor and found that the timing components had failed, leading to a timing chain breakage which resulted in a valve hitting a piston and bending along with metal in the bottom end of the motor and oil pan. The bottom line is the truck needs an entire new motor. I am now stuck hoping the shady warranty that Leavitt sold me will honor the Liberty Shield bumper to bumper coverage and get me a new motor, and they're already making it difficult for Tasca.
Leavitt does not care about you once they have your money. Their vehicles do NOT come fully serviced, and it is obvious they're just flipping garbage they pick up at auctions or in trade. They do not stand by their vehicles and should not be trusted. I wouldn't buy Girl Scout Cookies from them at this point. BUYER BEWARE!!!!!!!