Tell your car dealership horror stories here!

[momof3disneyholics]

I went to a local dealership this morning and I am so mad! They are having a big clearance sale and I have been wanting a van, so I thought I would go see what they have. I came with 500.00 in cash and my payoff info for my 2001 chevrolet cavalier (just in case). Well, after being there for 2 hours and they told me that they would only give me 2000.00 for my trade in!!!! I was shocked to say the least, I mean it is a 2001! It is in very, very nice condition. So, I say no way, I guess you don't want to sell me a car, and left. So, now I am doing some research, and I am going back over to the nice dealership that sold it to me and try to get a van. I hope it all works out.

 

[mrsv98]

You should definitly check out CarMax, I am pretty sure there is one in Atlanta. We have dealt with them a few times and I can't see myself buying a car anywhere else. You can take you car to them and they will give you a purchase price, regardless of buying a car from them. The purchasing and selling depts are completely separate so they won't squeeze one to inflate the other. Both times we have had them price a car for us, they were over the Kelly Blue Book price, something that never happens at a dealership. I don't know if the Atlanta one sells new cars like the one in Kenosha, but you could sell your car to them and then go to the dealership with the new one. Also, you can see their entire inventory online at www.carmax.com

I know I sound like a commercial for them, but after putting up with high pressure dealerships, it was so nice to buy a car without a hassle. Good luck!

 

[KathyTX]

Yep, they really try to take advantage on the trade ins.

I just went through the very same thing. I bought a new truck on Monday, and the trade was the most infuriating part of the whole process.

We wound up selling our trade-in to Carmax. It was a 2000 Avalon, and Carmax offered us more than any of the 3 dealerships we had visited, and the transaction was very painless. (**Thousands** more than the dealerships offered. A little better than the Kelley Blue Book value.)

You take your car in and they check it over, then give you a written offer for it. The offer is good for 7 days, and they ask you not to put more than 300 miles on during that time. If you decide to sell to them, just come in with your offer, and in less than 30 minutes you're done, and you leave with a check in hand. No hassle, no pressure, and a FAIR, MARKET VALUE for your trade. They seem to be most interested in cars that are 2-3 years old, so you fit right in there.

It looks like you're not very close to a Carmax (there are several in Atlanta and one in Greenville, SC), but it might be worth your time if you're near one to check it out.

The next time we trade (it will probably be soon), I definitely plan to visit Carmax first so I'll have a trade offer in hand when I visit the dealerships. At least you'll have a firm number for comparison, and you can tell them they're full of baloney when they give you a cheating lowball offer for your trade!

(edited to add: I just saw Rebecca's reply!!! How funny! It's good to hear that we both had such similar and happy experiences, many miles apart!)

 

[mrsv98]

KathyTX - GMTA!!

 

[Doug123]

Car dealers seem not to want used cars much these days because it's so cheap for people to buy new cars (so, as a result, it's hard for dealers to sell used cars).

Since you asked, though, here's a brief rundown (and, yes, that's how I felt at the end) of my last car purchase experience. I wanted a Grand Prix GTP. The year was 1998.

Pontiac Dealer Number 1: They had no brochures on the car, and couldn't let me test drive one (or get me one to test drive) either since they only had one on the lot and it was in the showroom. I walked out.

Pontiac Dealer Number 2: Found a car I liked (at another dealership, but they were just going to trade with them as they do a lot). We negotiated for about a week and a half. At the end of that time period, he said he had made a mistake. The car we had negotiated on, and settled on a price, was not new, but had 10,000 miles on it. Would he lower the price as a result? No. I walked out.

Pontiac Dealer Number 3: I told this third dealer that if there was any appearance of her trying to screw me, I'd walk out. At this point, I wasn't putting up with any "dealer mischief" (to put it kindly).

We found a car I liked. We settled on a price for the new car. We settled on a price for my trade-in. I got my check from the bank and we (myself and my gf at the time, wife now) went to pick up my new car and drop off my old one. While doing the paperwork, the dealer says the following - "Ohhh, you have a 1992 car to turn in? I thought it was a 1993. My offer is now for $1,000 less." I laughed a little out loud at the ridiculousness of my car buying situation up to that point, and walked out (side note - she called on a regular basis for about two weeks with the same $1,000 less offer; I'm sure her manager was a bit annoyed that she didn't get the car sold).

Pontiac Dealer Number 4: Success.

And people wonder why certain industries have certain reputations. Don't even get me started on health insurance...

 

[tmq2766]

In December of 2000 I went to a local Saturn dealership and bought a "Brand New 2000" Saturn SL1. The only thing the car did not have that I really wanted was a CD player so they were kind enough to throw it in at no extra cost. I was given a certificate for the CD player and to come back any Saturday and have it installed on a first come first serve basis.
FAST FORWARD 2 WEEKS: I am looking all over the place for the certificate, I ran out to the car thinking that just maybe I left it in the glove box. I open the glove box and notice 2 owners manuals, me being the naive one I think oh I will have to give back one of these today when I get the CD player installed. I come back in the house with 2 manuals in hand and sit down at the kitchen table across from my sister and open the first one to see if I stuck it inside and notice the top of a poloroid picture. I think how nice they gave me a picture of my car. I pull it out and Lord and behold it is a picture of MY car with the entire front end SMASHED!!!! My sisster said my jaw literally fell open. They sold me a car that had been in a serious accident, and never disclosed this to me.....
Need less to say after not getting anywhere on my own with the dealership, corporate and any one else involved with Saturn I finally had to retain an attorney...
HAPPY HAPPY ending....
I now own a 2002 Hyundai Santa Fe (Paid for), have had lots and lots of work done on my houseand have very few bills anymore.....
Let me say one more thing.... OK two more things.......
First of all I truely believe that I was sold THAT car because I was a woman going into a dealership by myself to buy a car and I was an easy target.....
lastly before anyone gets the wrong idea of the kind of person I am. The morning I found the picture I went back to them and only wanted them to upgrade me to the next level of a car at the same price.... I tried for a few weeks to get this resolved without sueing.... Unfortunately they would do NOTHING for me!!!!!

 

[4disneyfans]

Bought a car from them recently and it was the easiest car purchase ever!! Wouldn't consider going anywhere else.We did not trade my van in but was told by several people that they usually offer above blue book price.Good Luck

 

[ducklite]

In spring of 1996 I went into All American Chevrolet in Middletown, NJ. I test drove a used car (can't even recall what model anymore.) I liked it alot, and was really to cut a deal on the spot. I had no trade in (had a private buyer for my current car). I sat down across the desk from the young man helping me and said "What's Your Best Deal?"

He looked me stright in the eye and said, "Well, when can you come back with your husband so we can discuss this?"

My mouth hit the ground!

I got up and walked out.

The manager called me that night to ask me to come back in, and I told him that not only didI not need my husband to buy a car, but that I would I NEVER buy a car from them, I would tell everyone I could about the poor service and degrading atmosphere at their dealership, and hung up.

Anne

 

[msteddom]

I was looking at VWs about a year ago. I happened to be with my mother, and first the salesman would only speak to her until she made it clear that I was the one who would be buying the car. I told him what I wanted, and he asked what color I wanted. Now I know a lot of women would be offended that he even asked me that, but I'm a girlie girl and I want to drive a pretty car. I replied that I didn't really care as long as it wasn't white or black.

Now I can see about a dozen Jettas in various colors sitting on the lot. The salesman then says to me, "well the only 2002 models we have left are white and black." I then ask about the 2003 models. He then goes to get me a broshure detailing the available colors. The only thing he could find was a black and white photocopy of the broshure. He seemed perfectly confident that I would be happy just knowing the names of the colors. That was when we walked out.

 

[LadyAurora]

The first time I went to buy a car for myself, we went to the Ford dealership for a Mustang. I knew what I wanted. They had a deal going on...guaranteed something or other for your trade. My old car had 120,000 miles (Taurus) and we were glad to get rid of it.. The trade was not a hassle. We did not plan to buy that night...only look. Well, you know how that goes. We found a good one and settled down to fill out paperwork, etc. As soon as the paperwork was signed, our salesman had his coat on and the smile was gone from his face. Granted, it was after closing, but he talked us into buying the car from him! It was like we were inconveniencing him by having to be there late while they detailed the car.
Being the kind of non-confrontational person I am, I didn't say anything, but they sent me a comment card in the mail. Boy, did that guy get it. Basically, I told them they were lucky that Mustangs sell themselves, 'cause this guy was a dud.
The salesman called my HUSBAND to apologize. What's up with that?
On the other hand, when the time came for my DH to buy a new truck, we went back there (not my idea) and the salesman, now a manager, bent over backwards for us. So I guess it turned out well.

 

[cgcw]

I absolutely hate buying a new car. To me, car sales people are the worst (sorry anyone whose in that business). I'd much rather buy a house over a car anyday.

We are in the market for buying a full size Chevy Express 12 passenger van. They are kind of hard to find in stock but we have found a few by calling several dealerships. We went to consumer reports online and bought their report as to the actual dealers cost with all of the options.

We'll be out this tonight and tomorrow seeing whose willing to give us the best deal. And, I like the idea of getting a quote from Carmax first on our Caravan. Thanks for the info. Maybe it will give us a bit more leverage. And, just for the record, I'm the primary shopper, not my DH. If they don't like that, I'll take my business (AND money) some place else.

Last car we bought was a Honda. When we test drove it, there were floor mats in it. When we sat down to do the paperwork, they tried to charge us for the mats (if I remember, over $100). We refused. They refused. We told them they either included the mats or we'd leave. They refused again. Guess what we did.....went down to the next town and bought the same car with floor mats included!

 

[deadheadbelle]

I hate buying cars. I just want to know the price. I hate trying to "talk 'em down". This is the same reason I do not like traveling to places like Jamaica. Just put a sticker on it with the price & I'll decide if I want it. I hate, hate, hate feeling like I'm going to walk out the door & the salesman is going to be laughing at how much money he made off me. My husband, on the other hand, lives for it. He is the kindest man in the world, but he becomes the biggest A** when he starts talking to a car salesman. Since Ive started ranting, let me also say that my biggest peeve with car salesman is that they act as though I am not there. When we bought my Honda (yes MY Honda, my husband has a company vehicle) the salesman spoke to my husband the entire time. The same thing happened when we went to the bank to get our home loan 5 years ago. Why?? DH doesn't know how much we spend on bills, he doesn't know how much money we have in the bank. He barely knows how much money he makes!!! Why do they assume that my input does not matter??? Can anyone tell me why this is?

 

[RitaZ.]

I'd much rather buy a house over a car anyday.

I'm with you. At least a house appreciates in value.

In 2001, we decided that it was time to buy a new van for me. We checked out several dealerships looking for the best deal. We went to a Dodge dealership in a neighboring town. As soon as walked on the lot, a salesman was assigned to us (I hate that). We knew what we wanted, so it was really a matter of test driving it and choosing the color. I chose the one that I liked and then went inside to get an idea on price. There were some incentives going on at the time, cash back and low interest financing.

The salesman asked to look at our car (trade-in) to give us a value figure. After a few minutes, he came back into the cubicle with all these outrageous figures. One of which was $300 (I laughed) for the trade-in and another figure for more than $1K (double laugh) for the monthly payment (I think it was a 24 or 36 months deal) and also included $3K from us for down payment. There is no van or car on this planet that I would pay $1K a month for. When my husband saw those numbers, he asked for clarification. When the salesman was done explaining, my husband told him to give us our keys. Well, it went downhill from there...

The salesman wouldn't give us our keys and kept asking my DH why he was so upset. DUH!!! He told the salesman that his figures were a total insult and didn't want to do business with them. My DH kept asking for the keys and when the salesman refused to do so, he stepped into the lobby and said very loudly, "Will someone get me my keys?" Every person that was in there began staring, I just walked out and waited outside for DH. DH says that immediately another salesman came to him and asked what the problem was. DH explained that the salesman wouldn't give us our keys, the manager came out and we finally got our keys. Then, of course, we couldn't find our car where we had left it, so DH had to go back in to ask where it was.

As we were finally walking toward our car, the salesman was chasing us. He kept apologizing and saying that we should go back because they had really good food on the second floor. Maybe we looked hungry? The guy was a complete jerk.

Needless to say, we will never go there again and have told anyone that asks for info about car dealerships about the incident. About an hour after this happened, the manager called our house wanting to make a deal for us. He continued to call for several days trying to sell us the van.

In my experience with buying new cars, you have to be willing to walk away, to have a good credit rating/history and have money in your hand for at least a decent down payment. When the salesmen know that you aren't desperate, they work harder to earn your business.

 

[powellrj]

I have a choice between a company car and a car allowance. I knew I would get a 2002 Camry if I took the company car, (this was in 2001) so I went to see what I could find on my own. Went to my local Toyota dealership after wandering around for about 10 min I went inside, still no help. I finally stopped someone and asked for imformation on the 2002 Camry and he went and got me a handout and told me if I was really interested he would unlock one and let me sit in it if I wanted to. I thanked him and went back to my office and ordered my Salsa Red Camry. New problem, have to turn the car in and now I have to buy my own car. Its a really nice allowance compared with what DH gets, but I don't want to even start to look at cars. I think I will just drive ds car while he is in the Army just so I don't have to deal with shopping for a new car.

 

[Princess_Aurora]

Funny you mention this...we just went to a dealership yesterday. We don't have a trade-in because we need a second car. We were really interested in the Saturn Vue. Online, we found a price of around $18k. When we got to the lot, all they had were ones that cost $22k+. Not to mention, we got an ad from them in the mail about a Saturn Vue clearence sale to make room for the 2004 models. It advertised Vues for $13,750. Well, they told us it was a misprint and besides, it was for a standard transmision and I don't know how to drive one. After a lot of haggling, we got NOWHERE!!! They still wouldn't back down from the $22k. To get the payments anywhere NEAR where we wanted them, we would have to pay $349/month for 72 months. There was no way DH was going to pay for a car for 72 months. So needless to say, we walked out without a new car.

Next up is the Honda Element. We're gonna go check those out today and see how Honda will work with us.