Yet another bad dealership experience

I’m starting to wonder...is it me?

I made an appointment to look at a ‘14 Off Road and requested it be up on a lift so I could inspect the frame. Talked to the internet sales girl on the phone, ‘See you when you get here’.

I get there, she’s left for the day, the truck is not on a lift, and it takes them 30 minutes to find the keys. I’d been there an hour before the test drive happened. I find out on the test drive that the truck hasn’t been through service today so I couldn’t even buy it if I wanted to. What if I’d driven fours hours???

By the time I got the obligatory visit from the sales manager to actually discuss numbers and hear what my trade in was worth I’d been there 2.5 hours!!!

No apologies about any of this so far. He basically said, let’s not talk numbers before the truck’s been inspected. Tonight it vanished off the website so obviously it wasn’t supposed to be listed yet.

What the fuck!?!?

When he calls tomorrow I’ll just say, here’s what it will take to keep me from posting the details of my experience along with your name in the dealership review section. Or maybe I just call the GM directly.

What do you all think, or is this just your average shitty dealership fumbling around?

 

Go somewhere else

 

I live in a rural area with few dealerships and there are only about 5 trucks that fit my specs in my half of the state. I’m interested in leveraging this experience to get a better deal.

 

Don’t threaten them, just move on.

You could get a new 3rd Gen as cheap as $25-$30k if you don’t find a /nd Gen

 

I wouldn't call first. Just show up w financing/cash in hand and ready to negotiate if you're really interested in the truck. Otherwise none of the bullshit is really worth it.

 

This^^^^

Cash/financing in hand will get you their undivided attention faster than anything else.

 

2014 OR to 3rd gen = apples to oranges

 

Why not travel a little further for more options? Make a day of it. +1 for getting all your ducks in a row beforehand.

When I bought the wife her Range Rover I traveled from Houston to Austin for the right deal.

 

Just drop the review and move on. You do not want to be stuck with whatever a shady ass dealership is trying to sell you. Warn your fellow shoppers and let it go.

 

They’ve seen and evaluated my trade in now and know so have my financing set up. I’m not driving the two hours round trip again unless it’s for the price I want.

 

Yeah, can’t even really find a 3rd Gen SR5 4WD for near $30K unless it has like 40-50K miles. Just not worth it.

 

The problem is, I have to go through this whole trade in evaluation at every dealership. If my truck was sold and I was just buying outright I’d probably do exactly this. I could find a great deal online two states away and then get a shitty trade in valuation.

 

I've traded and bought a car sight unseen on both ends. Some dealers are really willing to work.

 

Agreed i live in rural mn i traveled 2 hours to find the one i like. The toyota dealer here dont care about sales. Or service. Travel may be the best option. Took me 6 months to find mine.

 

Why do you need a ‘14 on a lift to inspect the frame?
All you need to do is bend over and look.
1. Those bays are money. It costs them money to have a non-paying customers vehicle on a lift.
2. Due to liability you won’t even be allowed back by the lifts.
3. Not eligible for frame replacement anyways.

So I think the “put it in a lift” part was unreasonable.

Next... the girl that answers the phone is just that, the girl that answers the phone. Talk to a sales person directly, they’ll be more motivated to get everything ready to make the sale.

She just shoots off an email or writes a note for the next guy to pick up on.

The not having the truck ready to sell is what gets me. Thats bad.


I will say this. Express your frustration but don’t threaten them. These trucks are so easy to sell for a great profit they don’t GAF if they sell to you or not. They’ll have a guy tomorrow in to buy it for list price.
You get more flies with honey.
Threatening to post a shitty review isn’t going to get you anywhere.

 

dealers dont care about what you say or offer there is allways the next guy coming threw the door

 

Just move on man. Not worth it.

 

It's surprising how many businesses are becoming attuned to bad public reviews.

 

From my own experience, dealership don't care about you if you pay cash/own financing.
They want you to finance through them. That's how they make money.

 

With automobile margins being what they are anymore, my belief is that a dealer makes it's money on financing and other services (service contract, maintenance, etc.). The price of a used vehicle is probably not a high profit item for many dealers, I'm guessing that many of them categorize used vehicles as a loss leader to get people onto the lot.

I cannot imagine that threatening a bad review will get much traction from them. If you don't buy a vehicle then, from their standpoint, your review may get marginalized by their marketing people under the blanket heading of sour grapes.