Best and Worst new car shopping experience in the same day

"deekster_caddy" (deekster_caddy)
04/17/2018 at 11:24 • Filed to: None

So this weekend my wife and I were shopping for a new minivan. I know, I know, minivan rage blah blah blah. Anyhow, we settled on the new Pacifica Hybrid and apparently a hard to find model option. Chrysler offers very few incentives on them because they are still relatively new and not widely in stock yet. We went to two different dealers, I’ll call them ‘dealer 1' and ‘dealer 2' and had completely opposite experiences. Both were Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram dealers. Both had a model close to what we wanted minus one option.

Dealer 1: Very pleasant to deal with, tried hard to work a discount and artificially inflated our trade-in since they we didn’t see eye to eye on price. They made a fair deal, worked hard to find the model we wanted elsewhere and were accommodating.

Dealer 2: Put off right from the start. Said the option we were looking for was an overhead DVD player (it IS for kid transport...). The model he had on the lot didn’t have one. He says “Oh, just take it to Best Buy after you buy it and have them install one....” My wife says she wishes her camera was out to catch my jaw hitting the floor... Then he suggested we just buy a couple iPads... oh boy. Discount? No way you get all this gov’t rebate money no discounts are even possible. “Now if you wanted a Ram 1500 or Grand Cherokee there is $5-6000 we can play with you know...” blah blah blah. Then he tells me how they are having trouble finding the code for the built in DVD player and could I help him build a van on chrysler’s website and that way he can see the code... really? To top it off, he completely lowballed our trade, offering $500. Now I know our trade-in isn’t worth much, it’s an ‘08 Passat Wagon with 155K miles on it, but it’s not a $500 car either. This was just an insult I guess, to see if we were really desperate? When I tried to leave I didn’t have the keys in my pocket... oh yeah, his “manager” had them to inspect the car (nobody inspected the car), nobody even looked at it, I could see it through the window the entire time... Fuck these guys.

I also placed a few phone calls to other dealerships to see if anyone would work with us. A little interest, but nothing worth traveling for. We went back to dealer 1. Thinking about dealer 2 a couple days later STILL makes my blood boil. They were such jerks. I hope they realize this interaction is exactly why Tesla’s sales model is going to win out in the long run. It may take time to break down the old ways, but nobody wants to buy a car from a jerk like this. We went with dealer 1 and I’m going to pick up our new van tonight, the experience has been pleasant the whole way through!

DISCUSSION (7)

Derpwagon > deekster_caddy
04/17/2018 at 12:06

Blast them on whatever social media platform you participate in. Leave reviews stating exactly that on Yelp, Google, their website, etc. Email FCA and complain about that dealer and that salesman in particular. CC the GM of that dealer.

deekster_caddy > Derpwagon
04/17/2018 at 12:30

I don’t think I’m going to bother with the dealer. But I will do Yelp and FCA. That dealer can go to hell.

LOREM IPSUM > deekster_caddy
04/17/2018 at 12:40

There was a Toyota dealer in the town I grew up in which was known for tossing the keys of potential trades onto the roof of their building during the trade appraisal process.

Most dealers are complete and utter scumbags, straight up.

deekster_caddy > LOREM IPSUM
04/17/2018 at 12:50

that’s a little nuts. And whereas keys these days cost $200+ to replace, very much not cool if they are still doing it.

LOREM IPSUM > deekster_caddy
04/17/2018 at 13:33

This was quite a long time ago, so if they were in fact doing it at the time I’d be surprised if they were still getting away with it today. The staff have probably turned over a hundred times since those days so I’d be shocked if anyone from that era was still working there.

One thing I am sure of though was they were the most aggressive and pushy salespeople in town, hands down...and there were a lot of dealers in the area. I looked at a used Integra GSR there, and totally would have bought it if not for the salespeople. Ended up buying a new Civic instead.

boxrocket > deekster_caddy
04/17/2018 at 19:53

I was at a CarMax recently, and they already have a good selection of Pacificas. I forgot they even existed, but I checked one out and was pleasantly surprised! Then I went and ogled the blue 2016 XC90 R-Design they had for a bit. Then the 500 Abarth, then the Raptor, then the Mustang GT350...and as I was leaving a transport truck pulled up with a Nitrous Blue Focus RS, Jaguar XF R, new-body F-250 King Ranch, an Audi S8, and a 911. Plus a custom Wrangler that looked destined for somewhere else.

It’s a good thing I don’t have more money or I’d go all DeMuro on that place.

deekster_caddy > boxrocket
04/18/2018 at 08:38

So far I’m impressed. It’s very nice inside and drives just like my Volt. They did a great job with these.