Adventures in car buying

"Pixel" (Improbcat) 01/05/2020 at 20:35 • Filed to: None

3

25

A friend needed help shopping for her first car at age 37 (lived in Manhattan & Boston most of her life), so I helped her out. We did a bunch of research & test drives before settling on a 2020 Kia Soul S as having everything she needed (blind spot detection, tall driving position, small size, easy to get in/out with a bad back).

A dealer local to me had two listed for the low price of $16,616 (MSRP is $21k, typically listings are for $18.5-$19K), so we went, she test drove it just to be sure, and decided to go for it. Salesman got his paperwork out and wrote that price on it, and we tried to haggle, because it never hurts to try and get a little bit more off. Salesman goes to get manager approval for the new price, and comes back and says the price is out of date and the rebate on it expired the 3rd (this was the 4th). I point him to his own website that says the rebate goes til 3/20, so he leaves to talk to his manger again.

Manager comes over this time and claims the amount listed as the “dealer discount” on their website is wrong, and that the price for the car is $18,116, but because of their error he’ll knock $500 off and do it for $17,616. I point out that MA law says a retail establishment has to sell an item at the price advertised. He dismissively tells me I can sue the company that manages their website. So despite the new price being ~$1000 under area pricing, with the attitude and general sketchiness, we get up and walk out with a “We’re done here.”

Today we hit up a different dealer that had 5 Soul S’s (how to you pluralize that?) in stock, all for $18,728. Didn’t even bother with a test drive as she has been behind the wheel of 3 of them in the last week, and instead tell them of the BS from the last place, and that if they can match their $17,616 offer, we’ll take whichever S they most want off the books.

Salesman leaves and is gone for a long while. Comes back and says he can’t hit the $17,616 on a new S. Then he shows us a 2020 Soul S with 8K miles, listing for $18,793(yes, more than the after-rebate new price), and says they can do that for $16,666. Which is $50 over the other place’s BS price. He tells me it was a lease turn-in because the owner passed away (not in the car, he assures us). I go over it with a fine toothed comb looking for accident damage, and give it one hell of a thorough test drive, where it behaves exactly like the brand new ones did.

So the deal was signed, and this week she picks up her new Soul. Red wasn’t her first choice, but she says she’s willing to take it for the $2K discount. All thanks to the first dealership being not only shady, but massive jerks about it too.

Next weekend, we go shopping for a (used) replacement for her husband’s ‘09 Forester, which again fouled the #3 spark plug due to oil burning and started throwing misfire codes while she and I were doing the car shopping.

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > Pixel 01/05/2020 at 21:01

5

He dismissively tells me I can sue the company that manages their website

What a prick.

Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire > Pixel 01/05/2020 at 21:09

8

Sounds like a KIA dealer

HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles > Pixel 01/05/2020 at 21:21

6

Idk I would have paid the extra $ 1100 for a new car vs a 8k mike lease return. 

SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media > Pixel 01/05/2020 at 21:35

0

I’d forgotten how expensive those Soul were (that purchase price is equivalent to AU$24,000). Kia didn’t even bother bring the new generation in because they could sell the Rio, Cerato hatch   and now Seltos for less with similar packaging.

412GTI > Pixel 01/05/2020 at 21:54

4

Oh Kia dealers, never change..wait actually do, please do. Greasy bastards.

I don’t know if I could buy a car whose former owner is deceased for $16, 666

ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com > Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire 01/05/2020 at 22:04

1

This will be the down fall of the Stinger.  I test drove one a few weeks back, as one does, and the Kia dealer experience slightly sucked even for just a test drive.

AestheticsInMotion > HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles 01/05/2020 at 22:47

2

But you would have bought a car at a place that's pulling shit like that? Seems like a bad start to a relationship... 

Pixel > HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles 01/05/2020 at 22:52

2

There was no car at 17766. The car at 17616 was the shady dealer who listed it on their website at 16616 then said we needed to pay them $1000 more than the advertised price.

Pixel > 412GTI 01/05/2020 at 22:54

3

She’s an old school goth, didn’t even faze  her.

smobgirl > Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire 01/05/2020 at 22:56

0

I  inspected maybe 15-20 dealerships in 2019, one of which was a Kia dealership. Guess which one had sales people relentlessly trying to sell to me the whole time I was there.

Chariotoflove > Pixel 01/05/2020 at 23:10

0

I’m a fan of lease returns, especially with such low mileage. She got a good car.

But two new car purchases on top of each other?  Man, what a wallop on her finances. 

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > Pixel 01/05/2020 at 23:11

1

I think his point   was that he thought the shady place still ultimately offered the better deal :New car for $17,616 vs a lease return for $16,666. The actual difference ($950 versus $1,100) probably strengthens his stance (in your post you say the difference was $50 and not $950 which I assume is a typo).

HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles > Pixel 01/05/2020 at 23:22

0

So the new option was at 18,800 vs   the 16,700 for the lease return?

That makes more sense. Personally I probably would have gone with the new one. On a 5 year loan every 1000 is about 20/month. For 40 bucks a month I’d take the brand new car. Especially because for me 8,000 miles is nearly a years worth of driving.

All that said I like the red Soul. It’s a great looking car I’m sure your friend will enjoy it.

Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing. > Pixel 01/05/2020 at 23:22

2

I got lucky when I bought my Mazda 6MT . It was the dealer’s loss-leader, and advertised for around $17K on an MSRP of about $21K. Their first offer was about $19K, but when I pulled out my iPad and showed them their own ad , with the VIN, they agreed to the advertised price. It was after the next model year’s cars were rolling out, so they probably just wanted to get rid of it. I would have liked some of the features that they had on the newer models, but for $4K off I figured that I  could live without them.

HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles > AestheticsInMotion 01/05/2020 at 23:24

0

I was thinking the second  place had a 17,600 deal on a new one . But it was 18,800. A much bigger difference.

HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo 01/05/2020 at 23:28

0

“ Actually you need to sue them.” Would have been my response 

HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles > Pixel 01/05/2020 at 23:32

1

She would have liked my old very catholic superstitious co-worker I had when I worked at a gas station. Who insisted that we change the price of some chewing tobacco when it hit 6.66, and would manually take a cent off it a customers total was 6.66. It  was pretty funny.

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles 01/05/2020 at 23:38

0

Are you sure? I’ve read this three times and I keep thinking that the shady dealer still offered a new one for $950 more than  the 8k lease return at the other dealer. Has my dyslexia gotten worse?

Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire > smobgirl 01/05/2020 at 23:40

0

The Hyundai dealer?

HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo 01/05/2020 at 23:46

0

Yeah the shady dealer was at 17,610. 950 more than the lease return.

The not shady dealer was at 18,800.

smobgirl > Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire 01/05/2020 at 23:49

0

Surprisingly I don’t think I looked at a Hyundai dealer. The last Nissan shop I looked at was by far the sketchiest though. Like there’s no way it wasn’t a front for something, but I don’t deal with the finances. 

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles 01/06/2020 at 00:24

0

Oh dear

Eury - AFRICA TWIN!!!!!!! > Pixel 01/06/2020 at 06:29

1

Kias should only be bought lightly used at other places just to avoid the stench of a Kia dealer. 

Pixel > Chariotoflove 01/06/2020 at 08:46

1

Fortunately she came into a little money, which was why she was looking to buy new rather than used. B ut it makes me glad for what we saved on this one, given the surprise second purchase.

Pixel > HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles 01/06/2020 at 08:49

0

The even better part was the issues with her husband's car cropped up on the way there, so we were actuallly looking to buy the soul and a used subaru on their lot at the same time. So they violated the law AND lost out on two sales in the process.