Bad Experiences Stories at dealers! Post them up
 

On this forum, i think we are lucky to have a group of nice sponsors and they seem to be real stand up guys and i'm sure they run a good dealership. Unfortunately, there are those of us didn't buy our cars at Fusz, Fontana, or Koeppel or any of our great forum sponsors. So for those of us who happened to have bad dealer experiences POST them up, but please do not include any specific information about the name/location of the dealer, as often times, these bad experiences can be caused by accident, or the fault of one person, and its not fair to punish an entire dealership and hurt their reputation because of something that could have just been a misunderstanding. Needless to say, here is mine:

First, i'd like to mention that working with the general managers and the people who got me the car was an absolute pleasure, however my experience with financing dept at my dealership has left me feeling frustrated.

1. When i bought my altima, my dad cosigned on the loan with me so i could get a better interest rate. The finance manager accidentally put the loan in his name, and I got 0 credit for paying the loan.
2. Several days before picking up my Z, i was in touch with the finance manager at my dealer. all i asked was for her to get me the best interest rate she could and let me know what it was. I told her i was financing 10k and paying the rest down. She sent me a bunch of BS dealer options and stalled on sending the rate. by the time she got it to me (5.75%) i had no time to get financing elsewhere. Then i spoke with one of the GM's there and explained and he called the bank and got me 5%

3. This car being the 5th car between my parents and myself that we had bought from this dealer owner (nissan/infiniti), the week before i picked up the car i asked if i could pay with a personal check, or if i needed a cashiers check. The GM asked the owner and the owner said 'are you kidding, a personal check is fine, they are some of my best customers'. So after waiting to hours and watching the financing manager pace arond the showroom and joking around with the salesmen, i finally get seen, we do the transaction and i go to take out my personal check for 29k, and she looks at me like i just pulled out a severed human hand and says with an attitude 'you can't pay with a personal check.' i said go ask the owner, she says he's not there, but they can do one contract now without my downpayment, and then IF my check clears they'll rip up that one and make the one with the downpayment live. i'm like... NO thanks, call the owner. He bitched her out on the phone and she was like... 'you can pay with the personal check' BUT did not apologize.

4. During the meeting with the Finance manager, with an attitude, she noted to me that i would receive TWO loan declination letters because my credit wasn't good enough to qualify (because i had little credit history b/c the LAST finance manager ****** up). However, i still wondered how i could have gotten declined for a 10k 3 year loan.... long story short i get the letter and she had applied for my loans for 18k for 72 months.... surprise.

5. a weeks AFTER i have my car, she calls me and tells me that my first payment was late. i'm like ... 'i haven't even had the car 2 weeks, much less a month... and you haven't sent me the coupon book or billing information yet' turns out she put the first payment as DUE on the date of purchase by accident, skewing the whole contract and interest calculation so she now needs me to come back and sign a new contract. i tell her, send me the address of the bank, and i'll send a check, i'm not coming in to sign another contract.' she says i have to or my car could be repossesed. She said they would send another contract via fed ex. ( i was away from home at the time, so i asked them to send a copy of the OLD contract so i could compare to make sure nothing was changed outside of the slight difference in financing charged based on the due date of the first payment.... of course, she forgot' :gtfo2:

I can't believe there are no stories in here yet! Are all dealers getting better?

i have two!!

Found an 09 6 speed base model. Sticker was 30. Talked the guy down to 26750 before tax and fees. Told him I had 6,000 to put down. Talk to his finance guy and his manager and says you have yourself a deal. Give him my down payment. Then he comes back and tells me he's waiting on his finance guy. I thought I got approved already. So turns out only 1 or two banks call him back and say I need a cosigner. It 8pm at this point I got there at around 6:30. Then I tell them if I don't get approved I want my sown payment back. They tell me that it's in the safe and the person that has the key won't be back till the morning so they can't get my money. To make a veryyy long story short, last night I left with no money and no car and very angry. The next day the sales manager calls me and says i need to either get a cosigner or buy a used car. So i ask him if he has any used 370's 6 speeds, He tells me he has a couple. So i go down after work only to find out that they dont have any... no wayy... So he tells me that their is no way to get in to a new one bc the banks wont let unless i have a cosign. He tells me that he has an 08 that he could sell me. I tell him that i dont want that and that i want to get a 370z. Again he tells me that i cant buy one of them. and that i should drive that around for a year, build up some credit and then buy a new one. I tell the salesman that i work to hard for my money and that im not one to settle for something less than what i want and that i was already settling by buying that barebone base model. so he talks to his boss and tthen comes back with the down payment i left the day before. They apoligize for not being able to find me something and blah blah.. then the salesman AGAIN trys to sell me on the 350. itold the guy listen im not getting in that car. he tells me that i will never get in a 370 and i should do that. i told the guy listen i promise you within the next week i will be drving a brand new 370z. he goes that will never happen, i tell him ok and i counted my money and left.

the next day i go to another nissan dealer and talk to another guy that i talked to a week before this and told him my horrible story and told him that i do have a cosigner and im looking to buy a car. so he tells me that he will look for the car i want and will call me back the next day with a list of cars that he can get... here i am 5 days later and no call.

i went to anotherrrr dealer and he finally said that he has 3 cars i can choose from that are exactly what i was lookin for. i worked out a price and now waiting on a final number. should have the call today :happydance:

not bad for a first time new car buyer huh :ugh2: i hate being 21, no one takes you seriosly (im 21 working full time for the gov't at BNL making a pretty good living). like when i pull up in my cuz 08 totally load silverado thats lifted 6 inchs on 36" tires on 24" rims its amazing all the salman that want to help me. Pulled into one dealer in my jeep when i had it an no one would even look at me... love it

Before I bought my 370z from Serramonte Nissan, I was shopping for a 370z locally. I went to two dealerships. The first dealership tried to sell me an Altima, a used 350z, and several other used cars that I did not want. I informed the salesman continuously that I was there to buy a brand new 370z.

I refused to have my credit ran before I was shown the car that I wanted. They did not have the Base w/ Sport package in red, blue, or white available. They insisted that I fill out the credit application and not sign it because without my signature, they could not run my credit. I filled it out without my signature. A few moments later, they came back with my credit history. I was so angry that they ran my credit as I was not ready to have my credit lowered before seeing the car I wanted to buy. I walked out pissed.

I have always wonder what I can do when the dealership runs my credit without my signature on the credit application.

^yea man, i always worry the dealer will do that too.

here's my story of the day (just happened yesterday): i visited stevens creek nissan for the second time, and i worked with two guys there, and we came to an agreement on the z price and on the trade in value of my car. everything's all set, and then the sales manager comes over (real sleazebag) and reneges on the trade value for my car. i tell him "we had an agreement on the number two weeks ago, and we had an agreement on the same number today, what gives?", and the sales manger says "well that's your interpretation." i wonder how he interpreted me standing up and walking the F out of his dealership.

hey stevens creek nissan! have fun watching those z's sit around on your lot and depreciate while you clean them every day. i feel bad for the sales guys who lost a commission because the sales manager came in and wrecked a done deal.

This wasn't Z-related, but when I bought my 06 Miata.

At the local Mazda dealer in town, looking at them. They had about 12 Miatas on the lot. I let the guy know I was serious to buy, but I'm looking for a bright red one with XYZ package. He keeps telling me "oh but we have them in black, white, maroon, etc". I ask if they can get one in or order one. He says no, there aren't any available.

I say BS, I just looked online before I came, and there's one just like what I want about 50mi away at the dealership in Tampa. This sales guy just sits there telling me I'm wrong, must be mistaken. So I pull out my phone, pull up the live inventory search on their webpage, and give him the friggin VIN number of the car. I'm like, "oh, so I guess this is all mistaken right?"

He held to his guns. Said there aren't any more red ones available, can't do a transfer, blah blah blah. So I walked out. Went to the Tampa dealer the next day.

I'm walking around this dealer's lot thinking "damn I know that VIN was here..." as a go through all the cars. The salesman comes out and I tell him I'm looking for this one, he points me into the showroom. Its the one actually sitting on the floor there, all meticulously clean. Didn't think to look there! Pure win. A few hours later I drove it home.

So the next day I had to swing by the local dealer in my new red miata. Just wanted to show it to him, seeing as how it did actually exist and everything. I'm like "hey remember that VIN number I showed you on my phone that you claim doesn't exist? Funniest thing, its actually etched into this red miata here...." He was pretty pissed. Oh well.

I know the local dealer didn't want to transfer one because he already had several on the lot, but still, didn't have to completely lose a sale over it.

PM sent from a supporting dealer close to you! No more horror stories!

as an add on to this horrible story i called the salesman yesterday and he quit his job that morning soo now im dealing with another guy at the same dealer. :shakes head:

I just purchased a 2010 370z sport in black cherry Saturday. I wanted the touring seats and door panels which they offered to throw in on the deal. I also negotiated lighted sills as well. This was all written up in the due bill and signed.

I called yesterday to schedule my appointment for my new seats and they told me that I had to make an appointment with some custom interior shop to pick out my color.I spoke with the service guy at Ft. Wayne Nissan and he was a complete a$$. Telling me that I lied about the seats and no one ever promised me Nissan seats. I very angrily explained to them that if they didn't do it my way, I'd drive that cherry car right up where the sun doesn't shine. He said all the due bill stated was "leather seats". I said fine, I want 2009 Ferrari 430 suede seats! He didn't find that funny...

Long story short, 4 hours and 20 phone calls later, I have free reign with a custom interior shop for suede, leather, the works on my seats, door panels, and dash. I'm pretty pumped, but I'm guessing this is going to take a while!

I hate liars and when those salesmen's mouths are moving, that's all that's coming out.

Ditto on the being young. I'm 23 and they were just trying to strong arm me. Hey, I paid for the car, I'm obviously serious, right? Respect the buyer as he's paying to feed you.

Indeed, ditto on the being young. I'm 25, but sadly look much younger, and I got all kinds of crap when buying my 370z. From people trying to treat me like a kid to one dealership even lying to me about VPP pricing(he quoted me a good $2000 over). I don't know how you lie about a number like that. Anyways, once I found a dealer that showed me some respect and was honest, it was fine :P

I'm new to car buying and what I've learned from the Dealer is before you buy the car and in the serious buying car stage, the dealer is extremely nice to you. All phone calls will be answered in a very timely fashion. After the car is bought you're pretty much ignored. Phone calls will take forever to return and your problems will take longer to get resolved.

Yup...same here. I just turned 25, but look 20. I bought my 40th Anniversary on Saturday. While I was filling out the paperwork, the salesman told me the Internet Sales Manager loved my turbo G35 and asked to see the keys. I said sure, thinking he would just take a look inside and maybe pop the hood. What I found odd was when I saw the Internet Sales Manager walked by me and didn't even look at me. You would have thought he would say "Nice car" or something?

A few hours later when I go to leave, I notice my Top Secret front bumper looks odd? I walk closer and find that it's ruined! It had 4 major cracks in the lip, almost all the way through the bottom opening of the bumper. The under side of the bumper was hanging on the ground. Had I not noticed, I would have been screwed! I had the bumper up for sale for $350. The Sales Manager was at least understanding enough to cut me a check for $350, but I don't get it until I turn my G35 in with the OEM bumper Sunday AM. The Sales Manager wasn't sympathetic or anything! :mad:

What dealer did you got to???? I'll go there to buy mine haha jk. The one dealer that was supposed to get a list of cars together and still hasn't called me and it's been two weeks. And the dealer I'm dealing with now the guy doesn't return phone calls. I have to basically drive down there to ask him a question. This guy is going to hate me. I call him every day to see if they got the car. Been there twice in the past week. :stirthepot: Haha I bet he can't wait to get this deal over with and not have to see or talk to me. I don't care as long as I get my car I'll be happy. Would be nice to get it sooner :D

Well a dealer today screwed me over. I was wanting to buy a pre-owned Z (but never titled with only 240miles) from Infiniti of Englewood.

I contacted them three days ago and I was going to buy the car at the internet price (30k) which they later told me was a price mistake but would honor it.

Lots of back and forth e-mail with us not being able to come down until Thursday (today). I was prepared to put a deposit. The manager says he will hold it without a deposit.

WTF! I call today because we were going to go in and someone bought it! Back to the drawing board I guess.

I guess it wasn't that bad...I didn't want that orange interior anyway.

Why don't you just forget this dealer and use a supporting dealer on this site. Lots of satisfied customers from what I've read on here.

:iagree:

1000.00 (cash) deposit magically disappears after 2+ months and the dealer starts to call me threatening to take legal actions. I posted this nightmare on this forum and thanks to some knowledgeable members and to a member who gave me contact infos for some head honchos @ Nissan of North America. After a few e-mails they assured me that the dealer will no longer be contacting me and that they resolved the issue within the dealership.

Has anyone ever sat down with the salesman and they just seem to make up numbers for your trade in... like its a guessing game? To see if your take it... and then refuse to negoitate. Didnt look up the value for the car or anything. Just said.... we're give you 10k for your trade when KBB states 12,600 for trade in. I show him that, and he says "its not gonna happen" "Im just giving you real world prices".

Salesmen will say anything to get a sale. I've had experience with this at Mazda, Infiniti, and Nissan. Only Lexus and Honda hasn't cheated me so far. Of course, YMMV.

I had a Nissan dealer tell me KBB gives prices for private sales only. What we are giving you is realistic numbers.

Oh well I know they will say nething.. Im not really surprised at that. Im just surprised that they pretty much told me they couldnt help me whatsoever with anything. This is the 2nd dealership that has done that. And it was kinda like... we both know your make money off the trade in and it just didnt seem to afffect him. Maybe dealers around here are different and dont like making sales lol. Ok Im upside down in the car right now.. but with the downpayment I was putting down, the guy acted like even if I put down 10k it wouldnt matter. Like no bank would cover 1300 in negative equity.

KBB trade values are usually on the high side compared to what we can get cars for at the auction. And if I buy a car at the auction, if a story pops up, I can always return the car, but I can't do that with a customer's trade.

usually with the tax savings, our trade values will come pretty close to KBB though!

Not really a horror story but when I bought my 370Z the dealer screwed up the paperwork and UNDERCHARGED me by ~$1,500. They had actually added the amount I owed on my 07 to the down payment rather than adding it to the price.

They called the day after delivery to explain their mistake and to ask me to come pay the rest. I found it pretty comical that the FI guy made the Salesman call and attempt to explain before he just transferred me. I'm sure that if the tables were turned I would have had to fight tooth and nail to get a refund and I'm not sure of what sort-of liability I actually had considering the contract was signed by both parties, but I went back the next day and wrote them another check...

I shortly considered not going back to fix their mistake because of how I was treated when I bought my first Z from them but I just couldn't do it. :)

I have another horror story... try a non itemized $950 on my contract that is for some bogus "roadside assistance". NEVER EVER buy from BOB Rohrman autogroup! Crooks! Thieves!

I hated my dealer experience, I really wish I went through Koeppel but I got a good deal on a left-over 09 from another dealership.

First visit to the dealership was alright, they took me to see the car and I immediately got upset. Even though the body was in good shape and no scratches or defects, the car was filthy. I don't think they ever washed it, the white color looked grey almost. But I knew its just dust/dirt nothing that can't be fixed with a proper wash/detail. Went back to the finance guy BSed for a bit, left a deposit and told him I'll be back next week to sign papers.The finance manager tells me he will call me during the week to tell me what my finance rate will be and what the monthly payments should look like.

Fast forward to 5-6 days later, I keep calling him as I still have not heard anything about the rate or payments. He obviously keeps ignoring me just so I come in there (knowing it was a 50 mile drive for me just to get there) and I would be less likely to back out of the deal than if he told me on the phone. I then asked him if I can get a pre-approved loan from my own bank and just come in with a check; the guy tells me if I get my own loan the deal is off (uhhh wtf?). I came in to the dealership, they were all over the place, very unprofessional. The rate wasn't horrible but still a good 1.5-2% higher than what I could have gotten on my own. Whatever, you can always refinance and the payments were still within my budget so I wasn't too upset over it.

This is the part that really pissed me off. I go to pick up the car, and they cleaned it... but these idiots don't know how to detail a car AT ALL. Swirl Marks everywhere, nothing horrible but still not something I want to see on a new car. Then I see that they drilled license plate holes in the front, when I SPECIFICALLY asked them not to (and ordered a stillen front bracket). After I drove the car home I noticed that the screws they used to secure the top of the front license plate were too long and puncturing the front bumper (white paint) of my car, leaving 2 small chips in my bumper.

This dealership is just too used to dealing with altimas and other every day vehicles, they had 4-5 2009 370 Zs on the lot, the most out of any dealership in NY at the time of my search, this was right before the 2010's arrived and all 09's were sold out. They didn't know how to sell them, or treat them.

Went in to Alhambra Nissan as they had the yellow, manual, sport I wanted. I called and they said I could test drive it. I get there and it seems nobody is wanting to make a sale. I track someone down and they want to run my credit, talk numbers, and get my information before I am able to test drive. I said no way. I know what I want and the price I want it for. I left as they were irritating me. I leave my number and tell them to call if they want to sell the car.

They call me and tell me I can test drive it before running my credit. I get there and they guy I spoke with is conveniently out on a run...so the same mgr. says...no can do. And they insulted me saying, "we get a lot of 18 year olds in here just trying to drive it." I respond: "Thanks, but I'm 30 and that has nothing to do with me."

I visited several other dealers before having a good experience at Universal City Nissan. Lots of bad reviews online for them, but I was pleased. During making my deal at Universal (who let me test drive no problem) Alhambra is calling me constantly, "We will try to work with you." Suuure like the last two times I made the out of the way trip to your dealer. They finally agreed to the price I originally wanted, I ended up with leather add on seats with Universal and told Alhambra to stop calling me. It was worth the slightly extra price and leather seats.

Alhambra Nissan - Google Maps

yea they are idiots when it comes to cleaning a car. I told them not to touch the exterior of the car until i got there. I made sure i told everyone there so that even the guy that cleans the toilettes new that i didn'dt want them to detail (scratch the hell out of) my car. My REAL detailer said thank god i did that, there was so much rail dust they would have like ruined the finish'

Jeff you're obviously smarter than me because I had no clue the dealership sucks at detailing :ugh2:

anyways, lesson learned... I am hoping that my next car will be one of the luxury brands in which case the dealerships are also usually of higher standard. I have been to so many nissan dealerships already and with the exception of koeppel, holy hell the rest are a mess.

Let me stop you there. Your once again putting too much faith in a dealership. I've been to Acura, Infinity and Bmw dealerships and they are just as bad. They all have kids, making a low wage, who don't know anything about a proper detail.

Other than BMW, I can see how infiniti and acura could be just as bad as their nissan/honda counterparts. I'm basing my judgement off of a Land Rover dealership. I have a good friend who works in one and everytime I've been there the level of every single aspect of the dealership is insanely above those of nissan dealerships.

paint is paint. You could be a tech at a lambo dealership, and if you dont do paint, you'll butcher anything from a VW rabbit to an aston martin. That being said, the reason i knew not to let them touch my car is b/c i had bought a car from this dealership before, which was my black altima coupe. i remember seeing swirls on it hte first day i bought it, so i knew what to expect.

Why would you ever give your car keys to someone? Guess you learned your lesson. Tough way to learn it though.

It's so hard for dealerships to take young adults (I'm 22) like us seriously...its like they think its impossible for us to be working and making more than them or something. It's infuriating. :shakes head:

i think they just think that our parents are buying the cars for us.

Yeah you know what you're right...i live in the burbs, and the dealership that i was dealing with was too. Stupid stereotypes.