Review: Dishonorable experience at Gwinnett Place Certified GTR Dealer, Duluth GA
 

Hey guys, I'm a 370z owner, was going to trade in the Z for a GTR. It didn't work out .. at all. I wanted to share the full story with you guys because this forum is my current home and I know this dealer is also a large 370z dealer.

I'm including a link to the original post on NAGTROC. I would advise you to look elsewhere, but if you are going to shop at this dealer, buyer beware.

Review: Dishonorable experience at Gwinnett Place Certified GTR Dealer, Duluth GA - NAGTROC - The Nissan GT-R Owners Club

To be honest, I'm totally turned off from Nissan but not sure what car is going to be next ... It's a shame, but they ruined it for me.

Still reading but i will comment on this..

You know straight away that the dealer is shady when they say the bank wont let you finance a car for a certain amount but they are willing to do it if you buy the extended warranty, which will add up to more than the original sum.

Thats when i will look for another dealership

everyone goes to mustangs...

Heh, my past has been gti, acura, sti, s4 audi ... I dont see myself getting a mustang, nothing against them, they are fast for not a lot of money, but I'm leaning towards another STi or an EVO. Something that is boosted from the factory.


You're right - I wish I bailed a lot earlier instead of after driving there and having my heart broken, heh for real. What a painful experience. I learned a lot though, for sure.

You shouldn't let this move you off of Nissan. All car makes have shady dealerships associated with them.

The Nissan dealer here in NY that I got my Z from had issue too - again, dishonesty and some hidden items / misinformation, etc. I'm still working to resolve that issue.

I know part of what you're saying is right, but two dealers to be so awful. I don't know. We'll see ... Right now I'm just furious.

It's all car dealerships. That's what I'm trying to say.

I've been given sleazy runarounds by Subaru, VW, Chevrolet, Nissan, Mazda, etc, etc...

Car dealers scrape as much profit as they can by seeing if you're paying attention. It's all sleight of hand.

Very much true. I do seem to have had more negative experiences with gm and Nissan though.

That's one thing - but trying to sell me a 66k GTR throwing a CEL and saying we can flatbed it to get fixed, and here let's do the paperwork. Come on, that's downright criminal.

And he lied...over and over. It's not even about a dollar. It's about being a complete ******* piece of **** human.

its not about the brand, its about the salesman you deal with it.

the GTR is too awesome to give up on :(

:iagree:

i have seen very very few dealerships that arent trying to bend you over with no lube

true, it would be unfair to the other nissan dealers that actually are nice and worthwhile to do business with. :)

yah, i cant see myself in a stang either. just not my cup of coffee (or burger).

Oh, I completely agree with you. I'm just saying, this guy would try to do this to you whether he's selling Nissans, Fords, Kias, or Lambos. It's the sales staff of that dealership that would lose my patronage from here to eternity.

It's things like that which are the reasons I eschew some of my local dealerships.

That's where I disagree. At the end of the day, Nissan Corp hires these dealer managers, who hire these idiot sales guys. It's a top down issue. And good luck trying to call Nissan corp, I've been redirected all day via the switch board, people dont know where to transfer my calls, etc etc. BS.

You are right about the GTR, my favorite car of all time (R32, 34, etc). My dream car.

Show me one. I'll fly anywhere in the US to find em. I already wasted 50+ hours with this one - show me a stellar sales staff and nissan dealer in the 48 states.


Some do look sharp though. I dont know, I just think an EVO or STI might be in the cards. Heavily tuned. We'll see.


Indeed. It's sad.

sorry, but thats not true. every dealership has an owner, or owning company. Nissan has no say whatsoever about who runs the store. The only thing they can do is penalize them, concerning bonuses and inventory.

Ok you're probably right. I don't know **** about the structure of the dealerships. Still, I think Nissan Corp should be making sure all GTR sales are a league apart from traditional sales within their dealerships - they should have protocol in place to enforce it happens.

You know the sales guys AND techs have to got training; both to sell and to service. Paul must have been asleep during class ...

Sorry to hear you had a bad experience.

It's that old saying "it only takes one bad apple..."

Unfortunately, this has been happening in our industry for so long, we will forever be overshadowed with the "Used Car Salesmen"

:iagree: For every one of these idiots, there's a guy who "gets it" and will deal with you on honest terms.

The guy who sold me my Z is Jay Region from Norris Nissan. He got it. The car sells itself. I merely told him what I wanted, we did some light dealing, took our time, agreed on numbers, and bam we had a deal.

they do, but you were looking at a preowned one. Preowned recieves no real oversight from corporate

Im that guy here lol:tiphat:

A truly alarming story. Buying a used car from a distant dealer is like trying to maintain a long distance relationship; very hard to do successfully. Here are some things I noticed:

1. You don't seem to have received a written proposal from the dealer. This would have listed all charges and taxes. Email and verbal negotiations are fine in the beginning, but I don't think I would even consider providing a deposit before receiving a signed proposal.
2. I am very suprised you didn't request written cerification of the car's condition. That would have gone a long way toward resolving any disputes and would have saved you the trip.
3. Considering the price of the car, it would have been a very good idea to pay a local lawyer to represent you. For a few hundred bucks you would have your own representative down there.
4. Similarly, it would make sense to find a local mechanic to verify the condition of the car.

Buying a car, new or used, from a dealer does not change the nature of the transaction. Depending on the state where you buy the car, there may or may not be consumer protection laws to prevent unethical transactions.

Most important, I think, is that if I am spending $66,000 I want to make sure that I (not the dealer) have independent verification that I am getting what I am paying for.

Most of us think of car dealers as "stores" where we buy a car the same way we buy a bed or a couch. The dealers work hard to make us "forget" how much money is involved. Most dealers only talk about monthly payments, not the total you will be paying. It is up to us to recognize how big these transactions are and it is up to us, not the dealer, to make sure we are getting what we are paying for.

It's really great to find an honest dealer that actually helps customers get the right car at the right price. But in our economy some formerly great dealers are shaving the truth to stay in business.

I am not a lawyer, just an educated consumer. I do know that when I am spending a lot of money, I want to know exactly what I am getting and what my money buys in terms of warranties and other "extras".

Bear in mind you are the customer. You always can walk away if the dealer doesn't do exactly what you want. In some ways you may have made it easy for the dealer to avoid telling you the truth. I suggest you think about what you could have done to make your experience better. Take the time to write out a list of what you want from the dealer before you even consider a deposit. List the things that you need to do to assure you are getting the car you expect.

Remember, Caveat Emptor (let the buyer beware) is most true when a car dealer is involved.

Pay particular attention to this. I had something similar happen, whereby the dealer claimed I wasnt approved for a certain loan, but then COULD get me approved for an even HIGHER loan. I chuckled and told him "if I'm too risky to be loaned $36,000, why would I be given $38,000?" They want you to feel like they're pulling strings, getting the bank to do you some kind of favor by giving you the money, but the catch is you have to pay for this "favor". Complete garbage, it's a risk assessment, nothing more. I got the loan approved myself from the same bank they claimed to have tried the next day =/

From a Nissan dealership too.

Sounds like a rare but awesome experience. Glad to hear it. Perhaps I will reach out. Right now I'm not giving Nissan a penny.

Yeah - and this sort of situation just helps prolong that stereotype..it's a shame.

Glad to hear you had a positive experience as well.


I did have a written proposal for cost and taxes. That went through a few rounds of negotiations but was all nailed down prior to me leaving to get the car.

Regarding condition, I asked and recieved a few emails about the multi-point inspection being done, the car being in excellent mechanical shape, it passed the GTR inspection and still had a bumper to bumper warranty, had never been launched, etc.

I could get a lawyer - that's something I'm talking over with friends here, I have some that are lawyers in the city.

An inspection is good and I had thought about doing that - I guess I just never followed through.

Great point - this is a learning experience for me. Will execute the deal, whatever it is, much better. And yes, I did walk away...800 miles away, heh.


Yeah, should have caught that as a red flag as well. Awful. Awful.

I'm guessing if they become aware of these threads here and NAGTROC, you can kiss your reimbursement goodbye.

I know right? Sure time is money, but they did say they would reimburse you for travel costs. Maybe hold off on the negativity unless they renege on the reimbursement.

Also, do you really need to get a lawyer involved? It's not like you actually bought the car.

Wow sorry to hear that happened to you. Had a similar (though far less extreme) experience when I was trying to buy a 2009 Maxima last year. I live in MD and drove close to 300 miles to see one in NJ. Asked for pics of the car and it looked pretty good in them. When I got there the car actually had graffiti keyed into it. No joke. It wasn't just keyed, there was graffiti keyed on the rear quarter panel. Also, the car had like 2-3k miles more than what I was told. The salesman than told me the pics/mileage they gave me were from over a year ago. They wouldn't even budge on the price so I walked away right there. At that point, I didn't even want it. Luckily for me though, I have family/friends in NY so the trip wasn't a complete waste.

Hope things work out for you better next time :tup:

FWIW, Nissan dealers are independently owned and operated. You can't judge Nissan or the quality of their products by the salesman (or the dealership) for that matter.

Hey Ken, what do you expect? Mustangs are the greatest!!! We're the only two members too stupid to realize it!!!!!!!!!!!!!

:rofl2:

that's what I said
:confused:

Sure you can .. It's there name and the dealership is selling and warranty their product ..

Interesting read. You seem to be a bit over-sensitive to a few things. At the risk of you taking his personally, I advise you step back and analyze the way the world works.

You appear to want to be treated a certain way, yet you are ignoring the fact that dumb people abound us. Think of the average person of average intelligence. Then remember, 1/2 of everyone is dumber then that person.

This isn't to say every sales person is dumb...but the odds are in your favor that if you are an above average consumer...they are dumber then you.

You are emotionally vested: and that is what people want in any sales game. And its a game.

Recognize that you may be over extending yourself: if you have to borrow to buy the car, and you have limited credit, this may not be a *great* idea for you. Why? You are giving up some leverage in that you now need the dealer, or some banker to do you a solid in order for you to get the car. You already are in a bad position from a buyers perspective shopping for a limited edition item: this makes it a sellers position, not a buyers position.

I understand wanting to get into a car. In 1996 I was a young professional and had always loved Z's. Found out the Z32 was going out of production, and was all set to trade my Integra for a NA Z32 and things didn't work out.

My heart was broken at the time, but that is youth for you. It turned out to be a good thing for me, I just didn't know it at the time.

Fast forward 15 years I certainly am in a different financial position from working so long, I could easily buy a car I really wanted as well (NSX has always been my fav...or a Boxster as its still a Porsche) but I walked away from that idea as not a prudent thing to do. Things change. I stumbled into the 370z and remembered back to always loving Z's as a little kid and here I am, getting into a Z.

BTW, I got my Z used from a dealer in Maryland (Antwerpen). I am in PA and drove down on a whim one Saturday, and 3 hours later drove home with the car. 2010 ZR with 2500 miles. I dealt mostly with the sales *manager*, not the front end folks who often rotate in and out of the dealership.

Previously I worked with a dealer in Doylestown, PA who also was very fair and up front about a lot of things, but could not work a deal on a car with them. I wished I could because they were good professionals.

My first dealership was more annoying, as they were adversarial about pricing (40 AE, I know the market for it and its not that special of a car). Despite they continuing to try to convince me they were giving me a great price, I simply stated 'if you can get someone to pay for that, then good luck to you. I simply do not value the car as special. I know how much it cost, and how much it can go for. Thanks for the time.'

Good luck and in the end, just enjoy the drive as Mr K. told us all to do.

- b

^ That's funny because I'm from MD and bought my Z from PA :p

I included a link to the NAGTROC thread in my email to the president of the dealer. He read it and still is (said he would mail it today) sending me a refund for my travel expenses.

That's awful. Do these guys think you'll still buy a car after it's damaged like that...so stupid.


All points well taken. Next time will be different and I'm really no longer interested in spending the money at this point. Love the NSX as well.

Ok, maybe you dont understand what I'm saying: Nissan DOES NOT OWN NISSAN DEALERSHIPS. Therefore, they have NO hiring OR firing power. The only thing they can do is penalize the dealership, by taking away bonuses or inventory. That's it. This is not a debate or an argument, this is a fact in America. That's why there's such variance when it comes to salespeople in car dealerships, and that's why there's no unified pricing between the dealerships.