Car Buying Experience

[Tau]

Yeah, I had a lot of bad experiences with dealers in the Chicagoland area...won't go into the details, but a lot of wasted time and effort that could have been avoided had the dealers been upfront and honest with me.

Unfortunately, it appears that your experience has been common.

 

[TinsleyC]

Genesis - dead last, and by quite a bit!

How did they do in this category in other years?

 

[Starflyer]

Yeah, I had a lot of bad experiences with dealers in the Chicagoland area...won't go into the details, but a lot of wasted time and effort that could have been avoided had the dealers been upfront and honest with me.

When were car dealers ever upfront and honest? For the first thing, I'm guessing almost every car salesman (ops, salesperson), don't want the "wokers" picketing my home, doesn't figure they'll ever see you again and they only get one chance to get a little extra from you.

 

[AnClar52]

We are in the process of buying a GV70 as a replacement for our 15 year old Mercedes GL550 with 189,000 miles. The Benz is getting long in the tooth and increasingly unreliable. Also, my wife wants to downsize from the Benz, which is getting too large for her. So after a ton of research and review reading and watching, we decided on a GV70 3.5T Sport Prestige. We have four color combinations that would be acceptable to us. So now the "fun" begins. I've attempted to source vehicles nationwide. I'd have been willing to fly anywhere in the U.S. to buy a car (we live in Texas). The stories I got from out of town dealers were depressing, but for different reasons. The reasons fall into a couple of basic categories, other than the "no cars available" one. I had a dealer in NJ tell me that, yes they had a Uyuni White/Blue 3.5T Sport Prestige in inventory. The minute they found out I was buying out of state, they told me the only way they'd sell me the car is if I came in with a debit card and paid the full price. They refused to accept my financing. So scratch that one. Then I found a Sliver/Blue one in Tennessee. They were not willing to accept my financing...they wanted to make me go through their in-house finance department. Also, they wouldn't budge off of MSRP +$5,000. Scratch that one as well. Then there were the ones whose web sites said they had cars either in inventory, or in transit, but when I called to check, I was told that those cars were all pre-sold.

So I said the heck with it and came back in-state. I have no problem putting down a deposit, non-refundable or otherwise, as we are totally committed to buying at this point and we have financing in-hand. We're also aware of the abysmal new car market these days, the massive delays, and in the case of the Genesis, the downgrading from HDA 2 to HDA 1 because of the chip shortage. We're realistic about market realities, and are flexible, patient, and willing to wait until we get what we want. We're far past settling for a car, or overpaying for one. So, we decided to come back in-state to attempt to buy. The current state of affairs is that I found an in-state dealer who has some '23 GV70s in an as-yet unbuilt allocation in the colors and trim that we want. The price quoted was MSRP with no market adjustments. I went ahead and put down a deposit to reserve one of the new allocation when built. The dealer is telling me that they "might" have the cars in by September. We're willing to wait, and can afford to do so, as the Benz is still running.

Overall for us, the in-state dealer experience has been not great but not bad. I've had some real dealer horror stories, even pre-COVID so we'll see how this plays out. We now have a '23 GV70 3.5T Sport Prestige in Adriatic Blue/Vanilla Beige reserved...hopefully the car will arrive in the September time frame, and that the dealer won't try to tack on a bunch of unnecessary add-on BS. We'll just sit back and wait for now.

 

[Jhon]

I was in the same boat. One dealer had one comming in in a month exactly what I wanted. But they wanted a non refundable deposit and not guarantee exactly when the car would come in. But the deal breaker was I could not test drive one. Not one of the three dealers I went to had a car for me to test drive. I ended up getting the GV80 with no regrets. I really like the extra space.
Good luck with your quest.

 

[Bbelin]

I bought my G80 a year ago, and it was truly the worst new car buying experience I have ever had! I traded a 2017 Chrysler 300C (Which I wish I kept). I intended to trade and pay cash, but the only way I would get the low price was to take out a loan, huge error. Bought the car on the 1st of June and by the 17th I never heard from Genesis credit or the dealer on how the payment process worked. Called the deal about how to make payments they told me to call Genesis credit for that info; so I called Genesis credit, they knew nothing of the purchase, they said... you guessed it ...call the dealer. I did, and the dealer claimed they were paid by Genesis already. They said not to worry you will get a package from Genesis credit. Well the fifth July, after the July 4th weekend I receive a call from Genesis credit representing that I was in default of the loan agreement and they demanded payment. I overnighted same to them. To make a long story short, as soon as I could I paid off the loan; but my troubles were not over the dealer failed to transfer the tags and further dragged their feet on conveying title to the care. After two additional months of chasing the dealer for the tag transfer and title I hired a lawyer and low and behold with 24 hours for the dealer getting the letter from my lawyer I had the tags transferred and go the title within days after that. Needless to say I most likely will never buy another Genesis and most certainly not use that dealer again.

 

[Jhon]

I bought my G80 a year ago, and it was truly the worst new car buying experience I have ever had! I traded a 2017 Chrysler 300C (Which I wish I kept). I intended to trade and pay cash, but the only way I would get the low price was to take out a loan, huge error. Bought the car on the 1st of June and by the 17th I never heard from Genesis credit or the dealer on how the payment process worked. Called the deal about how to make payments they told me to call Genesis credit for that info; so I called Genesis credit, they knew nothing of the purchase, they said... you guessed it ...call the dealer. I did, and the dealer claimed they were paid by Genesis already. They said not to worry you will get a package from Genesis credit. Well the fifth July, after the July 4th weekend I receive a call from Genesis credit representing that I was in default of the loan agreement and they demanded payment. I overnighted same to them. To make a long story short, as soon as I could I paid off the loan; but my troubles were not over the dealer failed to transfer the tags and further dragged their feet on conveying title to the care. After two additional months of chasing the dealer for the tag transfer and title I hired a lawyer and low and behold with 24 hours for the dealer getting the letter from my lawyer I had the tags transferred and go the title within days after that. Needless to say I most likely will never buy another Genesis and most certainly not use that dealer again.

That is just wrong. The dam dealer should have gotten to the bottom of this for you. But like most car dealers, the minute you sign on the dotted line, you don't exist.
My dealer did my car loan through a third party bank. He showed me 4 or 5 different loans and I went with the lowest interest. And this one there was no penalty for early payoff after 6 months. But for me, all the loan information was in the paperwork they gave me (all digital). I glad they did because like you I never heard from them. So I just went to their site set up an account and paid them. Then a few weeks later I got the coupon book in the mail. This is the first time in a long while that I got one of those coupon payment books.

 

[Bbelin]

That’s what I thought was going to happen but as you read it didn’t

 

[Mcc]

I bought my G80 a year ago, and it was truly the worst new car buying experience I have ever had!

It would be good be to know the dealer name and location to make sure the rest of us are forewarned.

 

[Svenergy]

Experiences. I will at this point not say the dealers name and give them a chance to do right but I doubt they will since he has not contacted me.
Last year I ordered a G80 Sport Prestige, (which I have one now and love it). I placed a down payment for one that was supposed to have HDAII which I placed the order in September.
To be honest I went to several dealerships and all of them said they had a mark up and or an increased interest rate to buy a car. So when I went to this dealership in Missouri I explained what I had experienced and what I was looking for and both the sales person and the finance person told us that they do not do that.
At that time we hoped the car would not be here till after 1 Jan 2022 because of taxes since we pay personal property taxes. AT NO time did the dealership EVER call us first and advise us of the status of the order nor did they call us for anything else. Myself and or my wife called numerous of times asking a status update on the car. None of the times, well maybe once or twice, did the sales person answer the phone and there were a few times when we were down the street, called they told us he wasnt there and when we stopped in he was sitting there. But since for months they tried to get me to buy a car and were nice I ended up buying the car, I liked the sales and the service department.
Long story the car I ordered got canceled by Genesis and made into a 2023 and a price increase.
They got one in same color and same specs except the HDA2. So my wife and I purchased it and told them we want it. While we were waiting to pick it up the grass cutters flung a rock and chipped the paint which the dealer got fixed. He took of 2000 dollars on the car plus an additional 500 and gave us a discount because I checked with other dealers on the extended warranty. There is too much TECH not to get that.

We told them we are good with credit up in the upper 800 and told them Genesis is running a special at 1.9 APR.. once he got to the table we were wondering why the payment was so high since we paid for the warranty and other things out of pocket and he said it is because they dont use GENESIS to finance the car they use other companies. He then said please dont refinance because they make money on the deal. My wife was already pissed so she said just do it and she was HOT. So we got home and just called the bank and the sales person whom now is the mananger of the place. I advised him that I wasnt happy and he told me to just refi it cause he didnt know that either (sure).. so we did and got the 2 percent interest rate instead of the 5 percent.
The survey came in and I didnt lie on the survey, they didnt go over the features of the car he said I know the car better than he does, they didnt take off all the stickers on the car, they didnt help me out with the app. Nor did they tell me about the service or anything else. The questions were pretty straight forward. That was on a monday

Later that week I get a txt and it said. "Dude, I am gonna be real with you. You didnt have to slam me on the survey giving me a 548 our of a 1000. I replied that it wasnt you it was whom you sent me to, the finance the damage to the car and no one followed up on the purchase nor did anyone follow up after we put money down. All questions on the survey and if you want me to lie then you should have said that. I guess he thought that I was a fellow Veteran and I would lie. Maybe be a true veteran and be upfront and hold true to the code. But thats another story.

Too bad because I thought actually he was a legit person but his true colors showed up after sale when he wanted me to LIE. If he would have said how can I make this right and knowing that social media and what is said can damage a business, not sure why he would say or do that. Maybe that is real question.

I am always upfront and honest and come with info about the car and functions but to be one way then turn around cause of a survey and do what he did not a dealership I would suggest to go buy a GENESIS from.

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[Mcc]

Experiences. I will at this point not say the dealers name and give them a chance to do right but I doubt they will since he has not contacted me.

So what do you expect them to do “to do right”?

 

[Svenergy]

So what do you expect them to do “to do right”?

Dont come across as because I answered the question right that it was my fault. The right thing is to call and apologize and be the dealer and ask what they could have done different. The ford we have and the dealership we have has always been SPOT on they are amazing and wouldnt take my car any were else, from sales to service. I dont complain much and I dont expect things to be perfect but at least ask dont just send a txt DUDE why did you slam me on the survey. I would expect to maintain a good working relationship and be the grown person and be respectful because what happened wasnt respectful. OH well

 

[pelicansoap]

Update….I got a beautiful silver GV70 with Havana Brown interior. I’m stoked! Major upgrade from my 99 Lexus, which I’m keeping as part of my “classic” car collection now

This is the color combo that I'm looking for. Are you still loving it?

 

[Bbelin]

That’s what I thought was going to happen but as you read it didn’t

It would be good be to know the dealer name and location to make sure the rest of us are forewarned.

Cool Springs Genesis in Franklin, TN

 

[ca_sam]

This is the color combo that I'm looking for. Are you still loving it?

Yes! I still absolutely love it. The color combo is elegant and I believe will last a while since the silver seems more forgiving than the darker colors. It sparkles! My fingers are crossed you find your car.

 

[WallyPin]

Hi all,
I put down 500 and ordered 3.3 base model ( I don't need that many bells and whistles ) I was told it would take 4 to 6 mo cause I wasn't the only person who reads reviews and yes it's quite a looker I am in Mpls, only one dealer
Its now been 6 mo so I called my salesman. He said sorry and another 3.3 would be coming in a month,of course loaded with options and wrong color. And we have a 2.0 on the lot. (Sorry were you not listening when I bought the car last May !? ) I know about supply chain probs, chip shortages, wars, etc and I try to be understanding.
My Question is : Is ordering a car just a scam ? Does the factory just make what it wants ( based on profit of course ), and then when you get antsy you'll agree to anything ? They have my money so I'm somewhat trapped.
I agree that Genesis is at risk of alienating many first time customers, and they won't be coming back.
Thanks for listening

P

 

[Jhon]

Hi all,
I put down 500 and ordered 3.3 base model ( I don't need that many bells and whistles ) I was told it would take 4 to 6 mo cause I wasn't the only person who reads reviews and yes it's quite a looker I am in Mpls, only one dealer
Its now been 6 mo so I called my salesman. He said sorry and another 3.3 would be coming in a month,of course loaded with options and wrong color. And we have a 2.0 on the lot. (Sorry were you not listening when I bought the car last May !? ) I know about supply chain probs, chip shortages, wars, etc and I try to be understanding.
My Question is : Is ordering a car just a scam ? Does the factory just make what it wants ( based on profit of course ), and then when you get antsy you'll agree to anything ? They have my money so I'm somewhat trapped.
I agree that Genesis is at risk of alienating many first time customers, and they won't be coming back.
Thanks for listening

P

When I got mine in Feb of 22, they were not taking orders. You would look at a list of cars that were comming in and select one of them. And I was told to only select one that had a VIN Number as some did not. I had picked out a GV70 that had everything I wanted. they wanted a $2,000 deposit but it was non refundable. If the car was months late, still non refundable. So I passed and found a GV80 at another dealer on the lot and got that. I was a leftover 21 and not a 22, but I got a great deal on it.
Good luck with your hunting.

 

[EdP]

Hi all,
I put down 500 and ordered 3.3 base model ( I don't need that many bells and whistles ) I was told it would take 4 to 6 mo cause I wasn't the only person who reads reviews and yes it's quite a looker I am in Mpls, only one dealer
Its now been 6 mo so I called my salesman. He said sorry and another 3.3 would be coming in a month,of course loaded with options and wrong color. And we have a 2.0 on the lot. (Sorry were you not listening when I bought the car last May !? ) I know about supply chain probs, chip shortages, wars, etc and I try to be understanding.
My Question is : Is ordering a car just a scam ? Does the factory just make what it wants ( based on profit of course ), and then when you get antsy you'll agree to anything ? They have my money so I'm somewhat trapped.
I agree that Genesis is at risk of alienating many first time customers, and they won't be coming back.
Thanks for listening

P

Your remarks apply to many car makers in the past year or two. Understand your frustration but car makers are at the mercy of suppliers, covid shutdowns, etc. My neighbor wants a particular Ford truck. It is built and sitting in a lot waiting for parts to finish it.

I don't think they are making what they want but making what they can. Normally I'd be driving a newer model but I resolves to wait another two years until the market settles down a bit. Fortunately, I like my car.

 

[csu87]

Hi all,
I put down 500 and ordered 3.3 base model ( I don't need that many bells and whistles ) I was told it would take 4 to 6 mo cause I wasn't the only person who reads reviews and yes it's quite a looker I am in Mpls, only one dealer
Its now been 6 mo so I called my salesman. He said sorry and another 3.3 would be coming in a month,of course loaded with options and wrong color. And we have a 2.0 on the lot. (Sorry were you not listening when I bought the car last May !? ) I know about supply chain probs, chip shortages, wars, etc and I try to be understanding.
My Question is : Is ordering a car just a scam ? Does the factory just make what it wants ( based on profit of course ), and then when you get antsy you'll agree to anything ? They have my money so I'm somewhat trapped.
I agree that Genesis is at risk of alienating many first time customers, and they won't be coming back.
Thanks for listening

P

Genesis does their ordering more like a company like Toyota vs like a company like Ford.

When you put in an order for a genesis, you get an allocation hold. So next time the dealer gets that configuration in, you get a call if youre next in line. You dont have a specific order in with Genesis, you have an order in with the dealership and they have certain allocations of vehicles. Some dealers will let you reserve a certain trim in whatever color, some wont.

This is similar to what Toyota does. Except Toyota usually just has you tell them "Ill take any of these trims of the model, in one of these several colors" and so if there is something coming in that fits that range of options, they give you a call and see if you want it. You can either pass and wait for the next time that dealership gets an allocation that matches your wants, or buy it.

Compare that to what Ford does, where you build the vehicle you want, place an order for that specific vehicle in to Fords system, and Ford schedules customer specific builds. Prices also get locked in when you order.

As far as timelines go, every manufacturer is looking at 6+ month wait times. F150s, one of the most mass produced vehicles, are anywhere from 6 months to 1year + depending on options.

 

[Mcc]

Genesis does their ordering more like a company like Toyota vs like a company like Ford.

When you put in an order for a genesis, you get an allocation hold. So next time the dealer gets that configuration in, you get a call if youre next in line. You dont have a specific order in with Genesis, you have an order in with the dealership and they have certain allocations of vehicles. Some dealers will let you reserve a certain trim in whatever color, some wont.

The deal is that when cars are plentiful as they were in the Genesis's distant past, the process can look like they are building on demand. You put in an order, the dealer looks are what is around and coming in and says he can have it in a few weeks. When car get scarce, the dealer still calls it taking an order but in fact there are no cars that meet your specs, so they just say the factory is slow (which it is, just not just for you).