Anyone have dealership experiences they'd like to log?

[Sal Collaziano]

My wife is in the market for a new vehicle. She's tired of her 300C and wants something a little bigger. Her next vehicle is a Crossover SUV. We've been doing all sorts of test drives over the past few weeks. Her choices came down to two - 2010 Lexus RX350 or 2009 Hyundai Veracruz.

The Hyundai Veracruz was just about every bit as nice as the Lexus RX (at least the outgoing 2009 model). The price was right and we figured we'd give Hyundai a try. She HATED the service she received at Chrysler - and was very worried about what kind of experiences she'd have with Hyundai. I convinced her to "consider" giving it a try - so we went through the motions with a test drive and she loved the vehicle.

We were VERY close to making a deal - and I thought if we were going to do this, I'd create a website called MyHyundaiVeracuzExperience dot com and detail every single aspect of our ownership - from the test drive to various maintenance. If these guys were going to screw around and be *******s, everyone was going to know about it.

Unfortunately, the SALES experience left such a bad taste in our mouths that we ran over to Lexus and leased her vehicle over there. But I didn't forget about my web site idea.

I thought it might be possible that people besides myself would like a place to submit entries about their dealership experiences - good and bad. Sure, people can do this on forums or on their own blogs - but this would be a central location where anyone could go and do a search to find other people's dealership and brand experiences before they purchase a vehicle themselves.

Am I grasping at straws here or could something like this be useful? You be the judge. Let me know what you think of this idea and if you like it - go ahead and start an account today. Begin logging your experiences and see what you think about the system.

As always, I'm VERY open for suggestions and/or constructive criticism. Please don't be afraid to tell me how you feel or how you think I should be moving forward with this site - if I should at all.

Thank you...

Sal Collaziano
www.cardealer411.com

 

[dataguy]

Given that most non-media people post on the internet (forums, blogs, review sites) do so mostly because they have had a negative experience, I don't really take too much stock in user reviews. Given that pretty much everyone has a negative view of dealerships and that positive experiences tend to be either due to a particular employee or the customer's preparedness for a transaction, I'm not sure of the value of talking about dealerships.

Edmunds.com's Confessions of a Car Salesman piece is a good example of why I've given up on a traditional dealership experience and would go internet/fleet sales. The dealer (and their sales force) are looking to make a sale at the most profit, and for the most part, they're not going to cut you any breaks and will use any legal tactic to get the most out of you. At least with the fleet side, they're more interested in volume and minimizing the time it takes to get your sale done.

My two cents.

 

[Diode Dynamics]

If you're in the St. Louis, MO area, go to Suntrup Hyundai (in south county) or St. Charles Hyundai (in St. Charles). Stay away from Dean Team at all costs for very poor service and pricing. The former two I listed are very good.

 

[BigElm]

Should've said something Sal. Buddy of mine works at the Hyundai dealership here in GA. Could've hooked you up as long as you was willing to drive to your neighboring state

 

[ImInPA]

Had a similar experience myself Sal. The sales experience was just this side of sleezy. I do not know how widespread this is at Hyundai dealerships, but, at some point they have to wake up and understand that a customer shopping a $42K car is a different animal than one shopping the base model Accent. Courtesy and treating a customer as though he is not "some dumb kid" are important. My experience sealed the deal with my Volvo dealer.

 

[Sal Collaziano]

Thanks, guys.

Dataguy - with the site, I'm not really looking for a way to balance the good and the bad.. I'm really looking to give people the opportunity to bring attention to the times they receive bad service - bad enough to blog about. Instead of blogging about it on your personal blog that nobody reads - you get to do it in front of millions of people - which could very easily bring plenty of "incentive" for dealerships to do the right thing. That's the goal of the site, anyway...

And hey.. If a dealership treats you so well that you'd like to blog about it and have your thoughts SEEN, you can do that too...

 

[rick5877]

got mine at Preston Hyundai in Sharon, Pennsylvania (near Youngstown, OH). they also sell Lincolns. went there looking to get a new MKS and salesman mentioned 'had i seen the new Genesis'. no high pressure or anything like that. took a test drive and loved the car. he pulled the Genesis right up next to the MKS and invited me to take my time and look them over side-by-side. and then left me alone for about a half hour. i think he knew what he was doing!!

this was the only 4.6 that they have had on the lot and obviously the only one that the dealership has sold. a very pleasant buying experience.

 

[Richard Ft. Lauderdale]

This a repost that I made in another place some time ago (slight change in wording).

I had gone to Rick Case and test drove a Genesis (non tech) I believe in early July. I asked them to call me when they got a tech model in. On July 31, 2008 a salesman, Randall, called to tell me they had gotten in their first tech Genesis. He suggested that I should consider leasing it rather than buying it.

He quoted me the following official lease terms:
V6 with tech package
-- $499 per month
-- $1680 down
-- +Tax and Registration
-- $595 disposition fee at end of lease if you turn it in
-- $26,400 to buy it at end of lease

I went to Rick Case (Ft. Lauderdale) and took a very long test drive with Randall. When we got back to the dealer. I said "Let's do it.'" He then wrote up the deal and presented it to the sales manager (Leroy) who said "We don't make enough money on the official lease and we want $800.00 more up front and $89.00 more per month."

I told him that Coconut Creek Hyundai had called about the same time as Randall and I was going there. Long story short. I bought at Coconut Creek. (I am not trying to compare a lease to a purchase. I am trying to show Rick Case's sleazy tactics).

I also told this story to a Hyundai Representative at the Ft. Lauderdale Auto Show a few months ago. She said that she had heard several not very good stories about Rick Case and couldn't understand how they managed to stay in business.

I would not be disappointed if Leroy lost his job.

P.S. I ran into Leroy a couple of months ago at my doctor's office. I said "I know you. You're the deal killer." He said "That's right." I said "it's because of you that I will never set foot in Rick Case again." I then decided it was best if I moved to another room before we got into a fight.

P.P.S. This was not a credit problem. Very few people have a higher credit score than I do.

This was an outright bait and switch.

 

[Sal Collaziano]

Thanks, everyone. However, I was hoping people would go here:
www.cardealer411.com

...and post their reviews at a site that can/could empower us as buyers.... Oh well.. I tried..