Long story. Dealer experience. Skip if disinterested.
Been following the G70 threads here a while and thought I would share a little experience regarding dealership availability since I saw the North Plainfield NJ location mentioned. Being from Texas, I have not had an opportunity to see a G70 in person, much less test-drive one yet. However, I had business in New York last week and knew that the N.Plainfield location had 13 cars listed and thought I would take a side trip for a test drive. It did not go well.
First off, this dealership is currently set up as an “Auto Mall” that carries more than one
badge. Second, I was met in the parking lot as I stepped out of my rental car by a salesman who, by the 3rd sentence, was asking me “what it would take to get me into a new car today”. I told him that I was only interested in the G70 and that my hope was to test drive the 2.0 and 3.3 for comparison. He asked what color I was interested in and I told him any color in those two engines would be fine because I was more interested in drive characteristics at this point. He then told me that he would have to get GM approval for the 3.3 because they didn’t want “just any punk to take out that car - way to powerful”. I said no problem and was happy to talk to the GM directly if he felt it would help prove I was no punk (I’m almost 50). He then went back into sales mode and started to ask what features, technology or, again, color interested me. I once again told him I was only interested in comparing drive handling for both vehicles.
Sensing he wasn’t getting anywhere with the sales push, he asked directly “are you even planning to buy today?”. Me, “not without a test drive, no”. He then noticed the rental car had Florida plates and asked if I even lived in NJ. I told him that, no I was actually from Texas and have been following the G70 story for a while and wanted to see it in person. He asked why I didn’t just test drive it in Texas? (So, he either didn’t know or didn’t care that they are still not available in TX) I tell him why. He then says that he can get me the keys for both cars, but that I would be unable to take either for a test drive because “the GM would require a credit check to see if I would be eligible for financing before allowing me to take either car out.” I told him that I would happily leave a copy of my DL and auto insurance, but I would not authorize a credit check just for a test drive. He just shrugged his shoulders and stared at me. I told him to get the keys so that I could at least look inside of the cars he had on the lot. He brought back 2 key fobs, pointed to the two cars from inside the lobby and told me to bring the keys back when I was done because he needed to focus on other people who actually wanted to buy a car. Both cars he provided the keys for were parked with other vehicles on all 4 sides so driving the car would be impossible. I spent an hour going over each car and left the keys with the receptionist and left.
I was there an hour and 10 minutes and it was definitely not the “Genesis Experience” that Genesis corporate is interested in promoting with this car. Honestly, it was a pretty poor experience for any car brand really. Final thoughts (as of 12/1):
- They did have almost all the colors (except the Dynamic and Design editions)
- They had no 6MT
- One black 3.3 already had damage on the right front bumper from parking another car a bit too close
- All the cars were filthy and the dark chrome door handles really showed finger smudges
- All the cars had the dealer decal sticker added to the trunk lid and it is bad, real bad
- All the cars included the additional accessory items (mud guards, trunk appliqué, wheel locks, cargo tray, first aid kit)
If you’d like any other details, feel free to talk to Joe - I’m sure he’d be happy to help!
(I'm happy to move this post if it belongs elsewhere)
