Jmoke

I wasn’t going to post this, but I saw the post on the dealer suing that guy for his post, so I just couldn’t resist.

My girlfriend and I went car shopping a few weeks ago out here in Southern California. We covered most of Honda dealers in a 70-mile radius. She has a 97 Accord she wanted to trade for a new 2-door V6. We did our homework, so we knew what we were looking for and the price. As everyone already knows, they always low-ball you.

After a long day of being insulted, we end up at TIPPON HONDA at about 6pm. We take the test drive and of course, she loves the car. So, let’s see what we can do. They makes us the first round of offers, we decline. As we are sitting there, we decide that it’s probably about time to go, since they aren’t going give us the deal we are looking for.

So, as we are about to tell the guy thanks for your time, he comes back with an INCREDIBLE offer that I was even shocked with. It was WRITTEN down on paper. So, my girlfriend says YES, let’s do it! They shake ours hands, take the keys to her car (The way it works here in California is that you get the car that day, no waiting). So we’re thinking that we’re riding in a brand new car tonight. She gets so excited, she calls her friends and her mom.

Now, it gets ugly. The guy comes back and says, “Sorry, we made a mistake”. “We can’t give you the car for that price, but another price that’s $40 more a month”. My girlfriend is SHOCKED. She says, “You made me an offer, that’s the one I want”. They say that there is no way that they can do it for the original offer. So I step in and say that they should make good on the offer. They made an offer, in writing, shook ours hands…if they made a mistake…they should have to eat it. They obviously don’t feel this way. My girlfriend starts to get upset…I can’t believe what just happened. UNBELEIVEABLE!!!!! So, then she asks for the keys to her old car and we leave. She is so upset, it breaks my heart.

Now, it gets real ugly. We’re just about to leave, when she realizes that they still have her registration and insurance card. She goes back in ahead of me. Since there are no salesmen in the lobby area, she goes into the “secrete financial office” (the mystery room where all these great deals are made), and asks for her registration. The bean counter behind the table says who are you? She says, “I’m the girl you made the offer and then took it away”. Then I walk in…the guy says to us that he can resolve this problem and sits us down again. So now he says what he can do it give us $500 for our trouble, but he can’t give us the original offer. Anyone who knows anything about finance knows that a lump sum of $500 is crap compared to a reduction in $40 per month in a payment. She says that if we can’t get the original offer, we’re leaving. He starts to get persistent and makes her more upset. I tell the guy to give us the registration, NOW! He’s still trying to deal with us! I couldn’t believe it! Here this girl is crying, I’m pissed and customers everywhere are watching this whole scene. Finally, we get the registration back and leave. UNREAL!!?!?!? I felt violated! BUT, in the end, I felt fine…you want to know why…because at the end of the night, they didn’t get a dime from us…POOR BUSINESS PERSONNEL. All I can hope is that all of the other customers were so turned off by that scene that they didn’t sell a car that night.

One more little story for ya. I have a 2001 CLS…but I’ve been thinking of getting an S2000. One of the salesmen at BALL HONDA told me to come back later in the week, we’d go for a test drive (I’m concern about the low-torque issue). ON MY DAY OFF, I go back to drive this car. First off, it’s marked up $10,000 for a 2001…come on, for a plastic rear window? No wonder it’s still sitting on the lot. So, again, they low-ball me on my car, they come down to a whopping $38,000 for the 2001 S2000. I tell the guy I’m probably more interested in the 2002 model…unless he can do better on the 2001. I told him that the car stickers for $32,800. This guy laughs and says that HE plays golf with ALL of the Honda executives and NO ONE sells them at sticker. Needless to say, they wasted my time and I didn’t get a chance to drive the car. I guess no one wants to sell cars anymore. Funny part is that I found a dealer in Massachusetts that is selling a 2001 UNDER STICKER and 2002 at sticker price. I guess these guys don’t play golf together.

BTW, CUSH HONDA marks up all of their cars $1000, regardless of model.


Just though you’d like to know how my weekend was...

HellaWhat

Have u tried Goudy Honda? They are a very reputable and decent Honda Dealership.

Jmoke

nope...missed that one. We're done looking for a little...thanks though...