JT3

I'm not positive that I'm in the right section. Mods, feel free to move to where appropriate.

I just wanted to point out an example of superb service and give kudos to my dealer, Superior Acura of Kansas City (actually, Overland Park, KS... but in the KC area).

Anyway, I purchased my car "over the phone" about three weeks ago (I live in Wichita, KS, about 3.5 hours from KC). I literally called the dealer, located the car I wanted (color and all), came to an agreement on price and trade (this took multiple phone calls, btw... don't get the wrong idea), and scheduled delivery to my house. They delivered the car, which I test drove while the guy waited (I had driven TLs, but not THAT TL, and I always drive the specific car I'm about to buy). Once I was satisfied that everything was okay with THAT car, they put my trade on the truck and shipped it off to KC. Paperwork was mailed back and forth for a few days, and presto... the deal was done. ...but that's not the example of great service I'm talking about...

...that came today, when I tried to register my car (get tags). One of the "benefits" to having the car delivered, according to my dealer, was that I'd pay sales tax based on where I live, rather than where I bought the car. My sales tax is 6.3%, whereas theirs is 7.5%; however, when I went to register my car today, the computer wouldn't accept the amount I'd paid (sales tax) because it knew that (according to the address of the dealer) I should have paid the full 7.5%. What's more, they wouldn't allow me to "pay the difference" at the DMV, because they could only accept "difference" payments up to 1%, whereas the difference was 1.2% (the 7.5% minus the 6.3%) I called my dealer, and WHILE I WAS AT THE DMV, they called the state tax office to find out what went wrong. They found that, according to the law, I should have paid the full 7.5%, so I still owed over $300 in sales taxes. So what did they do? Did they take my credit card information over the phone for the difference? NO! They simply faxed a new "Sales Tax Receipt" to the DMV showing I'd paid the full 7.5%. When I asked how they could do that when I hadn't really paid that amount, they told me that the dealership was going to be sending in the difference to the state. In other words, three weeks after the deal, THEY PICKED UP THE DIFFERENCE IN THE SALES TAX TO COVER THE MISTAKE!!!

From my experience, most dealers would have (very apologetically, of course) simply stated that they made a mistake, but that, ultimately, I was responsible in paying the rest of the sales tax. Superior Acura of Kansas City didn't. They made it right by taking more money out of their pocket. If that isn't superb service, I don't know what is.

gregory28_RENAMED

Good Stuff!!

6mtV6

You should pay the tax of where you will get the car registered. That's how it is in NY, NJ. I brought my TL in NJ which the sales tax is like 6%. But I registered my TL in NY so I had to pay NY's sales tax of 8.625%.
I guess it's different in other states.

rets

Great to know there is a good dealer like this.

You have 2 days to vent...

Kid Flash

if only we could xerox that great customer care. think about recipricating by sending something to the dealer. basket of fruit, tray of cookies etc. one good turn deserves another.

d0rk

JT3, who did you deal with at Superior Acura?

JT3

That's true when you're going across state lines (although some states are changing this), but in this case, the dealer and I are located within the same state (KS), so the difference is only with the city/county sales tax. Had I bought my car on the Missouri side of Kansas City, I'd have had no problems (although, then I probably would have ended up paying the difference, because I wouldn't have needed to get the dealer involved).

d0rk, I'll have to get back to you on that. As you can imagine, there were a lot of people I had to go through to buy the car, and I've never met any of them face to face, so while I DO remember their first names, I'll need to go home (I'm at work) and find the paperwork in order to find their full names. I know my salesman was Brad, the finance guy (who was also very accommodating) was Dan, and the Title clerk (who made all the above happen) was Monica.

cliff

my dealership stood up and did a international deal with me/my parents.(Open Road Acura in NJ)

i live with my aunt ad my parents lives in hong kong. they were willing to ship the docs there and do the deal without them coming over here. theyre really smooth and all. wasnt much negociation but its all good.

thumbs up for all the acura dealers that actually treat their customers like human.

JT3

d0rk, the salesperson I dealt with was Brad Osborn. The finance person I dealt with was Dave Heitman (even though I went in with financing, he was able to offer me a lower rate... and yes, I know I said "Dan" before... oops).

Both of these people were outstanding to work with, considering that everything was done over the phone, through faxes, and through registered/certified mail. They even went online to view pictures of my trade, and gave me an offer (a very reasonable offer) without physically seeing the car. (They did, however, make it clear that the offer was pending a true inspection of the physical car, which they did after they delivered the TL, and picked up my trade. However, they did stick to the offer without any issues.)

As for the Title clerk, Monica, she was excellent too, and like I said, took care of this sales tax issue for me while I was still at the DMV, so mega-kudos to her. I don't think I ever caught her last name, however.

luckydog700

How do you know they really paid the tax?

JT3

I don't... but I don't really need to.

By faxing the form to the DMV that stated I'd paid the full sales tax, they told the state that they received the taxes from me. They then became responsible for paying the state. If they didn't, then the state would go after them, not me. I'm covered legally by the form that was sent to the DMV.

MSF2

Super! That's good news for you! You're going to need that kind of service when it comes time to fix your rattles....

nypb

Guess that's why they call themselves Superior Acura huh? That's why I never deal with Subpar Infiniti.

Nice to see some stores still understand the notion of keeping their word. Good job.