MistahSleepy

This place is absolutely terrible. I bought a TL-S from them 2 weeks ago and ended up paying 2k over my negotiated price because they used some underhanded tactics to get me to not notice how much I was actually paying for the vehicle.

After walking away the first time this dealership bombarded my cell phone with calls from several different people all trying to convince me to pay more than I wanted. Eventually a sales guy called Quyen told me he could get that price for me if only I could come in to show that I was serious about purchasing the car.

Big mistake. They tell me this is how much I'm paying for it and Willy, the finance manager uses his big contract and monthly payments to confuse me on how much I'm actually paying for the car. I sign the contract due to excitement for my new ride only to realize later in the day that I had paid 2k more than the negotiated price.

I went back to the dealership and spoke to Kevin the GSM (General Sales Manager) about this issue. They basically just told me to Fuck off because I had signed the paper work and it was all legitimate. Suddenly Quyen has no idea saying he was just the "middle man" and how he had no control over what the price was. How he gave me a paper and I signed it and that's that. On top of that, my car wasn't even clean when I got it! The dashboard was covered with dust and when I got the car home I ran my hand across the hood only to find my fingers covered in a black film. This dealership is shady and completely dishonest. I will never go back there, I don't even want their shitty free oil change.

As of right now I'm writing a full report to the CA department of consumer affairs as well as uploading a review onto the BBB. I think it's completely unacceptable for car dealerships to close deals in this manner. Taking money out of the pockets of their costumers in a decieving way during these hard economic times when everyone is hurting.

/rant

luckyAKAhappy

Wow...that sucks. But how could you not double check the figures before you sign? If anything...go back for the free oil change. Get something at least.

MistahSleepy

The financial manager was slick, he kept circleing numbers and never brought any attention to the actual selling price at the top of the page. He constantly focused on the finance amount on the bottom. I had paid a 2k down payment and at the time so I just thought that the finance price was the total price. Yes I am a fool for not double checking the numbers in depth before signing. But hey man..I'm upgrading from a 95 accord to a 08 tl-s. I was practically bouncing off the walls.

Lesson learned...I'll never trust another car dealership and I'll always double/triple check contracts that need my signature.

6spdtl-s

iTrader: (1)

youre dealing with car salesmen....what did you expect? honesty? Sadly, you didnt catch their deception until it was already a done deal. Hey, it could be worse....you could have bought a cpo tl that had been in an accident like someone else did in another thread. I'd be PISSED if that happened.

luckyAKAhappy

This should apply to any contract you sign. Not just a purchase of a car.

erick3

pisses me off...fuck them!!! wow...

marmaladedad

iTrader: (5)

There's a lesson to be learned besides checking the numbers - bring along a trusted, level-headed friend to go through the numbers. Since you're the one getting the car and that's what your focus is, you are more likely to miss small details.

jmkiang

iTrader: (5)

That sucks... but you did sign the paperwork.

scv76_

I thought you had something like 3 days after you purchase to change your mind in California.

Bearcat94

Do what you can, but don't feel bad.

A LOT of people get screwed by dealerships. The smart ones learn and keep it from happening in the future.

For me, I can't negotiate at the dealership. I don't have access to the information I need and can't think fast enough/clearly enough to know whether what I am being shown is right or not.

So, I negotiate as much as possible via e-mail before hand; Selling Price, Discounts, Downpayment, APR, Loan Amount, Monthly Payment, etc. Now I can take my time and figure out if the numbers add up.

Then, when you go to the dealership to sign the papers, if something does not match up, walk out.

MistahSleepy

Nope, on the contract there was a place to sign where I agreed to a "No cooling off period"

They had all the bases covered..

thelinux

I think there is nothing much you can do about it. You agreed to that price by signing on the paper. So it's a history. All you can do are two.
1. Submit a complaint with Honda. I don't know what effect this has on the dealer though. Anyone knows?
2. Do not make the same mistake again. Next time, when you buy a car when you sign on the contract, ask them to give you some time and private space to review the paper. Then look at all the numbers on it to see if they are the numbers you agreed verbally. A lot of dealers do this and this is one of very common type of dealer scams.

thelinux

BTW, I am somewhat experienced in new car purchasing still make mistakes. When I bought my last accord in 2006, I already got my loan from a private bank. So I did not need to apply for any loan at the dealer. Which means that I did not have to give them my social number or anything like that. But the dealer insisted to check my credit report. So I asked them. Is it going to be a soft pull or hard pull? In case you don't know, soft pull has no negative effect on your credit score. It's used generally for promotional purpose like when a creditor want to see if they can increase or decrease your credit limit. A hard pull is done when you apply for a credit which affects your credit score negatively. They said they will do the soft pull. So I gave them my SS# and signed on a paper. Wait signing???? A big mistake. The paper which I signed and which I did not carefully read was a loan application!!! That gives them a right to do the hard pull. I did not know what I did until several days after purchasing the car from them. When I found out that there was a new hard credit inquiry record on my report. I was really pissed-off. So I called them and demanded to remove it. In fact, it is very easy to remove it. All they needed to do was to ask credit report agency to remove it. But they persistently refused to do it. I talked to the guy (one of the dealer) who sold me the car and he admitted that they promised me to do the soft pull. But still I couldn't get them remove it.

Well, I called Honda client service and told them what happened. They never called me back but the dealer called me and tried to convince me that it does not affect my credit score. But hell no. it DOES affect your credit score and besides that that was not what they promised. I was so angry and the phone call ended with a lot of cursing from me to him.

Yes my credit score went down very little for few month. It's not a big deal in fact. In fact, I was angry at myself for being such a dumb at the dealer.

My case is like yours. We signed on it. We let them do what we did not wanted and left a proof on the paper. If these kind of things can not be resolved between two involved parties, the final resolution is going to court then we have 100% of chance to lose the case.

So I did not (could not) do much other than let some steam out of my brain by cursing on them over the phone. I never went back to that dealer for any purpose. Not even for a free oil change.

I know how angry you are but it will be better if you can just forget about it sooner.

marmaladedad

iTrader: (5)

Go back and state your case to the manager, and ask him to make up for the underhandedness. Remind him that although he's made a buck off you this time, you are much less likely to purchase another car from them. Maybe that will get you something.

TLS4TL

Sorry that happened to you. When I got my 07' Type S I had negotiated with Valencia via the internet and took my quote to Van Nuys. I knew beforehand what I wanted to pay bottom line. I made sure the price was " out the door" no extras, ect. I assured them that if the numbers changed one cent at the finance guy, I would walk out. They tried to do the monthly payment thing and I just held tough and insisted on " out the door price". I did manage to get screwed on the financing though, only because I didn't play the underhanded game like them. I had an opportunity to scrap the deal because they made a clerical error and had a courier deliver a new set of papers to my house for me to sign. At that time I had them by the balls and should've taken my time and insisted on a much lower interest rate because I had an excellent credit rating. They even had to give me back my $10,000.00 deposit check. Even though the rate I got was more than fair, I should've pounced on them for a 2.8 rate. Also, I should've negotiated the price for the first Navi DVD upgrade for free also. So, you live and learn. I would be glad to act on your behalf and support you with a personal e-mail from me to whoever just to let them know that we would not be recommending that dealership to anyone we know.

thisaznboi88

iTrader: (7)

wow thats hella bs. Stupid people man super shady.

robxc80

doesn't suprise me one bit...the four quadrants of car sales...

first they screw you on by talking monthly payment...

then they screw you on your financing...

next, they screw you on your trade in...

then they finally screw you with extra fee's and add-ons...

i've heard of so many stories where dealerships will try to change numbers on the DOC's last minute with the hope that the buyer doesn't notice...

that's bad faith...all fully amortized loan's will have a "truth in lending" statement that will clearly list the total amount financed, total number of payments, the amount of each payment, and the total amount due at the end of term. Make sure you review this before signing anything..

and lastly...the car salesman qyuan or whatever will get his someday...i'd get over it, chalk it up as a learning lesson...and know for certain that what goes around, comes around...

acura_dipset_tl

iTrader: (40)

That's crazy the stealership strikes again. Man i feel for you but, you should of definitely triple or quadruple checked the paper work.

ac-n-up

always, always, always negoitate on price, never payments because dealerships have so many hidden fees and charge's for you if they know your all about the monthly payments and not really focused on the out the door price of the car. thats why when i go in the dealership, i tell them str8 off the back your not going to get over on me so don't even try to run that bull$hit because im not going for it

sixsixfour

+1

you should have backed off when they piled on the pressure. i know i wouldnt have picked up the car and signed off on it.

godfather2

i worked in auto sales ... f&i guys can be some shiesty characters

MistahSleepy

dealerrater.com has Thomas Acura in Covina rated on average as a 1.7! All the other dealerships within 20 miles of the 626 area average 3.0!

This dealership is utter crap, I've already told a lot of people not to buy cars or get their cars maintained from them. I would recommend everyone in the southern california area to do the same. Please understand that I'm not saying this out of spite, even though I am upset, 2k is not that much money. It's all about the principle! I'm also saying this because I don't want anyone else to get conned like me.. It's quite obvious that this dealership does quite a few underhanded shady deals.

On top of that! When I went back and spoke to the GSM, he told me...."Listen, we've had people claim this sort of case quite a few times in the past. And let me tell you, we've never lost in court!"

Whatta asshat, he's practically bragging about how he's scammed others using the same method. STAY AWAY FROM THOMAS ACURA!

TeknoKing

You went to a dealership @ age of 22, did you expect a different outcome?

When they showed you the final OTD and monthly payments, why didn't you add it up and divide by lease months?

Unfortunately this is all legal barter, you as a consumer need to be alert. Since you've signed a legally binding contract, there is nothing you can do.

MistahSleepy

I did divide the monthly payments~ Here's how they got me, I wanted a otd price of 34k, I paid a 2k down payment. They gave me a monthly payment of 960 @ 36 months. I took a calculator in my phone and 960 x 36 is 34.5k approx. (500 is interest) I thought this was all good, and I signed. BUT I forgot completely that I had paid a 2k down payment! That's exactly how they tricked me. They also made me wait about an hour after I gave them my down payment check. So by the time that I was in the finance office, 1. I was really excited about driving home in my new ride, 2. It had been an hour and when I was adding up the payments I forgot that I had already put down 2k and the price should've been 32k.

TeknoKing

Yeah... this let me talk to my financial manager...is when I tell them you have less than 5 minutes, or I walk. This is where they walk around, scratch their nuts and figure out how to take advantage of you.

Sorry, but it is pretty difficult to forget about two thousand dollars. The excitement must of made you forget. You've could of been riding in a 4G base.

luckyAKAhappy

What rate did they quote you? $500 interest on a 32k loan is CHEAP!!! Maybe you're looking at it all wrong. If this is a new car and you want OTD price of 34K...how much of that would be TTL? And what's the tax rate in CA?

MistahSleepy

My interest rate was supposed to be 0.7%

Here's where it gets interesting, 34k at 0.7% is around 1k, so they only charged me 500 for interest.. I have no idea how they did this deal.

I did get some extras with the car though.

Protection Package:
Trunk Tray, Wheel Locks, Mud Guards

LoJack system

I got this included in the price of the car so..the deal itself is still not too bad, it's just the principle! If you can't do 34k and can only do 36k, just be up front and honest. Don't trick me into paying more than what I negotiated on.

Oh and I would take a 3g tl-S over 4g base anyday.

TeknoKing

Ummm... 34,000 * .007 = $238

You've actually paid around 1.6%

P.S. By any chance did you do your math out loud in front of the dealer?

luckyAKAhappy

Wow. .7%? And you have that high of a credit rating to get that rate? Or was this a special rate they were promoting? and the interest on 34k is only 350 at that rate.

Ok...let's do this.

What was your agreed upon price for the car before TTL and financing? I'm starting to think you didn't get hosed. And this was for a brand new 08 model?

TeknoKing

You didn't just get them, you've paid for them a few times over.

MistahSleepy

Maybe it wasn't 0.7% apr....? I thought it was...I bought the car in December 20th and I don't have the contract here with me at my office so.. maybe it was higher.

But I never negotiated in selling price, I only negotiated on the final otd price of the car, at 36k otd the selling price was 33k, at 34k otd selling price should've been 31k.

California tax is 8.25%, don't know how much ttl is.

Yes it was a brand new 08 TL-S 6spd MT.

TeknoKing

I guess my question should be what was in the down payment?

luckyAKAhappy

Hmm..final OTD price of 34k. And you put 2k down payment. Which would bring you down to 32k. So if you finance 32k @ 4%, you would end up paying close to 950 a month and have final payments of 36k (2k interest).

Maybe you're not getting hosed and not thinking of the interest. Double check and see if you were indeed given an interest rate of .7% on your paper work. But .7% is damn low for a personal loan and being 22.

lldknyll26

I understand how you feel. When you are at the dealership to pick up the car, you don't really care as to what is going on. You just want to sign the damn papers and drive your car. I learned my mistake.

Skywayca

Since you guys are discussing car buying and if you have some time, read the following stories, they are quite enlightening. This will give you much better insight on how most car dealership operate. Bastiges!!

Confessions of a Car Salesman

Confessions of an Auto Finance Manager

TeknoKing

^ That's a good read. I've read all of them before.

I even go as far as purchasing Consumer Reports print out if I can't get a ballpark price on my own.

thelinux

Did you get finance from Honda? Then it probably is 0.9% special APR for 2008 models.

Babnik

At least now you'll know better next time.

But it's not all bad, you do have an awesome car and to me it doesn't seem like you paid too much for it.

It's a lot more straightforward when there's no financing involved. Personally I'm never financing another car again.

alexSU

iTrader: (3)

Honestly, you should always take a friend/spouse/girlfriend that can hold you back and make sure you add everything up before signing anything. Hell, it helped me and the first time I ever bought a car my mom went with me

Acura3GTL

sorry to hear of your horrible experience with their sales staff. However, i must say their service dept is top notch!