I am new to the forum and would like to thank all the members for the informantion and experiances they share. I find the information very valuable, thanks.
I am thinking about buying an 06 TL and live within 30 minutes of Goodson, Vandergrief and Mac Churchill Acura. If anyone has any pros or cons about the three dealers I would appreciate hearing your suggestions.
I have driven several different cars, and like the TL the best for style, performance and value. I wasn't very impressed with the G-35, alot of power but not impressed with the interior or fit and finish. The Lexus IS 250 and 350 are very nice but I felt the interior wasn't much better than my 03 Accord Coup EX V6 , the high console, cup holders and foot activated parking brake didn't impress me that much. The 350 has alot of power but I am trying to make judgements based on day in day out not short term thrills. I have looked at several of the European offerings but don't want there reliability isssues and maintance costs.
Any input on the above mentioned dealers would be much appreciated.

 

First of all Welcome to the forums! I bought my last 2 cars from Goodson and have continued to have good experiences with them.

As far as sales go I don't know about David McDavid in Plano, but have heard from others here that they get treated very well when going to the service department.

I haven't tried Mac Churchill, but I do not like Vandergriff. I always get bad treatment when I use to go there looking at cars.

Hopefully others in the area will chime in and provide their opinions soon. Good Luck!

 

David Mc David is what I would recommend. They have treated me consistantly well for over 4 years...

 

Nothing bad to say about Goodson....good service dept and no problems so far. I don't really know too much about any of the other dealerships.

 

I would NOT give Vandergriff any more of my business. I bought my TL from them and though the sales portion was OK, their service department is TERRIBLE. So much so that I switched to Goodson and never looked back! When I replace my TL, if I don't go with the G35 I will buy my next TL from Goodson. Stay away from Vandergriff!!

 

Goodson is the way to go..

I am on my 5th car from them and they continue to exceed my expectations!

Bought my 1st car from David McDavid, very unhappy

 

I have bought 2 cars from Mac Churchill

I have not had any problems w/ this dealership

 

I had a real bad experience with vandergriff, so I would not go there EVER... I bought my car from Mac Churchill, and it was ok, I went to goodson once abd they quoted me a price that was so high and they said that was the best that they could do, so I walked out. Of the 3 I would go to Mac Churchill.....

P.S. If anyone reads this thred and decides not to go to Vandergriff that would make my day, that is the worst run dealership that I have EVER been to..

 

i tried to buy a car from goodson but they switched the price on me when I got there, so i called vandergriff and they met the price and it went perfect. I actually had a great experience there. I will probably not use their service dept if i need it because i live in flower mound.

 

Funny story about dealerships and the tranny recall. I knew I had to schedule the recall for my car (a 2000 TL) and so I called the service department at Goodson. The car was answered and I was put on hold. While listening to the hold music a recorded message came on, talking about "our new service facility" and "recent upgrades" and I'm thinking to myself, Hmm, I don't remember any new facilities there..." Anyway, the advisor comes back on the line asking if I received the recall letter, which I had. I then said "I'll need a loaner, to which he replied, 'Hold on.' After a minute he came back saying I needed to schedule loaners a week in advance, they only have so many, and the recall is keeping the shop full, etc etc." I start wondering "Hey, WHY is this guy giving me such a hard time? This is really unusual?" Then I realized: I had called VANDERGRIFF'S service department, as opposed to my usual GOODSON. After that it all made sense. I quickly said no thanks, called up Goodson, and things went smooth as butter! TRUE STORY...there's THAT much difference between the two dealerships. To one, customers can be a nuisance; to the other, service is nearly always a pleasant experience.

 

Hey guys I know this is off topic but I wanted to take advantage of having you all here. Im hosting a Dallas meet begining of December. If you are interested PM me. Carrry on....

fast-tl thats exactly how it goes for me at David Mc David. Im glad to hear all these good things about Goodson. I guess were fortunate to have more than one good dealer around.

 

First off let me start by saying I live in Arlington, so Vandergriff is fast and easy to get to. In saying that I will never go to Vandergriff Acura again. I have purchased 2 Tls in the past 4 years both times went to Vandregriff before going to Goodson, for the reason listed above and both times purchased my Acura's from Goodson. I just bought an 05 from Goodson about 1 1/2 months ago. Went to Vandergriff, they had the car that I was looking for except for the fact that it had Navi. ( I am a non-navi person, just don't see spending the 1,800.00 on that thing. Just my .02) anyway, they found one just like I wanted White Diamond w/grey interior non-navi. The salesman told me the closest one they could find was in El Paso. My wife called Goodson and they had one sitting on their lot, this was after my salesman at Vandergriff told us to go look at all the local dealerships and we would not find one. Goodson has great service, took my car in today for a clattering noise between 2000 and 2500 RPM. Called them at 9:00AM took the car in at 11:00am, was in my rent car at 11:15am, all be it a TSX, but hey it's just rental. Sorry to be so long winded, but I highly discourage going to Vandergriff Acura. As for the Chevy dealership I have had no problems there buying or getting service done on the truck I had.

 

I've heard good things about Goodson, but I personally go to David Mcdavid. Best services dept I've ever dealt with. Thanks to Trance I'm dealing with a great advisor over there. If its not to much of a pain take a drive over there and check it out. Good luck

 

so far i have been quite lucky and haven't had to go to service, but i will probably use goodson's service department hopefully they won't mind since i didn't buy the car there.

 

David McDavid is great, their sales force was extremely courteous and went out of their way to accommodate my every inquiry during the purchasing process. Their service dept is 1st class (if you need a suggestion on an advisor, I'd say to go to Brian Day.

 

Goodson judged me by the way i looked (clothes), age, and speaking another language.

Went in talked to a salesman. He talked to me like i was a kid that didnt know what i was talking about, that made me a little upset. Well, while talking numbers, my friend said something in vietnamese to me. The salesman blurts out, WHAT DID HE SAY?!?. I then look at him and... *silence* So then he said "Well would you like it if i spoke dutch around you??!?!!" I told him "You can speak all the freakin dutch you want and that would not make a difference to me or hurt my feelings." So he starts acting like he's mad at me or something.

So they threw me some odd ball deal that would have ripped me a new one. I got into my car and was about to leave so then he runs out and starts to pressure me to go back in to negotiate. Ok, so i go back in and they threw me something beter. Well, he started to act like a smartass to me so i told him ill just take my business elsewhere. The manager screams from his office "If you leave im never going to give you a good deal again!!!!" This REALLY PISSED me off. But, as mad as i was, i just said.. "If you can sell the car then you go right ahead and do it!"

Ill never go back to Goodson again.

Went to vandergriff and bought mine there the same day. So, screw'em. Vandergriff has been good to me and the service department is EXCELLENT. They have taken care of every single thing i pointed out from day 1.

 

Also, Vince @ vandergriff service dept is awesome. He'll take care of you!

 

I bought mine from Vandegriff.. The sales team was great, but can't say the same about the service department.. I'm working with them now on some issues we are having with our TL... They have yet to fix a single problem, and love to give us the run-around.. I wouldn't recommend Vandegriff...

 

Sorry OT but,
Have you tried to talk to Vince about your problems? He's been a great help to me with all my problems.

 

misterlien, there's just too much on this thread to suggest that Vandergriff has problems. Doesn't mean that EVERY one of their customers has a bad experience, but it happens often enough that most of us say avoid them. It's more likely your bad sales experience @ Goodson was a fluke than Vandergriff is as good as you say they are.

 

Bought my '06, Anth. Metallic, Non-Navi (My first Acura) at Mac Churchill on October 28th. Everything went really well and everyone seemed pretty up-front and honest. Talk to Robert Cassell there...tell 'em Brett sent ya

 

thats good to hear Brett. Congrats on the the new anthracite. I absolutily love mine

 

I would happily buy from MacChurchill as well. Worked with them a bit over the phone on pricing and they were straight shooters with a very decent price, right out of the gate, no BS.

So, are we done here? I think the original poster can pretty readily draw the required conclusions from this thread. We're starting to beat a dead or dying horse...

 

Goodson - I tried to purchase a TL from them last fall. What a joke! After fearing for my life during the test drive (80 around a clover leaf is not my idea of fun) and plenty of bad sales tactics, I decided to go elsewhere.

Vandergriff - I had a very good sales experience with Vandergriff. The price was very good and my trade-in was appraised appropriately at KBB price. What out for the the finance department! That's were they try to stick it to you. Just remember to keep saying no to the addon crap.

Service has been quite attentive and professional. I highly recommend Bill Westerlage. He's prompt and professional. My only problem, a creak around the gearshift, was promptly dispatched at my first service visit.

 

Im not saying that ive had a bad experience at vandergriff. Goodson experience may have been a fluke but.... Although i am only 23 and when i went in to look at cars i didnt "dress up", i wore street clothing they took me as some joe schmo that was wasting their time, just the fact that they were prejudice made me mad. I started my computer programming career when i was 18 and have been working hard ever since. I will not give comission to someone that judged me by the way i look/talk/age.

Anywaysssss Yea, one example of how vandergriff has taken care of me is...... i brought in my car to fix something and i asked Vince to fasten my front kit more because it looked like it was coming away from the bumper. When i picked up my car, they actually replace the entire piece!

 

I just got my '06 TL yesterday at McDavid. No problems.