I was just wondering how much money was enough money to make people drive 20,30-100 miles to another dealer. I'm sure I'll get ripped on for this comment but, your buying a 34k dollar car....200 bucks aint crap. And on top of it most dealers only give loaners to their customers.... which means you either lose loaner usage or have to drive the 30 miles every time.....no thanks.......flame away

 

I wanted to buy the car at the dealer by my house. When I comes to cars, I flush so much money down the toliet I didn't really care. I just bought the car where I wanted to buy it.

 

You don't have to buy your car from a dealer to get a loaner car while your car is being serviced. Sales and service are independent of one another.

I've purchased cars at different dealerships and had them serviced at one closer to home before AND I've also bought at the same dealership as the one that services it - no difference in the quality of service.

I think I got another $500 or so off when I made the drive from Indy to Cincy, but that was back when the 3Gen TL was coming out and deals were hard to come by.

 

in new york if you didn't buy the car from the dealer hey won't give a loaner as a rule of thumb..... only if its warranty and you'll be out of the car for a few day do you even have a chance. they did it at audi and saab and vw... they always asked where i got the car from, even my acura..........the only way i would make that drive is if the car was impossible and i HAD to have a certain color and could wait for some reason...... other wise 500 isn't enough for me. i've heard of people driving from ct to ny for 200 bucks! thats nuts

 

Interesting to know how different dealers handle different situations.

I guess different strokes for different folks. I've always cross shopped multiple dealers and then settled in on the one where I feel most comfortable. Of course, this would be much easier if I would just stick with one make of car. Unfortunately, I've jumped from Saab to BMW to Acura to...well, you get my drift.

I would have loved to have purchased my car closer to home; however, Ed Martin in their quote was throwing extra fees in somewhere (I typically lease) and I was having trouble verifying what was going into their lease figures. I try to tie out to the dollar through my own spreadsheet/calculations. Then, when I pressed them on it, the salesman got real defensive. Just didn't like the vibes....so I went elsewhere and saved some money.

 

This is usually the BS that the sales staff will give you to get you to buy the car there. If they state they give loaners, then they better. I bought from Rallye (near where I work)and get a loaner, but live closer to Smithtown. On Smithtowns site they say they give loaners. There's nothing that says the loaner has to be a certain type of car though. They could always rent you a Ford, but somethings better than nothing. Usually I wouldn't drive to a dealer further away unless the money was 1K or more. I got my 05 from Rallye 1500 less than Smithtown at the time plus they threw in a few xtras.

 

In our case, the closest dealer could not get the car we wanted, (WDP 6mt) while another dealer had a relationship with a dealer that did have the car.
The close dealer was the better deal, and was nicer to deal with, but could not get the car and did not seem very interested in doing so.

We have not been back to any dealers since getting the car, and dont plan
on going back...

Brett

 

that is the only reason i would buy a car farther away...... when you want something specific and they can't produce.

prolanman: i worked at smithtown saab vw for 5 years and service wouldn't give loaners if you purchased the car at donaldsons (or anywhere else) unless it was for warranty work in which you'd be out of a car for 3 or more days. I bought my audi from legend and i've seen them tell people they couldn't have a loaner cause they bought it some where else. i would consider Rallye your local dealer only cause you work near them, smithtown wouldn't match them? or come closer?

 

when i was shopping for my acura last summer i was considering dealers as far away as oregon. they beat any bay area price by 1000 and there is no sales tax (although bringing the car back under CA title is expensive). i went to my dealer wtih their price and they matched it. if they hadnt done that i would have taken a vacation to oregon and enjoyed the nice drive down the 5 in my new car.

 

Great, thanks for clueing me in on a dealer to avoid...

Do you really think that a lexus dealer would pull that crap, let alone be really cocky about it?

So it is MY fault as a customer that a dealer gives me crap service? That I should expect it?

Dealerships and salesmen never cease to amaze me...

 

I purchased my TL at a local dealer mostly because I work 10-12 hours a day and don't have time to travel far for a deal or for service. Besides, at the time I bought my TL they had just come out and I was willing to pay MSRP. (I received my car prior to the official release. ) There were only two local dealers at the time, and the other dealer pissed me off so badly in the past I refused to go back. Luckily, a third dealer (Acura of Cleveland) has opened in the area and this may make it easier to get a deal locally.

 

Besides money, the other thing to consider is you are going to be breaking-in the car on the highway. If I remember correctly, the manual wants you to not drive at a constant speed during the first 600 miles. Vary your driving.

Of course, you could use the sport shift and force the car into a lower gear for 10 - 20 miles while highway driving to vary the engine speed.

For me, unless the local dealership is treating me poorly, I like to buy locally. I want to build a rapport with the local salesman and the service department. I always let them know in casual conversation that I work for a large company and that I will recommend customer's their way in the future. I do send potential car owners to them.

That way if minor issues arise, they are more than likely going to address the issue.

 

greg-ster: So it is MY fault as a customer that a dealer gives me crap service? That I should expect it?


I don't know how you got that from what I said......

 

As a side note: from my experience of selling cars for 5 yrs i find that most people automatically go to the dealer with a bad attitude. they expect that the sales guy is going to rip them off right away; they become combative before the saleman has a chance to do anything...good or bad. thats actually one of the reasons i couldn't sell cars anymore (and vw started to suck too).I've been in sales for a while and i find people with bad attitudes get bad service...get what you give, and when the dealer makes a mistake....it was probably just that... a mistake. if it happens again....well then thats different.

 

I drove 70 miles to Apple Acura in York, PA to save about $1500. I paid cash so, to me, it's not about $25 bucks extra per month, it's about a bunch of extra cash in my account.

 

Yeah, for what it's worth, the only car I've actually bought at the dealer where I have it serviced is our BMW Z3, and that's the only dealer that doesn't always give us a loaner (one of MANY reasons I haven't been happy with BMW service). Otherwise I bought our Acuras (TL and MDX), Lexus (GS430), and Audi (S4) from other dealers (or individuals) and have always gotten loaners as long as they've had one in stock.