Jerky

Tell us how your experience was when buying your car with the dealer? did you like it? were they helpful?

Hopefully Acura is watching this site and will get some ideas on how to best treat customers.

Tell us about your experience, which dealer below
Use the thread to state any other concerns, compliments, or cares.

Repecat

I felt that I was treated fairly by Acura of Portland (OR). All negotiations were done over the internet, and when I picked up the car the sales staff were curteous and helpful. They took about an hour explaining the salient features of the car. I was pleased and would recommend that dealership and Sandy and Justin, internet managers.

Neorick

Im in California and Marin Acura is great. I am sorry to say the Serramonte Acura is the worst.

Marin Acura - I've never even considered going there...it was a chance since i dropped off my wife to visit a facility (she works for a foundation) and saw the dealership. And from the beginning it was very professional just like the Lexus dealership.

Serramonte Acura - Was the worst experience, they did not even want me to test drive their cars.

EluSiOn

Mcdaniel Acura @ SC

Ok experience. However, if trade in involves, the dealer is lots of BS and tricks and also the maintenace service fee is outrageously over priced.

djlandkpl

Clair Acura, Walpole MA. Terrific experience. No pressure. Came thru with all promises. 1000 times better than my experience with Herb Chambers Lexus of Norwood...buch of asses.

JSK22

Bought from Castle Acure in Delaware, horrible experience. Definitely don't recommend this dealership at all.

paul revere

bought from Acura of Cleveland just after the dealership opened in August. The buying experience was very good, no high pressure and no dog and pony show. A much better experience than I had when I purchased an RSX at Motorcars in Bedford a few years ago.
Now we will see what the service department is like.

3PUTT

PARK AVE ACURA is the best!!!

rontatuaf

Acura at Oxmoor, the only Acura dealer in Louisville, is absolutely horrible. Probably the worst dealer I've ever done business with and this is my second new Acura from them.
We signed our deal on a Saturday but didn't want the car until Monday so my wife was to pick it up since I was out of town. She went Mon. at 5:30. They said they had afew things for her to sign. They were finance papers at a bank we never heard of and we had already signed our papers for Honda Finance. These had different terms and etc. She called me and asked what to do and I said walk out. The GM came on and said he'd take care of it yada, yada, yada. 30 min. later my wife calls and says they wanted her to sign papers for a second different bank. This happened 3 times before I told the GM to call my wife a cab and I would talk to the dealership owner and a attorney the next day (remember, the dealer sales mgr, finance mgr. and GM had all signed the papers on Sat.) They finally relented and went back to our original deal.
I was very adamant on Sat. that the car be prep'd very thoroughly and that the salesman personally inspect it before delivery. The first car we bought there was filthy when they delivered it. Needless to say this car wasn't prep'd well either. Disgusting. My wife was there until 10:30 that night to accomplish what should have been done in 30 minutes. And they put her in the car, showed her where to turn on the headlights and said call or come in if you have questions. We had to learn the whole car from the owners manual.
The service department argues about everything. You say the brakes pull they say "no they don't" or "they all do that". I cringe every time I go there.
If you live in Louisville drive to Cincinnati or Lexington, but don't ever buy a car from these guys. I'll never buy another.

J RIDE 81

Woodfield Acura, can't expect to much from a dealer!

speedydoctor

costa mesa acura was pretty cool

cM3go

Woodfield Acura, just a little hassle, but overall good and for a really good price given the combo and availability

J RIDE 81

Damn I'm telling you, small world, we got our cars from the same place, who did you deal with there. I had this short guy named German.

JT3

I had a post on here not too long ago, praising Superior Acura of Kansas City (actually, Overland Park, KS). Those who read it may remember that I purchased my TL, literally, over the phone (I live about 2.5 hours away, in Wichita, KS). I had my trade posted on AutoTrader.com, so they took a look and gave me a respectable offer on both the TL and my trade right then and there. From there, I talked them down as far as I could go, got them to throw in a wing spoiler for good measure, and left them a deposit.

They shipped the car (with 5 miles on the odometer) right to my front door. I test drove it while the guy waited, and when I found it to be the car for me, I gave the driver the keys to my trade, and he loaded it up on the truck.

For the next few days paperwork was faxed and fedexed (at their expense, both ways) back and forth, and within a week of the initial call, it was a done deal.

But wait, there's more! When my 30-day tag expired, I went to get my car registered, and found that I should have paid sales tax for the county in which the car was sold, not in which I live, which differed from what the dealer told me (I think, had the car crossed state lines, the dealer would have been right, but it didn't, so they weren't). This meant a difference of about $350, of course, not in my favor. Rather than collect the additional tax from me, the dealer just faxed the DMV a sheet showing that the full amount had been paid. In other words, they paid the additional tax themselves.

In short, I couldn't be happier with the service I got from Superior Acura of Kansas City. It was a HECK of a lot better than the awful service I got from Schofield Acura of Wichita. They wouldn't budge on the price of the TL, wouldn't even attempt to locate the color combo of my choice, and offered me about half of the fair trade value (Edmunds OR KBB) of my trade. When I told them that I found the offer insulting, and would rather go to Kansas City to buy a car, they shook my hand and walked me to the door. I guess they didn't want to sell a car that day... and they didn't.

J RIDE 81

^--- Now that's how a dealer should handle it.

Road Rage

I did not vote, but would like to weigh-in. Only the dealer considers this "an experience" - I do not - it is a transaction, with an offer and an acceptance leading to a contract. The rest of it is based on psychology and sales tricks based on having the victim, er buyer, be sympatico with the salesman. It is not at all that different from the brain washing techniques used in war time (read them and see trhe similarities). I believe there is also psych case history on the "Helsinki" phenomenon, or some other Scand country. Anyway, the point is that people held as hostages began to take on the notions of their captors - it is a natural human coping mechanism. That is why the dealers' scheme is always, always, to keep you in the showroom. the longer they can, the more likely it is that they will make you their punk. That is why i always set a time limit on my transactions, in business and in car buying. It is over when my clock says so - it cuts through the crapola, every time. I make a fair transaction.

PuffyY

Acura of Boston, pretty good experience. I was fighting between the G35 and the TL, and they gave me a slightly better deal. Had to wait a week for my car to be built, since there are very rare Blue/Nav/6MT in the New England region. But overall very happy w/ the experience.

Brewmaster

Metro Acura - Philadelphia ..
Transaction for the TL couldn't have been much smoother.. price negotiation was done over the phone: " I want to pay x can you make that happen?" .. "Let me check and call you back in 5 minutes" ... 3 minutes later my phone rings and it's a done deal.

Down side was on my trade ... after looking it over they give me a price, we sign papers, then (here it comes) salesman tells me .. "of course you know by the time we find your color match and perform the trade your car probably won't be worth this much" .... long story short, I gave them about a week to do a locate, exploded all over a couple of people , and voila ... I'm in my new TL.

Not bad overall, but trade-in side could've been better

Doctored5

Jones Acura of Lancaster, PA. They not only gave me the best price BY FAR, but provided the easiest car purchase I've ever had.

My view on the purchase transaction is that I knew what I wanted after doing my research. They gave me exactly what I wanted & didn't try to sell me anything I did not ask for. I am not into playing psychological games & wasting my time being hassled by salesmen who want to use the transaction to milk me for a higher commission. I would in fact pay a premium to avoid that. In these days of internet information, including this message board, I don't have to.

TLMike

Couresy Acura in Denver, CO

Best car buying experience I've ever had. Price negotiation was smooth and they gave me the best price of any of the metro area dealers with no BS. There were also no problems with my trade-in. They offered exactly what I went in there expecting to get for my car.

cM3go

Ha ha, yeah, my salesman was Ruben Perez, he's short too

Dkrudop

Hall Acura of Newport News, Virginia here. I went through their internet manager, Bob Trull. Very pleasant, professional experience all around. No pressure sales on the cute little "add-on's" we all know and love (undercoating, extended warranty, etc.), car was cleaned and ready, trade-in handled very simply with what I thought was a very fair price. Since it wasn't on the lot when I contacted him originally, he handed me the keys and we took it out for a lenghty test drive while they prepped the paperwork. I'd go back to them without a moment's hesitation.

chachi775

I also went through Acura of Boston. They were great. I spent a total of about 1 hour in there before I had the paperwork finalized. Got my '05 before they had started making them at about 2k under MSRP. Perry Wong was my rep. Great guy. If you're thinking about an Acura in Boston, talk to him.

chachi775

Doctored5

The key question market researchers will want to know for feedback is:

"Would you recommend the dealer to someone else?"

ResearchFreak

Had a great experience at Acura of Pleasanton.

We had first looked at the car at the Acura dealer on Stevens Creek Blvd in San Jose, but they were awful. The salesman was arrogant and insulting. And that was out in the lot when we were just looking. We told him we weren't ready to buy yet, but he made sure we didn't buy from his dealership! Ugh! I'm a pretty mild mannered person, and I wanted to slap him!

Our guy in Pleasanton was terrific. They had my RRP baby on the showroom floor. He made sure to show us all the details of the car. Spent about an hour and a half going over the details of the car. I had been looking over this site and even showed him a thing or two. He was gracious and was easy to work with! WAY TO GO PLEASANTON!

rlustre

Avoid Sussman Acura in Philadelphia!! Had a written deal from them on Wednesday, was told to pick up the TL on Thursday. Even had a call Thursday morning confirming that I should be there at 12 noon. Got there at 11:45, waited an hour, then they told me that they couldn't give me what they had promised for my trade in (the day before). After complaining for a few minutes, I said, "If you are changing the numbers on me now, give me back my keys, I'm outa here". Sure enough, the sales manager hands me my keys. I still can't figure this out because they didn't even give me a new number, they just basically told me to get lost. (Of course, I never would have paid more than our deal, I just thought it was strange that they didn't try to get me to buy one at a higher number.) They also said stuff like,"we never do business like this" (don't tell me that, you're doing it to me RIGHT NOW!) and even got a phone call on my answering machine before I even got home, apologizing, which was so insulting. So they obviously lost my business, and hopefully yours, too. This kind of dealership experience is what gives car salesmen such a bad reputation. I have never had anything like this happen to me before. By the way, made a deal today with another dealer, should have my NBP/Parch early next week. I'm keeping my fingers crossed....

dsc888

Hats off to Acura of Boston in my case. Debbie Robertson was very easy to deal with and came to the price I wanted in about 30 minutes. There was never much pressure and I was very surprised being that the dealer was in metro Boston.

dsc888

sukinsyn

I purchased my second Acura from the same dealer and same salesperson. He has followed up over the years with me and everytime I go to the dealer for service and/or warrenty issues (two dropped transmission on my 01 CL), he came into the service area and said Hello.

He was very nice and really good about my having my worksheet and calculator with all my lease figures at hand. He decided to give me all the money factors etc. and not pretend to be unable to supply those. Like a few of the local dealers. Like the Acura dealer across town.

He got my business because we were able to come to terms with what I would pay and what his boss and the finance manager would agree to...along with the bank.

He and the dealer made some money and I am happy with what I paid.

Pro Stock John

Wonderful experience:

Arlington Acura
Palatine, IL
Greg Stone, Internet Manager

Best experience I have ever had at a dealer

Greg G

I left feeling drained and ripped off. The car sales industry sucks. Too bad Saturn doesn't make better cars.

-Greg

Jerky

Greg, what did you pay, and what did you buy?

Tedanddenise

Bobby Rahal of Mechanicsburg, PA was great. I usually purchase Toyotas from their sister dealer 3 miles from the Acura dealership, and, knew they were a top-notch outfit. I highly recommend them

kosh2258

Bloomington Acura, Bloomington, MN

I went to the dealer for a test drive, did some digging on the Internet, and then completed the transaction via e-mail at another time. No hard sell, no pressure, no tricks.

The bulk of the time spent at the dealer was on the day of delivery. The delivery process went fine, no hassles and no hard sells by the business manager during the signing and payment. No attempts to jack around with the agreed price or hard upsell any additional "services" or warranties to me. They were offered, without pressure, but when I declined them, "no" was taken for the answer and we pushed on.

Saleman was Erick Nelson, who handles Bloomington's Internet sales.

Pure Adrenaline

iTrader: (2)

Acura of Troy's sales staff is top-notch. Even other salespeople who weren't making commission off my sale was extremely helpful and friedly.

The only gripe I have is that the girl that sold me the car marked the date 1/2/2002 instead of 2003 on the invoice, and they had to redo the entire process. By then, my dad had already left for work after signing the original papers, and I had to get a ride home from them with the new paperwork, drive 40 minutes to my dad's business, have him sign, drive back, call them to pick me up and take me back to the dealership. Although it was an inconvenience, they apologized several times, and gave me a free oil change offer. It was understandable, since I personally have the tendency of writing down the previous year until like February of current year.

My brother and I (I was 20 at the time, my brother 18) went to several different dealerships and different brands (Acura, Cadillac, Pontiac, Infiniti, Audi, BMW, Mercedes) and no one treated us with more respect than Acura. We couldn't even get a test drive at some of the dealerships without begging, and a couple of them just flat out refused because we were just teenagers.

But when we wandered into the showroom of Acura of Troy, the sales staff stopped talking amongst themselves right away, and Adrianne came over to greet us. In 5 minutes, she had a brand new TL-S outside for us to test drive, and when we said we were just shopping around at the time, she didn't get pissy or anything like some others did. Instead, she called us back after a couple of days for a follow-up, with no pressure to buy whatsoever. A week after we first went there, I drove home my brand new TL-S. The transaction could've been smoother without the date glitch, but it was still a very satisfying buying experience.


Acura of Troy's service department, on the other hand, is the opposite. I wouldn't recommend them to my worst enemy.

bshean

Amen on this one. I ended up driving to Lexington to get the car I wanted (05 TL, MT). The mgr at Courtesy in Lex offered to order my car on line for me (he swapped with another dealer online). Oxmoor said they couldn't order a car for me from the factory, that they'd have to drive one in, or charge me $350-$400 to trailer one in. And I was a repeat buyer (99 TL, wife's car).
Overall, night and day difference between the dealer in Lexington and Louisville.
Chris in service is great, but the svc mgr seems to be drinking the sales team's Kool Aid.

The thought of having to repeatedly deal with the Louisville dealer for service makes me sick.... and pissed. Oh well, guessing that's what it's like to have kids and be divorced

kennyc

Rosenthal Acura in Gaithersburg, MD. Best dealership I've ever dealt with - sales AND service.

KJW73

I purchased at Bobby Rahal Acura in Mechanicsburg, PA (about a 15 minute drive from downtown Harrisburg) and corresponded with them via the internet.

The salesman I had was nice and at the end of the sale (3-months later), I liked him even better. However, a comment he made the day I took a test-drive will stick with me for a very long time..."I used to work next door selling Honda's...I moved over here to Acura and my wife and I are still driving Honda's..." **Assuming that I couldn't afford the car. I hate to sound juvenile, however his attitude changed when he reviewed my pay stub and realized he really had a sale. I thought they were in the business to sell cars, not "assume" things about people.

Other than that minor incident...the dealership itself is a beautiful facility and the folks working there are fabulous!

chill_dog

Old thread ...pretty sure I've seen similar threads since this one and have commented in them...nonetheless, Hendrick Acura in Charlotte was excellent!

CBR1100XX

David at Champion Acura was awesome.

Anky05TL

Got from Open Road Acura, Wayne NJ awfeul people to deal with... full of lies and deciet with no good customer relationship...