markj

All,

I have been trying to buy a TL with NAV for a couple of months now. Let me tell you what I went through.

The first thing I did was request a quote from every dealer in Texas. Only about 1/2 of the dealers even bothered responding to my query. Of those, the best offer I got was $500 below MSRP.

On the second to last day of September, Tad Grubb from Vandergriff Acura sent me E-mail with the following:

Sent him E-mail clarifying a few things (options, additional fees, etc.). After a couple of E-mail messages, he sent the following:

I immediately called him back to tell him that I wanted the car. The receptionist said that he was with a customer, but that she would have him call me back. While waiting for Tad to return my call, I arranged to take the next day off of work and get plane tickets from Austin to Dallas on South West Airlines.

After about an hour, I still had not heard back from Tad, so I called back again. The receptionist said that she had paged him, but that he didn't answer his page. Again, I asked for him to return my call. I then went to cancel some meetings etc.

After another 45 or so minutes, Tad calls me and asks what he can do for me. I say that I want the car. He says "Um... just a minute." When he comes back to the phone, he says that the car is already sold! :wtf: So much for "This deal is good till close of buisness on thurs."

I then find out that this is the only blue/quartz 5AT in the 6 state area, so they can't get another car for me. The next day, I called the GM to talk the situation over with him. He says that he will talk with Tad and get right back to me. It has now been 3 weeks and he hasn't gotten back to me.

Lesson: DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME WITH VANDERGRIFF!

After giving the situation some thought, and posting several questions here, I decided to buy an anthracite/ebony 5AT. I again send out quote requests to every dealer in Texas (except Vandergriff!). I very specifically asked for a 2004 5AT with Navi, wing spoiler, and protection package. I also asked for an "out-the-door price." I receive the following from Rosemarie Diaz at Gillman Acura:

Now, I'm thinking Wow I then remember Vandergriff and think that this may be too good to be true. So, I do the math and figure out that they are still making a little under $500. They really must want to get the car off of the lot.

I immediately called Rosemarie and told her that I wanted the car, and could she meet me at the airport the next afternoon. She said that there would be no problem, she would pick me up herself. She would get the paperwork together and fax a copy to me.

About a half hour later, she sent me the following E-mail:

Well Damn! This isn't such a hot deal after all (it is a 04 remember). But, it isn't bad. Ok, I'll still go for it. [Note: I know nothing about an "original e-mail"] I reply that I still want it. She then sends me the following E-mail:

What the hell! She has now raised the price on me twice! I figure that this is a royal case of bait and switch. What would the price be after I had already flown down to Houston to get the car? I tell her no thanks. I don't want the car.

Lesson: don't trust *ANYTHING* you hear from Gillman until you have it in writing (not E-mail) and signed by the general manager.

I then go to the local Acura dealer (David McDavid) to see if they can trade for the car from Gillman. They say that they think they will be able to because they have a black/black Navi to trade. We discuss price and they offer me what I consider to be a fair price (not as good as Vandergriff, but close). I leave a $500 deposit.

They then spend the next 5 days trying to trade for the car. Gillman won't trade. So there goes try #3.

David McDavid then asked if I wanted an 05. We spend some time talking price, and they come down to what appears to be the going rate on this board ($1600 off of MSRP) for a 2005 5AT Navi. They say that it is already on order and should be in around the end of the month.

Yesterday, they gave me a call and told me that they were able to trade for an 05 with my color and options. My car was in and ready for me to pick up I drove over there and in less than 2 hours, I drove away with my new 05 5AT Navi with just 5 miles on the odometer!

So, as you can tell, this has not been a pleasant process. Fortunately, the local dealer that let me take a couple of test drives was also the easiest to work with and got my business. I was very happy with them all of the way through. My salesman was Mike Hildebrandt. I recommend him to anybody who goes to McDavid in Austin.

My previous car was a 1987 Honda Accord that I've owned for all 17 years. This car is quite a step up for me!

--Mark

Jerky

CONGRATS on the new TL, I agree buying cars is NOT pleasent, it's really dreadful (listen up Acura and make it less of a hassle for us)

This is not uncommon Mark, there are MANY tricks that dealers play/ploy/bait

Actually, its very simple sales rules!

Here are some other articles that may help you

Conffessions of a car sales man (great article)
http://www.edmunds.com/advice/buying...2/page004.html

Buying a car Moteley Fool
http://www.fool.com/car/car.htm

Maybe these links will help future buyers to watch out for the traps

Mindcrime

Very typical sales tactics. You will see many times the lie of someone else is looking at the car thing and the my boss doesn't want me to sell it for this price but I will. Who are they kidding. No car salesman sells a car for lower then the GM authorizes. This is the good guy bad guy tactic. They want you to believe that they are looking out for you but their boss is a big ass. We can all relate to this situation, I'm a good guy but my boss is an ass, so that is why they use it. My dealer tried the same thing. I got an internet quote and when I went in they said that the GM was mad about the quote as they can't sell for that but they will this one time. Who they kidding, they gave me the same quote twice over a 2 month period. And they wonder why people hate their profession.

Aquineas

Glad it worked out for ya'. BTW, you know there's another Acura dealer in Austin, right? Sterling Acura on the motor-mile.

Diver

i had quite an opposite experience. i started emailing dealers druing the week. in couple
of days i got very good quote from the dealer in RI (i'm in MA). i took that quote and
went to couple of local dealers on Saturday. the second one beat that price and i put a
deposit. i ended up paying ~$3750 under MSRP with no hassle at all. they also gave
me better interest rate on financing comparing with what i get from ELOAN.

i got my VIN earlier this week and hopefully i will pick it up this Saturady.

nelaw75

Who did you deal with in Boston?-thinking of buying soon

ericajackhannahjamie?

Congrats with your purchase... I'm sure you'll love your car. When I buy a car for that price, I tend to ask for WHAT I WANT. For instance, I don't settle for the WRONG color, Wrong interior trim/color, or buy what the dealer ONLY have on the lot. I ask them to GET ME what I want for the PRICE that's reasonable. I hope you will own this Acura TL for another 17+ years like your old 1987 Accord It's a big step up! and you'll love every minute of driving it. Look around the forum, you'll find many USEFUL tips from our fellow TL owners

Remember... always when

J RIDE 81

Congrates on the new car, Talk about a step up. Buying a car is very frustrating but now just sit back and enjoy!

havokgroup

Congrats on the new car. I'm glad I went with an agent that was able to get me the best prices possible . To make it even better they got me a written quote from the fleet manager:

http://www.havokgroup.com/phong/quote.jpg

I would highly recommend this agent to anyone looking for a car. He basically cut my search time to nothing. I contacted him and was able to get my written quote within 48 hours.

kevd

Diver, was this inskip? Who did you end up with? Navi?
TIA

Diver

I put a deposit in Acura of Boston. They didn't budge from what they offered but it was low enough already. The first low quota I received was from First Acura in RI. I get NBP/Ebony 6MT TL with Navi. I get ground efect kit, wing spoiler, mats, wheel locks and life time inspection for $34500. And they have $200 processing fee, so it makes it $34700. I worked with Sam Davis.

Diver

man, this article is awesome !

points to you !

Diver

just got a call from the dealer ! i'm picking up my new baby 11 am saturday !!

kyle-wdp

You hate buying a car because you make it too difficult....You should read "The Millionaire Next Door" Millionaires don't spend days buying cars, they spend minutes to hours. I know that many of us aren't millionaires, but the book explains what many of them did to get there.

Chet03TL-S

The bait and switch tactic they used on you was used on me when I was shopping for my 03TLS. I finally walked out and they ended up calling my cell 15mins later agreeing to sell me the add-on's (trunck tray, etc) at cost. I told him I would come back tomorrow and sign the papers. That afternoon went to a different dealer and got those add-on's free and never bought the car from him. 10months later I was shopping for a RX330 for my dad and on the phone with the dealer the sales guys told me his name it was the bait and switch guy and I immediately told him I wanted to forget about coming in to negotiate a deal since I had worked with him before and it was nothing but "games" and hung up. Gotta love Karma.

The RX330 I purchased from the same salesman I bought my 03TLS in the end.

irelandn2000

I had a really easy experience. I walked into my local dealer and asked to drive a TL, me and my wife knew we wanted one but had to make sure. Drove it came back from test drive said I want a Black on Black 05 Auto TL. Salesman said no problem we made a deal and i drove off the next day in my new car( Had to drive off cause I bought it at night and left it there for detailing and other good stuff.)

orrorin

My car buying experience goes something like this ....

We drove up to a dealer one saturday afternoon and and test drove the car. My wife and I were both impressed with the car. The salesman also gave a very comprehensive demo of all the features. When it came to making the deal, the salesman said that they can do $300 under MSRP for 2004 TL and this is 1 week before the O5's were to start coming in. He asked at what price I'd buy the car right away and I quoted him $2000 under MSRP. He laughed and started walking us away towards the door. We thought that was quite rude, but in this brief walk from his desk to the door, his discount went up to $1000. But, since it is was nowhere near my target price, we decided to walk out.

Later that day, we went to another dealer. They had sold a lot of 04 TL's that day and when I quoted him my price ($2000 under MSRP), he said he might be able to do it. But, it was on a color choice which was not my favorite. Given the ease with which he agreed, I thought why not try to get a car of my color choice with that price. So, we declined that deal and walked out.

That same evening, we called another dealership, who said they had a car of my color choice. We went there but were told that the car had just been sold, but she would try to get another. But, when I told my price range, she wouldn't believe me. She thought I was bluffing and called up the previous dealer to verify the price. By that time, their car salesman, who had agreed to my price, had left for the day. So, someone else at the dealership said they were only giving $500 off. This lady says we should've bought the car from the dealer, sicne it's a great price.She thought we were bluffing but we knew we weren't, so we decided to walk out of her dealership.

Back home, I called a few dealership in and around the area. Some dealers said they could do only $500 off. One dealer said he might be able to do the deal, but would rather talk to me in person than over the phone. So we decided to go over to that dealer on Sunday noon.

Sunday morning, I called up some more dealers and 2 more dealers seemed interested in selling the car at or near my target price. I told them I would be going to this other dealer at noon and I could come to their dealership after that. Both didn't want me to go to that dealership; they wanted me to come over right away. One dealer's GM called and agreed to $1500 off. The other dealer asked me to call him before I signed any deal.

On reaching the dealer, with whom I had set an appointment the previous day, he showed me the car and then we started dealing. I made it amply clear to him that I'm planning to buy the car that day. He said car is selling at $500 under MSRP. I reminded him of my target price. He said he can go to $1000 under MSRP. I said that is not enough. He said he'll talk to his GM and came back with a piece of paper with the price the GM had agreed to, which was $1500 under MSRP. I took that piece of paper and wrote "I will not walk out of this dealership without purchasing the car, if I get it $2000 under MSRP and free wheel locks." and asked the salesman to show it to his manager. This time the manager decided to deal with me directly. He started giving all the sales pitches about hot car, etc. I told him this is end of model year, next week new year cars will start coming. So far, TL had no competition but Audi is coming with new A4. Also, Acura is coming with new RL so TL is not going to be the flagship car, prices will get discounted. So, he eventually agreed to sell it at $2000 under MSRP but he wanted $300 for some accessories. I said no, you can remove those accessories, since I don't need them. He wouldn't agree to that. I told him I had 2 more dealers waiting. He said if I walked out of his dealership, this deal won't be available again. I told him a GM of another dealership had agreed on phone and I might be able to make the deal with him (he confirmed I was not bluffing by asking me the GM's name, and he seemed to know him.) Anyways, while all this was going on, one of the dealers, who had asked me to call him before signing any deal, called and asked the status. I had the computer printout of the pricing in front of me and I gave him the numbers. He said he can beat that deal. He said he cant beat it by $200, I said I want to go $2300 under MSRP, including the pro package (essentially I wouldn't be paying for the pro package). He said that's fine and we decided to walk out. Obviously, this happenned in the other dealers office in front of the manager! He said the other dealer will backtrack as soon as I go there. I said that's fine, I've one more dealer (whose GM had talked to me on phone) to go to.

On my way to this dealer, which was quite some distance away, I receive a call from some weird area code, claiming to be from the dealer, whose GM had agreed to $1500. Suddenly, he was saying he'll give $2500 off, if I came to his dealership right away. Obviously, this wasn't that dealer calling. Why would he drop his price $1000, without any negotiations? I figured this was the dealer I had just left, trying the back stab the dealer I was going to, just like he had killed the deal for him!! (Boy this is one cut-throat business!!)

When I reached the dealer, he showed me the car and I liked it. So we decided to crunch the numbers. And he came with a final purchase cost which was $800 above what the previous dealer had shown me in his computer printout! A classic bait and switch operation!! Loox like these dealer games were not going to end so easily. I pointed out the discrepancy to him and asked him for a cost break down and he started giving some hokey numbers. Like hell I'm going to buy a car feeling cheated into buying it! He called his GM and this guy says, "This is a very good price. Mr". I told him it might be a good price for him but not for me and we walked out of this dealership.

We were a li'l tired after all this driving around and emotional roller-coaster, but decided to give this last dealer a call anyways. He said he can do $1500 under MSRP (just like he had said before). I told him if he did $2000 off I would buy the car from him that day. So, he asked me to come over. This again was a long drive, from one dealer in the middle of nowhere to another. We decided to go to him anyways.

When we reached this dealership, he took us for a brief test drive and then we sat to do the paperwork. I asked him to first agree on the price and the salesman went to the GM's office and came out saying that the GM had already agreed to $2000 off, so that's what they would do. I still asked him for a price printout and his pricing was $300 cheaper than the first dealer I had been to that morning, who was asking $300 for the accessories. So, Iwas getting exactly the deal I was looking for.

So, I ended up buying the car from this dealer. It was quite a drive for us to this dealer, but I was pleasantly surprised at this experience after that roller-coaster experience at other dealers. While I was doing the deal with this dealer, the dealer I had been to earlier in the morning, who had also agreed to $2000 off MSRP but was asking $300 for accessories, called and I told him very politely how he had just missed on my deal! The next day, the lady from the dealership I went to saturday evening, who thought I was bluffing and had called other dealer to verify price, called to check if I bought my car. I told her, we did get our car at our target price and that 2 other dealers had agreed to my price. She said she would be glad to have my TL over for servicing. I thanked her for her kindness! :-)


Bottomline is, I got a car of my color choice at my target price.

But here's the moral of the story.
#1. Always do your homework on the car you want to buy and its competition. Especially, find what's good in the competition, since you can pitch that to the sales guys to let them know that you don't really think this car has it all and can do better. I did my homework on a fully loaded ES330 and Audi A4.
#2 Never get too desperate about a car; be ready to walk out if you can't find a deal at the right price. Patience helps.
#3 Try to find what the inventory situation is at various dealers.
#4 Make it very clear to the dealer that you'll buy the car right away if you get the target price.
#5 Getting the price in writing does help; especially the computer price printout, since they include the other charges as well.


Hope this helps future buyers and thanx for your patience to read this long posting.