aprilraign

I just purchased my first Acura TL 3.5 today and it was an unpleasant experience! I bought the Mayan Bronze w/ Parchment interior and I tried to get them to throw in black floor mats (after I had handed over the check) for free and they want to charge me for them. The car was 42K and I can't get an extra set of mats!!???

Is there anyway for me to purchase the factory mats at a discounted price? I don't want to go through the dealer I used!

0akland

Thats funny, you're going to ruin the buying and ownership experience over a set of $120 floormats. And yes you can find the floormats for cheap on eBay, dont forget to ask the seller to throw in trunk mats too while you're at it. But dont get "unpleasant" when they tell you NO.

aprilraign

The salesman was being an a-hole after he got my money (purchasing experience), which has nothing to do with the "ownership experience." I love my car and truck mats were included.

0akland

You should have done a better job negotiating. Most car sales people are crooks, a-holes to say the least. They're like that with or without having your money.

My sales experience with Acura was excellent! 80% of my other car buying expriences are similar to yours, they get worst as the cost of the vehicle goes up. A lot of people think that buying a Luxury car (north of $80k) is a "better" experience, this is not neccessarily true, the stakes are higher, therefore they try to get more, and they know they could. And NO, even floor mats on my previous 08' Range Rover did not come free, they were $360 for the set.

Anyhow, congrats on the new car, enjoy it to the fullest. I love mine everyday.

ggesq

iTrader: (1)

april- contact Tim @ hondacuraworld.com. He is a vendor here on AZ and you can get the mats from him.

On a different but related note, chalk it up to a lesson learned. If you want some extras, make sure to include it in the negotiating process.
On a personal note, if I was the manager of the dealership I would have gave you the mats or in the alternative not be an asshole and politely explain why I couldn't throw in the mats. The negative publicity isn't worth a set of floor mats.

Can you give us a breakdown of your purchase price and other costs?

Kingmeow

When you say mats I'm assuming the all weather mats as the regular mats come with the car. You can get the all weather ones for about $95 online, genuine Acura.

I negotiated their protection package (mud guards, wheel locks, and trunk liner) and LoJack to be included in the agreed upon price. I then ordered the all weather mats online.

princelybug

iTrader: (16)

A lot of unpleasant car purchasing experiences can be eliminated by dealing with them strictly online.

0akland

This is very true, i work for a dealership, (fortunately not it sales) and the only way I tell my family to buy cars is from the internet manager. Less BS and not really all focused on store profits.

Olu

Why on earth would you expect them to give you something for free, after you've negotiated on the price and paid? I'm sure if you had negotiated after getting your final price but before paying, they would have thrown it in. It's your fault for paying before you were 100% satisfied.

I'm not a dealer, but I wouldn't have given them to you either. Where do you expect them to draw the line $100? $200? $300? Your complaint doesn't make sense to me. Just my 2 cents

Xpert37

Try www.acurapartssuperstore.com they have cheaper and yet genuine Acura parts, including your floor mats.

prepreludesh

$42k for a base TL?

Parchment Interior yet you wanted an extra set of black mats?

Negotiations after the deal was done?

No pictures of you?

At least you got the exterior color right out of this whole thing!

dtc5

What's a truck mat?

0akland

my thoughts exactly.

Skywalker23

funny thing when people say they got this and that for free...there's nothing free in this world, specially in the auto business. There's nothing "included" or "thrown in". (unless the dealer has something laying around..). You're paying for everything you're taking out of the showroom, we just make you feel good about it. P.S. all season mats is the best money spent on your TL imo. $86 is the cost price. A lot for the money. Befriend your sales guy is the best advice I can give you.

cp3117

To me its called customer service/retention.

Its true that it would have been easier to work this into the deal but its not like he is asking for something thats going to cost the dealership any labour like Mudflaps, paint sealant etc etc.

He is asking for some $86 floormats. I use to be in automotive sales/management and this cost could be written off in other departments like sales, service, parts etc.

The OP has already stated he would now buy the floormats at a discounted price but NOT from the original dealer. I know the salesman wont really care but this simple cost of $86 will now probably cost the dealer thousands of dollars of lost service department revenue from the OP in the future.

It blows me away when i hear stories like this and Acura still tries to portray themselves as a luxury dealer.

ggesq

iTrader: (1)

^ My local Acura dealer treats me like I'm their only customer and bend over backwards to make me happy, so making general insinuations that "Acura" as a whole fails at being a luxury dealer is a little disingenuous.

Not every single MB, Audi, Lexus, Infiniti customer is 100% satisfied.

free598

tell him when HONDA call an ask u how waS UR VISIT at the dealer.tell him ur goin to give him a low score...i bet he will get u those mats for free

0akland

Those days are gone buddy. I had somebody do that at our store, its called extortion, Honda/Acura does not tolerate that from any customer no matter what car and how many you are buying.


Aaaaaaand, they will remember you when you bring your car in for warranty service. There may be a "pleasant note" on your profile that the service advisor will see. They'll know that you slammed them on a survey and believe me, all the mechanics in the back can't wait to get to your car.

Don't burn the bridge with your dealer for $86 floor mats. ITs not worth it.

winstrolvtec

What does being a luxury dealer have anything to do with it? My Honda dealer won't even throw in all season mats. It's a bad move for any dealer but most other "luxury" dealers won't even discount their product, nevermind free floor mats.

ggesq

iTrader: (1)

Your post is a little disturbing to me. So, if a customer isn't satisfied for whatever reason and a low score is given, your telling me and the rest of the AZ community that a "note" will be left on that customer's profile and the techs in the back will mess with the customer's car?

What dealership do you work at?

venom550pm

my acura dealership treats me and my wife like gold too.

However the audi and infiniti dealership around hear treated me like a second class person and wouldn't let me test drive the car with the options i wanted on it, like the s line for the A4 and the sport package for the G.

dtc5

OMG, I want to know too lol

Good thing I left good scores for my dealer then.

free598

what dealer do u work..thats shit u just post sounds like a bag of shit to me

0akland

very true, not bag of doo-doo. This is common practice for a lot of workshops.

Unfortunately, I do not work for Acura nor Honda, i work for an undisclosed american car company (like i'll tell you what company i work for).

I've been in the other side of the fence before and i gave a service advisor a bad survey because i didnt get a free car wash. Everyone there use to be super nice and since that damned day, even the valet parker treats me like a bag of shiet.

Just my .02 for all the people who extorts that dealers for "free stuff", nothing is EVER FREE!

cp3117

Why on earth would that be a bad move for any dealer to please a customer to help insure future income towards a business for very little cost?? I am going to assume you have never worked in sales or a customer service/management position.

Being a luxury dealer has a lot to do with things because your clientèle is usually very different and expects more from your business if you expect them to stay or to refer future client, etc.

What "ggesq" stated about not everyone is ever 100% satisfied is true, from my personal experiences it seems on average you hear more complaints of issues like this from Acura owners than Lexus, BMW owners etc. While your example of Honda not even throwing in floor mats maybe relatively small it just adds more to reason why many people always believe Acura's are generally no more than a fancy Honda.

Acura needs to bust away from this generalization and start providing a more luxurious atmosphere from all angles and this unfortunately has to start at the dealership level. Why do think most true luxury brands dont usually have to heavily discount their cars and yet people still buy them?? While there are many reasons, if you generally have the product and service you wont have to drastically discount whatever item you are selling.

greg99

Out of curiosity, how does Acura treat a "no response"?

My general philosophy on dealer surveys is to follow the "if you can't say something nice..." rule, and deal directly w/ the dealer if there are problems.

I've never had an issue that was unresolvable, requiring a ding on a survey.

Greg

canddmeyer

I've read more than a few posts here and elsewhere where if the dealer got dinged on the survey the dealership GM would call the customer and tell the buyer they won't service the car, so there has to be some truth to being blackballed. Btw, the floormats should always be comp'd on a vehicle perceived to be a luxury model. So I agree, the salesperson was an ass.

Colin

We are only hearing one side of the story. Maybe the OP was rude too? Maybe he bought the car below cost? (I know he listed his purchase price, but not the model purchased or if he got 15,000 for a 2002 Civic). Lots of variables.

BWSmith201

I bought my most recent TL without setting foot in the showroom--

I'm not very happy with them from a previous experience so my salesperson did all the traveling- even picking up my trade from my house and bringing me cars to test drive; she volunteered. I generally wouldn't ask for such exclusive service...

Very pleased.

winstrolvtec

How did I miss this one? No matter, I will give you the benfit of the doubt in maybe you misinterpreted what I was saying and will even be so kind as to say that maybe I was not clear.

What I ment was, it is a bad move not to throw in the mats, not to not give them. You should hook me up with your dealer and not the one for cars. You are entitled to your opinion but I don't know why you insist on Acura/Honda bashing especially when you also know you don't have a real basis for anything you say except what is your perspective of the brand.

What I can gather from what you are saying is that it is ok to not discount a product but throw in some floor mats to ease the pain all while banging your customers over the head because of their blind ingnorance to what they are buying and for how much and if you do so you are a true luxury dealer.

0akland

I was going to leave this thread alone but...c'mon guys, this had nothing to do with the dealer, a-hole sales rep or Acura being a Luxury brand (Which they are NOT). This was poor negotiations by the end buyer.

A deal was made, a contract was signed, end of f'n story. The dealer does not owe anybody nor do they need to discount anything to anyone. The consumer always had (has) the choice to buy elsewhere or not buy at all. It's that simple. If you think they charge too much for floor mats, then buy it elsewhere, do your research and find out where you can buy it cheaper. Stop crying and blogging about $80 floor mats world wide...

Colin

To be fair, Acura has included a set of mats with the car. Nobody needed to 'throw' these in. If you want another set or want a different color, it should be mentioned during the negotiations or you should buy them youself. As I said earlier, we cannot know how the negotiations went cause we're only hearing one side of the story. But for someone (the dealer) to be so dogmatic when saying "NO", there might be more to it.

Exactly, if the situation were reversed, how would everyone feel? If the deal is signed and money paid, and then the dealer comes out and says, 'sorry, we forgot to include the cost of the mats, can you write a check for $130?"

I can say that some will say, "no problem, it's an honest mistake, I've made a few myself". write the check and then give a perfect survey.* Others would say 'no way" and then come here to complain about it. The moral of the story is: every customer and every transaction is unique.

*This just happened to me, but it is the 7th car I've sold him.

winstrolvtec

Let me correct that, throw in an "extra" set of mats. Personally I have tried this with my last three deals and I am sure if I had said the all season mats too or no deal I would have got them but I would not press the issue for $80 and the dealer knows this that's why they don't go handing them out plus I get great deals in the first place.

Every dealer and salesman is different and that has nothing to do with the brand and if they are luxury or not, what a way to take a cheap shot at Acura for nothing. Things never change around here.

0akland

Amen brother.

Steve_O

Next time just ask for the mats before you sign the deal. Thats what I suggest my customers do as I help them purchase a vehicle and not trick them into it. Yes there are some crooks in the sales field (every industry, not just car sales).
Just watch out and try not to get pressured on the spot.

Good Luck with the mats and if you are in the Toronto area, I can help you out with them at my dealership.

Steve De Santis
905 828 5800
EMA mississuaga

YetiTL

If you ever show up in an election, you'll get my vote!

samplemonster

I like the other arguments too, but I think I like yours the best well said!

cp3117

What type of basis are you looking for???

Here is an article from almost a year ago where Acura officials clearly state that major upgrades need to be done to the dealership and this doesnt just include physical improvements to the building. This also included proper training of sales and service staff, reception, etc etc etc. This needs to be done in order for Acura to be competitive with tier 1 brands like BMW, Lexus, Audi, MB etc.

http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13746_7-10118216-48.html

The next link (and most recent) shows Acura not going ahead now with its goals from a year ago and appears to be abandoning tier 1 goals.

http://www.leftlanenews.com/acura-lo...the-table.html

I found it interesting how in the first article one dealer principle spend 20M in upgrades putting his faith in Acura to follow through and then a year later is let down by Acura leaving the dealer principle holding the bill. IMO, Its sad how Acura treated its dealer network in this situation.

If this is what you actually believe:

"What I can gather from what you are saying is that it is ok to not discount a product but throw in some floor mats to ease the pain all while banging your customers over the head because of their blind ignorance to what they are buying and for how much and if you do so you are a true luxury dealer."

Then you have basically solidified what i had stated in the first paragraph of my previous post.

While every dealer and salesman in general maybe slightly different. In the luxury world it has everything to do with the brand. This can be easily seen by my above links where Acura was attempting to change its image by massive restructuring of its dealerships including training in order to try and become tier 1.

While I do consider Acura to be a luxury brand among the likes of Buick, Lincoln etc. It is MY opinion/perspective and this is also shared by other people including some automotive journalists.

You should realize that these are just Automobiles and even though we are enthusiasts you shouldnt take it so personally to accuse people all the time at Acurazine of Acura bashing, taking cheap shots at Acura or trying to wrongly discredit people just because they dont agree with your opinion, even though in this situation i have facts to support my opinion.

winstrolvtec

Every dealership will say that they need significant upgrades no matter how good or bad they are doing, if you are not improving you are going backwards and in case you have not noticed there are plenty of nicer dealerships that are Acura's and Honda's (not all) than I have found for Audi, MB, and BMW. The point being that every dealership is virtually independent on all accounts. Fourth best selling luxury brand and it needs to be done or is it more something that they feel they should do? Looks like Acura may have a little work to do but Infiniti and Audi have their work cut out for them, yet no one talks about that.

Ya it's sad they have to sell cars for the 4th best selling luxury brand in the states with a state of the art dealership. I don't think anyone would dispute Cadillac being a luxury brand, yet how often do you see a single Caddy dealer as a stand alone or it being rather nice either.

Looks like they finally realized that Tier 1 is a myth. It is not anything real, it is merely a perspective of stature and prestige but it comes only because of a price tag and therefore a badge. If you knew jack, then you would know that Acura will never be perceived in this light, and it is just a perception, because of where they came from. It will require too much work and cost too much money than it is even worth. Acura officials step back and say, we get all this criticism about the Tier 1 BS, we get knocked on our designs, for not having RWD and V8, no coupes or true flagship, getting pricey, and no longer innovative, yet despite all that we are ranked fourth as luxury brand in total sales and we still profit where many above don't, Ya we really to need to change because CP said so.

Get off the horse bro because you sold a few Audi's, I have been in the fine dinning/hospitality industry for several years and have pleased more customers in one month than you have ever sold a car to in your life. As usual your assumptions are incorrect. Normally I wouldn't act this way but it is you who questioned me on a personal level which is irrelevant to the discussion.

I agree with the brand and it's recognition having a lot to do with it since that is where the Tier 1 perspectives come from but dealerships and salesman are only "slightly" different, c'mon I thought you were in the biz.

Bottom line and said so yourself, that it is your opinion and perspective. Throwing out a few links and how the author words the articles and how you interpret them does not make your opinion or perspective valid and all of this came about over some stupid little thing like floor mats yet you insist you are not bashing and if you go over the thread again I think I am not the only one to see this.

I would have no problem if you were mostly critical of Acura most of the time you came here if you once said one thing decent or something that they do you like or agree with but this is never the case and intentional or not, it's rude and insulting and as far as anyone knows you don't own one or have not to bring a fair perspective and even if you said you did no one would believe you, so until then, when you can prove otherwise, that is the only real reason you are here, hater.

George Knighton

I have to say that I just bought a 2010 TL 6-6 SH-AWD at Karen Radley Acura in Woodbridge VA, and my experience was very different from the complainant's.

It was one of the easiest vehicle purchases I think I've ever made.