plastikman

jchan2

Yeah the $50 gift card is generous.

A year ago I was going to buy a Volvo S40 instead of a TSX. The lone dealer with a used T5 was roughly 250 miles away so I drove down and took a look. I made an appointment, and the first day I was there they told me the car was unavailable and that they had forgotten about my appointment. I was livid. They promised to have the car ready to go 2 days later (I was in town for some other business as well) and I went and looked at it. I had the car inspected, cleared, and had the check ready. Then we couldn't agree on price and I walked away after making several reasonable offers (near blue book and what comparable S40s were listed for, less a small discount), completely empty handed.

I would have taken the $50 gift card and run in that situation. The dealer didn't offer me anything except a "well, thanks but no thanks" until they called me 3 months later offering to sell me the same S40.

Aman

I think OP's over it by now, guys.

silver3.5

$50 would gotten me a nice sweater for this cold winter!

honda_nut

$50 is more than what I would have offered if I were the dealer. It's not like you paid for the car and they made you take it home. Seems like they're a pretty nice dealer for offering a reimbursement for gas.

gr8ness97

iTrader: (5)

That would be correct.

The follow up to this story, is that the owner called me personally and apologized about the situation. Although he stated basically that his employees dropped the ball on that one, he did note that the price of the car was because of the shape it was in (which was what many of you have said). He agreed to drive the car himself to see if anything else was wrong with it. Regardless, he stated that he would have rather offered that car to someone locally than for someone who traveled out of state for it.

All in all, he agreed to reimburse my gas expense.

Hapa DC5

^ wow doesn't sound like a bad dealer at all....

oonowindoo

yup... if i get 50 GC and gas reimbursment for every disappointing trip i have taken to car dealerships, i would be fkin rich by now...

mrmako

OP: Sounds like your "lesson" turned out pretty well. But I would not expect this in the future, maybe if you're buying new there will be some expectations. Good on you for being forthright with them and not getting into a pissing contest.

And the dealer does sound OK, just some piss poor salesmen and GM's.

imj0257

iTrader: (1)

Nice owner. I bet most places would not have done that, and I think the $50 card reimbursement was a good gesture.

But all in all, glad you are ok with the outcome

Majofo

Should have taken the gift card.. you weren't the first and you wont be the last. I've driven 2 hours to see cars that were sold days before even though the salesman said they had it on the lot after several phone calls.

silver3.5

That's not as worst as mine. Me and wife were looking for a Odyssey and found one in Chicago (1.5 hour drive). Called up the salesman and told us it's still available and would hold it for us. We scheduled to go see it the next day. Drove all the way down, got in the door and saw it pulling out of the parking lot with a new owner already. WTF! Salesman said sorry as he had sold it 10 minutes before we arrived....for a price the dealer couldn't refuse! Wife and me came home empty. All we got was "sorry"! Where was my gift card????

Business is business. Dealers will do whatever it takes to sell cars, including pulling the carpet right from underneath you.

Majofo

How is 1.5 > 2? ..and it was pouring cats & dogs when I drove down.

I did go check out a 350Z on a Toyota lot. The salesman said he was holding out for a customer.. Said they didn't sell it or take a deposit but they were negotiating over the weekend. I told the fucking guy I'd buy it now. He said I'd have to wait.. teh fuck?

silver3.5

^ I'm not talking about the hours but the matter in which it was sold!