bait and switch is alive and well

[skyking]

My wife worked car titling in dealerships and licensing subagencies, and worked the service dept at a Honda dealer. She knows how cars are sold, what both stickers are, and is generally the last person a car salesman wants to talk to.
One of her co-workers needed a car and she told her to go out and drive cars. Never go back to the same dealer, and figure out what you want. Blow off the salesmen each time. Do not give them your phone number.
Once you know what you want come get me and I will go with you to get a car.
Naturally she did no such thing. She found a Honda she really wanted and started getting taken.
They gave her a price and she went back a day or so later and "I'm sorry, that car is gone but there is this one with these other few options only $3000 more" and she bit hook line and sinker. She was taken.
She came in to work and avoided my wife a while, and finally fessed up that she got the car.
Wife starts looking at all the paperwork. She is a past master at it. She finds they gave her 1.99 APR when the advertised rate is 0.99 . CHECK!
She finds the VIN of the first car in the first quote. Calls the dealer, says she is Susie Sunshine and do you have this car there still, I looked at it. Why yes we do. Bait and switch confirmed. CHECK!
When my wife got done with the dealer and Honda America, the salesman came to her work with corrected paperwork, all but 500 back from the bait job, and the proper interest rate, and an apology.

 

[shabby]

Did she read the paperwork? Nope. CHECK
Did she have to buy the car? Nope. CHECK

 

[SSSnail]

So... can your wife help me buy a car? As it was, I'm in the market for a slightly used SUV.

 

[slugg]

Did she read the paperwork? Nope. CHECK
Did she have to buy the car? Nope. CHECK

This.

 

[skyking]

I see the practice of taking single women is OK with you. All's fair, buyer beware.
We do know dealers, especially used car dealers that are the exact opposite. I could send anyone to the dealer I have in mind and know they would be taken care of.

 

[halik]

I wanna a new car and I'm willing to pay at most 500 bucks a month. Oh and the car should be blue.

 

[WT]

I don't think anyone who does any car shopping ever thought bait n switch was dead. Sad thing is, most dealers don't need to pull those stunts, but the ones that do make it bad for the ones that don't. Even so, yours is yet another reminder to do your homework and don't fall for a scam simply because you are hot for that particular car.

skyking, props to you and your wife for taking care of the situation.

 

[skyking]

We are not privy to what transpired between Honda America and that dealer, but the response was certainly swift.

 

[JulesMaximus]

I go through USAA when I buy a new car.

 

[GagHalfrunt]

Honda America is GREAT. I had an issue with a Honda dealership botching a simple service on my car. Got no satisfaction through them, called Honda America, dealership was cowering in seconds. They take the brand reputation very seriously and won't let one semi-shady dealer damage the rest of them.

That being said, the broad was a victim of her own stupidity far more than she was of deceptive practices. She was lucky that it was a Honda and that they protected her, she deserved to get taken.

 

[MongGrel]

I could name a place tried that with me once years back.

It's part of what these guys do.

I never went back, I just drove up the road and bought something else the same day I was considering ATT, when they try that I blow them off and do not go back to that dealership myself.

 

[master_shake_]

car sales shifty??!

say it ain't so joe!.

 

[skyking]

Honda America is GREAT. I had an issue with a Honda dealership botching a simple service on my car. Got no satisfaction through them, called Honda America, dealership was cowering in seconds. They take the brand reputation very seriously and won't let one semi-shady dealer damage the rest of them.

That being said, the broad was a victim of her own stupidity far more than she was of deceptive practices. She was lucky that it was a Honda and that they protected her, she deserved to get taken.

The "broad"? Piss off you sexist asshole.

 

[GagHalfrunt]

The "broad"? Piss off you sexist asshole.

Oh, please, let me rephrase to make her feel better about herself.


That being said, the broad the gender-neutral complete moron with the IQ of a cabbage and the common sense of the mold growing in my shower was a victim of her its own stupidity far more than she it was of deceptive practices. She It was lucky that it was a Honda and that they protected her it, she it deserved to get taken.

There, all better.

 

[wrangler]

You know what they say in the business?

Switch and get Rich.

Never let em switch you people.
Never trade in.
Do your own financing.
And never talk about payments.

Now go forth and buy.

 

[twinrider1]

Don't take this the wrong way...I'm not hitting on your wife. But smart, educated, and sticks up for herself are very attractive traits in a broad.





















(sorry, couldn't resist throwing broad in there.)

 

[Eug]

If it's worth $3000 more, then that's not that bad. Bait and switch is bad, but getting a higher spec'd car for a higher but fair price is good.

As for the 0.99 vs 1.99% rate, that's just laziness on her part.

 

[tortillasoup]

As much as you want to get mad at the dealerships who pull these sorts of shenanigans, I've found too many people are too willing to get taken advantage of and couldn't be happier about it. When you do the leg work of trying to help someone out and then they come back showing how they've been taken and their only defense is that they're happy with what they got and don't care, then I get more mad at the person rather than the dealer. It's not even cars, same with phones. Yeah I only paid $399 for the phone and just had to sign a 2 year contract.... completely forgetting the fact that the 2 year contract tacks on $25 a month on the cellphone bill, making the phone cost more than $1000, yet they don't blink an eye.

 

[Eug]

As much as you want to get mad at the dealerships who pull these sorts of shenanigans, I've found too many people are too willing to get taken advantage of and couldn't be happier about it. When you do the leg work of trying to help someone out and then they come back showing how they've been taken and their only defense is that they're happy with what they got and don't care, then I get more mad at the person rather than the dealer. It's not even cars, same with phones. Yeah I only paid $399 for the phone and just had to sign a 2 year contract.... completely forgetting the fact that the 2 year contract tacks on $25 a month on the cellphone bill, making the phone cost more than $1000, yet they don't blink an eye.

Then again, buying phones outright instead of taking the contract hasn't always saved me much money. It's just increased my flexibility for phone purchases.

 

[tortillasoup]

Then again, buying phones outright instead of taking the contract hasn't always saved me much money. It's just increased my flexibility for phone purchases.

But you don't need a contract to buy a phone, you can always do the financing where they take the cost of the phone and split it over 2 years or what ever period of time. It never makes sense to take a contract nowadays and is an anachronism from the past when phones were subsidized.

 

[sgrinavi]

Assholes always take advantage of single women

 

[silicon]

Honda America is GREAT. I had an issue with a Honda dealership botching a simple service on my car. Got no satisfaction through them, called Honda America, dealership was cowering in seconds. They take the brand reputation very seriously and won't let one semi-shady dealer damage the rest of them.

That being said, the broad was a victim of her own stupidity far more than she was of deceptive practices. She was lucky that it was a Honda and that they protected her, she deserved to get taken.

No one deserves to get taken but she was a victim of her own gullibility and perhaps trusting nature. How often do dealerships and garages play a husband and wife against each other? often I am sure.

 

[skyking]

It's true. There are reputable car lots out there, though. I know of one used car lot that I could send anyone to, and the same car would be the same price with the best financing they could get. The salesman has been there 25 years now, and he lives by word of mouth.
They specialize in lease returns with low miles and are very consistent. No junk. Most trade ins get wholesaled out the back because they don't fit their program.

 

[Eug]

But you don't need a contract to buy a phone, you can always do the financing where they take the cost of the phone and split it over 2 years or what ever period of time. It never makes sense to take a contract nowadays and is an anachronism from the past when phones were subsidized.

Not necessarily. Often times the contract is much cheaper than buying new, especially if you know how to negotiate with them.

In my case, I bought my iPhone outright, but then proceeded to sign onto a 2-year contract for a Nexus 5. The 2-year contract deal was a great price for all services I need, but I would have gotten no significant discount, or maybe $5 a month discount for bringing my own phone but off contract - or $120 over two years. So, I signed the contract, got an account credit in addition to that (which ironically was more than $120), got the phone for free, and then I promptly sold the Nexus 5 to a 3rd party for a couple of hundred bucks.

 

[Scarpozzi]

I've only bought 1 new car....I basically put the equipment on it I wanted and got a quote, then took that quote and searched within 500 square miles to find a dealership that could get the inventory. I had 3 of them searching for the vehicle at the same time and one of them kept promising me they had it and could never verify it in time....so I ended up going with a dealership 70 miles further away... I basically saved $4000 off the price my local dealership was selling the same vehicle for...it just required me to drive 350 miles to do the deal. The lack of drama was totally worth it... I do better over the phone than in person because it's less personal and more business.