Post your latest NEW car/truck buying experience ... good or bad?

[dud]

I just purchased a new 2016 Nissan Frontier from my local dealer. Let me begin by stating that this is the second straight vehicle I have purchased there. The first was an absolute breeze and was actually quite enjoyable (is that even possible?).

This latest one was just the opposite.

My story should have been short and sweet but it ended up a sordid soap opera. It began with a visit to said dealer. A salesman took me on a test drive, which was fine. Upon returning to the dealership we sat and discussed price/financing. I asked the salesman to email a quote for two (2) different versions of the truck (they make over 20) because I had to leave for a previous appointment. This is where the story begins to fade to the weird zone:

1) The next day I receive a quote. I reply that the price is too high.

2) A day later I receive an email from a sales manager asking me if I would be interested in the truck for $1,000 off. I fail to get this read this email immediately because it went into my spam folder.

3) I finally find said email and immediately call the dealership. I have a negotiating position in mind based upon a ton of research. I talk to another employee who goes into great detail explaining how the original offer was a great deal. I ask about the $1,000 off email and am told that was an "up to" $1,000 discount.

4) During this period I had actually talked to and received phone calls and emails from 5 different employees. I asked that from now on I talk to only one. I finally am able to talk to my original salesman who apologized because he had lost the original email I sent him accepting their offer.

5) The dealership sends me their "best" price and I accept ... I really needed a new truck. The TrueCar estimate rated this price as "exceptional" but still not even close to the $1,000 off I was offered. I ended up paying about $300 less than their initial price.

6) I drive to the dealership to purchase the truck. The truck has been detailed (not very well) and looks OK. I fill out all paperwork and am ready to go. Here is where it gets really weird ... the salesman practically BEGS me to rate my buying experience as all 10s. Why? I am told that while my experience was not very good, any negativity (on the survey) would reflect upon him and not the dealership. Truth be told the salesman was the only positive in an experience that was a train wreck. I even sign a form that states that I have NOT been coerced into leaving positive feedback on the survey!


That is the end of this episode of "As the Stomach Turns". It could have been a good, positive experience ... but it was just the opposite. So I find myself conflicted. The management at the dealership is really fubared. My buying experience overall was a 1/10. I was lied to, ignored, etc. I should rate the dealership accordingly but according to the salesman the rating will reflect upon him and him only. What would you do?

Have any positive/negative buying experiences that you would want to share ... please do.

 

[Chaotic42]

I bought a Subaru WRX last fall. It was dead simple except for the state-to-state trade in issues which were my bank's fault. The actual purchasing part on behalf of Subaru probably didn't take more than 30 minutes start to finish and only that long because there was some lady in front of me who had ten million questions for the guy.

 

[PricklyPete]

I've never enjoyed purchasing new cars. Bought a 2013 4Runner as a dealer demo (sales managers vehicle). Got a screaming deal, but literally got up to walk 10+ times. Not enjoyable and the process is never quick.

I now have a relative at a Toyota dealership. Decent chance our next vehicle will be a Toyota. Will be interesting to see how that improves or worsens the experience.

 

[NutBucket]

Our last one was easy, oddly enough. Went to the dealership with no intention of buying a car, just wanted to test drive. Wife was on the same page too. I also did no research on price. As it ended up wife and I decided we wanted to buy it. First offer from the salesman was MSRP and some absurd APR. I immediately fired back I'm not paying more than invoice and the APR needed to be sub 2% (going rate at the time). They came back with invoice price and said they would beat/match my credit union. I went $500 under that price and they accepted.

Went home and saw I got a good price for the car so that made me happy. In retrospect, curious that I didn't check prices on my smartphone while the salesman was "talking" to his manager. My only complaint was the salesman worked hard to get us not to leave to get food even though we had agreed on the deal and my (noticeably) pregnant wife and I were hungry. He did bring us some bagels at least.

This was a 2015 Forester we bought in July 2014.

 

[JulesMaximus]

I bought a CPO Mercedes a few weeks ago and thought the experience was pretty good. I drove a couple cars, decided on one I liked, there was no trade in so we went back and forth a few times with the sales manager on price and he came down almost $1500 so we bought the car. No pressure at all, very easy transaction. I had financing already lined up but Mercedes was able to give me a slightly better rate so we financed through them instead of USAA.

 

[herm0016]

my gmc truck:
i was 23 and had a great job working in Oil. My parents were with me by chance. i walked in and pointed to the truck on the lot I wanted. The salesman convinced me to go on a test drive. I told him I wanted it and asked the best price. He seemed to be thinking " what the heck is this kid doing there buying a brand new truck with his parents in tow" he proceeds to ask my dad if i was serious and wants to haggle with my dad. My dad told him that it was my truck and my deal, and he should talk to me. we haggled a bit for some accessories and such and made the deal. picked up the next morning. pretty good overall. Salesman had a good laugh when I wrote the sizable down payment check.


Chevy volt: We went for a research test drive and ended up driving out with the salesman's demo and he had to call his wife to pick him up from work!! super easy and got a pretty decent price on exactly what we wanted with my wife's haggling skills. He even stole some accessories off another salesman's car for us for free. I have been quite happy with all the GM dealers i have dealt with.

 

[thecoolnessrune]

I bought a new Subaru Impreza last year and the buying experience was great with the dealership I ultimately chose. I had done a ton of research and knew exactly what I wanted. I emailed a bunch of dealerships with vehicles close to my desired specs and asked for prices. I let them fight it out and whittled down dealerships until I was at 2 remaining dealerships. I called them comparing prices over the morning and then made my decision that afternoon.

Went to the dealership the next day and they already had my car ready. The whole process was seamless and the actual paperwork process only took an hour (I had a couple of loan options available but waited to see what the dealership would offer. Their financing gave better terms than my bank and credit union). Honestly 3 more hours was spent just by me and the fiancee going over the car. Before we even sat down we were asked to take it out for a while, sit with it, go over everything, and make sure we were comfortable with the car. After that, was a thorough review of the car by the wife and answering of all the questions for the wife.

I have no complaints at all about the experience. Maybe other dealers, but not with the one I ultimately bought from.

 

[gus6464]

When we bought my wife's 2012 Accord it was an absolute sublime experience. Our sales guy just basically let the car sell itself and not pushy in the slightest. The price was great off the bat as well and did the Honda financing for 0.9% at the time. We traded in my beat up old Elantra and because we had to drive home to get the title the dealership actually setup an appointment to sign all the paperwork as we told them we didn't have time to sit around. When we came back with the title at our appointment time we were in and out in 5 minutes. Fastest car buying experience of my life.

My 2013 Prius could have gone better as the finance guy pissed off my wife and she almost walked out. The sales person was nice but when we got to financing to sign the paperwork the guy kept telling my wife that the car was all electronic and we needed to buy the extended warranty. That one started out great but ended horribly. Funny how one person can ruin it for everybody else involved when buying a car.

Then there is the Ford dealer last year which was for sure the worst experience I have had trying to buy anything. I go in to test drive a Mustang Ecoboost with performance package as they were the only dealer in town that had what I wanted. I told him from the phone call before I even went down there that I was financing through USAA as they were giving me 0.7% and through Ford that was not happening. Well I like the car and we haggle a bit as I wanted to get a specific amount of trade-in for the Accord above and we get to where i want. The price of the car itself is great but there is where it just all goes to hell.
I tell the guy the prices are good and that I want a written quote with the price of the car and my trade-in. He tries to run my credit and I tell him no as I am not using you them. The manager comes by and says he can't sell me the car even with a USAA check if he can't run my credit. Then starts to spew something about money laundering. At this point I should have walked out but the excitement of owning the car got the better of me so I gave it to him and also this was my first time buying a car without dealer financing so didn't know the process. Then he also wanted my wife's social as the title of the Accord is in her name and she wasn't there. He said he wouldn't run her credit but ended up doing so and I found this out a month later. Then manager comes back and wants me to sign an options contract which I had no clue what that was and that financing would explain. They also want me to take the car home right there and then which I found odd. The financing person explains what the options contract is and tell her that I am not buying anything if it's through USAA. The next day I go to the local USAA financial center to give them all the info and I explain to the loan officer my whole ordeal the night before and he is confused as can be and said the dealer was basically full of crap.
I end up calling the dealer back furious as they didn't need to run my credit and tell them to go stick the car where the sun doesn't shine. Also the manager even tells me that he was doing me a favor selling me the car at the price I wanted as the new Mustangs were hot and selling without them even trying. I actually drove by the dealership 3 months later as it's by my inlaws and I saw the car sitting on the lot in the exact same place they had it when I drove it. I would still like the new Mustang as I loved the car but these guys just soured me on Ford for some reason.

 

[Riverhound777]

I would still like the new Mustang as I loved the car but these guys just soured me on Ford for some reason.

I wouldn't let that affect your view of all dealerships. They can be vastly different, even among the same brand. My local Ford dealership sales department sucks, while their service dept is actually pretty good. When I bought my Focus ST back in 2012 I wanted to get the best deal possible, which for me was S-Plan pricing as a Ford shareholder at the time. But my local dealer wouldn't do it on the ST model. I battled them for a while before giving up. The dealership 30 minutes south was happy to work with me and the process was surprisingly painless. I was pretty cautious and kept waiting for them to try and pull one over on me but they never did.

Also, I wouldn't let the fact that the dealership doesn't have the exact car you want stop you. They can easily trade back and forth and should be able to find the one you want.

 

[RockinZ28]

Purchased my first new car ever on Saturday, and first ever car bought at dealer as well. Ford Fusion Sport.

Think it went nice and smooth. I have no idea how to haggle and extract the absolute best deal.

Walked in. Said I'm here to see X vehicle. Took a test drive. Sat down, they presented their best offer. ~5% off MSRP, 4.9% APR loan for 72 months and a value for my trade. Said I want the vehicle for $800 less, 0% APR for 60 months and $500 more for my trade. They agreed, and I signed all the paperwork and left in my new ride.

 

[JulesMaximus]

I wouldn't let that affect your view of all dealerships. They can be vastly different, even among the same brand. My local Ford dealership sales department sucks, while their service dept is actually pretty good. When I bought my Focus ST back in 2012 I wanted to get the best deal possible, which for me was S-Plan pricing as a Ford shareholder at the time. But my local dealer wouldn't do it on the ST model. I battled them for a while before giving up. The dealership 30 minutes south was happy to work with me and the process was surprisingly painless. I was pretty cautious and kept waiting for them to try and pull one over on me but they never did.

Also, I wouldn't let the fact that the dealership doesn't have the exact car you want stop you. They can easily trade back and forth and should be able to find the one you want.

I had a similar experience at a Ford dealership. It was so bad I vowed never to step foot on a Ford dealer lot again in my lifetime and I didn't even buy a car from them.

 

[cbrsurfr]

As prepared as I try to be there is always something that comes up that makes me want to burn the dealership to the ground. I'd like to get to the point where everything is done from the comfort of home. Want a test drive? Dealer brings a car of your choosing to take a test drive in and then leaves when you are done. Appraiser comes out to check out trade-in, if getting a loan the application is all done online, then e-sign everything and the dealer drops off the car fully detailed and picks up the trade.

Last one the dealer was trying to tell me the truecar price at another dealer wasn't possible and included discounts I wasn't entitled to. Also kept trying to low ball me on the trade and while it was a total POS barely running 2K + 2K Ford kick in was the minimum I would take. All the going back and forth added like 90 min and then you get all the finance guy crap about extended warranty and meeting quota and shit. What should have been <60 min took like 3 hours or so.

 

[gus6464]

I wouldn't let that affect your view of all dealerships. They can be vastly different, even among the same brand. My local Ford dealership sales department sucks, while their service dept is actually pretty good. When I bought my Focus ST back in 2012 I wanted to get the best deal possible, which for me was S-Plan pricing as a Ford shareholder at the time. But my local dealer wouldn't do it on the ST model. I battled them for a while before giving up. The dealership 30 minutes south was happy to work with me and the process was surprisingly painless. I was pretty cautious and kept waiting for them to try and pull one over on me but they never did.

Also, I wouldn't let the fact that the dealership doesn't have the exact car you want stop you. They can easily trade back and forth and should be able to find the one you want.

Yeah my wife brought up just ordering the Mustang with the exact options I want but all the dealers I talked to are reluctant to cut a deal on a special order car even though it doesn't cost them anything. I even told one I would put down a non-refundable deposit and they don't want to unless I paid pretty much MSRP for it which is not happening. I know there are dealers out there though that will special order and sell it at invoice no problem from what I see in the Mustang forums but I guess all the Ford dealers around me suck.

 

[SearchMaster]

We bought a new car in 2013 (Ford) and 2014 (Honda) - both went fine. My wife is a friend of the guy who was the GM of the Ford dealership at the time so there were no games or hassles (he has since left and I hear the dealership is a stealership now). The Honda transaction was smooth too although we had to wait a little while to get into the financing office to finish the purchase.

My sister works for Nissan and her department is responsible for the dealer reviews. They have been putting a LOT of pressure on the dealerships to up their game and it sounds like this one didn't get the memo. Be honest and fair with your review - they really do take them seriously.

 

[KentState]

The last two were very easy since I was able to use GM employee pricing. However, we originally looked at getting a Honda for my wife and the dealership was horrible. Typical high pressure sales pitch and unnecessary dealer options leading to us walking out. Probably worked out in the end as we would have needed a bigger vehicle.

 

[Engineer]

Have bought three cars within the last year (long story). The first two were pretty painless. Handled entirely over email over a several day (nearly a week on one) period and everything was as expected when arriving at the dealer.

The third was really a pain but with a twist. I made the mistake of calling and then going in the next day. The negotiations were extremely slow, drug out and painful. Even knowing that I wanted a certain price, they started at values EXTREMELY higher with ZERO discount other than the manufacturer rebate. The going back and forth between the sales person and the sales manager would take up to 15 minutes each and really wore me down. The amount of dishonesty couldn't be held in a stadium. Took five hours of back and forth before I decided to call my wife and have her come in and test drive with me.

After the test drive (about 1.5 hours), we decided to get the car. After going to the finance office, we were greeted with a price on the sales contract of around $2,000+ higher than the negotiated price. When reporting this to the finance person, he simply rolled his eyes upward, started to whistle and slowly turned his chair toward his PC monitor. Was really taken back by this....probably should have walked. However, we were very civil and tried to break the tension with conversation. He played with the numbers and finally arrived at the correct out the door price. We signed and took the car home.

Now the twist. We were so tired at the end of the process, we didn't read all the details with breakdown of car price, taxes, fees, etc., just the out the door price, which was what we had agreed upon. What we didn't realize was that the finance guy had FULL sales tax on the sales contract. In Kentucky. the sales tax is paid on the DIFFERENCE between the car that you buy and the car that you trade in. The finance guy didn't account for the reduction of sales tax for the trade in. To correct this, he simply lowered the price of the car we were buying down until the out the door price was right. This also still included FULL sales tax on the transaction. The twist occurred yesterday in the form of a $2048 refund check for the sales tax. By not lowering the sales tax and instead, lowering the car price, by law, we were due a refund of the over paid sales tax. With that said, the price of the car ended up being nearly $9,000 off sticker. Still took a bath on the trade but much better than before. I guess that's the karma for the finance person being a total ass (although I still don't know how this person didn't know the sales tax rule on trade ins which has been in effect since 2014).


There is no TLDR version....so just read the story!

 

[Londo_Jowo]

I bought a CPO 2014 Lexus GS350 F Sport and took care of the negotiations via the internet. Paid a deposit of $1,000 to hold the car. Went to the dealer with the remaining balance and drove out within an hour.

 

[dud]

My sister works for Nissan and her department is responsible for the dealer reviews. They have been putting a LOT of pressure on the dealerships to up their game and it sounds like this one didn't get the memo. Be honest and fair with your review - they really do take them seriously.

I feel conflicted about leaving an ACCURATE review of the experience. Our salesman was desperate for a good review as (he told us) that the review reflected upon solely him and not the dealership. His point was if the dealership treated me badly ... he would be blamed. I also find it ironic that I signed a form stating that I had NOT bee pressured for a good review!

 

[dud]

I bought a CPO 2014 Lexus GS350 F Sport and took care of the negotiations via the internet. Paid a deposit of $1,000 to hold the car. Went to the dealer with the remaining balance and drove out within an hour.

I am a firm believer in competition in the marketplace but Nissan is waaay behind the curve. Many manufacturers allow you (via their website) to contact as many of their dealers within a certain radius to compete for your business. Nissan does not allow this. You have to contact them individually and there is no competing between the dealerships.

This may be my last Nissan. I don't want to have to go through this again. Buying my wife's Honda was a piece of cake. I wish Honda produced a real truck ...

 

[tsupersonic]

My last car buying experience was in June 2015 for my new Mustang. It was overall pretty painless and mostly positive. I had my friend get me an X-plan discount, and was able to further negotiate, since the car was sitting on the lot for 6 months. The "bad" thing about that was the car had about 225 miles (15-20 of those were mine from test drive), and I don't even want to know if the car was hammered on (performance data didn't indicate so, but that can be reset).

A few weeks before I went to look at Mustangs, Ford held an Ecoboost challenge, which is where I first got to drive the new S550 platform Mustang. The Ecoboost version of the car was underwhelming in power (lots of turbo lag), but the chassis, and feature set were great. I had high hopes for the Ecoboost motor coming from a F30 BMW 335i (with N55). Anyways, I ruled out the Ecoboost from my list. I searched for GT's in my area, and finally found one that had everything I wanted (basically a Premium GT with no other features). I called ahead of time to schedule an appt. to look at the car. When I got to the dealer, they told me the car went to the local auto show...I was disappointed/frustrated. Luckily, it turns out the car was in the back getting detailed, and I asked about taking it out for a spin. I pretty much fell in with the v8. Negotiations were a piece of cake, and I got what I wanted for less than what I was anticipating. I took the car on a 1500 mile road trip a week after, and it's been an excellent car for the 7k miles I've put on it.

 

[boomhower]

Bought my wife a CX-5 last year. I did everything online. I emailed the three closest dealers with what I wanted. Took the best price and emailed them all back. Rinse and repeat until I got the best deal. (which was a really good deal.) Financed through Mazda online. Showed up at the dealer and they had the car sitting up front nicely detailed. Took it for a quick test drive and did the paperwork. The paperwork was the biggest hangup, had to wait an hour for the finance guy. Overall it was a great experience, I will never haggle in a dealership again.

 

[hans007]

Bought my 2013 328i almost 4 years ago.

I actually posted about getting a car in a particular color (estoril blue) with m sport pack and lighting pack that I wanted to order and had a bad time with at another dealer. Posted on bimmerpost forums

A dealer rep from a message board sponsor private messages me and says they have a car exactly how I wanted except it came with the parking sensor package. Offers me $2000 under invoice and $6k off sticker.

Drove to his dealership a few days later in my audi which I had a CarMax quote for. Signed paper work on BMW. Drove to a CarMax 5 miles away and my sales guy picked me up and drive me back to my new car.

Probably one of the best car buying experiences I've had.

My next car I'm buying the sales guy I've been friendly with and have just talked cars with for the last couple years so I hope it's just as hassle free.

 

[Midwayman]

Last few we've bought have been through the costco auto program. Basically you walk in, test drive and all the prices are set. So you only end up spending a few minutes with finance listening to their hard sell on the dealer rates. Super nice not to have to worry about getting fleeced.

 

[JeffMD]

My first car, a ford 500, was kind of a blur. I brought my brother (car guy, but not car buyer guy as he didnt help much) to help sort things out. not really sure if I overpayed, it more came down to "this is what I could afford, make it work". Also added GAP and oil change packages.

A month ago I decided it was time to retire the 500 with 177l miles on it. I was on my own so in my usual sense I crash coursed cars on youtube and decided to go with a mazda3. The experienced started with an edmunds price check which in turn also alerted the dealerships I pinged. Using the edmunds cost I was able to determine there really wasn't any special discount, so from there I worked with a specific dealers inventory. It just so happen they also had the trim, hatchback, and color version I wanted. Arranged the test drive, confirmed it was what I wanted, and ended up doing the deal that night. I was solid in what I could afford, knew what apr my bank could give me and if they could do better, and it was pretty smooth from there. I think because I knew my financials they knew they were unable to press me for any addon packages. The entire time I delt with one dealer, the one who handles the online sales. And anytime I needed to call, I called him personally (I also needed to come back to the zxilon treatment (free after rebate from the GAP coverage), so I met up with him again). Overall very smooth, but I didn't really haggle. Compared to the other dealers, they were about the same price, not to mentioned they were the only one with the trim I wanted.

Oh and he also gave me the "I need 10's on the survey you will get that I "didn't" tell you about beforehand" running joke. I also deal with a business whose corporate base a ton of metrics around those stupid survey scores so I shared his pain.

 

[RagingBITCH]

Bought a '16 Ford Explorer Sport 2 Saturday's ago. Had done all my research, gotten internet quotes, TrueCar pricing, Costco Auto Pricing, etc. Went in on a Thursday afternoon, test drove the Sport and Limited. Narrowed down to the Limited, which was a particular price through Autonation. For whatever reason, AN had a rock bottom solid price, lower than anything via TC or CA. Volume discount I guess?

He was willing to go down another $1K to buy that night. He kept using the whole "Well we're losing money on this deal" BS which I laughed at. Ended up waiting until Saturday morning, where my pregnant wife (with our 2 year old in tow) test drove both. She ended up liking the Sport better (she has a '13 Edge Sport) - test drove both again and understood her point. Anyway it screwed me up as I had done all my research/pricing on a Limited, but had gotten a quote from the dealership for the Sport. (Was already $5K off MSRP)

Long story short - she gets him down another $1500, 2 years of oil changes, few other random things and we sign on the line. (She can be pretty ruthless, and the belly helped) Finance - went pretty fast - I have stellar credit (over 800 FICO score) so he basically said the 0% APR was what I qualified for. Pushed all these extended warranties though - literally $5-$6K in various extended warranty packages. Wife pulled out her extended warranty sheet from her car which was $X - I ended up getting a better one for roughly the same cost.

I know, most people say skip the extended warranties, blah blah - it paid off bigtime with our Lowes fridge. I also came from a Honda family (I've had 2 Accords), the most recent one with 199K miles and have only replaced the alternator and starter. I don't know if I expect a TT V6 (and a Ford) to hold up quite as long, so decided to go ahead with it. (Not to mention all the electronics, sensors, etc)

Anyway, super happy with the choice. It's a much more exciting and fun to drive ride than anything I've had in the past and the competition I was looking at. (Highlander, Pilot) Dealership experience - overall pretty good. We certainly didn't start from MSRP and go down - it helped starting from $5K and already knowing it beat the pants off other stated prices from other dealerships. (I even asked them to match and only one would)