Two notes/disclaimers:

Two notes/disclaimers:

1) My wife and I are in our 30s, attorneys, no children, live/work in downtown, and have never owned a luxury vehicle before now.
2) We did purchase a new vehicle from this dealership despite our encounter. We are satisfied with the make and model we acquired. This review is only a comment on the dated business practices of this particular franchise.

If you relate to any of that, please read on. If not, feel free to disregard. Either way I encourage everyone to make a decision for themselves. Obviously.

First impression:
Have you ever visited a business that has a receptionist desk surrounded by the staff and each of them roll their eyes when a customer enters because it means they have to end whatever discussion they were having? That was day 1 of our shopping experience.

Test drive:
SO. AWKWARD. We learned way too much about our "chaperone's" personal life. Also, we did research beforehand and it's shocking how little the salespeople seem to know about the vernacular of the make and specs of the models they are charged with promoting. If I took the time to learn the obscure names each manufacturer uses to describe a popular feature, these folks could learn the names for ONE manufacturer aka the one their dealership carries.

Purchase day:
After giving a lot of thought to this decision, we decided to return here when we had some free time after work one day. We were greeted by a similar unenthusiastic situation as above except this time we were given the run-around because the person who accompanied us on our test drive was not at work. To which I responded, "OK but we're not married to that person right?" The reply was something about not stealing sales from others. Thus, this franchise's policy is to make customers, who are literally ready to purchase a car, wait 20 min for none other than their original test drive companion to arrive.

Pre-purchase preparations:
This part is primarily the reason why this was one of the most awful experiences we have ever had in our lives. Why should consumers dread having to buy a car? For most of us, it doesn't happen very often (in fact, this was my wife's first car purchase). It should be a FUN experience. Instead, we felt compelled to do hours of research learning the law and common sales techniques. It was definitely necessary because this dealership certainly exemplifies the business model of car sales, which requires the consumer to prepare to lose. Could you imagine if HEB required us to research a product's alleged purchase price and ways to approach discussions with grocery store clerks?! Not to mention the complete lack of transparency. Will we ever truly know if we got a good deal or not?

Everything we read about the hostile nature of car buying was present. We asked if a particular model/color was in their inventory. We were asked to elaborate on the monthly payment we were looking to make. Not sure how that's relevant to inventory? We gave them a "feel good number" (their words) and they still came back with a counter-offer. We explained that if you ask us to commit to a "feel good number" and then ask what we thought about a different number that isn't the "feel good number" most people would say it doesn't feel good. At this point we were splitting hairs on less than $500, so the very important GM decided to pay us a visit and win the day by just accepting the 1st number. Yeah... The feel good one. Proving the point that this is an adversarial "us vs. them" process, the GM even said something to the effect of the unpleasant part being over. Why does that part have to exist?? I should also note that at one point, while splitting hairs, we were told the dealership just needs to keep its lights on. Oh, OK, we should just give in to all your tricks so you can pay bills? We pay bills too.

Final thoughts: I'm sorry we're "millennial snowflakes," but this isn't sustainable. Something has to change.

**2/6/20 - Updated with reply to below:

Jim, you were there. Above is an accurate recollection of our experience. I'll email it to you.