Peter Lukowiak

Review of Hendrick Honda Charlotte

UPDATE: I have revised this review from 2 stars t...

UPDATE: I have revised this review from 2 stars to 1 star. After a few months with the car, I had an abnormal noise. They said it would take a day or two to find the noise so I asked for a Loaner car. "We dont have loaner cars, but you can rent one." They actually charge customers to rent a car while a car is getting fixed (shouldn't be in there in the first place). Very disappointed that this dealer does not provide loaner cars to its customers. Ive had Toyota's, Mazda's and Fords; they've all given free loaner cars, no questions asked. If I knew they didn't give loaner cars, I would not have got the car from this dealership. PLEASE READ THIS EXTENSIVE REVIEW! This dealership experience was a mixed bag. They had the car we wanted, a very specific trim and color, but took over 3 hours to locate it in one of their remote lots.

The second thing that we were not happy entirely with was the amount of back-and-forth we had to do with the guys in the back that actually produce the finance/lease numbers. It took us three times for them to disclose the interest rate on the car loan. After looking at that, we figured leasing may be a better option.

Negotiating the lease was not a problem, but when we brought up the trade in the middle of it, the mood quickly turned. They took about 45 minutes to appraise the car (has never taken that long to get my car appraised). Once it approached the 30 minute mark, I knew for a fact they were nitpicking tiny little details on the car I brought into trade. The trade was in the middle of the lease, so it was a fairly new vehicle in great condition.

While it was getting appraised, I had to fill out a form telling them what the payoff amount was and other trim details about it. One section of the form, asked what the current monthly payment is. I was extremely hesitant to write it in because what I was paying was very high for that car (previous leases over on miles got folded into that payment). My goal visiting Honda was to bring my monthly payment down. They forced me to write in my monthly payment for the vehicle and could not understand why. They have the payoff info, the account number and the phone number for my current leasing company. What else do they need? The reason I didn t want to put in my monthly payment is because I knew for a fact they would try and match it/make it slightly higher.

Coming back to the foundations of the appraisal, I knew the market value of the car and have been offered higher than it at Toyota, Nissan, Mercedes and Ford Dealers. They came back with an appraisal $600 below market value, and about $1400 below what other dealers were offering. And the best part .the payment magically became nearly the same what I am paying currently. My suspicions were correct. They were firm on the appraisal and were using textbook sales tactics from the 80 s. Well, why don t you go to CarMax and get it appraised there? I said, Sure, I ll go there first and come back in a couple weeks. He replied Oh no, I meant you pick up the new car today and then figure out the trade later. There is negative equity in the car to begin with, so it wouldn t make sense to separate the transactions.

I walked out of the dealership and turned back onto South Blvd. Literally 3 minutes down the road I get a call from the sales guy Would you do it for x per month ? It was what I asked for originally, but they really wanted to see if I walked out or not. I agreed and turned around to sign the papers.

In conclusion, this is what I suggest for anyone car shopping in general. Never tell them how much you pay now, don t be afraid to walk out, and know what your car is worth. I spent a total of 8 hours at the dealer, which was insane, but with investing 6 hours of that negotiating/finding the car, I figured the extra 2 hours of signing papers would make sense.

The Honda of Concord location near Concord Mills is far quicker and more professional than the Hendrick Honda on South Blvd. Hope this helps someone!