Review of Tom Peck Ford of Huntley

3 years ago

Edit:

Edit:
After posting my review, I did receive follow-up from the dealer seeking to further understand where they could improve. Since my primary concern was the sketchy communication on the Certified Warranty, I made this known and received confirmation a day later that the warranty was activated.
I further had a very good discussion with Gary about the fact that it's not mistakes that upset people, it's a failure to deliver on expectations. It's not really a secret that car dealerships have some red tape (and not entirely through their own faults) but making sure everyone is on the same page goes a long way.

During my follow-ups I did feel their concern was beyond just a google rating and was genuine. Beyond that, I want to give the benefit of the doubt that the current COVID climate introduced hiccups that might otherwise not occur. As a result, I am bumping up my rating and will likely keep this dealership near the top of my list for my next vehicle purchase as well.

Original:
I got a pretty solid deal, and it was not extremely high pressure. The test drive was solo and the sales staff was courteous and helpful. But that is where the good stuff ends.
First, I was shopping a "CERTIFIED Preowned" vehicle. 172 point inspection, all necessary parts replace... or so you are told. Upon setting out on the test drive, the front end started to shake the first time i hit the brakes. Violently shake. Knowing the symptoms pointed to bad rotors/pads, i knew this was resolvable. But how did a 172 point inspection (which i presume should include a drive) not catch this? How many other "certified" components are going to break?
Well, it turns out that the certification has to be activated as an add-on cost. My guess is the dealer is just banking on customers not using it and not wasting the time to actually do the inspection.

Next, Despite us being "first in line" for the finance department, we waited nearly an hour to do our 5 minutes of paperwork signing. When the salesman walked by it was "oh, you're still waiting" instead of providing us an update.

Further, when we left with everything signed and ready to go, i got 10 minutes down the road and realized they had kept my credit card. Called the salesman and asked him if i could retrieve it in the morning. "Sure things, i'm here all day tomorrow"... put a pin in that one.

20 minutes later, i received a voicemail from the salesman "We forgot to put your transferred plates on the truck." How do forget that? Someone pulled them off of my trade, why did they not immediately go on the new truck?

I understand that I should be more aware of some of these missing items, but I don't buy vehicles often and the entire process can be overwhelming. I would expect a bit more attention to detail from a business that survives on doing this process daily.

But worst of all, when i returned in the morning the salesman who promised to be there was absent. And everyone else i talked to the previous day apparently has no clue who i was. Once they have your signature, you are nobody to them.

In the end, the price was good, and the deal was made, but I will personally shop the experience in the future instead of just the price.

Note: I explicitly left off names of parties because I view this as a dealership/system problem, not the fault of any one individual. The salesman i had was perfectly adequate, but not good or bad enough to call out.