3 years ago
Sales people were nice. They didn't charge out at...
Sales people were nice. They didn't charge out at me as soon as I arrived at the dealership, which I personally like. I was allowed to walk the lot and take my time looking at vehicles, which I also really like. I had researched the car I was interested in and found it on the lot. I took it for a test drive - by myself which is a great way to go. I can listen to the car, check out the condition, options, etc. without having to listen to a sales rep. All really good practices.
The first problem with my experience is that I spent over 3 hours at the dealership, and most of that time was eaten up by a clear lack of efficiency and preparation on their part. The sales rep told me on more than one occasion that Saturday was their busiest day, yet they didn't have enough people. Unacceptable. I'm a General Manager and even I know that if you know that particular day is the busiest one of the week then you make sure you have the right number of staff.
The second problem was the staff were inefficient. Too much repeating of information that I clearly gave them, and a clear lack of cohesion between sales and financing.
In the end, after more than 3 hours, it appeared to me they really weren't interested in making a deal. They made their first offer, which wasn't terrible, but it wasn't where I needed to be. I need to add they gave a very decent offer on my really old, high mileage vehicle. I countered with what I thought was a reasonable offer. But they didn't even offer to budge a dollar on the price of the vehicle. Not even a dollar. I really was prepared to purchase the vehicle, and I would have put a bit more money as a down payment, but the attitude turned me off. After 3+ hours at the dealership I was tired. I'm not mad, I'm just disappointed. They wasted a sales opportunity.
UPDATE: I should already have posted this but I got sidetracked by work and forgot. They called me a couple of days after my post and talked with me about my experience. It was clear to me they took it seriously and wanted to let me know they were willing to work with me. And that they did. They got to within $4 of what I needed for a payment that met my budget. I really couldn't ask for a better effort from them. They clearly took my input seriously and made a genuine good faith effort to make a deal. So I agreed to the deal and came in to the dealership to finalize everything. Joe Tilton was the sale rep and was very prepared when I arrived. He went over everything very thoroughly. He even took the time to make sure I had my phone connected to the Bluetooth system. They have followed up since the sale to make sure all is okay. My wife is very happy with the car!