4 years ago
I went in to test drive an Accord Hybrid Touring o...
I went in to test drive an Accord Hybrid Touring on Wednesday, August 22. They didn t have the Touring trim in stock (it showed on the website, but when I got there, they said it had been pre-sold) so I drove an EX-L, which is a trim level below. I didn t have the car with me that we would be trading and told the sales associate and the General Sales Manager (GSM) that I would bring it back in for them to take a look at when I had a chance, likely Friday the 24th.
On Thursday the 23rd, I told my sales rep that I would be able to run it by the morning of the 24th for an appraisal and then he and the GSM could put together their numbers and let me know. He said that would be fine, and since he wouldn t be in until noon on the 24th, he told me who to ask for and they would take care of getting the car appraised.
I brought the car we were going to trade in on the 24th on my way to an appointment in the area. When I got in, I did what the sales rep said and a guy came out and introduced himself. I told him I only had 20 minutes because I had to be at my appointment. He said that was not a problem and the actual appraisal would only take 5-10 minutes and they d get me on my way.
He then said that the GSM would not go over final deal numbers via email or the phone and would only do it in person. I ve bought enough cars to know why they would want to do that so they can try to pressure the sale in person, but I ve also dealt with enough dealers to know that many will work with you over the phone or email on much of the deal.
I said that was fine. If that is their policy, that is their policy (though the GSM was emailing numbers related to the sales price, add ons, etc. Wednesday, so it doesn t seem to be a very strict policy). When they finished appraising the trade the guy brought back my key and another manager came out and asked when I could come back. I told him I didn t know as I was busy the rest of Friday, I have a wife that also works, and two young children. But I d try to come back soon.
The original guy thanked me for stopping by. I asked him what they came back with on the trade and he said that they weren t done shopping it but he would let me know the trade value later that day. I texted the sales rep to let him know that I took it by but they didn t have a final offer when I left. He said he d get the info on the trade and let me know.
A couple of hours later, he said that they said I would need to come back in to go over final numbers. I said that was fine, but what did they offer on the trade. Five hours went by and I hadn t heard from anyone so I followed up with the sales rep at 8:00 PM. Saturday morning, he said that I had to be in the dealership before they would even tell him anything.
At that point, I told the sales rep that I basically wasted a half hour of my time to bring the car in to be appraised, I was going to do business with a dealer that didn t make things so difficult and thanked him for his time.
He told me he understood but it was out of his hands. I told him I believed him, but when I was in on Friday, the guy that greeted me said he would let me know the trade offer, even though they wouldn t discuss final numbers until I was in the dealership. I told him that was obviously a lie.
While I understand their desire to get people into the dealership, I will not do business with someone that makes it so difficult and wastes my time. The lack of communication and misleading information doesn t help either. There are too many dealers in the D/FW area to waste time with one that handles things in this manner.
I know that they will sell plenty of cars, including the one I was interested in, as the Hybrid Touring trim appears to be in low supply and high demand. However, I will never be back to David McDavid Honda of Frisco for any reason, I will tell my friends and family to shop elsewhere, and I would urge others to avoid them for sales as well.