Car Brands with the Worst Dealers

[Rogue One]

The success of car brands depends on quality and advertising — at least, that is what most people think. But it may be that these cars are only as good as the dealerships selling them.

Car sales consulting firm Pied Piper used mystery shoppers — people pretending to buy a car — to shop for a vehicle and then report back on their experiences. The company’s Prospect Satisfaction Index (PSI) measured which manufacturer dealerships employed sales tactics that result in better sales. Auto brands Scion, Mitsubishi and Mazda had the highest percentage of dealerships that rated poorly in the index.

10. Chevrolet
9. Land Rover
8. Nissan
7. RAM
6. Fiat
5. Lincoln
4. Chrysler
3. Mazda
2. Mitsubishi
1. Scion

http://247wallst.com/special-report/201 ... t-dealers/

[Jesda]

Mitswho?

[Rogue One]

Mitswho?

[gwoods]

#7 RAM? should that read Dodge? My worst dealership experiences were all at Dodge dealers.

Tempe Dodge is the worst, they always treated me like I didn't know what I was doing and voided my bumper-bumper warranty for suspension changes. My ram had a weird failures and they were unable to diagnose or correct them. Service advisors rarely returned calls.

My co worker has a 07 Diesel 2500 6spd manual quad cab Ram and its catalytic converter fails every 10-20k miles. Tempe Dodge tells her it fails because she doesn't know how to drive it, ya know cause shes a woman. She is also a barrel racer and quite tough I am sure she drives it better than any of the fools that work there.

I will never own another Dodge/Chrysler product again, I won't even take them as rental cars.

[PapaSmurf2k3]

#7 RAM? should that read Dodge?

Ram seperated themselves from dodge because they were tired of them dragging their Consumer reports/JD Power scores down.

[MinisterofDOOM]

Mitswho?

They really need to take a cue from Suzuki and just leave North America. No one would notice.

[Jesda]

My least favorite line:
"What can I do to get you into a car today? Is there a number that would keep you from walking out the door?"

YOU CAN GO HOME, CALL YOUR MOM, CURSE HER OUT FOR NOT ABORTING YOU, AND HANG YOURSELF WITH A BELT. MAYBE THEN I'LL CONSIDER BUYING FROM YOUR CRAPPY DEALERSHIP.

[Rogue One]

My least favorite line:
"What can I do to get you into a car today? Is there a number that would keep you from walking out the door?"

YOU CAN GO HOME, CALL YOUR MOM, CURSE HER OUT FOR NOT ABORTING YOU, AND HANG YOURSELF WITH A BELT. MAYBE THEN I'LL CONSIDER BUYING FROM YOUR CRAPPY DEALERSHIP.

Thanks for that!
I abhor that tactic. I walked out of an Annapolis, MD Dodge dealer when the salesman kept going to his sales manager to see if he could get me a better deal. Drove nearly two hours into another state to get a better deal on the same car, but with more options. On the downside I played hell getting any Dodge dealer to actually service it. Had to file a complaint with the State Attorneys General Office against one Dodge dealership for refusal to honor the mnfgr warranty.

[nissangirl74]

My least favorite line:
"What can I do to get you into a car today? Is there a number that would keep you from walking out the door?"[/b]

Nothing -and- No.

Ford is by far the worst dealership I've encountered. Despite me telling them multiple times NOT to call me (I still haven't figured out how they got my phone number), I've actually had to threaten to report them to the BBB and Verizon for harassment.

[Bubba1]

My least favorite line:
"What can I do to get you into a car today? Is there a number that would keep you from walking out the door?"[/b]

Nothing -and- No.

Ford is by far the worst dealership I've encountered. Despite me telling them multiple times NOT to call me (I still haven't figured out how they got my phone number), I've actually had to threaten to report them to the BBB and Verizon for harassment.

My Nissan dealer is only mildly annoying. I've never used them anything except warranty recalls and the last Nissan I bought from them was 2003, but I still get called all the time for reminders that I "missed" several services. I've asked them several times to stop the nonsense, and it stops for 3 months. But then it starts up again. All I can say is Call id is your friend..

I agree with Bex. A Ford dealership has been by far the worst for me too. Had to threaten them a couple times with a then new 1992 Grand Marquis I had leased. It was a lemon. It was spent a lotta time at the dealer for a variety of warranty items, some serious. They fought me about covering just about all of them. The final straw was a fuel line crack that developed about a year into the lease. I smelled gas, but the dealer dismissed it. I had my independent mechanic look it over and he quickly located the crack which dripped onto the catalytic converter. Bad design which I learned was later corrected. They refused to honor the warranty claim. I ended up threatening both the manufacturers rep and dealership to call 60 minutes and the local TV stations about selling deathtraps before they relented and covered the repair free, but I had to sign some sort of release indicating it was not a warranty covered item. I was appalled and that was the last new Ford I ever bought/leased.

[Rogue One]

I foolishly bought an '86 Ford Tempo that fell apart after 18 months. Should have learned my lessen about not buying American from that, but nooo.
Hey Bubba1, given your experience with that Grand Marquis, I thought you might find this of interest.

http://www.bankrate.com/finance/auto/th ... ory-1.aspx
For sheer size, Ford's fire-prone, cruise control mechanisms prompted a car recall of more than 20 models and nearly 15 million vehicles worldwide from 1996 to 2010. If your criterion for worst ever is unbridled brand damage, look no further than Ford's 1978 recall of its snake-bitten Pinto model, which led to years of bad press and the phrase "a barbecue that seats four."

Texas Instruments switches caused Ford vehicles built over two decades to catch fire, becoming a nightmare for Ford. From 1996 to 2009, Ford was forced to recall cars and trucks between model years 1991 and 2004. The vehicles operated with faulty cruise control deactivation switches that could short out and ignite. The total recalled vehicles reached 14.9 million vehicles.

The recurring problem wasn't good for public perceptions of Ford's quality. The press unofficially dubbed the Ford Explorer, the "Ford Exploder."

"(Owners) would have their nice Lincoln or Mercury parked in their garage, and the thing would catch fire in the middle of the night," says auto safety expert Byron Bloch.

[Repo Man]

My least favorite line:
"What can I do to get you into a car today? Is there a number that would keep you from walking out the door?"

YOU CAN GO HOME, CALL YOUR MOM, CURSE HER OUT FOR NOT ABORTING YOU, AND HANG YOURSELF WITH A BELT. MAYBE THEN I'LL CONSIDER BUYING FROM YOUR CRAPPY DEALERSHIP.

This is the biggest mistake in sales, violating the #1 rule of sales. Don't negotiate with an uncommitted buyer. Period. Even if you do wind up with a sale, you didn't make any damn money.

[AZhitman]

Based on our (albeit limited) personal experience recently, I can't agree with the #3 ranking for Mazda. Our local dealer was stellar.

The Ford dealer seems to be staffed from the waitlist at the local homeless shelter or methadone clinic, and the Lexus dealer that I used to work across the street from seemed to hire every failed bit-part TV/radio personality they could find, just to try and play to their "star power."

[Bubba1]

I.
Hey Bubba1, given your experience with that Grand Marquis, I thought you might find this of interest.

Cool article, thanks. I remember all of those recalls too. Interesting how many Fords appeared on that list. They could also have mentioned the Ford Focus, which has had more government ordered recalls than any single model.

[MinisterofDOOM]

I agree on the subject of Ford dealers. I've never really been to one I liked.

I think part of the problem with Ford dealers is that everything they do is so bureaucratic and departmentalized. You can ask one person for help but they need to get the manager of this or the correct service writer for that or the guy who knows the inventory for the other thing.

Their dealer hours are also often asinine. Back in Utah, all the Ford dealers in my area closed their service departments on Saturdays! What kind of nonsense is that?!

[RicerX]

I have found that Nissan dealers are wildly inconsistent. You have one that won't leave you alone after you inquire about a vehicle and another that barely shows you attention when you show up on the lot asking about a Z (a car many dealers are having trouble selling - you figure someone would jump on the opportunity to offload one).

I had a wonderful experience at my local Mazda dealer. Their service department is a completely different story, however.

[Rogue One]

The most appealing new vehicles to American carbuyers are…
http://autos.yahoo.com/blogs/motoramic/ ... ache=clear

[frapjap]

the Porsche Cayenne outsells the 911, Boxster and Cayman combined on these shores,

Now theres something I didn't know or expect. That's a helluva expensive SUV, too.

[Bubba1]

Unsurprising that the top of the list are all upscale brands. It would be interesting to compare this list to 10 years ago.

[PapaSmurf2k3]

It would be interesting to compare this list to 10 years ago.

Indeed, or 15.

LOL @ Smart.

[nissangirl74]

Unsurprising that the top of the list are all upscale brands. It would be interesting to compare this list to 10 years ago.

or six months after the stock market crash

[Jesda]

Unsurprising that the top of the list are all upscale brands. It would be interesting to compare this list to 10 years ago.

http://money.cnn.com/2003/10/07/pf/autos/jdpower_apeal/

[gwoods]

the Lexus dealer that I used to work across the street from seemed to hire every failed bit-part TV/radio personality they could find, just to try and play to their "star power."

Hi, I'm Troy McClure. You might remember me from such self-help videos as "Smoke Yourself Thin", and "Get Confident, Stupid." now how about a Toyota Camry with real leather and a shiny grill?

[DrewH]

I have found that Nissan dealers are wildly inconsistent.

Couldn't agree with this more but I could care less how they are at selling cars. I go to the dealer knowing what I want and what I want to pay so they have almost no work to do there. My issues are with service departments. While I've had frustrating experiences at Ford and Chevrolet dealerships the absolute best and worst were at two different Nissan ones. I still get fired up thinking about the gross incompetence I experienced on what ended up being at least 6 occasions at Ken Pollock Nissan.