My dealership sucks

[jmann]

Concerning my recent deal on my G, I have made a threat in General chat Here: infiniti-survey-t561481.html And would like for anyone with an opinion here to weigh in on that thread please.

[telcoman]

Concerning my recent deal on my G, I have made a threat in General chat Here: infiniti-survey-t561481.html And would like for anyone with an opinion here to weigh in on that thread please.

Let me just say that I do not regretting my decision to get the vehicle I have. It is truly the car I have wanted for a long time. My issue is, now that the deal is done, I am seeing where I paid a considerable amount more than I should have, and this is a hard pill to swallow. Of course dealerships want you to rate them well on the surveys, and the finance manager jokingly hinted that I might receive some sugar in my fuel tank when I get my vehicle serviced if they do not get rated well on the survey. I want to take the survey honestly and share my experience with Infiniti, but I do not want the survey shared with the local dealer and for them to know it was me who trashed them, and then be treated like an A-hole every time I go in for service or whatever. Of course it says right at the bottom that it would be shared with them, so I am not sure how I should proceed. Should I call the infiniti consumer affairs number and share my concerns with them? What would you do?

My advise is do not trash the dealer.
Their goal is to make as much as they can on selling a new vehicle.

Your goal is to get as much vehicle as you can for the least amount of money

Learn from this experience to become a better negotiator when shopping for a vehicle.

Telcoman

[jmann]

Well if that is true, then all I have learned is that I have to go out of state to get a competitive deal on an infiniti. We have one dealership in my state. The next closest dealership is 2.5 hours away, and is owned by the same people. Basically, I have to drive 5 hours to get to a market where there is more than one dealership in town. I worked that deal for a solid week and was able to get nowhere. I should have sold my car privately and dealt with them after that point, because all they saw was a lot of equity, and they would take nothing less than a large chunk of that equity if I was to get what I wanted.

[joe603]

I just bought a new car...been through this crap. I had a dealer who had the car I wanted at a decent price, but wouldn't budge on my trade...trying to make up the $$. I even tried to compromise by coming down 1k...would not budge even when I flat out asked him would he walk away from a deal for 1k! So when another similar car came up on autotrader about 100 miles away, I made the same deal. They met me at the 1k reduced trade amount, and the new car had better rims (I'm actually glad I waited!).

The funny thing was, a 3rd dealer who is much closer, was willing to give me the 1k over (what I wanted for the trade)! But their car had the crappy rims...I just thought it was funny because they wanted "proof" that someone was offering the new car at the reduced price and what they were willing to give for my trade. It was like they smelled blood in the water!

[370Z/28]

When the 4th gen Camaros first came out, I was about to DIE for one. There weren't many out there and they wouldn't budge from the sticker. Only car I ever paid sticker for. I asked him if he would at least come off one penny so I wouldn't have to say I paid sticker for a car. He wouldn't do it.

[jmann]

I'll never trade another car in as long as I live. This is basically how they screw you. If you have less equity then there will be less for them to take from you, but if you have a newer car that is paid off or worth a considerable amount more than what you owe on it, you are better off selling it privately 100% of the time. It's the same as walking into a dealership with a huge stack of cash and expecting to get a good deal.

[370Z/28]

Just remember the sales tax! If you trade a 20k car for a 30k car, you only have to pay sales tax on the 10k. If you get 22k for your car and go buy a 30k car, you have to pay the sales tax on the whole 30k. Sometimes it makes up the difference. Specially if your sales tax is as high as it is here in Memphis.

[jmann]

How does that work on a lease then, do you know?

[370Z/28]

No, sorry. I have never leased.

[SVTCOBRA]

Don't think you should bash the dealership in this case, if I read this right.
You did the deal, but now regret what you paid....but, you did the deal.
You did have many other options but still did the deal.

Sorry, but in this case IF you want to bash anybody it shouldn't be the dealer.....
Take a deep breath and take it as a learning experience......or consider that you got hit with a stupid tax. Trust me, with three kids I've paid lots of stupid taxes!!!
Take her out on some nice curvy roads and you will be doing this

[jmann]

When I say "trash" them, perhaps that comes off a bit harsh. What I mean is, on questions like "How likely are you to recommend this dealer to a friend or colleague?" I would say not at all likely, I would tell them to try shopping a more competitive market. Not being an A$$, just being honest with my opinion of it. Really I knew I could have done better when I signed, but it would have taken a lot more time and effort - to sell my vehicle and then to go 5 hours out of my way to try to deal with another retailer, and then of course no results would have been guaranteed still.

[SVTCOBRA]

Convenience sometimes comes at a price. And, it's OK to pay extra for convenience. So, taking that into consideration, you still might recommend them to a friend but let them know that they might have to pay extra due to the local market conditions......supply & demand. So, is the dealership wrong for taking advantage of their local market conditions??? No, I think they are doing just like any other dealership and trying to maximize their profits.

[jmann]

I think I'll just decline to take the survey, then it's a non-issue.

[telcoman]

You might want to try calling the General Manager of the dealership and telling him that although you feel ripped off you are going to decline taking the survey to give them a poor rating.

They might be willing to make you happy

[SteveTheTech]

I think I'll just decline to take the survey, then it's a non-issue.

That seems like it might be a wise decision. I do not in any way condone even the subtlest of threats from an employee at a dealer. Their superiors should be made aware. If I were you I would consider contacting the GM, and letting them know why you did not complete the survey. If you have completed all aspects of this transaction with finance it would be the appropriate time to contact them as some people do not take criticism well. But they should be held accountable even if they are part of the only dealer in the area.

Many of the other members that have been kicking around here for years will agree that this thread topic comes up quite frequently. It is usually a slight degree of buyers remorse or anger over a labor rate. At the end of the model year there are deals to be had, maybe a little more research or traveling would have got you a better deal in the long run but hopefully that doesn't sour you from the vehicle overall. Salesman will get you...that's their job, sorry to hear they got you.

Congratulations on the new car.

Try to keep an open mind if/when you return there for service down the road. I know people have been very hostile towards my service department over the years for things that sales and finance have done to people but we are really only connected by a building.

[jmann]

Well the salesperson I dealt with called today to ask me to complete the survey for him, and I pretty much told him I wasn't going to because I didn't want to hurt them. I said I was happy with my car but certain things have come to light that let me know that I basically paid too much. I told him I knew that wasn't entirely his fault, I knew he was just doing his job, and that I should have taken my time etc. but that if I took the survey I didn't think it would really help him right now.

[SteveTheTech]

I wonder who...if anyone will call you next. I've got $5 on the sales manager...but he could have just pretended that didn't happen. I guess it really depends on how their sales department works.

[jmann]

This dealership has 2 sales managers, one was the one who called. The other is the guy who used to be the finance manager last year when I got my EX35 (which I was happy with the deal I got on it.) I had exchanged some emails with both of them to let them know I was unhappy with the offers they were giving me, the reply I got from him could almost have been read as being rude. It's hard to tell the tone of an email. Again, after that happened I should have just explored my other options but I reconsidered and caved. The actual sales guy I dealt with at first was kind of new, I knew more about the car than he did. He has been the nicest of all of them throughout this whole deal. Here is that email exchange:


Tim, as I had mentioned before I know enough about numbers to know that this quote isn't really discounting this car at all - Beyond the 1000 customer loyalty rebate you mentioned. I do like this car and would like to drive it, but I'm afraid if this and your prior offers is the best you can do I'll have to take my business elsewhere. A year ago I felt I worked a good deal for my EX35, and for whatever reason you will not allow a similar deal to be worked for the G37. If this is what I can expect from *****s Infiniti in the future I don't think I will be back. Thank you anyway for the time you have put into this.

From:
Sent: Friday, June 29, 2012 11:14 AM
Subject: Quote you requested

MR. MANN

IT REALLY DISTURBS ME THAT YOU THINK WE ARE NOT GIVING YOU A FAIR DEAL. I'M SURE WITH YOUR FINANCIAL BACKGROUNG YOU UNDERSTAND THAT AS A BUSSINESS WE CAN'T SELL A VEHICLE AT A LOSS. SO I'M SENDING YOU OUR DEALER DISCLOSURE THAT MOST CUSTOMERS DON'T SEE. ANALYZE IT AND TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK. IT AMAZES ME THAT A STATE EMPLOYEE WOULD NOT ALLOW US TO MAKE ENOUGH MONEY TO KEEP THE LIGHTS ON.

New 2012 INFINITI G37 COUPE
Lease Term: 39
Total Payment: 418.40
Out of Pocket: 3,899.00
MSRP: 47,130.00
Residual: 26,864.10
Mileage: 10,000

And my final reply was:

At the rate listed the total of my payments is $19,227.13. If you were truly leasing me this car with a price of $42,900 , my residual would be $23,672.87. With a residual of $26,864.10, my actual price is $46,091.23. I know your pre-dealer incentive invoice price is $43,245 for this car, and your actual cost is less than that as the edmunds true market value is $41,593 (based on actual sales data from our region). I certainly do not expect you to lose money on any deals you make, but what I have been quoted so far just does not add up to me. I am sorry to have disturbed you, and I hope you all have a great rest of the day.

After all that, the reason I went ahead with it was because I had received a letter from the local toyota dealership that said they would like to purchase my car, and would make an offer without an obligation from me to buy a new car from them. I went up there and let them make an offer which was 1500 less than what I was negotiating as a trade value from Infiniti, so I figured even at the sticker price if I get 1000 loyalty incentive, and an additional 1500 trade value, then essentially that is 2500 off the sticker price. I was ok with that until I started talking to an actual employee of theirs on another G37 forum who disclosed what they had offered him on this exact car. A little knowledge is a powerful thing.