Tuesday, April 10, 2007

Used Car Salesmen Will Say Anything

Yesterday after work, Jared and Nathan met me in Maplewood to see if the key we received in the mail would win us a new Nissan. We walked through the door of the dealship at 3:15. We did not walk out until 6:05. Well actually, Nathan and I walked out three times, but were called back in again. Here is the story:

In my niave little mind, I thought we would be able to waltz in, try out our key, and leave. Obviously the point of these keys is to get people into the dealship, so they can pound you into the ground trying to sell you a car. After answering a few simple questions, the salesman jumped up, and as he scurried away, he shouted back over his shoulder that he was going to pull up the "perfect" car for us. I believe they learn this technique at their Shady Salesmen of America meetings. This way, we had no time to protest.

So he pulled up a navy blue Acura MDX. At this point we had already been at the dealership for 30 minutes. Nathan and I were going to walk out to the car to leave, but when I saw the Acura, I decided I could go with on the test drive. We took it out and immediatly noticed a very violent vibrating originating at one of the wheels. After the test drive, we drove it to the onsite service center to be fixed. Meanwhile, we were ushered back into the dealship, asked how much per month we would be able to pay for this car, and then before we knew it, Mr. Shady was shaking our hands and Congratulating us on the purchase of our new car. WHAT? Jared and I looked at eachother confused, and then proceeded to wait around for about 45 minutes while everyone ignored us.

At this point, Nate and I headed out the car to leave, and Jared stayed behind to tell them we had to go. I was called back in, because coincidentally right when we had to leave, they were suddenly ready to talk to us about financing options. They presented us with numbers well above what we gave them as our MAX payments, to which we said no. We excused ourselves to talk things over, and after reaffirming the conclusion that the payments were indeed too high, I walked again out to the car, and Jared went back in to decline their offer. He told them that we did indeed like the car, but that his wife was not okay with the payments and we would not be able to buy it.

So, they sent the Acura home with us for a day to convince me we actually did need it. Obviously they do not understand that liking a car enough to want to buy it, does not mean that suddenly we can afford it. Jared picked it up from the service center, where the mechanic explained to him what they had done to fix it and that it should be in pristine running order.
Anyways, after driving the car off the lot, the vibrations were even stronger than before and were now accompanied by a groaning sound at every turn. When they called later that evening to find out how I liked it, Jared told them of the terrible vibrations, and they quickly replied that they had not serviced it yet, and that it would get taken care of.

BULLCRAP.

We are returning the car this afternoon with an empty tank of gas.

5 comments:

erin said...

Ohmystars. You are WAY. TOO. NICE.
I can't believe you went back inside 3 times! Also, "Shady Salesmen of America meetings..." HI.LAR.I.OUS.

kristi noser said...

Beware of anyone who works strictly for comission.

Anonymous said...

Next time bring your Papar along to kick some @#$%&. Ok, I wouldn't to that but I'd have taken you out without the courtesy of explaining myself to the car salesman...Did you ever get to try the key?

idnak said...

Dear Dealership Schmuck:
1. If you're going to try to sucker someone into buying a car, try to at least listen to what they want and can afford.
2. Make sure that the car that you pick out for a test drive is in good running order, doofus.
3. Send all customers to a Saturn dealership, which is the only place where the sales tactics don't make a person want to run away, screaming bloody murder.

What a dork.

erin said...

Doofus.