Share Your Dealer Experience Here!
11-17-2007, 09:52 PM
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Share Your Dealer Experience Here!
Did your local dealership quote you a competitive price? Or did you end up buying or ordering from a dealership miles away?
When you finally settled on a dealership and bought (or ordered) your Jeep . . . did your dealer stick to his/her quote, or were you disappointed by "surprises" in the final paperwork?
Would you buy from this dealership again?
Please post names and locales. That way, we'll all learn who to avoid . . . AND, perhaps, who to trust.
Duane Behrens ("Perzuki")
When you finally settled on a dealership and bought (or ordered) your Jeep . . . did your dealer stick to his/her quote, or were you disappointed by "surprises" in the final paperwork?
Would you buy from this dealership again?
Please post names and locales. That way, we'll all learn who to avoid . . . AND, perhaps, who to trust.
Duane Behrens ("Perzuki")
11-18-2007, 01:38 AM
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though this has been addressed in several threads many times over, i'll add my experience.....again 
all-american dcj in san angelo tx - part of the lithia group
i walked in (after heavily reading this forum for 2 months) in early january. over the following 5 weeks, i was allowed to test drive and randomly walk around the lot as i pleased, mostly confirming things i'd seen on this forum - with little hassle. i test drove every available configuration to my satisfaction; some of them multiple times.
when i was finally ready to order, they knew that i already knew what i wanted and didn't try to ply me with extras. we haggled prices for about 4 hours - order and tradein. in the end, i was more than pleased with all agreed upon numbers. i nearly got kbb "excellent" value for my trade-in, though it was more like a "fair". i paid about $400 over invoice for my order. on top of that, they let me drive my trade around during the wait for my order to come in.
it was made ready for me within 90 minutes of unloading off the truck. they filled the gas tank and made sure that i knew how to lower and raise the soft top before i left the lot.
later, when i griped about the missing hood insulation, they pulled the insulation off of another JK on the lot and gave it to me free of charge. i later asked them about missing footwell and hood lamps, though they wouldn't provide them (i didn't really want to go through the hassle either). instead, i was given a locking gas cap and door entry sills for the inconvenience. they even offered me floormats, but i already had husky liners and turned them down.
honestly, nothing but good things to say about these guys.
all-american dcj in san angelo tx - part of the lithia group
i walked in (after heavily reading this forum for 2 months) in early january. over the following 5 weeks, i was allowed to test drive and randomly walk around the lot as i pleased, mostly confirming things i'd seen on this forum - with little hassle. i test drove every available configuration to my satisfaction; some of them multiple times.
when i was finally ready to order, they knew that i already knew what i wanted and didn't try to ply me with extras. we haggled prices for about 4 hours - order and tradein. in the end, i was more than pleased with all agreed upon numbers. i nearly got kbb "excellent" value for my trade-in, though it was more like a "fair". i paid about $400 over invoice for my order. on top of that, they let me drive my trade around during the wait for my order to come in.
it was made ready for me within 90 minutes of unloading off the truck. they filled the gas tank and made sure that i knew how to lower and raise the soft top before i left the lot.
later, when i griped about the missing hood insulation, they pulled the insulation off of another JK on the lot and gave it to me free of charge. i later asked them about missing footwell and hood lamps, though they wouldn't provide them (i didn't really want to go through the hassle either). instead, i was given a locking gas cap and door entry sills for the inconvenience. they even offered me floormats, but i already had husky liners and turned them down.
honestly, nothing but good things to say about these guys.
11-18-2007, 06:58 AM
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Very sorry to hear about your experience with a dealer screwing you on your trade-in value. Seems every dealer has two ways to make their profit; reducing the value of your trade, and refusing to budge on the MSRP. . . or both.
Did you try to sell your old vehicle privately, rather than trade it in? This seems to work for lots of folks if they're not upside down on their payments.
I had no vehicle to trade in, I just faxed the specs on my desired vehicle to four dealers. They all responded with verbal (not written) quotes. To the dealership who had given the best quote, I faxed a summary of our agreement, including their quoted price and with the specs attached (again).
I had that correspondence in my hand when I eventually visited them in person, and I made sure they had their own copy. Didn't need it, though - they stood by their original quote - $1750 below MSRP.
My dealer:
Mike Motors
Ely, Minnesota
11-18-2007, 07:39 AM
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Alright, i got two dealer stories for one Jeep buy...
Carmax:
Saturday morning i take my Hyundai Tiburon up to Carmax in Duluth, GA to trade in on a 4dr Rescue Green X i test drove earlier in the week. THey pull my car in for apraisal and i drive the Jeep again. We then start working on the numbers and talking normal conversation stuff. They tell me they will offer me $9k for it. I expected that, it had just been fixed from a major accident and i only owed $7100 so no big deal.
So about 2 hours into me being at the dealership. We have finally come to terms on the numbers and its time to start the paperwork... WRONG. My salesman comes back and says "O thing Jeep is a special order, we cant sell it to you." I was so incredibly mad i said i was leaving and he said he would call if they got ahold of the other guy. SO i am about 15 minutes away headed to another dealer to shop and i get a call. Its him. He says "i talked to the guy and he said you can have it if you want it (right...) so when are you going to be back up here?" and i said "well it might be later today, i think i am going to go to some other dealers to make sure I am getting the best deal." His tone turns deffensive and says" O so you dont want the Jeep??" I said "no i do i just want to make sure I am getting the best price." He says "well ill just call the guy back and tell him its his." I said "ok if thats what you want to do." And he hangs up...
Mall of GA Dodge, Chrysler, Jeep:
So after that ordeal i pick up my girlfriend and we head that way. Upon arrival i was greeted by John Hunt. Much older Gentlemen (all the sales guys are kind of old so it gives a nice homey feeling). I tell him what i want and we walk over the Jk's. As we are looking my girlfriend finds a Jeep that has a lift and 35" tires on it. I inquire on the price and he goes for the price and the Keys. It was around $26,000. HE ask for my Keys to apraise my trade and tosses me the Jeep keys and says dont be gone more than a few hours. So we drive around for awhile. Go grab lunch and come back. THe offer my Tiburon is $9,500. I give him my pin # for my affiliate discount and he comes back with something like $22,350. I said, make it $21,500 and ill buy it today. Sure enough they matched it.
My parents had to come because my Tiburon was co-signed with my mom (was only 19 when i bought it). They consistly were offering them coffee, snacks and more than willing to show my father some dodge trucks he liked. After the paperwork is done they show me all the quirks of the Jeep and how to put the top up and down and I am on my way.
I just took my Jeep in yesterday for 2 recalls and they had them done in 1.5 hrs with no appointment. I expressed intrest in a Jeep Compass because my girlfriend wants one and they tossed me keys and said we will call you when your Jeep is ready.
Great place!!!
Carmax:
Saturday morning i take my Hyundai Tiburon up to Carmax in Duluth, GA to trade in on a 4dr Rescue Green X i test drove earlier in the week. THey pull my car in for apraisal and i drive the Jeep again. We then start working on the numbers and talking normal conversation stuff. They tell me they will offer me $9k for it. I expected that, it had just been fixed from a major accident and i only owed $7100 so no big deal.
So about 2 hours into me being at the dealership. We have finally come to terms on the numbers and its time to start the paperwork... WRONG. My salesman comes back and says "O thing Jeep is a special order, we cant sell it to you." I was so incredibly mad i said i was leaving and he said he would call if they got ahold of the other guy. SO i am about 15 minutes away headed to another dealer to shop and i get a call. Its him. He says "i talked to the guy and he said you can have it if you want it (right...) so when are you going to be back up here?" and i said "well it might be later today, i think i am going to go to some other dealers to make sure I am getting the best deal." His tone turns deffensive and says" O so you dont want the Jeep??" I said "no i do i just want to make sure I am getting the best price." He says "well ill just call the guy back and tell him its his." I said "ok if thats what you want to do." And he hangs up...
Mall of GA Dodge, Chrysler, Jeep:
So after that ordeal i pick up my girlfriend and we head that way. Upon arrival i was greeted by John Hunt. Much older Gentlemen (all the sales guys are kind of old so it gives a nice homey feeling). I tell him what i want and we walk over the Jk's. As we are looking my girlfriend finds a Jeep that has a lift and 35" tires on it. I inquire on the price and he goes for the price and the Keys. It was around $26,000. HE ask for my Keys to apraise my trade and tosses me the Jeep keys and says dont be gone more than a few hours. So we drive around for awhile. Go grab lunch and come back. THe offer my Tiburon is $9,500. I give him my pin # for my affiliate discount and he comes back with something like $22,350. I said, make it $21,500 and ill buy it today. Sure enough they matched it.
My parents had to come because my Tiburon was co-signed with my mom (was only 19 when i bought it). They consistly were offering them coffee, snacks and more than willing to show my father some dodge trucks he liked. After the paperwork is done they show me all the quirks of the Jeep and how to put the top up and down and I am on my way.
I just took my Jeep in yesterday for 2 recalls and they had them done in 1.5 hrs with no appointment. I expressed intrest in a Jeep Compass because my girlfriend wants one and they tossed me keys and said we will call you when your Jeep is ready.
Great place!!!
11-18-2007, 08:53 AM
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So far three dealer stories;AutoWest In Fremont, CA,
Refered there by a co-worker who's neighbor is the net sales manager. They didn't have any 2 door 6 speeds at all (let alone a Rubi) so we ended up taking a test drive in a 4 Door Sahara and 4 door Rubicon. Very nice, but left me longing to drive a 2 door. Overall there were very few Wranglers on the lot, the Net Sales lady was a sweetheart, but hadn't been working there very long (Hadn't done a Employee Price sale before and was unknowingly trying to tack on extra fee's and such). Didn't get any type of warm fuzzy feeling about ordering from them, so after another fee was added into the price, I decided it was time to leave.
Hilltop Jeep in Richmond, CA,
Went here with the friend who's extending the EP pricing. We asked for the Fleet manager, and while we waited for him to finish with another customer a salesman tossed us the keys to a couple of the Rubicons on the lot to climb around in. Killed 20 minutes playing around then the Fleet guy waved us in.
15 minutes.
That's how long it took him to sit us down, verify the EP pricing, get the options I wanted, and put the order in. He handed me the build sheet/VON, said he call as soon as the status changes, and we where on our way.
Awesome Service.
Stevens Creek Jeep in San Jose,
Girlfriend and I went here on a whim after putting the order into Richmond. Knew they had at least one 2 door 6 speed Rubicon on the lot so figured, eh, what's it gonna hurt to stop in and look?
Oh my.... I never felt so much like a piece of meat with a wallet.
Easily between 15 and 25 vultures, er, I mean salesmen standing everywhere from the driveway entrance to the front door. We were getting accosted before we even found a parking spot! One large Alpha Male "Salesman" fended off the other smaller ones and claimed us for himself, almost dragging us over to the Silver Rubi I had seen online. All in all he was a good guy, answered all our questions, took the freedom panels off one of the Rubi's, then he let us test drive it like that (It hurt, I didn't think I could be more in love with jeeps till that test drive). Then as soon as we got back to the Dealer, he immediatly passed off us to his Closer (aka the scavenger). This was when the best idea seemed to run away before they sensed the impending "No thank you, I don't really wanna buy from you" and tore us apart.
No one ever said buying the Jeep was supposed to be like going on Safari.
Last edited by Jammen; 11-19-2007 at 04:24 PM.
11-18-2007, 09:16 AM
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Went to my dealer and test drove a red Rubicon '07 with dual top option. Didn't want the red color, and he tried a few times to convince me otherwise. Sorry. 
Wanted to trade in my 2001 Land Rover "Special Vehicles" Discovery... KBB was $12,000 and he offered me $7500. He said it would be "hard to sell" at auction, and I told him I wasn't going to take a bath on my trade-in. Thanked him and went on my way.
Called other dealers, who outright refused to trade in the Discovery. I just put it on the back burner for a month.
Out of the blue, got a call from my original dealer who told me that another local dealer had gotten the color and model I wanted. He couldn't get it, but he "just wanted to see if I wanted to call the other dealer." I talked to him for a few minutes, and I asked him if he'd negotiate on the trade-in if I special ordered from DC. He offered me $9500 trade-in against dealer invoice + $1000... final price $18,000 cash on my special order 2dr Rubicon.
I told him that I really wanted to buy a Jeep from him, and he said he really wanted to sell me one. He said that we'd sign on the deal and he'd lock the price on the trade-in regardless of mileage when the Rubicon finally arrived.
Two and a half months later I spent 30 minutes in his office and drove out with a new Rubicon, t-shirts for my son and I, coupons for free oil changes, a Mopar catalog... Best move I ever made on a vehicle.
Wanted to trade in my 2001 Land Rover "Special Vehicles" Discovery... KBB was $12,000 and he offered me $7500. He said it would be "hard to sell" at auction, and I told him I wasn't going to take a bath on my trade-in. Thanked him and went on my way.
Called other dealers, who outright refused to trade in the Discovery. I just put it on the back burner for a month.
Out of the blue, got a call from my original dealer who told me that another local dealer had gotten the color and model I wanted. He couldn't get it, but he "just wanted to see if I wanted to call the other dealer." I talked to him for a few minutes, and I asked him if he'd negotiate on the trade-in if I special ordered from DC. He offered me $9500 trade-in against dealer invoice + $1000... final price $18,000 cash on my special order 2dr Rubicon.
I told him that I really wanted to buy a Jeep from him, and he said he really wanted to sell me one. He said that we'd sign on the deal and he'd lock the price on the trade-in regardless of mileage when the Rubicon finally arrived.
Two and a half months later I spent 30 minutes in his office and drove out with a new Rubicon, t-shirts for my son and I, coupons for free oil changes, a Mopar catalog... Best move I ever made on a vehicle.
11-18-2007, 04:37 PM
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BUT YOU FORGOT TO MENTION THEIR NAME!!!
Seems unfair NOT to refer the rest of us to a dealer who treated you so fairly. Ey, what?
Duane Behrens ("Perzuki")
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11-18-2007, 04:46 PM
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"Bigjerm", "Jammin": I now know which dealerships I'll stop at for a little tire-kickin' and buyin' . . . not to mention the dealerships I'll probably pass by without even slowing down. This is great stuff for ANYone who is considering buying new and/or trading in. Thanks - what a great service! 
Duane Behrens ("Perzuki")
Duane Behrens ("Perzuki")
11-19-2007, 02:17 AM
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Ed Medlyn, Medlyn Motors in Milford, New Hampshire.
11-19-2007, 05:06 AM
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Renfrew Jeep Chrysler in Calgary - Worst dealer experience of my life!
Shady, at forst, on my factory order, they wouldnt give me a purchase agreemen to seal the price, had to work hard to get that. Then, when I decided to get one they had on the lot, agreed to $800 over cost, signed the deal, later to find out that they have 'fees' etc etc, that added another $800 to the 'cost'. The most dishonest dealer I have ever dealt with.
I still bought it because, when there are less than 5 6 spd Rubi's in all of Alberta, and Renfrew has 2 of them, I dont have much of a choice. And they knew that.
I will be hard pressed to buy another Jeep, let alone deal with Renfrew again.
Shady, at forst, on my factory order, they wouldnt give me a purchase agreemen to seal the price, had to work hard to get that. Then, when I decided to get one they had on the lot, agreed to $800 over cost, signed the deal, later to find out that they have 'fees' etc etc, that added another $800 to the 'cost'. The most dishonest dealer I have ever dealt with.
I still bought it because, when there are less than 5 6 spd Rubi's in all of Alberta, and Renfrew has 2 of them, I dont have much of a choice. And they knew that.
I will be hard pressed to buy another Jeep, let alone deal with Renfrew again.