Open Road Mazda

Reason for Visit: Sales

I recommend this dealer: No

My Review of Open Road Mazda:
Dealing with the sales department of Open Road Mazda in East Brunswick was a horrendous experience full of high pressure and games. I was very interested in a 2006 Mazda6 S listed on AutoTrader for $13,990. The car was only one year old, yet it had nearly 40,000 miles. When questioned about this, the dealer gave very elusive answers and told me that he knew nothing about the history of the car, and that the dealership could not provide me with any service history from the previous owner. Looking back, that should have been an immediate red flag.

When I came in for a test drive, I was impressed by both the car and the price, and I was ready to commit myself to purchasing it. Since I have little credit history at 18, I asked to put down a security deposit in order for the car to be held for a total of 24 hours, so that my father could co-sign on the loan and secure a lower interest rate. Mike Rossman, my sales rep, promised that the security deposit would be a reasonable amount, and refundable regardless of whether I purchased the car. Then he went into a back room for a few minutes and returned with the sales manager, one of the most rude and loathsome human beings I have ever met.

I was told that the minimum amount I could put down was $500, and that I would be “wasting his time” offering any less. I felt that $500 was an unreasonable deposit for holding a used car a few hours. Regardless, why should it matter how much I put down if the security deposit was refundable as Mike claimed? I refused, telling the manager that I would take my chances as the car had already been sitting on the lot for four months. Later, I looked up the car’s VIN in carfax, and discovered that the previous owner had been a rental company, explaining the high mileage.

When my father and I got to the dealership and began to negotiate a price, the sales manager absolutely refused to sell me the car for under $14,500, which was $500 ABOVE the price listed on AutoTrader. He explained that the price had changed since the day before, and that I would either have to take his non-negotiable offer of $14,500 or forget about buying the car. I told him that his new offer was ridiculous, especially given the car's questionable past, and that I would not buy the car for that price. I left the dealership and went home, not realizing that I had left my cell phone in the car from the test drive. When I returned to retrieve the phone, the manager was apologetic and immediately offered the $13,990 price again. I did not take his offer. Integrity is a very important to me and high-pressure sales tactics and rudeness cost him the sale. Perhaps the most senseless thing of all is the fact that I would have easily agreed to that amount earlier.

I don’t care if I have to go all the way to Wayne to get a good deal on a used Mazda. The way Open Road Mazda treats potential customers is deplorable, and I will not be servicing my future car there.

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Reason for Visit: Sales

I recommend this dealer: No

My Review of Open Road Mazda:
Dealing with the sales department of Open Road Mazda in East Brunswick was a horrendous experience full of high pressure and games. I was very interested in a 2006 Mazda6 S listed on AutoTrader for $13,990. The car was only one year old, yet it had nearly 40,000 miles. When questioned about this, the dealer gave very elusive answers and told me that he knew nothing about the history of the car, and that the dealership could not provide me with any service history from the previous owner. Looking back, that should have been an immediate red flag.

When I came in for a test drive, I was impressed by both the car and the price, and I was ready to commit myself to purchasing it. Since I have little credit history at 18, I asked to put down a security deposit in order for the car to be held for a total of 24 hours, so that my father could co-sign on the loan and secure a lower interest rate. Mike Rossman, my sales rep, promised that the security deposit would be a reasonable amount, and refundable regardless of whether I purchased the car. Then he went into a back room for a few minutes and returned with the sales manager, one of the most rude and loathsome human beings I have ever met.

I was told that the minimum amount I could put down was $500, and that I would be “wasting his time” offering any less. I felt that $500 was an unreasonable deposit for holding a used car a few hours. Regardless, why should it matter how much I put down if the security deposit was refundable as Mike claimed? I refused, telling the manager that I would take my chances as the car had already been sitting on the lot for four months. Later, I looked up the car’s VIN in carfax, and discovered that the previous owner had been a rental company, explaining the high mileage.

When my father and I got to the dealership and began to negotiate a price, the sales manager absolutely refused to sell me the car for under $14,500, which was $500 ABOVE the price listed on AutoTrader. He explained that the price had changed since the day before, and that I would either have to take his non-negotiable offer of $14,500 or forget about buying the car. I told him that his new offer was ridiculous, especially given the car's questionable past, and that I would not buy the car for that price. I left the dealership and went home, not realizing that I had left my cell phone in the car from the test drive. When I returned to retrieve the phone, the manager was apologetic and immediately offered the $13,990 price again. I did not take his offer. High-pressure sales tactics and rudeness cost him the sale. I would not buy a car from him if his offer were $5.

I don’t care if I have to go all the way to Wayne to get a good deal on a used Mazda. The way Open Road Mazda treats potential customers is deplorable, and I will not be servicing my future car there.

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Reason for Visit: Service

I recommend this dealer: No

My Review of Open Road Mazda:
I made another terrible mistake to go there for service. Price is higher than other dealers, service advisor have no patient, service hours are not convenient. They also rip people off by replace unnecessary parts after your warranty expires. Right before my car's warranty expires I had a check up there and they said everything is in great condition, once my warranty expires, they told me my clutch is bad, motor mount broke, and rear brakes are bad. They also spilled oil on my engine cover during oil change.

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Reason for Visit: Sales

I recommend this dealer: No

My Review of Open Road Mazda:
NEVER EVER GO THERE! TERRIBLE EXPERIENCE! We went there got a decent price on a Mazda6, but they low balled the trade-in price. They keep on changing the deals and made the APR super high. Manager was very rude. After the deal was made, they started all their tricks and increased price a little by little. They started with I must finance more, that means more I have to pay more interests. Then they increased the APR rate by 1%. Finance lady doesn't know how to do math, calculated prices at least six times wrong.

Was this review helpful to you? Yes | No

Reason for Visit: Sales

I recommend this dealer: No

My Review of Open Road Mazda:
NEVER EVER GO THERE! TERRIBLE EXPERIENCE! We went there got a decent price on a Mazda6, but they low balled the trade-in price. They keep on changing the deals and made the APR super high. Manager was very rude. After the deal was made, they started all their tricks and increased price a little by little. They started with I must finance more, that means more I have to pay more interests. Then they increased the APR rate by 1%. Finance lady doesn't know how to do math, calculated prices at least six times wrong.

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Reason for Visit: Sales

I recommend this dealer: Yes

My Review of Open Road Mazda:
Not sure about others experience, mine was pleasant. May be because of John Strowe, he listened patiently to what I was looking for and never tried to sell something I was not interested on. He kept looking for the kind of car I was looking for, never gave up. If you are going to this dealership, ask for John.

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Reason for Visit: Sales

I recommend this dealer: No

My Review of Open Road Mazda:
The worst from the start!! They switched salesmen on us 3 times. Told us they could get us a car in 4 days 3 days after the 4 they still had no car. Kept giving us all the excused in the world as to why they could not deliver, then wanted more money! When I could not take it anymore I told them I wanted my deposit back for the car they did not get us. They then told me they could not refund my deposit (even when they said they would when I put it down) and I would just have to wait till they could get a car. I called my credit card company to put in a dispute. I am going to Wayne Mazda they have been very nice and told me up front how long it would take to get the car and where it was coming from.
This does not even come close to explaining what a bunch of snake oil salesmen they are!! They will not get you the car you want and will make your life hell while you wait tiring to sell you what is on there lot that you don’t want. If I could go back in time I would GLADLY pay the extra 800.00 from a real dealership

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Reason for Visit: Sales

I recommend this dealer: No

My Review of Open Road Mazda:
This is by far the worst experience I've ever had in purchasing a car. I had my mind set on buying the car that day and offered a very reasonable price well above the actual car quote price that I've had researched earlier on. However, they just don't stop playing games, claiming that the price we asked for is not enough. After dealing with the dealer for 3 hours, the dealer asked for two of his managers to come and talk to us. The manager insulted us saying "you can't even put in one more buck? Then go all the way to Wayne if you guys want, we can't deal with you here." So, without wasting more of our time, we walked to our car and prepared to leave. Just as we are going to open the car, the dealer came running to us saying that we have a deal on the price we asked for. What does this tell you folks?
After we went in and sign the papers, they made us wait for the car for another 3 hours. We arrived at 10 am in the morn and left at 4pm in afternoon. This is just an experience that I would never want anyone to suffer again. Therefore, beware of their trickery and inefficiency.

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