Daytona Dodge Chrysler Jeep Ram and FIAT

I change cars more often than most and I have had a lot of good and bad experiences with dealerships but I had never experienced the "bait and switch" until yesterday 9/29/18 when I visited Daytona Dodge. I found a truck on their website in the morning that I wanted to look at so I scheduled an appointment for 6pm that evening. The dealership is about an hour away so we confirmed again the truck was available before leaving and were told by our sales person "Champ" that is was available and he would have it ready in front to drive. We arrive and walk inside to meet with Champ, at that time he sits us down and starts asking me what I am looking for in a truck since they have so many options. I had a solid feeling at this point that this guy brought myself and my wife an hour away just to try and sell me something else knowing the truck wasn't there but I let him continue since we had made the trip. Now we walk 3 stores down to the used department and start "looking" for a full size blue truck with a 6' lift kit, because that wouldn't stand out on a lot. The entire time we are walking, Champ is pointing out other trucks and asking me if i liked them, this was the last straw we needed to know we were wasting hours of our time with this fiasco. We finally said, "Do you have the key?" Champ replies "Yes but let me go and talk to the desk and see if I can find the second key so we can hit the alarm and find it." Obviously this lie has all kinds of plot holes so we just start walking back to our car, he catches us and lets us know that the truck left on an "Extended Demo" during the time we left an hour previous and when we got there, sounds legit. I called him out at that point and said "Champ, you knew the truck wasn't here and let us waste hours of our time coming here because you thought you could switch me to another one." He looked at me and couldn't say a word knowing it was the truth and the most unprofessional experience I have ever had in a dealership setting.

“Any fool can criticize, condemn, and complain—and most fools do.” —quote from Dale Carnegie, often attributed to Benjamin Franklin Rather than post an average review, I would simply like to share the letter of appreciation that I mailed after the sale. Dear Mr. Randy Dye, I wanted to take the time to send you a thank you letter to say how pleased I am with your dealership, Daytona Dodge. First & foremost, thank you. You have a dealership full of great folks. I could not be happier with my experience. My first point of contact was Monica Haines. From the start she was cheerful, receptive, & eager to help. Monica listened to me, understood the situation, & believed she could help me. Which she did. Next came Corey Haskell. He called shortly after I spoke with Monica to go over the info. I came into the dealership & met with Corey. I explained my history in the car business & my needs. Basically, I knew the game & had no interest in playing it. I did not want to waste his time & I did not want him to waste my time. I am happy to say that he never did. Corey & I looked at the vehicle & then went back in to speak with Chris Schwerdt, the sales manager. Just like Corey, Chris respected my time & wishes & did not play any games either. He looked to see which car would work. He found an SXT Blacktop Journey, not the Plain Jane model. I was very happy & the price they offered was fair & acceptable. Corey & I then test-drove the Journey. It seemed to fit all my criteria. Once back at the dealership Corey helped me put the carseat in the Dodge, as well as load the stroller into the cargo area. We then adjusted all the seats &, voila, everything fit great! It was time to go back in & speak with Chris again. I was curious as to where it would go from there. Much to my chagrin, Chris came back with an impressive number. We were still a bit apart, but we negotiated a little bit—as any good salesman would do—but it was not “the game.” When it was all said & done, we were dead-on what needed to happen. (Again, excellent job, Corey & Chris. Thank you.) Next, I met with the finance guy, Manny Gramatikos—THE GREEK! (I think Corey is technically a finance guy, too, but he was wearing the salesman hat for helping me that day.) Manny was extremely friendly & helpful, as well! I had already discussed an extended warranty w/Corey & stated I did not want anything else. Manny respected that & did not try to force me into something I did not want or that would raise the already-agreed-upon number. That speaks volumes about the level of communication between the employees at Daytona Dodge & exemplifies how they are all on the same page to provide the customer with the experience, service, & products which they desire. In the parts department I dealt with Scott Laughlin. He, too, was just as polite, professional, & friendly as anyone else at Daytona Dodge. He took great care in explaining my assorted options & helped me along every step of the way. Top notch! This is where Jeff Mansell over at Daytona’s Garage steps into the picture. I halfway expected to be gouged on the price, so the dealership could receive some increased profits after the sale. Lo & behold, that did not happen! Jeff listened to everything I had to say & was generally an all-around great guy! I am slightly dumbfounded as to how sharp & on top of things everyone is within your organization. It is quite unheard of in the car business. The culmination of all these items necessitated my writing this detailed report. It is why I am not finished purchasing items/accessories from Daytona Dodge—why I will return to “The Garage” to have them installed—why I will drive past the Dodge dealership in my town to have my service performed at Daytona Dodge. These are things that I will do because of the impeccable customer service & outstanding individuals in your employ. I look forward to a long & prosperous relationship with your dealership, Randy. Sincerely, Mr. Hardy [edited for brevity]

I buy new vehicles about once every year and a half to two years. This go around has been the worst of all. I have encountered laziness and a complete lack of customer service from countless dealers like never before. Then, I ran across David from Daytona Dodge. He would always get back to me within minutes and was beyond helpful from the start. He even went so far as to email me back and forth and 10 at night trying to help and get the info he needed from me. He went above and beyond on every level. The other dealers around Central Florida should take note and learn from this guy because he knows how to provide exceptional customer service! Thank you David! Much appreciated!

IF YOU ARE FROM OUT OF TOWN DO NOT BUY FROM THIS DEALER!!! HERE IS WHAT THEY ARE REFUSING TO TAKE CARE OF.. I have tried several times to get ahold of Brett and also texted and left plenty of messages for Mark which I think is completely OUTRAGEOUS!! They supposably was fixing hail damage and IT WAS NOT CORRECTED AND NOW IM LEFT WITH A RUSTED HOLE ON MY DRIVERS SIDE DOOR ON A 2018 DODGE DURANGO SRT!!! ITS SUCH A POOR WAY TO TREAT A CUSTOMER!!! While I was on vacation in Florida stopped by the dealership and brought this to Mark's attention and he treated it like "OHH WELL" THIS EXPERIENCE HAS MADE ME REALIZE THAT YOU SHOULD NEVER EVER BUY FROM OUT OF STATE.

Made a quick trip to speak with the Salesman who located the truck I wanted. After short negotiations, the truck was here in two days and it took about 90 minutes to complete everything

They lied about towing capacity on the Truck service department rips you off every time you walk in the door a warranty parts break non warranty covered parts yet to buy all the parts are covered under the warranty when their warranty part broken cause the problem

Salesman David S ( Did you really not know there was no nav in the Jeep sport until time to show how the nav works ? Smh I guess they / the owner only replies back to positive comments doesn’t care if your satisfied or not , no calls , no nothing to fix the problem BBB will listen if you won’t . You don’t have to lie to sell Jeeps ! Ur making Jeeps look bad Finance staff -male told him I didn’t not want GAP ins or ext warranty . Told me to sign stating I refused GAP when I got papers I was charged and had signed saying I wanted it ! Oh there gonna pay me back for it , it should’ve never been charged and if I wasn’t trading my Jeep In to another dealer bc they gave me a better trade on the NEW jeep I just bought from you and that’s how I found the GAP charge . This is how dealerships get a bad name is from business like you . You know what your staff is doing and you obviously training them to do it .

Took my Dodge Dakota truck in for safety Recall service related to functions wired through the steering column on April 30th. The problem was not resolved. My repeated voicemails to the service department since May 1st have not been returned. A live on line chat with the dealership on May 14th produced a request for the last 8 digits of my vin number. I provided it, but this was unnecessary, because they already had it from the initial service record. I never heard back from them again. Poor service!!!

Second new truck I’ve purchased from Daytona Ram. And I can’t see myself buying a new vehicle from any other dealership. Kevin Killian and Charles Lupo as well as all the staff I’ve come in contact with are professional and friendly and I couldn’t recommend this dealership more highly.

I brought my 2012 challenger in for service, while waiting for my ride home I saw white rt challenger parked in front of the showroom.As I was checking it out,a salesman,Charlie Lupo,came up and asked if I needed any help.I began to ask him questions about the car.He was very knowledgeable about the car and all it's features.He was very friendly but not pushy.We talked about a trade in and within a half hour he had some great numbers for me.Within an hour I drove out with my new challenger.This was the second vehicle I've purchased from Daytona Dodge and I feel that I've always been treated courteously ,service has been great and the people that I dealt with were friendly and helpful.I would recommend Daytona to anyone who asks and I will be coming back to see Charlie in the future.