Fowler Chevrolet

Deeply Uncomfortable and Questionable Legal Ok, it took speaking with a finance officer at a bank AND an insurance specialist to fully process why every red flag I have was going off when I went Ok, it took speaking with a finance officer at a bank AND an insurance specialist to fully process why every red flag I have was going off when I went to purchase a vehicle from this lot. To start, the salesperson was sickly sweet but there was sort of a strange uneasy undertone that was magnified by her knowing absolutely nothing about the vehicle I was interested in and even quoting the vehicle next to it as the wrong year and insisting it was correct. She was nice yet curt and had really nothing to add beyond what was on the website. When it came time to purchase, things went wrong very quickly. I had to go back and forth for over an hour to get them to barely meet fair market value on the vehicle. I still ended up about $1,500 over what other places were selling the same vehicle for. In addition, the vehicle was hail damaged and the salesperson was extremely careful not to say when it happened and whether it happened at their lot. She then told me that they never reported the damage (i.e it happened at their lot) and to simply claim to insurance the damage during the next storm to get it fixed. During the buying process, I was presented with an Acknowledgment of Damage form which immediately set off sirens for me. If you never claimed it, then why would you have me acknowledge it? I have since spoken with an insurance specialist who explained that the vehicle was absolutely damaged at their lot, they pocketed the money and the acknowledgment was legal protection for them in the event I tried to claim the damage after a storm to get it fixed. They essentially legally protected themselves and set me up to do something patently illegal. The insurance specialist made it clear, my insurance would have known immediately and I would have been dropped from my insurance for life for lying. This is what the salesperson AND her manager suggested that I do. Second, they required that I place full coverage insurance on the vehicle before they would even let me purchase it, not use my umbrella policy but purchase full coverage right there at the table before they would let me even speak with finance. Speaking with an insurance specialist, this is HIGHLY illegal. Not just something that might slip the cracks, but full stop illegal and they knew it. I was prefinanced through my bank. The salesperson spent an hour telling me that they can do better financing and to let them run their financing for me. I finally agreed after half an hour of the salesperson refusing to acknowledge what I was asking her to do. I keep my credit score locked and asked them to let me know when they were running it so I could unlock it for them. They ran it without my permission and it was denied so instead they then ran my TransUnion, twice. Once on the day and again the next day, for some reason. My TransUnion has taken a 20 point hit. I was told they work with hundreds of credit unions and they would have a bunch of offers ready for me. The salesperson guaranteed me they could do better than my current financing so I should agree beforehand to use theirs and not mine. Two hours of them "running the numbers" while I signed other paperwork and I find out they only have one offer. From my bank. At two percent higher interest. I showed the finance person my approval and was informed it wasn't real and that I should just sign the two percent higher and duke it out with my bank. I spoke with my bank. My approval was 100% valid and the only reason they offered me financing I already had, was to make the referral money. And they weren't even running real numbers come to find out so it was just rates they had pulled off of the bank's website. My banker FLAT OUT told me not to do business with them. When the deal was looking shaky, the finance person magically came back with a finance offer from an out of state lender for nearly 3% less and started trying to get me to sign a bill of sale. I told them I needed to speak with my bank because I needed someone I trust to explain what was happening to me. Three times they tried to get me to sign the bill of sale before I left. I told them I would let them know what I decided by 1 pm the next working day and by 11 am of that day I had four calls, four voicemails, and three text messages asking if I had spoken to my bank. The entire 6-hour ordeal made me HIGHLY uncomfortable and I left feeling sick because I couldn't figure out what they were trying to do to me. After speaking with my bank and an independent insurance specialist, they were fully trying to take advantage of me. I went in there honest and hoping to have someone be helpful along the way as it was my first time buying a car and every weird thing began to add up and I almost had a panic attack at one point because of how deeply uncomfortable they all made me feel. Not to mention that they would back me into legally damning corners with full smiles on their faces. 10/10 DO NOT BOTHER WITH THIS PLACE More