Heritage Hyundai Towson

The Worst Car Buying Experience Ever It has been three weeks since I've purchased my new 2017 Hyundai Elantra (Value Edition) and I am still so very angry at not only the experience I had It has been three weeks since I've purchased my new 2017 Hyundai Elantra (Value Edition) and I am still so very angry at not only the experience I had purchasing the car but the lack of response from Heritage Hyundai Towson, Maryland. First of all, a little background. On Friday, December 2, 2016 the check engine light came on in my 2004 Hyundai Elantra. It had just over 160,000 miles and I had recently replaced the radiator and brakes. Now, it was reading that the catalytic converter was clogged. My mechanic said I could still drive it but I have a long daily commute and I did not want that worry hanging over me everyday. I LOVED that car so my first thought when it came to replacing it was to see about another Elantra. I could afford a "nicer" car but this was just for commuting and I didn't need a lot of bells and whistles. I was very impressed with the new look and all of the options the 2017 came with, especially the Value Edition. We decided to research similar models and made a list of the Honda Civic, Mazda 3 and Subaru Impreza to include in our search. On Saturday we decided to just go and look at each car and possibly test drive them if it felt right. By the time I arrived home on Saturday evening I was so angry that I didn't want to buy anything. Here is an excerpt from the email I sent to Kevin Brammer, the manager of Jones Belair Hyundai: "I had three car models I wanted to look at but Hyundai was our first stop because, again, I really love my Elantra and I was excited to see how it had been updated. We arrived and found a few Elantra's but I did not see the one I had been looking for. We were approached by an older man wearing cowboy boots - I describe him like that because he did not introduce himself to me and he was not wearing a visible name tag. I told him what I was looking for - a black Hyundai Elantra with black interior - and we casually wandered around trying to find it. I explained how I had left my paperwork home but I was really interested in this particular car I had seen online. He said, "Well, how much did the internet say it was?" I said, "I don't recall the exact price but it was around $13,000." He said, "Well, that's the internet price and it isn't really the price once you add back in all the fees and incentives you don't qualify for." WHAT? Why did this man, who knows NOTHING about me, ASSUME that I could not qualify for any of the incentives? Because we were two gay women with a child? Because we were covered in dirt and hay from cutting down a Christmas tree? Because he assumed that I wanted the cheapest car and he wouldn't make any money off of it? All of those thoughts instantly went through my mind. And why would any business post a price online that they would not honor, regardless of incentives? Why would I want to do business with a company like that?" Kevin contacted me the next day and we did end up going back to his dealership as well as to three others. I did not purchase the car I test drove at his dealership because something didn't feel right with how the car rode when I took it for a ride. I had received an email from Heritage Hyundai in Towson, MD stating they would beat the deal from Jones (Kevin's Dealership) and to come in and meet with them. I had also received the same message from Thompsons Hyundai in Dundalk, Maryland. We went to both locations - which were out of our county and 30+ minutes out of our way - and had two salesmen who were okay. I had purchased my last two Hyundai's at Thompson's so I felt a sense of loyalty to them but Heritage said they would beat their best deal and I was not going to pay more money for the same car. Here is a link to the car I wanted at Thompsons: http://www.thompsonhyundai.com/new/Hyundai/2017-Hyundai-Elantra-Baltimore-6e4475d80a0e0ae8294096d13a839a76.htm If you look at the window sticker you can see it included a load of extras plus they were throwing in a 48 inch TV. I contacted Heritage who said "YESSSS!!!" (in email) they would beat their deal so we drove round trip of 1 1/2 hours home, picked up our 7 year old son from school so he could be excited with us and then drove back to them with my old Elantra. Well, we sat down and I wanted to finalize the price and he said "Oh, that isn't the on the road price!" I said, "I made it clear in our communication that it WAS the on the road price. I'm leaving." We all got up and he told us to sit down. We did but I was FURIOUS. He then asked me for the VIN number for my trade-in and I told him that I was not giving him my VIN number until we had settled on the price. He went and talked to his manager and then he came back and asked me where I had parked the car. I told him, he left and then I realized what he was doing - HE WAS GETTING MY VIN NUMBER HIMSELF. Phew, let me tell you I was livid. I marched out to that parking lot and gave him and his manager a piece of my mind. In retrospect, I should have left at that point. His manager apologized and threw out a number that was $100 less, on the road, than Thompsons had offered. The dealership was advertising a $500 visa gift card so I was satisfied that was a sufficient replacement for the TV that Thompson's was going to give me. I took a test drive and was happy with the car, although disappointed that they would not throw in the extras such as the Cargo net and floor mats that Thompsons had offered. But, I thought, with the $500 gift card, I could purchase new ones. The finance guy stopped by our salemans desk and dropped off a piece of paper. It said that we had WAIVED the gift card!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was FURIOUS but at this point, I knew they had me. They had already ran all our financials and we were just waiting to sign. I asked our salesman about it and he looked totally clueless - his MANAGER had put together the financial package and just handed it to him. He didn't know what to say except that if we didn't sign the paperwork, $500 would be added on to what we were financing. We signed it but I let him know I was NOT happy. They took us into the finance office where we were presented with a contract and they tried to upsell us on additional things. They said they had "thrown in" a 3 year oil change and tire rotation package but we could switch it out for the paint protection package since we didn't live in the area. We agreed and he printed out the contract and we looked at the price. It was almost $800 more than we had agreed on!!!!!!! I said, we are NOT signing this. My wife had already started to sign and I scribbled out her signature. The finance guy was stumbling all over himself and after a closer look I saw that they had charged us $780 for the paint protection!!!!!!!!!! I said, oh no you said you were switching this out. Well, after two more attempts he finally had the price down to where it was $23 more than we had agreed on but we were so exhausted we just wanted to leave and signed it. It took us two additional hours to get out of there and all I can say is it was the WORST experience I have ever had buying a car. The absolute worst. There was a long scratch on the hood which we had to have them buff out TWICE. The tires were inflated to 47!!!! If I hadn't seen that and one of them blew with my son and I in the car.....I can't even think about it..... I will never buy a car from Heritage Hyundai again. I contacted Hyundai (corporate) the next day to file a formal complaint and they said I needed to contact the dealership. I have spent the last three works trying to get someone from Heritage Hyundai to respond to me with NO RESPONSE. Three weeks.... Now, Hyundai is saying they need additional time to look into the issue. I'm done. I have been more than patient with them. I want the $500 gift card and the accessories to match the car from Thompson's. That's it. More

Overall Very Good, But Suggestion The experience was over all very good. Things were readily explained and clarified. I didn't feel that there was any underhandedness, only courtesy. I The experience was over all very good. Things were readily explained and clarified. I didn't feel that there was any underhandedness, only courtesy. Ibrahim was friendly, professional, accommodating, and expedient. When I went to make a down payment, my card was declined because I needed to have my limit raised by the bank. Unfortunately It was late and no one from the bank was available. The Manager, La Toya Fowlkes, had me try the card again just to be sure. Unbeknownst to her, this resulted in my card being locked out for 24 hours from the dealership. I said that I would raise my limit the next day and come back for the car, and I was told this wouldn't be a problem, as again the manager apparently didn't know of this security policy. I came back the next day and told my wife she could leave, thinking that I would be in and out in 15. I should preface what happened by saying that it had been in a long day and I wasn't in the best mood. This time I was dealing with Ty Pearmon. My card was declined again. I called my bank and they confirmed that the limit was raised. Ty called their financial associate and was told of the 24-hr lock out policy. I suggested that, in the future it would be wise to inform customers of this policy, especially if their card is declined once, so as to avoid the lockout on the second declination. He became somewhat defensive, even though I thought I made the suggestion very mildly. So I went to use my wife's card, thinking that the limit had been raised for the account. It hadn't, so my wife's card was declined once and I needed to cal the bank back and get the limit for her card raised, with a snarky remark from Ty about having just been through this with me (It was not made clear to me that the limit raise was at the card-level rather than the account-level and he may not have known that, I get it, but the remark pissed me off). The payment cleared and Ibrahim again helped me out with his signature courtesy and friendliness. Again, I wasn't in the best mood going in, I should have checked with my bank about my limit, and I don't need to be buttered up by people, but Ty was passive aggressive, and bordering on rude. It was later in the day and he may have been in a bad mood too, or maybe he's going through some stuff on the side, but that was my experience. IN SHORT - A SUGGESTION: Financial Managers should inform customers of the 2-decline 24-hr lockout policy, ESPECIALLY after one decline. I may be the only customer who was irresponsible and wasn't aware of their limit, but I have a hunch that this could slip the mind of others, especially after a long day. More