Buyer Beware! - roadrunner51
My wife and I visited this dealership a couple of weeks ago to look at a 2001 Ford Explorer Sport. I was looking to arrange a smaller monthly payment. When we got there I assumed we were the only customers there since about six or seven guys were standing in a group laughing and joking with each other. When we drove up, it was like who's going to get this guy first! Reminded me of a bunch of buzzards trying to get some road kill. Tom was the lucky (?) one to be our salesman. He was a pleasant, past middle age guy who seemed like he really was out of place. He was nice, courteous, and somewhat knowledgeable about the vehicle. It had about 43,000 more miles than mine, but he told me they were highway miles and the car had been owned by one person its entire life. Very strange, because the Carfax I had pulled on it and had in my pocket stated several different owners. I should have called his bluff right then, but I let it slide. Wrong, give a used car salesman an inch and he'll take you to the cleaners! He told us to test drive it on the road next to the dealership which went in a big circle, I think. The only problem was that the speed limit was either 25 or 35 mph and there were speed bumps everywhere! I never got out of third gear the entire time! When we got back I told him we hadn't eaten since breakfast (it was about 3 pm) and could we drive it down the road to get something to eat? He checked with the sales manager and it was ok. Grabbed a quick lunch and took off on the Mark Clark to air it out. It really would run with the 4.0 V6 and shifted very well, too. I liked the vehicle even though there was a big mileage discrepancy and it was seven years older. It had a lot of options that mine didn't also. We got back and after about an hour had reached a good deal-$8000 trade-in for mine (payoff was $7250) and price of $6000 for the Ford Explorer Sport. Next we had to go to Palmetto Ford next door to finalize the deal. The longer we sat there, the more nervous Tom, our salesman looked. He was called into an office while we continued to wait. He finally came back and told us that W**** F**** wanted $3000 down. I knew this was a lie because I had financed three other vehicles over the years with them. Even though I was a little upside-down on the loan, I had been more upside down on one of the others. I had my last statement with me, so I told Tom we(my wife and I) needed to step outside to discuss it. She gave me her cell, I called W-F, gave them my account info, and explained the situation to them. The rep. said that was not true, they did not require a downpayment. Their policy was to add negative equity or a required trade-in deposit to the balance of the new loan. I knew Tom had lied to us, but I needed to check to make sure. We went back and told him that we didn't have anywhere near that to put down. Back he went to the office. He came back and asked how much we could put down because the bank (W-F) required something down. He said his sales manager had just spoken with them. I told him that we knew he was lying because we had called them and talked with them when we stepped outside, and they told us they DID NOT require a downpayment or any money down! He looked like a kid who had been caught with his hand in the cookie jar! Since I had somehow managed to get our keys back, I told him he could take it and shove it right up his a$$! And we left. And that's the end of that story. So if you need a good used car and decide to visit to Mama's, remember it's at your own risk!
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