I'm writing this review to give potential patrons a heads - r1status
I'm writing this review to give potential patrons a heads up regarding the vehicle buying experience. Although I'm rating my review for this dealership as neutral (3 out of 5 stars), I'm still recommending this dealership for anyone looking to buy a vehicle.
I'll start with the negatives first, and it's down to the numbers on the sales contract. Please note that I had an exceptional experience with my sales guy (Baldwin), but with his relax and cool demeanor - they still deceptively take advantage of the customer. I'm not complaining because I'm happy with the purchase, but as a patron of this establishment, they are not transparent.
One reason is that I'm currently in a Ford lease, and wanted to trade in the vehicle halfway through the agreement (I still had 17 months left). Whether it's to pay the remaining payments, or the dealership buying out my lease from Ford - I am well aware I'm upside down.
The problem I have is that the dealership presented 2 different numbers when it came to buying out my vehicle: First number is my buyout price, and second number is higher price (for the dealership to buyout). This is not true. In fact, I caught it in the finance office when signing paperwork, but when speaking to the Finance person, she lied so I didn't even bother calling her out on the lie.
There's a piece of paper (keep in mind they are quick to have you sign papers) that I signed that shows what the dealership with payoff my vehicle (and it's to the lower price).
The reason they say it's higher for them is because they sucker the customer to adding "TripleCare" (which is a $1400 charge). I did ask her about this, and again her response was vague. She doesn't even explain what it is, or what benefit.
The vehicle I purchased was a used Nissan Truck, and TripleCare is warranty coverage provided by Ford (for windshield chips, curb rash, etc.). It's useless, and this is how the dealership tried to discretely slide it in the deal.
Besides that, they made me review and sign the Carfax. Although the details are fine, it reflects that the dealership "replaced all 4 tires." Unsure if they replaced with new and/or used tires, but...
(1) The rear tires are well used and have maybe less than 40% life left; there are aged cracks on it.
(2) The driver front tire is brand new, but they replaced with a different model tire (the rest are Dynapro HT, while this brand new tire is Dynapro HT2).
(3) The passenger front tire is semi new, with maybe 70% life left.
It's deceptive to say that all 4 tires were replaced, where me as a patron would think that it's 4 brand new MATCHING tires.
Now I'm pivoting to the positive (and the reason why I recommend the dealership). My salesperson (Baldwin) provided an excellent car buying experience. It's easy to talk to him, he knows his stuff, but don't fully fall for tactics. It's actually easy to work with him, but please note the dealership still needs to make their profit.
Would I purchase from this dealership again? I think I'm done with Fords, but if there's a good deal on a used vehicle, then most likely. They say they don't do addendums or markups (besides specialty vehicles), but that TripleCare warranty was technically an addendum since they discretely factored it in the deal (as a markup applied coming from my trade).
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