Bad Dealership experience

Zaku

Hi I was just wondering if there is a thread to report bad dealerships here. So that we can stay away from them and their bad services. I was searching and I didn't see anything so I wasn't sure. So I guess I want to post my experience here.

So Today I had a very bad experience with a bad Nissan dealership here in Rockville,MD. Yesterday as I was searching for 370z I went to the nearest Nissan dealer which is Rockville, here in my home town. I saw 4 Z cars in the lot, after looking online in dealer inventory. I didn't have a lot of time since I had to get to work so I just looked at them quickly. Today I called the dealership to arrange a test drive for tomorrow. As soon as I got in touch with a sales I asked about scheduling a test drive. The sales immediately told me that he didn't have any 370z for test drive. he only had one in the show room and he wasn't going to let me test drive it. I asked if it was for sale and he goes the showroom car is not. I'm guessing that's a valid answer, but I continued and told him, I saw 4 Z cars in the lot and they didn't seem to be marked, or have anything that indicated that they were for other customers. I then told him I would call at a later time when he got more into inventory. Since the dealer is 7 mins away I drove there after work, Im in a pretty respectable attire.

And I went up to look at a Silver Z inside the showroom. I looked around for help and no one wanted to help me. Maybe it's because I'm young and that the fact that I had a respectable amount of Down money that didn't catch their attention. So On my ways out I see this sales person with an Older gentleman he must be about 50 looking at a Z. If I don't have to I never want to give these guys any business. I made a call to another place 10 miles away and they just got in more Z the sales was very nice and wanted to even come in on his day off tomorrow to take me on a test drive. I can't believe they are places like this Nissan dealer in Rockville, In this bad economy. Do they Not wanna sell cars?

kroze

probably because they know you're not going to have the money to buy it.

FricFrac

Had the exact same experience with a few dealerships. I was happy to not give them my money and instead I went with King George Nissan in White Rock - they gave me the service and I gave them my money....

__________________
'09 370Z - '93 300ZX Vert - '83 280ZX - '83 280ZXT -'81 280ZXT stroker - '72 240Z - Stillen CBE, HFC, G3, Grounding Kit, Sways // Swift Spring // H&R 15mm // 5% Tint // Clear Bra //

jginnane

All dealerships are desperate for customers. But they will also instantly "qualify" you based on age, dress, car you drive in, etc.

They also pay a lot of money for leads.

That's why you should use a quote/referral system to make your initial contact. This means you're actually shopping comparative price -- and the dealership pays the referral both for the initial contact and if a sale ensues.

So, using this hypothetical... get the overstock price and it's probably a dealer 50 miles away. Call up the dealership near you, get a contact in Sales (specifically the "Internet manager") and say -- "I've got this price $x at Overstock.com. Are you price matching other dealers?" And then refer to a specific car you saw in his inventory listing, via nissanusa.com.

At that point you're set for at least a prepped test drive.

Make sure you dress three classes better than you're used to, and bring a high-end GF who will act bored and, on your cue, say she "wants to wait in the car". Do not surrender keys or license, etc. to the salesman for any reason, like "looking at your trade-in" at the initial meeting / test drive. And know what kind of outside auto loan rate you can get before going in there.

The salesman will follow up with you in a day or three with some invented excuse, and at that point you can begin to negotiate. But it's better to play him off against another dealer in town, so you really need to go to a few showrooms.

Good luck!

fly yellow

You are in my neck of the woods, so I can reccomend some places. I bought my Z from Tischer in Laurel. It was the 3rd car I have bought from them, and they are always good with price. I really like Sheehy in Glen Burnie, but if you go there you have to really know what you should be paying for the car. They offer a "Sheehy Markdown", that they put on the window hoping people will jump on it without haggling. They will go lower than the markdown. If you go to Sheehy ask for a guy named Chris Zook. He is a young guy, and he is a huge Nissan enthusiast. He actually knows a lot about the cars he is selling, and I don't think he will judge you based on your age. I would have liked to have bought from Sheehy again, but they just didn't have the right combination.

__________________
A severed foot is the ultimate stocking stuffer. Mitch Hedberg

kannibul

The main point you learned here is that some dealers want to make sales. Others don't.

Go to the ones that want to make the sale, give you the best deal, and treat you like an old friend...

The first dealer I went to, didn't give two ***** about me, the fact I already had gone through getting financed and was ready to buy *today* for invoice.

A while later they come back with a price, that's not invoice. I thanked them for spending a lot of my time, told them to call my cell number if they change their mind, and that I was going to go to the next dealer on my list.

That happened, and an hour later I was signing papers at the next dealership.

I've thought about driving over to the other dealer and telling them they f'd up, but why bother...

Zaku

Hey guys I just went to Criswell in Germantown.MD and they gave me such a great experience. They let me try 3 different Z and the salesman that I had came in just to help me on his Day off. This dealer had plenty of Z in stock. It was awesome to finally try the Z, and they were cool with the fact that I didn't want to buy any of the ones on the lot because they only have the kind of configuration is want In Red. I want White, but would settle for Silver. They told me to take sometime to think about what I really want, they wouldn't mind ordering for me or selling off the Red on to me at a close to invoice price. I need sometime to think about it, but definitely I know what Kinda Z i want which is a base 370z with 7 speed Auto in White or Silver. and I wlll get it here at Germantown. The Rockville guys were really bad, they gave my friend who bought her 350Z recently a really bad time. They tried to sell her a base model for 40K wtf. I don't want anyone to go to Rockville Darcars and get a bad Exp. Please drive alittle further to Criswell in Germantown.

Now I gotta think....do I just want to buy the Red or get what I initially want.

Tius

i feel your pain. i recently went through some similar experiences in buying my z. being young doesn't help. just get your finances ready and probably best to contact via email/online and have them negotiate against other dealers in town. either that or go through the vpp program.

frost

jginnane

No one can change your mind, but as owner of a pearl white, I've already said my next is red. All the bugs that mash up on the front bumper have a little drop of someone's red blood in them, and since the snout is so blunt, you get a LOT of bugs.

Zaku

Fact is red is my favoite color, but It would be bad because I don't have a garage or shade to park it in, btw the dealer offered for the red one with like 4 miles on it for 31500, is that a pretty good deal? the car was 33000. keep in mind it doesn't have a thing but wheel locks, but I might just over look the color if that's a good price because, I don't think they can offer that for something they have to order. you know that Z looks really nice in Silver....I can't decide...

FricFrac

Just my 2 cents and everyone has a completely different opinion but....

I really think (the really is suppose to make the comentary that much more important right ;P) that the white/black/silver really washes the lines of the car out. This car really is jaw dropping - at least in my city there are non-stop comments and complements even getting pedestrians stoping to talk to me at intersections and cross walks. People see the lines of the car and are really blown away.

The other thing is white/black/silver is the colour of every third car on the street. There are some other muted blue/green, etc but not many with the vibrant colours Nissan is using on this car. On of the Chevy dealership owners commented that the Blue looked like a Japanese Anime colour and that most vehicles would have a tough time pulling that colour off but it looked great on the 370Z....

I'd go with the Red even though that is a very common sports car colour it still looks super sharp - that's why its so popular. I doubt red would be any worse than the other colour sitting outside if you take care of it. Yellow is going to be very rare and unique as well since this is the only year with the yellow....

__________________
'09 370Z - '93 300ZX Vert - '83 280ZX - '83 280ZXT -'81 280ZXT stroker - '72 240Z - Stillen CBE, HFC, G3, Grounding Kit, Sways // Swift Spring // H&R 15mm // 5% Tint // Clear Bra //

fly yellow

Tell them you will take the red for 31,000.

__________________
A severed foot is the ultimate stocking stuffer. Mitch Hedberg

Zaku

If Invoice is 29something I should shoot for 31000? or even less? I dunno I feel that 31500 seem fair for them but not really me, because well there's nothing on the darn car it's the most basic Z I can get, it has the wheel locks that's it. And I like the most basic Z. I'm just not too sure about the red it isn't the nicest shade of red that I like either. But hey it's a Z and if I can get it for a good price why not? yeahh... they also had a yellow of the same config in manual that they would sell me for 32000, I dunno why it's 500 more dollars that one doesn't even have wheel locks. So what price is good to shoot for?Keep in mind that this is my second dealer, shouldI try another? even if I had such a great experience here?

fly yellow

Whoa, I didn't know the invoice was below 30K, but their prices are a little high. The yellow is a $500 option.
You should not pay more than $500 over invoice, but invoice on a base Z with automatic is like $30,300 on a manual it is like $29,700. Do you want a manual or an auto? If you feel like making the drive to Whitemarsh (just north of Bmore) then here are a couple options for you in different colors. If you don't want to make the drive then print out these pages and get your dealer to match the price. Most will do that.

Silver manual for 30K
2009 Nissan 370Z in White Marsh, MD- 5810235 at carmax.com

silver auto base with sport for 33K
2009 Nissan 370Z in White Marsh, MD- 5810235 at carmax.com

blue base with auto for $30,500
2009 Nissan 370Z in White Marsh, MD- 5982718 at carmax.com

__________________
A severed foot is the ultimate stocking stuffer. Mitch Hedberg