May 2023 by Shane P.
Went to see a car listed on CarGurus for 7995, I liked it and confirmed the price as "$8000" with a salesperson. The next day I went back to start the purchase process. I returned the third day having obtained insurance and other records. When I arrived the female manager told me they were "giving" me the extended warranty. When I read the contracts there was a line item for $2,000 for the extended warranty and the price of the vehicle was now $10,800 making my $7,995 car $12,800. I said "who asked for the extended warranty?" She told me "The finance company requires it because it's an older vehicle, and they find that when people are paying for repairs, they don't make payments" I said "Ok that's the most absurd thing I've ever heard, but let's table that for the moment, let's move to the price". They looked confused, they said "the price was $11,500 we knocked it down to $10,800 for you" They showed me on online listing for $11,500. I pointed to the salesman who I had seen 2 days earlier and confirmed the price with and he looked like a deer in the headlights and kept his head down mostly. I went outside to clear my head. I went into my email and found the actual listing for $7995. Then I called the finance company who told me that they would not require someone to purchase an extended warranty. I put the finance company on speakerphone and went back into the dealership. "The manager went into the bosses glass walled office for 2 seconds and came back out and said to me "Oh, you're right they don't require the extended warranty on THAT vehicle". I said "no, no.... They don't require it on ANY vehicle so let's not do that". Then I pulled up the actual listing on my phone for $7,995 and presented that. I really needed the vehicle or else I would have just walked out in the first 2 minutes. Finally, they removed the $2000 extended warranty and changed the price back to $7,995. I'd say if you wanna buy a car here, just be careful and don't let them bully you. If you want to buy a car there, let me know and I'll go with you. This place is why car lots will soon be a thing of the past and online models like Carvana, and Carmax, along with independent car brokers will be the norm sooner rather than later. One star here is ok, because I do like the car. The front headlight is out which they offered to fix, but, how do you sell a car with a headlight out ? Whacky stuff. At the end of the day I got what I wanted. Here's the thing though, which they will never understand unfortunately, I brought someone with me that day, who is looking to purchase a used car for their 16 year old son. When we walked in, he picked up a business card, when All this was going down, he put the business card back!! See, if you just operate honestly, your business will grow, when you don't, it shrinks... that's just the facts. They effectively turned 2 repeat customers into 0 repeat customers in one hour. I hope someone there learns this lesson at some point. Also, if you just put the price of the car on the vehicle while it's on the lot... but they don't so they can manipulate the price whenever they feel like it.
