Here is my story, this is how the shady car dealerships got me.
I recieved a phone call late in the evening on December 14th, in response to an online inquiry I made. The individual named John, claimed that not only did they have the vehicle I was looking for (a 00' to 02' Ford Focus ZX3), put they could easily get me the financing I need. I returned his call, and I received the star treatment, and all my troubles were going to be taken care of, John requested information on my trade and said he would call me back with the final approvals. Shortly after our conversation I did recieve the call, and yes, the bank had approved the transaction and his manager agreed to pay off my current vehicle. This should have ended the story, but it goes on.
Since, I live in Eastern Washington, and Auto Town is in Milwaukee, Oregon, I wasn't in much of a hurry to drive 4 hours, so I wanted some hard numbers sent to my e-mail, describing the whole deal. John wasn't happy to do this, he just expected me to trust him (red flag), he said that it was against the law to send that information to me, that I needed to sign a disclaimer, which meant I needed to visit the dealership. Well I wasn't about to drive the 4 hours, and so I just let the conversation die.
A week later John calls back, "just wanting to stay in touch", I still had doubts (red flag), but he made me feel more comfortable about the deal, saying the banks have approved everything, all I need to d is come up and sign the paperwork, 20 minutes and I'm on my way. I decide to make the trip on December 30th.
I arrived on the Auto Town lot around 10 A.M. On Thursday, I look around and see the two vehicles that I'm "approved" to purchase. A salesman approaches me, asks if he can be of service, I claim that I have an appointment with John, he says that he'll get him. 10 minutes pass, I walk into the showroom, and the salesman states that John hasn't come in yet, can he help. I tell him what my intentions are, and what I have been promised, and he grabs his manager Bill. Bill states that the vehicle I was told that is was "approved" for, just wouldn't work, and that I needed to choose a different vehicle. This was pretty annoying, I wanted to speak with John, well Bill states that John has no authority to make deals, and that what he told me was flat out wrong. I had made this trip for nothing, they lied to me, just so I would come to their lot, and they could try the bullying tactic of getting me to buy one of their cars. I was not happy to have them verbally pushing me around, so I left the lot, I said if I can't have the car I came to purchase, then I didn't want anything. The manager Bill, told me to f%$k off, and to get the hell off his lot, which I did with a smile on my face.
Now the only rip off I walked away with was the loss of a day, I don't want anyone else getting duped by these folks, they can't be trusted, they will say anything to get you on their lot, then they'll force one of their shady salesman on you. Run, run as fast as you can.
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