We were looking for a new Altima Coupe, and contacted several dealers in our area. One of the first dealers to respond with a price was Nissan Of Elk Grove. Their price was much lower than other dealers, so I emailed back asking for them to verify the equipment in the Altima quote. I included a list of the equipment (same list that went out with my original email asking for a price), and asked if the Coupe was in his inventory right then. The Internet Guy came back with assurances that we were indeed talking about the same vehicle, and that it was on their lot at Elk Grove Nissan. He told me that these are hard to get cars, and that I was lucky to find my color and options at such a low price. I agreed (although knowing that there were several similar Altimas in the area), and made an appointment to come in with my wife in two days. He told me that he could not hold the vehicle, and that another store wanted him to trade them a different car for the Coupe I wanted. He said it would be best for me to put down a refundable deposit to hold the car unless I could come in right then to get it. After talking with my wife, we decided to go by and see the car, maybe drive it, and if everything was right, buy it right then. When we got there, a greasy guy that smelled like cigarettes greeted us with the opening line, "Ready to get out of that junker?" Unfortunately for him, we were not trading my wife's car and were offended by the assertion that our beloved Vovlo (a 2002 with 48k miles, by the way) was a "junker". We blew him off and asked for the Internet Guy (who we were swapping emails with) to take a test drive. Cigarette Guy mumbled something and sauntered off, presumably to fetch the Internet Guy. My wife suggested we walk the lot while we waited for him, and see if we could find that car. No luck. When we asked a salesman in the back of the lot (New Guy) about the Altima Coupes, he walked us straight to them, and pointed out that the options and color we wanted (and got a price on) was not on their lot at all. Just then the Sales Floor Manager came out and told us the Internet Guy was gone for the day, but that Cigarette Guy would be happy to help us. We felt much more comfortable with New Guy, so we told the manager that we would be happy to work with him, but that our car was not there anyway. He said, "Your car? These are MY cars. If you want it to be your car, you have to drive it first." I chuckled thinking he was joking, but he was serious. Then I told him that we were working with Internet Guy and had a price and a car that is not there, and he said, "Oh, you're internet?" And then he just walked away. We chased him down to ask about the options and price we were quoted, and he spun around and puffed out his chest. "Do you want the price you want, or the options you want. Because you can't get both. Unless you want used. For New at that price, these are ones you can have, " he said, waiving his hand towards the cars we had just seen. We left immediately, confused and annoyed, got home and sent an email to Internet Guy. He responded back immediately by phone. He claimed that he had been in the store all afternoon, and that no one had contacted him to let him know that we were there. I mentioned the options/price debacle and he told me that he had meant to tell us that the car would be traded FROM another dealer not TO another dealer. We complained about the manager, and he told us that we were not the first people to be treated like that. He wouldn't tell me where the car was, so we called Nissan corporation to help us find the car. They sent us to a different dealer who had our car on his lot. We bought the car that day, for more than Elk Gross Nissan quoted, but MUCH less stress and zero run-around. No one should be treated like that, I spent alot of money on that car and expect to treated fairly and respectfully. I wrote a letter to the owner and send a copy addressed to the Sales Floor Manager, no response. Well, that's not true, we still get junk mail and spam from them all the time...
Brad xxxx
Felton, California
U.S.A.
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