This review is specific to Reliable Chevrolet in Richardson Texas.
Dishonesty 1, bait and switch:
I contacted my credit union and was pre-approved for an auto loan. I was told that all I needed to do was pick out a car and have the deal fax the purchase order to my credit union. I checked the credit union's web site and found a vehicle that I liked at a decent price, so I went to Reliable Chevrolet to test drive it. When I showed up, they told me that they had already sold the vehicle I wanted, but perhaps they could show me other similar vehicles. I checked over the next several days and sure enough, they did not remove the sold vehicle.
Dishonesty 2, credit union price:
I looked at a few of the "similar" offerings and I only liked one, so I test drove it. I liked the vehicle, so I asked how much it was. I was told that he couldn't tell me that until we ran a credit check and got me approved. I told him that I was pre-approved through my credit union. (Then I wondered, even if I wasn't pre-approved, shouldn't the vehicle should still have a set price?) Over the next two hours we went back and forth with me refusing to give my credit information while he kept playing that game where he needed to check something with his manager (he went and sat in the manager's office for 10-20 minutes each time - the walls are glass) and finally he had a price. He made a big production about how sweet of a deal this was and how I was going to be shocked by how low the price was. He showed me a paper that said the Blue Book value was $22500, then said the Reliable Chevrolet price was ONLY $17500! Wow! I told him several times during this 2 hours that I needed to get back to work. He kept saying that he wanted to talk to his manager again and kept lowering the price, eventually coming down to $14500..."and that's GM Certified, with a 12 mnonth, 12,000 mile warranty!" he said as he wrote CERTIFIED in big black letters on the offer sheet. It got to the point where I had to be more forcefull and say "I REALLY want to think about it, can I please have my keys back so I can get back to work?" (He had taken my keys earlier to get my trade-in appraised and was holding them through this whole ordeal). When I got back to work, I went to my credit union's web site and the car was listed at $14995, NOT $17500.
Dishonesty 3, warranty:
The next day, I printed out the credit union page which listed the vehicle, (including the VIN) and drove to Reliable Chevrolet to ask why they said they were practically giving the vehicle away at $17500 when the price listed on my credit union web site was $14995? I told them I would do the deal for 14000. They played the "let me talk to my manager" game a couple more times, then came back and said, "He'll do the deal for $14250". I said ok, I'm not going to haggle for the next 5 hours over $250, so I agreed and the manager and I both initialed the offer sheet. Then the salesman goes to the manager's office for a while and when he came back, he said, "You know that price is not Certified, right?" And I said, "No, it says "CERTIFIED" in big black letters on that sheet we both initialed. So the salesman turned and went back into the sales manager's office. Eventually he came back with "No warranty" sheets, so I left. The salesman called me back about 4 hours later and said that there was a misunderstanding about the waranty and that I would be getting the 12 months/12,000 miles.
Dishonesty 4, financing:
I made it clear from the start that I had been pre-approved by my credit union and I wanted to use them. I didn't want to use anyone else, and I didn't want Reliable to even run my credit because I don't want unnecessary inquiries on my credit report. Nevertheless, the man in the business office at Reliable Chevrolet - after I expressly forbid him to run my credit and get a rate through anyone else - ran it anyway. He tried to sell me about 6 different services and which I declined. He did the paperwork, and I was looking at the dollar amounts and the interest rate, I wasn't looking at the lender name because like I said, I made it abundantly clear that I ONLY wanted to use my credit union. Well, I got my paperwork in the mail Saturday and then lender was NOT my credit union. Even though the other finance company gave me the same rate and the same terms, I don't care, Reliable Chevrolet has no right to change my lender!
In the end, I am happy with the car I got for the price I fought for, but their actions were annoying, deceitful and possibly illegal.
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