I contacted Cookeville Honda via phone about inexpensive truck for sale. Salesperson Braden was nice enough to send photos of truck in question. He asked me to call him when I received photos via my phone. I liked what I saw and called Braden. He asked what I would be willing to pay $2,000.00 out the door was the reply. Braden told me that should be no problem. My reply was I would call him in the afternoon when I knew when we would be able to come get the truck. Braden replied that he would wait for the call and verify the $2,000.00 out the door sales amount. Our call in the afternoon culminated with the $2,000.00 out the door price verification and that we would be there in the morning. I called Braden in the morning to let him know we were on the way and verify the price. Again I was told the out the door price was $2,000.00 When we arrived the truck was running and we drove it. I agreed that I would buy the truck. That is when the problem arose.
Instead of handing me paperwork to sign I was informed that he had to get the paperwork approved. He came back with this reply; we had to pay for a battery and they would fill the tank up with enough gas to get me home for an additional $300.00. When I told Braden that we made a deal for $2,000.00 not $2,300.00 he told me that we just needed to discuss it and everything would be alright. The excuse was the bad battery took them by surprise and they had to charge for it. Then the BS began Braden went to his boss making us wait for him to come back with another offer. I left never to come back again. The bottom line is I verified three times the out the door price. I did not come to spend the day making counteroffers. Why is it my responsibility to provide a battery all vehicles have batteries don't they? A $250.00 battery for a Chevy Truck seems a bit pricey anyway.
Yes someone did try to stop me as I was leaving to make a counteroffer. I was so mad I was concerned that I would so something I would regret. My anger was for the dealership and myself for even thinking a dealership would be a straight shooter. Braden did attempt to call me a couple of times saying first that the OTD price would be $2000.00 and the paperwork would be done in 15 minutes. When I did not reply immediately Braden sent another reply with an out the door price of $1,850.00. I was done at that point.
I am fully aware that this truck is a wholesale piece and how that works. I would surmise from my prior dealership experiences as a service manager that there was pure profit in the truck deal. I understand that businesses make money. Why is it so important to screw with people? When your dealership representative says they will sell a vehicle at a certain price why is that it must be challenged? I really was not surprised at the way the dealership handled this.
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