On July 3 my girlfriend and I went to Tempe Mitsubishi to take a look at the Mitsubishi product line. We made contact with Mike Pickering, one of the dealership's sales people who showed us a new 2003 full size Montero and was the last 2003 on the lot. We took the Motero for a drive and after finding the Montero to our liking, we all went inside to discuss the terms of the possible sale. As we sat there talking with Mike I noticed on the sales sheet something called a Vehicle Theft Registration fee of $187.75 and the usual documentary fee of $289.75. I explained to Mike that I thought the fees were BS and he explained that the store may give on the theft registration fee but not the doc fee. At that time a deal for the new Montero could not be struck do to the low figure they offered me for my trade in.
Just for everyone's information the vehicle theft registration fee is one of the scams car dealers use to make a lot of extra money on the sale of a car. Just like the extremely overpriced Desert Protection Package, pin striping, window tinting or like the one on my vehicle's dealer added window sticker, call get this, Tempe Mitsu Appearance Group costing $995.00, I believe this means they washed it. The $187.00 vehicle theft registration fee covers a three year period in which if your car is stolen and not recovered in 30 days and if you have your own insurance on the vehicle, some unknown company is suppose to give you up to $3000.00 as long as you follow all the conditions. Also a code number is etched into all of the vehicle's windows.
On July 7 I contacted Mike Pickering and a deal was struck over the phone for the Montero which I had test driven a few days earlier. During this contact with Mike the vehicle theft registration fee came up again and I was told by Mike that he had talked to his sales manager and the fee would not be included in the transaction. I told mike that I wanted him to call me back with all the details about the deal, such as the amount I was going to finance and the interest rate on the loan. Mike said he would have the finance guy call me with the information I wanted. A short time later I spoke to Mark Page, who is not a finance guy but one of the managers at the dealership. During my conversation over the phone to Mr. Page I was given the total price of the vehicle and the interest rate on the loan. I then asked Mr. Page about any additional fees on top of the normal documentation fee, which I would have to pay. Mr. Page said there were no additional fees. I told Mr. Page that I would drive down to the dealership later that afternoon to complete the sale.
At about 4:30 pm my kids and I arrived at the dealership, which is 45 miles away from our home. There I once again spoke to Mike our salesman and a short time later we all went to the finance office to conclude the deal. As I sat there with the finance guy I noticed listed on the sales sheet a vehicle theft registration fee of $187.75, the same fee that Mike and I had discussed and that was understood by both him and I that I would not be paying, the same additional fee which I had been told by Mark Page that I wouldnt be paying. When I brought this fee up to the finance guy's attention and explained to him that I was told that I would not have to pay it he told me he only does the financing and that I would have to go out on the floor and renegotiate the deal. I then spoke to Mike who then told me that he had already spoken to his manager earlier that day and the vehicle theft registration fee was not suppose to be on the sales contract. Mike said he would go talk with his manager and a few minutes later Mark Page walked in. I explained to Mr. Page that Mike had assured me that the fee wouldn't be included in the sale and that he himself had told me on the phone just a few hours earlier that there would be no addition fees. Mr. Page then said that the fee is included in all the vehicle sales and can not be removed. He then said if I didn't like the deal I could just forget about it and walk away. I then told Mr. Page that he had lied to me but I would pay the fee to conclude the deal and I would tell everyone how their dealership does business. Mr. Page then looked at me and said Let's not do the deal if you're going to have bad feeling about it. What nerve this guy has. He lies to me and somehow I'm a jerk for having bad feeling because his dealership is ripping me off! I paid the fee and concluded the deal because I had just driven all the way across town and wanted to drive back in a new car.
On July 10th I received another call from Mike. He told me that he had removed from my old vehicle a parking decal and that he would send it to me in case I needed to turn it in. He then mentioned that I would be receiving a survey in the mail from JD Power to fill out. Mike requested that instead of sending the survey back to JD Power I send it to Tempe Mitsubishi. He explained that the dealership just wanted to see how I rated my experience at the dealership and how I viewed him as a sales person. Mike even offered to fill up my gas tank or give me a free dash mat for my new vehicle, if I sent the survey back to them instead of JD Power. What do you want to bet that the survey would end up in the garbage and never would be sent to JD Power? Tempe Mitsubishi can shove their dash mat up their behind, I have every intention to tell JD Power what a crappy dealership this is.
The bottom line is this Tempe Mitsubishi flat out lied to me about the fees I would be paying. While some may argue that $187.00 isn't all that much money and I would agree, I just can't stand it when I'm flat out lied to. I do believe that Mike had no idea that I was going to be charged the rip off vehicle theft registration fee but Mark Page lied to me over the phone when I asked about the fee. I will never and would suggest to anyone to never purchase a vehicle from Tempe Mitsubishi.in my opinion they are lowlife crooks and the world will be a better place when they someday go out of business because of the way they do business.
Chris
Phoenix, Arizona
U.S.A.
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