To start, they tell you on the phone that there is no money down, they do tell you that you are responsible for tax, tag, title and assorted fees, but they do NOT tell you that it is required up front! That amount for us came to over $1200!!! They gave you 30 days but in that 30 days you also have your first car payment! If they are trying to rebuild credit, they are asking a lot more money in the first 30 days then other places offering similar services!
When discussing the cars we were looking for, I stated that with our needs a PT Cruiser seems to fit our life perfectly. They offered an HHR, however I stated a dislike for an HHR as they are, last I saw them, boxy. The salesman spent almost a half hour ARGUING with me about my PREFERENCES and the reasons for them!
We head for the lot and passed the HHR sitting in the 'sold' section, I commented that it was boxy and ugly, to me. We move on to the rest of the lot and without him pointing it out to me, I spy the HHR and realize that they have changed their design and commented that I liked it! The rest of the evening (which btw encompassed a total of 6 hours of our time), he continued to poke fun at me changing my mind. I was embarrassed and felt diminished. I tried to hint that I was not happy with it, by saying if he didn't stop I'd get the other vehicle, he said that would just be spite and we won't do that! I was not happy!
So we get it settled on the car, work out the payment plan and are trying to arrange a time to get the insurance so we can get the vehicle. He said they had an insurance guy there that might be able to work with us. So we let him run the numbers.
The snobby insurance man came back with a very high down and high monthly, we said we couldn't manage that and that I had estimates of far less on the insurance, the guy The guy argued my ability to get a lower insurance as the HHR will be much higher. I let it go but was thinking they went to such pains to tell me they were the same vehicle, how could insurance be THAT much of a difference. Also, they will not let you use a particular, WELL KNOWN insurance company, (is that even legal as long as it has the proper coverage?)
after a private discussion we decided we could do their insurance.
BEFORE we let them know we were done, a supervisor barged in and laid out a scenario where we could do the contract that night and return with the insurance info the next day we were able to and get the car then. We informed him that we had determined to use their insurance after all and we proceeded to work on the contract.
I handed the insurance guy my card but he returned shortly saying it was declined. I jumped on my phone to find out why and found that my bank was down for maintenance. We would have to go to the supervisor's suggestion of writing the contract that night and returning on Sat for the car. The salesman hemmed and hawed and basically said they would not be doing that after all. We asked why and he just kept dodging the questions saying they couldn't do it. We reiterated that it was his boss' suggestion to do it that way. He would not relent.
We asked for the manager that had made that suggestion, he came in and said they would not write the contract that night, We reminded him that THIS was his idea. He then basically said that since my card was declined and we did not have the cash to do the insurance or the initial payment they would not write the contract that night and the car would likely be sold before Saturday. He did not care that it was his suggestion to do it this way initially.
They have a strange service policy where if you bring it in for service they do not offer rental or loaner and if it needs to remain overnight and you choose not to leave it they will charge you a rescheduling fee!
All in all we found the experience demeaning, humiliating, and without merit. We found the staff pushy, unreliable, stuck up and overall unpleasant. Sadly, their program has merit, their operations and manners do not!
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