Buying a Ford??? Stay away from Tusin Ford in the Tustin Auto Mall. This is an Auto Nation/Power Auto Group dealer. These people don't have the same values that a "family owned" dealership has.
My wife and I visited Tustin Ford a couple of weeks ago. We arrived around 6pm on a Saturday and were the only customer at the dealership. No one approached us, so we went inside and met one of the desk (sales) managers "Mike". He was busy playing a game on his PC. I told him that we wanted to test drive a 2004 Explorer because we were testing several "brands" over the weekend and would make our decision to purchase something the following Saturday. I had some newspaper ads with me and Mike told me that the ad expired "yesterday". I told him I wasn't looking to buy an ad vehicle, we simply wanted to test drive any Explorer.
Mike gets a lame salesman "Sergio" and he acted like we were a big bother and an inconvenience. With the rolling of his eyes and the look of disgust, I could tell that we were not going to be buying anything from these guys. Sergio tells a new, young kid to bring a vehicle around. They bring us a vehicle that is on fumes. No gas! He said, "is this okay"? I said no, I'm not going to drive a vehicle with no gas. His reply was, "well we can just take it around the block". The new kid offered to get another vehicle with gas but Sergio made it clear that we weren't going to drive anything if we were not going to purchase that day.
We went back into the showroom because I wanted to confirm that Mike didn't want to sell us a vehicle. He's got a big smirk on his face as did 2-3 salesman on the showroom floor. It was clear that we were being "mocked". I guess they felt that the joke was on us, albeit that they didn't sell us a vehicle. When I got back to our car, my wife says "I felt uncomfortable the minute we stepped on their lot." [There you go, don't ever under-estimate a woman's intuition! ] Boy was her intuition right. These guys at this dealership are a bunch of disrespectful bozo's.
On Thursday of the next week, we bought a new 2004 Nissan Pathfinder with a sticker of $31,150. I sent a letter describing the unpleasant experience that we had to the General Manger of Tustin Ford, Brian Wood, along with a copy of the Purchase Order on the new Nissan that we bought (just to let him know that he lost a serious and qualfied buyer and we weren't looking for the lowest price).
It's been over two weeks and I've never heard anything from Brian Wood so I'm assuming this behavior meets with his approval. So I took it to another level and sent a copy of my complaint letter to Ford Motor Corporation in Deerfield, Illinois and to Power Auto Group, aka Auto Nation in Florida, a couple of days ago. I'll keep everyone posted on any response that I get back. [I am positive that Ford will respond. I am very doubtful that Auto Nation/Power Auto Group will respond. Base on another experience with a Power dealership, I've learned that this outfit is "very high pressure" (especially in the Finance Dept.) and lack what I consider "basic human decency and morals".
Caution: All Power/Auto Nation dealers operate pretty much the same way and are like a predator: Advice: Find an independent, preferably a "family owned" dealership. The treatment that you get during the selling process will be worth it. They will also work harder to make you satisfied for the duration that you own your vehicle.
My wife and I love our new Nissan Pathfinder that we purchased at Buena Park Nissan. Jim Clark the assistant sales manager made the deal really easy. Good dealership, no games! The Power Auto Group has a Nissan dealership in Irvine where we live. We decided to drive to Buena Park and avoid any Power Auto dealership.
In closing: If you purchase a vehicle from any POWER dealership, do not come back to this website crying the blues. You have been warned. If you've already purchased a vehicle from Power, go ahead and reply on this site.
Don
Irvine, California
U.S.A.
0 comments