On June 11 I took my daughter-in-law to North Texas Nissan to help her and my son get a car. We were greeted as we pulled in by a salesman by the name of Darryl Minor. We told him we were looking for a Van. A 2004 Dodge Caravan had just been traded in. It hadn't even been cleaned up yet. It is a nice car and we liked it and went inside to make a deal.
First of all Darryl told us that there was no way they could go down on the $19,000. Sticker price since it had just come in. Sally really wanted the Van, so we purchased it for the sticker price.
I had mentioned to Darryl that I was planning to move to Hawaii, and was planning on purchasing a Frontier, four wheel drive, as I would need it for the road to the house. I told him that my plan was to pay cash for the Frontier when I got it. He told me I could get so much better of a deal if I purchased the truck here, even including the shipping costs to get it to Hawaii.
He started trying to talk me into buying it then, and told me Never pay cash for a car. Save your cash! He then told me that I could lease the Frontier, and it would be like an interest free loan.
I told him that I wanted to own a truck, not rent one. He said it was the same as buying and that at any given time I could purchase the truck. I asked him what happens at the end of the lease and he told me for a small fee that the truck would be mine.
He asked me what color I wanted and the next thing I knew we were going on a test drive in a red Frontier. Sally and I sat in the front and Darryl sat in the back. Sally pulled the sticker out of the glove box and it was $22,430.
I made a face and Darryl said that's before we negotiate. When we got back inside Darryl said he would give me $6,000. For my 2001 Sentra, which by the way I purchased from North Texas Nissan in October.
Then after we started to negotiate the lease, he informed me that because it was a lease we would not be able to negotiate the price. (That's when I should have walked.) So, I think that I'm paying $22,430 and I'm immediately subtracting $6000 for my car and that comes to $16430. And that seems ok to me. Then he offers me $1900 in cash, and I refuse, but he comes back and says it only makes a $20 difference in the payment and I should take the money, and I did.
Now in my head I think I'm paying $17900. When we went to the finance office I have to admit I felt rather confused about the lease and I asked Richard Ware some of the same questions that I asked Darryl and Richard deceived me also.
He didn't mention the $9,000 at the end of the lease and I never saw that on paper while I was in his office. He told me that it was an interest free loan and I said over and over, Sally be my witness, that I did not understand the lease because I wanted to own a truck not rent one.
I told him I was confused. He was very fast talking and changed the subject to all of my questions. He told me that I could pay off the truck anytime I choose too.
He forgot to tell me that when I did, I would be paying double taxes on it. This is called Deceptive Trade. They both lied over and over to me. The worst is yet to come.
It was not until I got home that I found out that I paid $25700, instead of $22430. $25700 was the price before they added on every single optional fee that they could.
Richard had explained the extended warranty to us while we were purchasing the Van. He did not repeat it when I was leasing the truck and I assumed the price was the same and decided that I would spend the extra $900 and go ahead with it. It wasn't $900, it was $4024 with the maintenance. These figures were not shown to me. I never saw them. They were never said out loud.
By the time the optional tax fee and the $550 accusation fee were added on and all of the taxes, which by the way were not the same as on the purchase sheet, the price was up to $31800 before they subtracted the $4100 for my trade-in.
If I had seen that price while in the dealership I guarantee that I would never have gone for it. My copy of the lease is not signed or initialed.
When I drove off of the parking lot at North Texas Nissan I thought I was driving a 4 wheel drive pick-up. I have never owned a pick-up and must admit that I know little about them. I have never owned a 4 wheel drive and know little about that either.
My son informed me that it wasn't a 4 wheel drive and sure enough it wasn't. My daughter and her husband have gone to the Maui dealership and have been quoted $22,320. For the same truck I have, so Darryl was wrong that I could get it cheaper in Texas that Hawaii.
My friends have called the dealership and asked if leases are price negotiable and they are. So that was a lie. I sent an email under my maiden name and was quoted $6000 less than I paid. I realize that internet Joe Smo gets a better deal that a three time in four year buyer, but for the life of me I don't understand that. That's not honoring your customers.
I went to the dealership and asked that the maintenance and extended warranty be removed and told them I was going to pay off the truck and they told me I had to wait until the license and registration were in before I could remove them, or pay off the truck.
I started calling the Nissan Infinity number every day or so to see if those two items had been removed. One day when I called the balance had actually gone up $175, and no-one has explained that to me even though I have called Nissan Infinity and they told me to call the dealership and the dealership told me to call them. No-one bothered themselves with it to this day. It really doesn't matter to them. None of this does.
Since that time I have called and it appears that they are adding $179 a month to the balance. I have talked to Sean Hodges in finance and told him that Richard and Darryl were not honest with me, and he said, yes they were. He said Richard told him it was all as it was supposed to be. Sally and I don't think it was very honest.
I went in person to meet with Sean and basically what he said is we're right and you're wrong. When I told him my copy of the lease wasn't even signed, he assured me that no-one signs leases, and that their copy is initialed. He also told me that they add $3000 to every sticker price and that mine had been torn off.
I told him I could have gone to Bankston Nissan in Lewisville and I would have saved thousands of dollars. His answer was that was the difference between shopping at K-mart and Foleys, North Texas Nissan being Foleys. (Same Truck)
I have written to Johnny Cantrell and never heard from him. I think he asked Sean to deal with it. Sean had absolutely no customer service skills. When I met with Sean he mentioned my son, Nathan who works in the parts dept at North Texas Nissan. I asked him to leave him out of it, as he had nothing to do with it and he likes his job.
I spoke with Dale Walker from Nissan Infinity and told him I was mad enough to call Channel 8 news. Chris Kohl pushed my son into a room and threatened his job if I did. That is illegal.
I have filed a complaint with the BBB, and Chris Tatum waved it in Nathan's face and told him to make this go away. And you probably wont be surprised to know that they haven't even responded to me about the BBB complaint.
I have added up the lease sheet many times and all of the math is wrong and none of it is wrong in my favor.
I have paid 5 payments. I got a letter 5 that the maintenance and extended warranty should come off the balance soon. The payoff is still 23300, and then of course I will have to pay the double taxes.
Although they took the $4024. Off the balacne they didn't lower my payments or the lenght of my payments so it didn't really come off. My 2001 Sentra got swallowed up in the deal. It was a total loss.
I have not studied the contract I made with the Van. To tell you the truth I'm afraid to look at it because I'm sure it's also deceptive. I know that I was charged $399 for the Tire Xam and it is not on the van. They also charged $500 for Uniseal and Security Guard on the Van and since it had just arrived on the lot before I did, I'm sure that isn't on there either. They didn't have time to do all of that. So I know those are fraudulent charges.
The last thing I want to say is that I was honest with Darryl about my intentions. Sally could not qualify for a loan so the Van is in my name. The Kelly Blue Book on the car was $21860, an that is what consumers are paying.
I apologize for the length of this letter. There was a lot to say and I have to get it off my chest. I think that you should be aware of the deceptive trade that is happening here in Denton, Texas @ North Texas Nissan.
Shoshanna
Denton, Texas
U.S.A.
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