Kaj L.
Yelp
no.
just.
nope.
just go to an actual dealership.
so i saw a few bad reviews before going here, and the few good reviews i saw were mostly 'great service!!' or 'excellent car!!' which i kinda suspect if they were written by the people who work there themselves but...anyways before i went i emailed them about an suv since i live a bit away from the dealership. in reply they sent me a copy and pasted paragraph of, please stop by during business hours, etc. ok...? thanks? i asked specific questions and their idea of communication was to give me info i already found on the website, and they were rather brusque about it, as if how dare i inconvenience them with an email. but i still decided to give them a shot, as it looked like a place where a first time car buyer could find something cheap and local. i was wrong. i got there early afternoon and someone came out after about ten minutes. felt a little annoyed when the dealer sort of scoffed at the fact that i don't have the best job in the world. yes at the moment i'm in retail but within a month i have a full time recruiting job, and if need a car for the commute. i have excellent credit and was prepared to put 1000 bucks down as a deposit. i knew going into it that i might not get approved for financing, as i just moved to maryland and the seasonal job i have is full time but is only minimum wage. but again, i explained that i'm just looking for the job i'm starting in january. he proceeded to look down on me and assume the worst about my finances, that i was lying about my jobs, just being very rude and condescending. finally test drove the suv i was looking at, explained beforehand that haven't owned or driven a car in a year and i'd be rusty with the manual transmission. the a-hole goes full 'overbearing father teaching his teen to drive' mode. i am not an idiot. i know how to drive. i have driven all across the country and learned stick shift when i was fifteen. i have never been in a wreck. i have a spotless driving record. yes when i started i was cautious and took the parking lot a little slow, just getting my bearings. literally for the first forty five seconds i was a little late/jumpy on my shifting. then it all came back. the jerk has his hands cemented on the dashboard and side handles, feet SLAMMING on the floorboards as if driving. i did not kill the engine. i did not jump out in front of anyone. i had a couple of sloppy transitions shifting. for like one minute. that is it. he acted like i was out to get us killed. i was not speeding and i never came close to another vehicle. i know how to drive. the entire way as i checked the brakes and the engine on various speeds, he kept remarking how lucky we were that the car is in good shape (because otherwise, moron as i apparently am, i would have gotten us killed). the car was making a strange rattling/whistling noise. he attributed that to how i was driving. there was nothing wrong with how i was driving at that point. he made fun of me when we got back in front of others, loudly, that he was surprised the engine didn't blow up and the tire tread didn't rub off. i was indescribably humiliated. he was looking down on me just because i am a kid and i'm poor. i've been doing cross country road trips for ten years with manual cars and don't have a single ticket. i am a very careful and conscientious driver. i am not a moron and i did not deserve to be shamed like that.
anyways financing didn't go through, he tried to sell me on newer, lower mileage cars that the banks might approve. at this point i'm pretty sure i'll just buy from a private dealer all in cash, or another public dealer with a cosigner. but i was dumb and decided to see what they had to say. another family walked in and the guy (darren??) immediately attended to them. he told me to stick around and see if he could get another bank to help me, but then immediately ignored me. everyone did. no one would make eye contact or speak to me. i was there for three hours waiting on the guy to just 'quickly finish this deal'. he said that he felt bad that he had to do two clients at once but there were literally three other dealers around and no one even spoke to me. they treated me like the scum of the earth. finally it's about an hour till close and the family leaves with their new vehicle. he was actually polite and showed me a couple cars that he thought would go through with the bank. promised he'd call me the next day, of course i never heard back. didn't even shake my hand as i left, or thank me for my time, or apologise about the wait. every moment i spent there, people were dismissive, patronising, and supercilious towards me. anyways, ended up buying a kia at another dealer.
to;dr: they're extremely unprofessional. cars are overpriced, won't negotiate on sale price.
.
if i'd have wanted to be humiliated, ignored, and shamed like this, i would have gone home for the holidays.