Tuesday, I was preapproved for a car loan with my bank, so I called this dealership to talk about trading my 2015 Rogue for a newer one, possibly even a new one. I made an appointment for the following day.
On Wednesday, they assigned X to me, and he seemed like a nice enough man. I explained what I was looking for and showed him the check from the bank. He went into the office and came back out and said he thought I could get a better interest rate so asked for my permission to apply other places. I said sure. We looked at vehicles and I settled on a 2021 Rogue.
On Thursday, I got a call from X saying that if I could bring the car down, there were wholesalers there who might be able to offer more for my trade. So I left work and went back to the dealership. We had made it clear what we wanted for a monthly payment so we were shown a 2018 Certified Preowned Rogue that had the options we had in our current Rogue and more. We were also shown a 2021 Rogue that X said was being sold as used because the owner had been driving it. I said that it would come down to payment. If we could get the 2021 financed for what I wanted, great. If not, then let's go for the 2018. Later that day, I received a text from X telling me that we could not get the 2018 because of the loan to value on my trade. I knew I would have negative equity on my trade, but my bank didn't seem to think that was an issue. I asked about my bank and the check I had, because they had not said anything about that. When I asked what my payments would be, he quoted me a number that was higher than I wanted. He assured me that when XX, the finance manager came in the following day, that he could probably get it lower. Great!
On Friday, XX called me with a higher number than X had quoted and I said X gave me a lower number and we were hoping to go lower than that. We finally got it down, but still higher than I wanted, but I said OK. X and I texted throughout the day and it was set up so I could pick it up after work that day. I got to the dealership, and saw a text from X telling me they didn't have a title to the car, so I couldn't take it that day. I was already at the dealership when I saw the text! It could be Monday, or even a week before they had it in hand. At this point I blew! I had made 3 trips down, taken time off work, and gone through half a tank of gas to walk out of there empty handed. He went back into the office to let them know I was frustrated and angry and he said that they could deliver the car to us when it came in. I again mentioned the check from my bank and he said that it didn't mean anything- it was a sales ploy to get my business. At that point I read the letter from my bank verifying that it was not a marketing ploy. So when we left, I told him I would let him know where things stood. He was very polite (as always) and my husband and I left.
On the way home, I called my bank and the representative had to pretty much talk me down. She assured me that my check should be as good as cash, and the process should have been simple. As soon as I got home, I called X and told him we were pulling the deal, that our check was real all along and that we were done jumping through hoops at their whim.
On Saturday morning (today), I received a call from the Finance Manager. I asked him if he had heard that we had pulled the deal. He stated that he had been able to work our numbers and get us a payment that we wanted all along. I reiterated that I had had financing all along, and that I was done jumping through their hoops and that because of their running my credit to get financing THEY wanted me to have, it took a toll on my credit score. So I told him to have a nice day and I hung up. My husband and I drove to another dealership, and 2 hours later, I had purchased a car.
For the record, X is the only reason I gave this dealership 1 star. I feel like XX and the main office were forcing him to put us through the problems we went through. They made what should have been a simple process into a traumatic nightmare. read more
