I had a very poor experience with the sales managers at Richmond Chrysler Dodge Jeep. The short storey is that the vehicle I drove 3 hours round trip to see was not what was explained to me, and they backed out of doing a deal after I spent 3 hours there going over the vehicle and it's many shortcomings compared to what they stated it was and its condition, including having accident damage, which I had expressly asked about before hand. As a result, I do not feel the management team at the dealership is trust worthy, and would recommend that people take their business elsewhere.
The full story:
After contacting them about an ad for a used truck they ran, and speaking a the salesman who told that he guaranteed the trip from Chilliwack to Richmond (about 3 hours round tirp) to see the truck would be well worth my time, I decided it was worth looking at. On the call I had asked about the condition of the vehicle, if there were any things that needed attention and if there were any accidents on record. I was told the truck was very clean, no accidents or declarations and that it needed 2 new tires and brakes, which they would be doing before selling the vehicle.
Once I arrived at the dealer it turned out the truck was used as a work truck, so not as clean as it was made out to be, but ok, it was still a nice enough truck for the price. It did have holes drilled in the bed rails for a rack that had been removed, and damage to the cab from the rack. This is something that could have easily been explained on the phone and shown in detailed pictures. They had sent me quick snap shots the day before, but did not detail any of the the damage in those pictures. I then took it for a test drive and it ran very rough. Once I got back to the dealership, I was told that the truck needed more work than I was told on the phone - gaskets needed replacing, and that a cylinder was "dead" in the trucks Hemi engine, but that they would fix that before selling it. Ok, again not as it was portrayed ahead of time, but they were not out right trying to hide it, just not being up front about things..
I twas then shown the carfax report, which revealed that there were two declarations on the vehicle.. a $2200 glass repair and a $4000+ front corner accident. There is no excuse for not having been up front about these before telling me I really needed to drive 3 hours to see this fantastic, clean truck.
After all of this I still felt there was value in the vehicle and that it fit my needs so I said lets work out a deal. The salesman then went to the manager to go over things and came back saying that, "This was not the truck for me" and that they would not be doing the repairs listed that they had shown me. I asked to speak to the manager, who confirmed he knew who I from my inquiries about the truck via phone and email the day before. He said they would not fix the truck as they had said.
So after investing 6 hours + research time I was basically shut down. The dealer had multiple opportunities the day before, and the day of my visit, to tell me they didn't want to sell the truck. They chose not too, I really think they had hoped I would like another truck they showed me, which I think is fairly close to bait and switch.
Their shop rate is about $135 an hour as I understand it from our conversation about repairs. So I'll now ask the dealer: Is it ok if I send you an invoice for 6 hours of my time that you can pay, so I can at least get something out of my wasted trip and time? But I think we all know what their answer to that will be!
My recommendation to people: Find a different dealer than Richmond Chrysler Dodge Jeep to do business with, because that is not the right way to treat a potential client, or represent a vehicle or brand at all. read more