From the moment we entered, it was amateur hour. The guy with whom we had set our appointment kept saying "coolio" (cool) to everything. We found this off-putting, though he seemed like a nice enough guy. He was replaced (not by request) with another more senior sales person. The test drive went well and we liked the vehicle. One thing for this sales guy to know is that a "towing package", as he referred to it, is not just a hitch, but is also an electrical harness (at minimum), the vehicle was equipped with a tow hitch, not a tow package. This was minor.
We went inside to talk about buying the vehicle. I expected some of the requisite haggling, but it got ridiculous. Some other guy joined us, kept trying to include warranties and other stuff into the payment, though I made it clear I did not want any extras. While negotiating he says "I am losing money on this". In the end, he ended up haggling over $50 and says to me "c'mon, make me feel like I have won". Really? Shouldn't your customer leave feeling like they have won? Irritated.
We agreed on a price, not a great price, but an acceptable price. Then off to finance. The documents were prepared and the finance guy put in front of us a paper for LoJack. He explained that we'd likely save $60/year on our insurance, then asked us to sign the acceptance. This form has no price and I had to ask if this was additional cost. "Well, yes", he says. "I don't want LoJack", I said. "We put them on every vehicle", he retorts. "How much is it", I asked? "$750". $750! Nope, don't want it. "We don't sell vehicles without LoJack", he explained. "I am not buying a LoJack", I said, "you can't remove it"? "No", he said. I can't buy this car without paying for LoJack? He told me "no". I told him to cancel the deal. He says to wait a minute then comes back and says he will take off the $750. Dishonesty.
We were told we'd be financing through Pentagon Federal, I said out loud to my wife that this was good, because we don't do business with Wells Fargo and dealerships frequently want to set us up with a Wells Fargo. This guy also offers to give us a better rate if we buy some $2900 extended warranty. No thanks.
We sign the papers. The next day, my wife gets a call from Wells Fargo, asking about he vehicle. This was concerning because they were not supposed to be part of the deal. I called NCF. Another finance guy says no problem, Pentagon Federal is the lender and gives me their address to give my insurance company for the lien. Not true.
Two days later we get a letter in the mail welcoming us to Wells Fargo. I was livid. They gave the deal to Wells Fargo without consulting me. After many tries and transfers, leaving several messages, I finally get ahold of a sales manager. I Tell him about he issue. He sounded genuinely interested in fixing the problem and getting the financing fixed. Instead, he has the original finance guy call me.
This guy is a piece of work. He gets on the phone and starts arguing with me, at one point tells me "don't even bring that up!" when I start explaining my poor experience, after he asked me why I felt this was a bad experience. In the end he tells me that the lender was changed because the original lender, Pentagon Federal, does not finance the kind of vehicle I was buying (minivan). I called Pentagon and gave them the make and model of the vehicle. They do not have a problem financing this kind of vehicle. I never received a decline notice from this company. After this guy starts raising his voice at me on the phone, I tell him that I no longer want to talk to him and to have the GM call me. This was almost two weeks ago. I have since called several times trying to reach a manager and I get transferred around, only to end up leaving a message with a person or voicemail, no return calls.
So in summary, I am forced to do business with a finance company against which I have a moral objection. Watch out for the $750 LoJack hustle. You'll only get a good rate if you buy the extended warranty. When making a deal, you'll need to make them feel like they have won. They will try to trick you into up-sells you don't want. If you have a problem, they will not fix it, rather they'll have some jerk that caused the problem in the first place call you to argue with you. They will lie in an attempt to explain their actions. Oh, and look inside the cup holders. I found melted chocolate and candy in mine, and dirty seat-back pockets. Gross!
North County Ford's "code of ethics" posted on the wall is a joke, don't believe it. I will never do business with this dealership again. I will complain to the relevant regulators about their truth-in-credit practices and I will post this review to all of the auto-buying websites I can find. I will tell everyone in my extensive north county network about my experience and steer them clear of North County Ford. read more