Santa Monica Ford is the most unethical dealer I have ever worked with. They used all the shady tactics in the book.
I called from out of state to express interest in a car, and talked to Chris Gonzalez. He sent me a price breakdown that added $2000 worth of dealer accessories (paint protection and GPS tracking), saying it was "in the fine print", which it wasn't. I eventually talked him down to $250 for the paint protection and no GPS tracking, and figured it wasn't worth fighting over the rest. During that negotiation he tried to pressure me to buy the car within the hour or else somebody else might take it.
After I repeatedly told him I was paying cash, he pressured me to fill out a credit application "to start the process", which I refused. I had to ask several times for him to send the final price breakdown and purchase order, which he kept screwing up, putting somebody else's name and address on the form with the wrong state's tax.
I told him I would book a flight once the total was confirmed, and then after everything was confirmed and he knew I was flying out, he again tried to pressure me by refusing to hold the car until I arrived unless I financed the car, which I again refused.
I flew out and met Chris at the dealership and we looked at the car together. This is when I discovered a massive dent in the car that did not show up well in the pictures on the listing, which looked like a 4-year-old had repaired it with a crayon. The Carfax report had showed 0 accidents, and no mention had been made of this damage. Compare the only photo in the listing showing that section of the car with the photo I took. Remember also that he demanded to sell me a paint protection add-on, on a car with significant body damage.
I got a mechanical inspection and a repair estimate from a highly rated body shop; the car needed $1000 in mechanical repair and $4000 in body work, to fix the bumper and quarter panel and blend the paint. While waiting for the estimate, Chris tried to pressure me multiple times to go ahead and fill out the paperwork and purchase the vehicle. He said that his guy estimated the body work was $1000, and he could get a dealer price of $500 that I couldn't take advantage of because I'm out of state. Neither of these estimates would cover a legitimate repair job.
I offered a reduced price based on the estimates, Chris told me that the price was non-negotiable (apparently even given his own $1000 estimate), and I left without buying the car. He then insulted the body shop that gave me a legitimate estimate, saying one bumper could not possibly cost that much, conveniently forgetting the quarter panel and blending. He claimed the body shop was misleading me and taking advantage of my situation, which is exactly what he had done himself.
All in all, I wasted 2 flights, 2 Lyfts, an inspection, a day off of work, and a significant amount of time due to the flagrant dishonesty of Santa Monica Ford. Any one of the red flags on display here should have caused me to walk away well before I did, so my mistake. read more