Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

fintail

That color is "platinum blue" (seller calls it "capri blue" but he's wrong, that shade is darker). It's also pretty rare on those cars, probably no more than 5 of that model in year in that color in this country.

MB has a blue nowadays that I would like, quartz blue, it's even lighter. Not the most masculine color, but it would go with my fintail, closest thing to the pretty "diamond blue" they had back in the 80s.

fintail

I am sure they were all highway miles though :shades:

Knock it down to 30K or so, I think.

ab348

>>> I can't imagine why they are even hassling you over this?

Neither can I. I don't know if it is just indifference, incompetence, ineptitude... but I am now officially out of patience.

I first mentioned it over two weeks ago to the salesman. I took the car in 2 weeks ago for a minor issue and exchanged messages with him over it while having him make arrangements for a loaner car. He wasn't physically there either when I dropped my car off or picked it up a day later, so I left it for a week. I called him, left another message, no callback. I called him again on Monday, talked to him, he professed being unsure even what they were or how many lug nuts I required, so I informed him. Yesterday I dropped in unannounced since I was in the neighborhood. He was off, but the dealer receptionist/greeter called him on his cell and had a long conversation. Of course, nobody could do anything then either - nobody there seems to have authority to do anything - but he told her to tell me he would call me today. Today came and went without a call. I am now ready to burn him with his bosses. I hate to do it because he seems like a nice young kid, but this is really ridiculous.

These are McGard locking nuts - probably $30 if you went to buy them - and I see the reason why the tire shop didn't like them. They are more than twice as long as the regular acorn nuts and stick out like a sore thumb.

isellhondas

They may stick out but the Mc Gard locks are the best. Whoc ares if the tire show doesn't like them?

It's time to call the General Manager of that store. I would stress to him how a happy customer has now become an unhappy customer over such a small thing.

corvette

Have you gotten a dealer survey from GM yet? Things sometimes have a way of getting resolved when you can hold a potentially negative survey over the dealer's head.

anonymousposts

What am I missing here? Why did you get rid of the Z4?

Sandman6472

Why not...you've got nothing to loose now. We got the original lugs back when we got the locking ones for both our cars...strange that you didn't also. Go kick some "automotive [non-permissible content removed]", afterall you paid for them...both times!

The Sandman :sick: :shades:

ab348

No survey yet, which surprises me. But I have pretty much decided I won't fill it out and will write a letter to the dealer principal instead explaining why. The whole dealership experience was pretty bad. They were very pleasant on a superficial level, but seemed to be trying to put the screws to me at every turn. The wheel lug nuts are just the last piece of the puzzle. What irritated me the most was the business manager, who not only had every number of the paperwork different than what I had agreed to, but out-and-out misled me over a set of floor mats, of all things. They had agreed to provide me with a set of rubber mats and I insisted I wanted the Buick mats from the GM accessories catalog. He went away and told me they were no longer available. I went to the parts counter about a week later and they found them online with no issue. The problem was the cost, and they foisted off a set of $20 generics on me to save a few bucks. I no longer trust anything they tell me.

kyfdx

Wife decided it didn't make a good replacement for her Z4.. I got it really cheap... really, really cheap...

Our friend drove it, liked it, and agreed to take over the lease...

Same friend that I sold her first BMW to, six years ago (she still has it, too... '03 325i)

Wife now has an Infiniti G37X sedan.. another cheap lease, but not as cheap as the Z4..

akangl

This is as good of a reason as any to NOT buy a new car. Poor little Civic takes a beating. Hubby broke up a Ptarmagin party in the middle of the highway this morning, took out at least 10 of the darn birds. His Civic didn't come out of it much better....yes it needs a new grille among other plastic pieces.



Last week he shaved the butt hairs off a moose..... :sick:

au1994

It's little bitty seemingly inconsequntial things like this (lug nuts and floor mats a sum total of less than $200 to the dealer) that cause lost trust, a lost customer for service and contribute to the eons of stories on how bad car dealers are. Fooling with the numbers is a borderline deal breaker. Kudo's for sticking with them after that. Could very well have been an honest mistake.

ateixeira

Haven't read such a funny post in a while, and I'm sure you didn't even intend to be funny.

I had to Google "Ptarmagin" and another name for them is "Snow Chicken!"

Sandman6472

Wowser! But don't look that terribly bad...and it can be fixed. No one got hurt either!

The Sandman :sick: :shades:

Sandman6472

The detailer just left & both the Civic & Mazda3 look brand new! He got out most of the stuff off the 3 except some tar that the wife had driven through...it had coated the whole bottom part of the passenger side under both doors starting behind the front wheel well...looks so much better though. She did scratch the paint off when she hit the Versa a few weeks ago though and next time he'll address the oxidation on the two headlamps. All in all, great job! Luckily, he told the wife that once a year down south here isn't enough...this needs to be done at least twice/year. Hopefully she heard him! they all look brand new now...yay!

The Sandman :sick: :shades:

Thank you to all our soldiers living & dead...your sacrifice is not forgotten & we salute you all!!

omarman

I had to Google "Ptarmagin"
Funny! Me too, but I searched for images and was a bit let down to find that a ptarmigan party was, well, birds...

Last week he shaved the butt hairs off a moose....
Well I ain't going back to google images for that one. :shades:

ateixeira

isellhondas

Well, I didn't realize there had been some bad feelings before the lug nut situation. It kinda sounds like you weren't a happy person when you left after buying the car.

Assuming the store was 100% the reason for the unhappiness and assuming you were a pleasant, reasnoble person to deal with, I suspect you won't be receiving a survey.

There are ways a store can make sure an unhappy or nasty customer never receives a survey. When they KNOW the customer is going to trash them, they can kill a survey. They can't do this often but it can be done.

That said, they just may be putting you off, oping you'll simply go away.

Silly thing to do over a lousy set of lug nuts.

ateixeira

Here's a question - are the wheel locks really dealer installed at all?

I ask because a lot of manufacturers install options at the port, not at dealers.

If that's the case, it's no wonder they can't find them.

Edit: I went back, this is a Regal, aren't those made in Europe? It's quite possible the dealer never saw those lug nuts.

Rüsselsheim, Germany for early production, more recently at the plant in Oshawa, Ontario Canada.

ab348

No, they are dealer-installed. Regals do have locking nuts available, but only as a dealer-installed accessory item. They were not included on the factory window sticker and the dealer added them with a surcharge on the price. They are also not the GM item but rather an aftermarket type. Every car on their lot and in their showroom with alloy wheels has them, and I was told by someone at the dealer that they do this as a matter of course after some theft off their lot.

kyfdx

Geez... if they put them on every car on the lot, then there should be bucketfuls of them around... At least four for every Regal they have..

ab348

Here's how this happened:

I saw the car on the lot on a Wednesday afternoon. Wasn't really planning to buy a car, though I was unhappy with what I was driving and was open to the right deal.

I had no past experience with this dealer, so when I walked in I was assigned a sales rep and got a young fellow who has been on the job since July and is still in university. He knew next to nothing about the car and my sense was that he was on a really short leash, but he was pleasant and we got along well. After driving the car, we began the dance with them offering me a value for my trade and us discussing various options. I went away and came back the next day.

We talked some more and finally shook hands on a deal. They suggested that I come in on Saturday to come in and sign the papers and take delivery. Before I left that Thursday night I spent some time with a business manager who, I thought, understood the deal and gave me some info on some of the things they liked to sell such as lease disability insurance and the like.

I arrived on Saturday at the appointed time and started the process with the business manager. All went reasonably well - the pricing on some of the insurance products seemed a bit higher than I remembered him saying, but I made no comment -until he asked me for a cheque for nearly $1000 more than what I had agreed to. As it turned out after a lengthy discussion and trying to understand what each of us was saying, the numbers for the trade value versus sale price had been changed, making the sales tax due and the amount of the lease different. He didn't seem to understand the deal and it is quite possible it was just a misunderstanding on his part. It didn't strike me as particularly complicated but he said it was an unusual deal for him to write.

He told me that the usual line about needing to get a "completely satisfied" score on the survey I would receive and wanted to know what it would take for me to do that. After telling him I figured a set of snow tires was out of the question, I made the request for the Buick floor mats. That's when he went away and came back to tell me they were unavailable and was holding the generic $20 ones in his hand. I was unhappy but took him at his word, and only found out the difference later on. Then about a week later the great lug nut saga began.

In all I was there for about 2 hours that Saturday and aside from some tension at one point with the business manager after he asked for the extra money, where I left his office and walked around for 30 minutes while he figured out the deal - and also entertained some friends who had dropped by to socialize - I doubt if all that was enough to drop me from a survey. I kept my cool and the sales guy and I kept talking pleasantly about the situation, and I left happy enough and, I thought, on good terms. The business manager is not one I would prefer to deal with again, but the sales guy and I like each other, I think, which is why the wheel nut situation is so frustrating.

Sandman6472

Honda will be sending me a check for 1/2 of the price I paid to fix my a/c last month...$79 bucks. Am very happy...the whole $166 would've made me happier...but am content with 1/2 right now. I asked...and I got something...good deal all around I'd say!

The Sandman :sick: :shades:

tommister2

That's good...half is better than $0! I hope you actually get the check.

anonymousposts

I have to say that I am very happy with our first VW purchase. The little car drives great and has a surprising amount of room inside. It also has a lot of nice features for a base model. It has Bluetooth, a trip computer and vehicle information center, and has been averaging 25-28 MPG so far in mixed driving. The 6-speed manual is very smooth and the 2.0T engine is well suited for all types of driving. If the quality holds up, VW may have a convert here.

stickguy

2 months. Tops.

anonymousposts

We are averaging at least 6-12 months between trades now. We've matured and grown..lol.

Gee is saying that he wants a Tiguan of his own. I recommended that we wait and make sure we like this one before we buy another one.

tjc78

Too many choices out there to have two of the same car.

anonymousposts

Once you limit your search to a car with manual transmission and Bluetooth, your options get scarce. Throw in that it needs to fit a 6'6 husband and two kids, one of them in a rear-facing seat, it gets real difficult. The Tiguan is one of the few cars that meets all those requirements.

kyfdx

The Tiguan is a nice ride... gets very expensive if you want all the options...

A 2012 SEL 4Motion stickers for over $37K!!

We really liked it, but by the time we started shopping, the 2011 models were gone, and each VW dealer was lucky to have one unit of the 2012 model.... so, we just moved on..

corvette

Pricing snafu, floormat snafu, and now they're giving the runaround on $5 worth of lug nuts? I'm a mean SOB, but I think they've earned a bad survey including detailed comments about what went awry.

rayainsw

My car was released .. 'to carrier', so says my sales guy,
as of noon yesterday.
Meaning: released from the distribution center and
should be loaded on a truck and heading for my dealer
'soon'.
I also have in hand an offer for exactly what I expected
to sell my current car for.
So - once the BMW is at the dealer
I will work out a few minor logistic details of p/u, drop off
- and do the final 'deal'.

I may have the BMW by late Monday ...
- Ray
So very ready....

tjc78

That sounds great, must have been tough driving it over there and having to wait for it here. Please post some pics once you get it.

Oh, and I laughed at your post title when I first saw it. :surprise:

graphicguy

Pricing snafu, floormat snafu, and now they're giving the runaround on $5 worth of lug nuts? I'm a mean SOB, but I think they've earned a bad survey including detailed comments about what went awry.

I'm totally with corvette on this one (except I'm not a mean SOB ). There's no way I'd be giving them anything but a terrible survey. Matter of fact, I wouldn't have even made the deal with them. I would have walked out of the showroom with my "old" car making skid marks out of their driveway.

isellhondas

I was thinking the same thing. I would have walked out.

Once I almost walked out of a Buick Dealership when the F&I woman tried to sneak an extended warranty into the contract.

" Oh, everybody buys these"...Not me!

Then she tried to sneak life insurance into the contract and when I caught that she said.." Don't you care about your family?"

At that point, I stood up and thanked her very much and left.

The General Manager chased after me and actually finished my paperwork while she fumed outside the office.

graphicguy

Craig....the very first new car purchase experience I had was as you describe. "Everybody takes the insurance....we include it with every car.....you have to have it....all our cars come with 'mop and glo'....", etc.

OF course, I was green, didn't know any better, but thought I knew everything, and ended up getting "clubbed".

Lessons learned!!!!!

akangl

Hubby and I were out yesterday with the truck, the rock chip I've been meaning to get fixed decided that it waited long enough. Now my truck has a crack in the windshield all the way across. *sigh*

On a brighter note, the local body shop has agreed to fix the bumper and grille on the Civic for right around $1k since we are paying out of pocket for repairs. That includes an A/C condensor which apparently took a bird head pretty hard while the Civic was busy busting up the Ptarmigan party last week. There was a lot more damage than we originally thought, darn birds!

rayainsw

.. in the BMW 335iS this side of the Atlantic will be:
Through the middle of Atlanta during rush hour.
Oh, well.
I have waited long enough.
[ Dropped off in Munich on Saturday, Sept. 24th. ]
Pick-up scheduled for 4:30PM.
Cheers,
- Ray
Will post some details later.......

au1994

ah yes...lovely Atlanta traffic. Deal with it every day, luckily I'm north of the city proper so it is not as bad as some endure around here.

kyfdx

What dealership did you use in Atlanta? (no salesperson names, please)

rayainsw

'What dealership did you use in Atlanta? (no salesperson names, please) '

BMW of South Atlanta.

Though this dealer is not the closest to where I live, I chose this dealer based largely on the fact that I was doing European Delivery.

Since I was doing this with my daughter, and since I do not expect to do another similar trip, I wanted a salesperson [ name withheld ] with European Delivery experience. This dealer has [ as far as I know ] the salesperson with the most E.D. experience in the Southeast.

Also came very highly recommended from many posters on a BMW-specific forum I have monitored for years now.

I wanted to be assured that this would all be handled well, and that any issues would be expertly dealt with.

And it was.

[ Thank you, name withheld !! ]

- Ray
Very satisfied customer . . .

kyfdx

I know who that is.... a really good guy..

houdini1

Yes, a nice one, even has wheel weights. Looks like it was made to push snow....or about anything else !!

andres3

So I'll do it here. I went ahead yesterday and paid out the bribe to LoJack security systems for the "suggested to do it every 2 years" maintenance on my car.

I've had it since spring of 2006, so over 5 years, and I really wanted to know that the originally installed LoJack device was still working properly.

Well the fee that in the manual was listed at 69.99 (subject to change) is now 99.99 in 2011. What a ripoff. It's a big scam. I'll not pay for that again; I suggest every 2 years is overkill, and doing it once at 5 years probably makes sense, though I felt violated paying a hundred bucks for it. Probably took him all of 2 minutes to activate it, and read the back up lithium battery was 100%. They do come out to your car/house/place of work, so it was convenient, but sheesh!

Frankly, the 1 year warranty they give you (without paying extra is too short). If it was broken in year 2, 3, 4, or 5, I'd write it off as overpriced junk, and never buy it again, nor waste money repairing junk. They should give a 5 year warranty as standard equipment; if not lifetime.

stever

50% of y'all qualify, lol:

A reporter is interested in talking with someone who has bought a car, or intends to buy one in November 2011. If you are interested in commenting on your experience, please reply to pr@edmunds.com no later than Friday, November 18, 2011 and include your contact information.

ateixeira

Her mail box filled up already and the Edmunds e-mail servers all crashed. LOL

stickguy

never saw the attraction of Lojac.

If someone steals my car, the last thing I want is to get it back!

akangl

If someone steals my car, the last thing I want is to get it back!

I feel the same exact way. If someone steals my truck I'd rather they total it and kill themselves. Solve two problems that way. :P

isellhondas

I'm with you. I don't want a trashed, stinky car back.

Lojack missed the market by a few years. Since the late 90's most cars have a pass key system of one type or another making the cars near impossible to hotwire.

I guess they can still get towed away but that tends to attract a lot of attention.

michaellno

My sister and BIL (in San Diego) have had two cars stolen.

First was by BIL's Toyota pickup .. this happened about a month or two after he had paid it off. Cops found it stripped in a field close to the US-Mexico border. Insurance company totaled it and he bought an Acura Integra.

Next, my sister's immaculate 1985 Mazda RX-7 was taken from their apartment complex one night. My sister didn't know it was gone until they got a call from the Sheriff's department. Apparently, the car was pulled over for a traffic infraction and the two bozo's in the front seats bailed. There was a young female stuffed into the rear compartment who was arrested by the cops.

My sister got her car back intact - in fact, in their haste to beat feet from the cops, the perps actually left a cassette case full of tapes in the car. My sister actually said it was pretty good music they left behind.

ateixeira

Gangsta rap? :P