I purchased a car online through this…
I purchased a car online through this dealership and the experience was overall just OK. The price was good and the car is exactly what I wanted, but to get the advertised lowest price you have to finance through them. I didn't see that in their online ad! My credit is good, so no biggie. When you get to the "out the door numbers", they make you buy window tint for $400. It's Arizona, so I get that. But it's a Fiat 500, not an Escalade, so the $400 price seems very high. Next they charge a $500 doc fee. Old school car sales at it's finest. So it's really $900 on top of the advertised price. This ain't no carmax for sure.
It was still a decent deal so I went for it. I was surprised that when I told the salesman I wanted to put $2000 down and have a 48 month term I was told I could only put down $1000. When the final paperwork was done they had my downpayment at 10%, $875, and a 60 month term. Neither where what I wanted, but in the spirit of getting the deal done I just rolled with it. Up to this point many of my exchanges with the salesman were awkward and he made me feel like I was annoying him a bit. With internet sales I get that, he probably gets a lot of lookers and not buyers. On the other hand I am buying online, so questions should be expected. I was a serious buyer and he should have known to give me the best service. Since I knew that I was going to refinance this loan I just went with whatever they put in front of me just to get the deal done. I'm in the process now of looking to refi the car. Should I have to? Nope. Being 1000 miles away put me in an odd position when buying the car. And while the deal was done, it wasn't at the terms I asked for or wanted. Sure I could have asked the finance guy to redo the paperwork and he might have accommodated me. The point is I shouldn't have to. The salesman should have been keen to give me exactly what I wanted. When he told me I could only put down $1K and came back with a different number, I knew that getting what I wanted would be like pulling teeth. That's why I caved, that's why my experience was just OK at best. I do love the car though.
Update: After owning this car for a week or so, I've discovered that the windshield wipers were the original one's that came with the car and that the washer fluid was almost empty. Small details, I know, but it goes to show how closely they look at your car before selling it to you. Details.
September 1, 2020
Unprompted review