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Went through a similar incident last year except the dealership used a high interest rate to seal the deal. I told them upfront that I was prequalified for $75k and 1.9% financing for 6 years. Of, course I would never pay that for a truck but they were aware of it. We went back and forth on price but the monthly payments never matched with what I had calculated. After the 4th attempt, I asked my salesman to ask where they using 1.9% to calculate the payment. He came back and said they were using 6.9%! I thanked the salesman( he was professional through the whole process) and walked out the door. The sales manager caught me at my truck and asked what was the problem. I told him that I don't deal with liars and that he personally tried to get to me, I left and didn't hear from them until 4 days later when the GM called so I got to give him an earful.
I wound up buying from Norman Frede, got the vehicle I wanted at a fair price. They call every month or so to how I'm doing. Nice people to deal with.
 
I need this on my siganture line:

AUTOTRADER.COM

What the hay guys? I haven't bought a vehicle in person in 10 years. 2 Tahoes, a Jeep, and 4 vans- all via email and delivered to me from as far away as Oklahoma.
Get with the program!
 
Some of the things I read on this thread suprise me about how people think the world works.
Buying a car from a dealership is not a verbal deal over a phone...ever. I have bought a couple vehicles from far away and had everything done through email. Showed up at dealership, looked at vehicle, signed paperwork and walked out the door. I was pre qualified, but gave them a chance to beat it. They came at me with a high number, I said not good enough, they asked what I had approved, and I said "what's the best you can give me", they offered 1.9% which beat my pre approved credit union, so I took it.
When you are pre approved, that doesn't mean the dealership has to give you that rate...you are pre approved somewhere else- they don't have to match it.
 
It shouldn't matter.

My experience with Ron Carter Toyota in Alvin has kept me from ever doing business with them.
Majority of Houston Car Dealers suck oscar meiers all day.

I am amazed most of us do not walk everywhere but, people buy what they are told to buy for whatever price dictated.

Better respect for Customers at higher end manufacturer Dealers such as Mercedes, Porsche, Volkswagen, etc..

Alvin Toyota is joke.

Ron carter Texas City JOKE.

Also Dodge Dealer across 610 from Dome. OMG. Went ther in 2011 for 2012 CHARGER. They did not have exactly what I wanted. About 4 hours later I left as they couldn't sort out where to get one from and get it there.

I went to Ron Carter Dodge in Alvin. Way different company and they loudly proclaim different company than the I45 Dealer. WEll, I went there and told them what I wanted. About 3 days later phone call....Come get your car and I did. Good price on newly designed model a bit hard to get that early in Model Year. Paid $20K down and rolled out.

F'n Monkey cages abound up and down the freeways in Houston.

Another good one....DeMontrond Dealerships.

I have found the internet is full of BS.
I have tried it all. Twice I have put $500 deposit on vehicles unseen aside from pics on Web. One reason or another deals fell through and both would not refund $. Have to claim fraud with bank. REALLY...!!!!???? OMG!

If you want a vehicle, find out where it is and go there. Make offer and wait few minutes. IF they cannot get it together to answer...LEAVE.

Stupid as it is.....Get their price established. Walk out. Your phone will ring with lower price!

Idiots think they are so smart.
 
Do not tell then I have $x to spend, they will try to push over that amount hard.
Walk out. I was about to buy a car but there was a wait for the paperwork so I said I'll be back, I'm going to go get something to eat and will be back. A young salesman stopped me as I was walking out and tried to get me to stay, in doing so he said that 80 % of people that leave do not come back. If they are jerking your chain or you just want to bump up the negotiations, walk out and be ready to drive away. Most times a salesman will try to catch you because they know they are about to lose a deal.
Write down the #'s that are being talked about so you have that as a reference, they try to reword / twist things / trip you up/ change % rates as stated above, etc..
And the guy that writes the contract, oh yeah, he'll try to add a ton of $ to the final amount. No matter what dealership it is you are at, you can leave and get a car elsewhere.
 
Discussion starter · #27 ·
I would like to thank everyone for their responses, advice, and personal experiences. Unfortunately I did not get anything in writing with the salesman and I did not record the call. This is only the second time I have purchased a vehicle and the first time the salesman was my cousin. I should have gotten the agreement in writing and from now on I will. I understand that it is my word against the salesman’s. Ron Carter Hyundai in Clear Lake never denied that this verbal agreement was made, the General Manager even said that he recorded all calls. After listening to the call he essentially told me that Ron Carter Hyundai in Clear Lake will not honor their agreement. I have learned my lesson although in my opinion it is a lesson that someone should not have to learn.

I am not an idiot, I have an idea of how the world works. I know that people can be dishonest, I know that some people do not go by their word. I also know that everyday dishonest people are stealing innocent citizen’s identities, elderly men and women are getting scammed out of their life savings, and I know that some unfortunate people fight with insurance companies for months just to get told they aren’t getting paid because of some deceitfully worded contracts. I know that we are working our way towards a 12 hour federal red snapper season because a corrupt system says they are an “endangered species”. (I know this will cause some interesting comments but I feel it helps get my point across.) Just because these things happen does not make them right. Yes, as consumers we should educate ourselves and be aware of these possible situations but that doesn’t make the situation right. A man should honor his word and a company should honor their employee’s agreements.

Ultimately we are the ones making these purchases, we are the family members of the elderly people getting scammed, and we are the recreational fisherman pumping money back into the economy. That is why we have to do our best to resolve these issues and not just accept that this is how it is and work around it. We have to make each other aware of the disgraceful companies like Ron Carter Hyundai in Clear Lake and make purchases from honest companies. We have to let our opinions be known. And we as recreational fisherman have to go to the snapper meetings to let our numbers be seen and our voices be heard. There is no reason why a man’s word can’t mean something again, it just takes us men and women doing something about it and not accepting it. Wearing body armor everywhere is not a solution to a crime problem, getting rid of the criminals is.

Again, I am not trying to turn to the conversation to the Red Snapper issue we all know about and that gets beat up so often on this great website. I am not trying to stir some big debate up. I just believe that this helps support my argument. I am passionate about fixing a problem, not just accepting and working around a problem. If the system is broken you fix the system. I am simply stating the facts which happened to me at Ron Carter Hyundai in Clear Lake so others can save themselves a headache.
 
It sounds pessimistic, but ..... I prefer having a root canal over dealing with car salesmen.

Many things have changed in my life, but dealing with them has always been an unpleasant experience. They are like low class politicians.
 
I read your whole post OP. I don't see anything out of the ordinary for a dealership, that's how most operate.

I don't give them to much of my time. The first I heard they wouldn't honor the deal I would talk to the manager, give him about a minute and leave.

Decline there call backs and ALWAYS decline any business card from any of them and decline giving them my phone number.


yes I hate buying cars/trucks also.

big star ford on 288 is the Shining Star of lying dealerships.
 
I'm not sticking up for the dealership but, I think you both made some mistakes. As a guy that sells stuff to the public, I can't tell you how many times people say "Sounds good, I'll come get it in a couple of days." and I never hear from them again. In my case, unless something is paid for, it's still for sale and if someone else shows up with the money, they're taking it home. I've done that a couple of times and had someone show up a week later and get mad because I didn't hold it for them based on their vague "I'll be there to get it soon." with no deposit or payment.

That said, if we make a deal and money changes hands (deposit or full payment), I'm going to keep my end.

What would have probably prevented this is if you had told the salesman to send you the buy order in email with the details in it signed by their side and you'd signed it and sent it back. Then he would have had to take his deal to management and you'd have had a written deal. You also should have stayed in contact with the sales guy and let him know for sure when you were coming and made sure he was there, you always want to deal with the guy that gave you the deal, not his "partner."

The dealership did what dealerships do, sales guy agreed to a price to get you in the door and when you got there, they tried to push you up. If you were financing, they probably would have made the deal because they make money on the back end, sometimes it's worthwhile to finance a vehicle even though you can afford to pay cash and pay it off after the first payment.

I hate buying cars as well. If I have to deal with a dealership anymore, I go to the no-negotiating places. CarMax is a good place to buy, you'll pay more but you get a 30 day no questions asked warranty, I've always taken the car straight to a mechanic and gotten a laundry list of everything that needs to be repaired and taken it right back to CarMax. The repairs always would have cost more than I could have saved buying elsewhere, so it works out OK. The dealerships that do the "True Price" thing are typically priced pretty well and I've had good after sales service (last one I bought had some problems a week after I got it that they took care of at no cost to me despite it being an As-Is sale, about $1500 worth of work). Usually though, buying used, I buy from an individual and pay cash, it's a lot easier to beat someone down when you have a stack of $100 bills in your hand and they're the one that will put it in their pocket.

One last thing, never spend 2 hours at a dealership trying to get them to honor a deal. You're best negotiating weapon is to walk out the door. If you can't get what you want within 15 minutes, it's time to go. They'll either chase you down and make the deal or they'll let you go because they know that deal can't be made. Either way, it saves you a lot of time.
 
When I bought the Jeep I videoed the whole time I was talking to the salesman. He even said something about it. I got a good deal and got what I wanted for my trade in.I have a pen that has a camera built in that I use sometime. I also have a Garmin VIRB XE that I just start and sit on the desk.
 
Discussion starter · #33 ·
BG,
I agree with many of the points that you made. Although I believe that you may be misunderstanding my frustration with the situation. If they would have sold the truck before I got there, I would never have posted this message. I would have totally understood if someone showed up before me, made them an offer, and they sold it. The issue is that I called the salesman before I drove up there, he said the truck was still there and the deal was still valid, but when I arrived he was not there and the dealership would not sell me the truck for the price we verbally agreed upon. It was all a lie by Ron Carter Hyundai Clear Lake just to get me up there.
I will gladly agree that I made a mistake by not getting it in writing but my issue is that I shouldn’t have had to. Ron Carter Hyundai Clear Lake should have honored the price that was verbally agreed to.
 
SpotsnSpecks, my friend you got drawn into the " we will tell you whatever you want to hear on the phone to get you in here, once here". I suspect almost everyone who has made a deal on the phone and it fall thru, just like BG said. Last new truck I bought, deal was done on email, I had everything right there. Truck came in, I went in and signed papers. What still pisz me off is that finance guy, taking his time, then trying to throw the extended warranty, fabric protection etc, which increases the price of the deal YOU ALREADY MADE. Told the guy, you ask me one more time what tier warranty I want and I tell you none again, I am out. Chalk it up to lesson learned. Always, always get it in writing, persons name, title and I would have that email for evidence.

When you got there that day "surprise" Jon called in sick today, Bob can help. You start new with Bob and the GM again now as you can see. When you made the deal on the phone, did you ask for GM's name who approved it? They ALWAYS have to go to that guy about 50 ft away with him and sales guy talking over and over.

My wife made me drive to Ron Carter when we bought her last car. We told him 5 times what we would pay, he came back 5 times with a different #, which was 4x too many for me. Wife thought we were being inconsiderate walking out, told her they were the inconsiderate ones. Went to Ford dealer in Humble, they did same thing, GM even came over with jerk attitude saying " I am trying to sell a car here" told him we can if you agree on my price, not yours comprehende?


Oh yeah, in the Sunday paper tomorrow, there will be several dealerships offering huge discounts on vehicles. Note they say "10 available"


You will not find those vehicles available at ANY of those dealerships. " Mr. Hawkins, those are all gone, but we have these since you drove all the way here" Its called bait and switch and car dealers are worst about it I promise.
 
I sold cars and trucks in another life and I can tell you car shoppers are way bigger liars than car salesmen. It ain't close.
In the context of the purchase of a vehicle, what exactly can the buyer lie about that means anything? How much money they want to spend? Your comment makes no sense.

Regarding the OP and the subsequent comments... I think it's important to realize that the OP was talking about a USED car.

New cars are easy. Do your research, know what you are willing to pay, do it all online. New cars are commodities.

Used cars are different. Every one is unique, given it's condition. I wouldn't make a firm offer on one without laying my hands and eyes on it. But I still do my research, and if the used car is satisfactory to me, I tell them what I am willing to pay. If the answer is no, then leave and keep looking. No emotion in it, just business.
 
One of my colleagues got taken by the ole bait n switch

Saw a truck advertisement that he thought was a great deal

Took the ad in and told the salesman "I want to buy this truck"

Salesman goes and checks "Oh, we JUST sold that truck and we have no others just like it. However, we do have this one. It does have a few more features but I think you'll like them and I can give you a GREAT deal on it"

He fell for it
 
In the context of the purchase of a vehicle, what exactly can the buyer lie about that means anything? How much money they want to spend? Your comment makes no sense.

Regarding the OP and the subsequent comments... I think it's important to realize that the OP was talking about a USED car.

New cars are easy. Do your research, know what you are willing to pay, do it all online. New cars are commodities.

Used cars are different. Every one is unique, given it's condition. I wouldn't make a firm offer on one without laying my hands and eyes on it. But I still do my research, and if the used car is satisfactory to me, I tell them what I am willing to pay. If the answer is no, then leave and keep looking. No emotion in it, just business.
" I'll be back" is the most common. Second would be about their trade in or their credit. I have been out of the business for way too long to know how it's done these days but with the internet I would bet the price they have up has to be competitive or no one would inquire.

Where you have to be careful is in the after sale office. Just learn how to say no until they give up.

I still think the sales guy screwed up. If I was his boss and there was a profit in the deal I would take it even if it was a screw up and just move on.

Don't forget that there's always two sides of the story. You have only heard one of them so far.
 
Discussion starter · #39 ·
So just to clarify guys, I know that I got duped into the bait and switch. I’m not trying to say that I didn’t, I own up to it. I just wanted to vent my frustration a little and let people know which dealership this happened at so hopefully they could be aware. I obviously did not purchase the used truck, I just didn’t like driving up there for nothing.

The bottom line here is that if you make an agreement, stand behind it. Or if your business makes an agreement, stand behind it. I know that unfortunately this isn’t how the world works now days, but that doesn’t mean that it isn’t how the world SHOULD work now days.

I learned my lesson and now I can move forward from here with that knowledge. Live and learn.
 
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