There's something about the predictable canned lines, slick sales techniques and borderline…read moredeception of car dealers that has always repelled me. Until now.
Faced with the reality of the long winter's toll on what was previously a little spot of rust, and the realization that the growing hole would likely not pass inspection, I gave myself until October (inspection month, plenty of time) to purchase a replacement vehicle.
I did my homework...lots of online research to narrow my field of options before ever visiting a dealer. But once I did, I was reminded why I hate them so much. One after another, they unloaded their bag of tricks..."Yes, that car you saw on our website? It's still available, here are all the details, come on down and drive it." but upon arrival, "Oops, sorry it just sold this morning. Why don't you tell me what you're looking for and we'll see what else we have?"....at another dealer, after a test drive..."The couple over there is waiting to buy this, but you have first dibs, but you have to buy it now."...and on and on and on. Hours of waiting around for no good reason, way too much pressure, until Country Nissan.
I never once felt pressured to make a decision by the salesman at Country Nissan. I felt like they heard me when I said that I don't respond well to pressure, that I don't make rash decisions, that I was not in a rush to buy, and that I would wait for just the right vehicle at just the right price. They kept in touch and let me know anytime they took in a vehicle that might fit my description, on more than one occasion even offering to let me come check it out before they had officially listed it for sale. They had my wish list with them at the monthly auction, just in case the right thing came along.
Eventually, someone traded in what was to become my next vehicle. From there, the purchase process was smooth and I already had established a level of comfort with my salesman so I felt like I was in good hands through the formalities.
The one exception being when it came time to meet with the finance manager. He seemed like a perfectly nice, genial guy...but the slick linking of reduced finance rates with extended warranty purchases was off-putting. It just did not seem genuine, and I'm not convinced that he was being honest when he said that the third-party financier would only give me a lower rate if I bought Nissan's extended warranty. This piece of the process was unfortunate and left a bad taste in my mouth just when I had finally convinced myself that I was making the right decision in purchasing this vehicle. It made me briefly second-guess everything and ultimately it ended the purchase process on a sour note. I left feeling manipulated and uneasy, which was really too bad.