If there was a way to give a lesser review, I would. Run, don't walk away from these horrible people. Here's the story:
I do a lot for the kids at Great Lakes Naval Station. One of the kids I help out on occasion is Griffin. GREAT Kid!!! All he wants is a Camaro. He talks about it all the time. He researched this car like you wouldn't believe. How much he can afford, the insurance, everything. I was so impressed. He found the car he wanted at this jive time dump of a dealership. He called me and asked me to take him there. It's about an hour and a half to get there, but I'm happy to do it because it's his dream.
We get there and I think this might work out. It was a bit strange. They told us the salesman he spoke with on the phone was on a test drive and we should just wait for him. That really struck me odd, but Griffin said the salesman was a Master Chief in the Navy, so I figured, yeah we better wait. I just thought it was odd that we weren't offered water or coffee or anything, no info on the car. It was just weird. I've been in plenty of dealerships and that felt strange, but I let it go.
Finally we meet ex Master Chief Mark and he and Griffin go for a test drive. He's so happy and I can't help but be excited for him. So much so, I thought I'd cry. Griffin is ready to sign. I told him we have to be sure we get a good APR and he's all over that. Really smart thoughtful kid, much more than I was at his age. He's got his down payment and he's ready to go. The so-called salesman comes back and says that he can't get him financing because of his rank. His RANK? Then he tells him that if he can get financing they'll sell him the car. He walks away and leaves us sitting there. OMG, what kind of place is this? The poor thing is searching the internet and talking to USAA and his credit union. Both of which he went to before but they offered such terrible rates he thought he could do better with the dealer. What's worse is they told him he has no credit rating, which is a lie. Because he pulled up his credit report and saw the rating.
We sat there for hours trying to work it out. They asked me if I would co-sign, which was really inappropriate since he and I aren't related in any way other than friendship. But I even tried to do that. I really shouldn't have, but golly, if this kid is willing to give his life for his country, I guess I could help him get his car. Well of course they couldn't even give him the loan even with me co-signing. What kind of banks do they deal with? For crying out loud, it's a lousy $20K. It doesn't cost anything to borrow money now.
We left, no car. Horrible experience. Absolutely disgusted with the way they treated us. My favorite was when I spoke to the manager and he told me, "in 2008 we had a financial crisis" Oh I wanted to punch him in his condescending little face. So I suppose we can ask these kids to go to afganistan but we can't loan them $20K for a car. HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE PLACE. Will never forgive the way they treated him, EVER! read more