The most happy and miserable instances in life occur simultaneously while purchasing an auto…read more
I have purchased several cars through various dealers, but most recently I acquired my third vehicle, a new Ram Sport, through this Indiana Dodge dealer. In my opinion, the level of service I get seems to decline with each auto purchase.
For the most part, they are fairly easy to deal with; if you play hard to get, better deals will come, as with any dealer. If you start heading for the door, especially toward the end of the month, a hundred dollars here and a hundred dollars there will be offered up.
This purchase went fairly smoothly, minus a discrepancy of $1500, which I discovered three hours into the process and basically had the choice to either walk away or say "Fuck It, I'll remember this shit on the next go-round" since I tend to purchase a new auto about every five years or so - if I return to this dealership at all. It came down to a "my word against yours," and "what was meant and what was understood being two different things," so, I swallowed my irritation and pressed on with the purchase.
I opted for the paint seal, which is costly (between $800-900), but guarantees to protect the paint, especially the front end, from dead bugs. I travel a lot, and so far, they wipe away fairly well - far from the ease the promotional video promises they require you to watch during the sales process.
The most irritating post-purchase discovery is that navigation is now an add on. Every vehicle I have purchased in the last 15 years has included navigation, but now it is a costly add on - $500. After speaking to several friends, this seems to be a popular racket among the auto brands. A buddy who just purchased an F150 paid around $1500, a friend with a new Toyota paid $1500, and another buddy was quoted $3000 for a new Audi.
Ridiculous.
If you are paying $40-60K for a vehicle, that should be part of the standard package. Without it, the elaborate in dash computer system is basically just for unnecessary show.
Another irritation was I added some custom options to be installed prior to delivery. In past purchases, I received great deals (waived labor costs for service) on the addition of running boards, etc.; this time, I paid labor costs - a lot of labor costs, to have the items installed.
In a separate Yelp post, I reviewed the dealership's Express Lube service department located a block away from the dealership; it is a further testament to the decline in quality of service over the last few years.
The sales person walked me through the various options for my new truck and gave me a rather-long tutorial/sales pitch for the new U-Connect system, which is basically Dodge's version of On-Star. It is interesting, but too costly for the amount of service you receive.
On my new truck purchase, I was contacted several days later and notified there was an error in my paperwork, so I had to arrange additional time to return and correct the dealership's errors. This delayed the ability to license my vehicle for several weeks.
Like I said, not a wholly terrible experience, but far from the quality of my first auto purchase from this dealership in long-past years. If Dodge continues to put out a product that I desire - the upcoming versions of the Ram frighteningly seem very Fiat-ish in styling - I will continue to be a buyer; however, I may have to seek out another dealer who shows me a greater willingness to deal and leave me feeling as if I received the best deal possible.
