If I could give zero stars I would.
DO NOT buy a car here. You've been warned...
I don't even know where to begin.
I saw what seemed to be a credible ad placed on CarGurus for a Toyota Tacoma, so I called and spoke to a nice woman on the phone who said it was available for me to come look at.
I glanced at a few bad reviews of this place, but I guess I was lured in by this deal they were offering on this truck (low mileage, clean car fax report, decent price, and financing options), so I thought I would at least check it out.
I asked her if I could take it to a mechanic nearby to have them check it out before purchase. She puts me on hold, comes back and says I have two options:
1. Bring my own mechanic with me
2. Take it to a Toyota dealer near them and I will have to pay $150 for the inspection.
First red flag.
I should have just hung up and moved on to the next place but I really wanted to see this truck, so I figured I could convince them to let me take it someplace close and pay like $40 for an inspection.
Once arriving, I walk into the lot (which looks like a tow truck lot) toward the Tacoma I saw in the pics and I'm quickly greeted by this slick haired guy that would be a perfect casting choice for shady salesman in a movie. I told him which truck I wanted to look at and asked if I could test drive it, expecting him to say "sure lemme get your driver's license and let's go!"
Instead I get, "We don't let customers test drive our vehicles."
Say what?
"What do you mean? How am I supposed to know if it drives well? Brakes? Steering?"
Now he's talking a mile a minute trying to convince me why they don't let customers text drive cars until after the sale is complete, they don't have insurance for people to test drive etc.
I tell him,
"Look I don't buy jeans without trying them on let alone a car." This means nothing to him. He continues his fast talk bs.
Right, so I'll just buy a used car based on looking at it and watching you turn it on and trust you because you say "you can trust me".
Second red flag.
I tell him I have bought many used cars before an have never been denied a test drive, and that I have cash on hand. He then changes his tune a little, tells me that he will let me test drive it after we go through the paperwork and agree on a price and if I test it and it doesn't drive the way I would like, "you don't buy". I kept telling him I'm not agreeing on any price until I drove it first. I also said that I want to take it to a mechanic to have them inspect it.
Then he gets the owner, and let me tell you about this guy... I can't tell where is accent is from but his vibe he puts off is a wannabe Russian/Armenian mob boss. After he takes me in their dirty office room, he closes the doors to the other room with the receptionist, closes all the windows and starts saying things I never thought I would hear from a salesman.
here are some verbatim quotes:
(After saying I have cash to buy the truck)
"You have cash fine, good, I'm sure I have more cash than you." Wtf? Really dude? You're competing with me about how much cash you have?
(After asking about finance options, saying I have good credit)
"You don't finance. Cash only."
"But what about all the signs outside the store?" (I point to a line of obnoxious signs that say things like "no credit, no problem")
"Those signs are jut to get people here. We only finance if you don't have cash. And it's not good to finance."
Third red flag.
I swear on my life this is what he told me.
It was at this point that I said I am no longer interested and left.
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