Not a good experience. (skip ahead to 'The Short version' if you don't want the details) Saving away $6K- this was going to be my daughter's first car purchase at $13K! It was about 2 hr drive- so we set an appointment, to confirm no issues with car- and it was ready to sell (seeing other reviews). We were told- 'perfect shape, inside and out'. We arrived- and right away noticed the car hadn't been cleaned (it looked like it had just come back from family vacation- complete with cookie crumb explosion in the back!).
At contact- I was greeted and got a handshake- but my daughter (the customer) and my wife didn't even get addressed. Our salesman asked- "is this your daughter's first car"? I pointed out that SHE was the customer- and we were just helping with financing. Still no interaction with her. We took the car for a test drive. The vehicle did show a concerning wear noise when the brakes engaged. It was loud enough that we all heard it. I'm not a brake Tech (to be sure), but I know what we experienced- and for the customer (my daughter) we had those questions. My other concern was a failed wheel alignment on the CarFAx report. TO ME- the vehicle did still feel a pull to the right- so I wanted that clarified. Our sales person came back to explain those weren't real problems, but misunderstandings on our part. That (obviously) didn't alleviate our concerns. Another employee came to address our concerns. He stared at us and said loudly- "SMILE!" We didn't smile on request... which was kinda natural- under the weird circumstances. He just stared at my daughter- and then asked me, "Doesn't she know how to SMILE?" From where we were sitting- this felt like him asking why my dog didn't do tricks. This didn't add to our experience. Later, he doubled down on this saying "Why do you look so sad? I ASKED HER to smile and she didn't smile!" Jus weird. Anyhow- the manager spent time to emphasize their dealership's commitment to customer care and their ultimate dedication to customer satisfaction. Then, he explained the vehicle HAD to be in great shape- because it had passed their inspection last month; so our experiences, the past failed report, the noises and our concerns were all a part of our misunderstanding. They wanted us to disregard all of that- and move forward- because they said so. For the customer (my daughter), why would she just ignore all of that? They sent a guy to go drive the car- and when they returned- said it wasn't making the noise anymore and they said it never did make a noise- which just raised our concerns more. As to the unclean vehicle- that was VERY strange- because it was (as if) we were the weird ones to anticipate a clean vehicle for sale. I got asked several times- 'SO... you would like us to clean the vehicle?' Why is that a weird thing to expect?
Short version... The vehicle was great. The price was great (I wasn't gonna haggle). We already had arrangements with our family bank. We were ready to purchase when we walked in. Was going to be a GREAT first car experience! Unfortunately- it was the lack of professionalism of staff that took away our confidence to be able to move forward. We just really couldn't talk ourselves into going back. Why bother? There was no professional ground- or courtesy to do so. I know the standard replies to these unfortunate negative experiences often list- "It is our corporation's highest priority to achieve customer satisfaction"- but if it was true- why did we have any one (or all) of these experiences? My daughter, the purchaser, had concerns and they were told they were misunderstandings on our part. That just leaves us with unresolved concerns. The inability to seethe customer- because she is younger and a female- is just unacceptable. Those same reactions in ANY sales situation would result the same customer dissatisfaction- which (again)explains the lower reviews at VC. It's basic customer care. It was not a good first car buy for my daughter, but as she said, it was a great learning experience of what a car sale shouldn't be. read more