I brought the wife into test drive a new Outlander and we met Brian M. (our sales rep). He was very professional and was able to answer all my wife's questions, after she took the Outlander for a test drive. We weren't ready to buy the car that day, because we did not have enough time to complete the paperwork, so Brian provided us with his contact info.
I returned to the dealership on Monday (also filled out the finance application online and was pre-approved) and brought my trade in to get appraised and work out the price for my trade-in. The sales manager provided a lower amount for my trade, than I would like but we worked it out. After a little negotiation the sales manager accepted my asking price for my trade-in. I told Brian, I didn't have time to finish up the financing paperwork on Monday night due to a business meeting, but than I would like the financial papers sent to me digitally, so I can review and make a decision on which loan best fit my family's financial needs. I scheduled to return Tuesday night with Brian after our discussion, to receive delivery of the new car and finish up signing any documents needed to purchase the car.
On Tuesday, I waited until 2 PM to receive the loan documents but did not receive anything, so I texted Brian to see if he can have the Finance department send me the Loan documents. After an hour, I received a text from Matt stating, he was the only finance guy today and was busy busy. He asked if I had a question and said you are all approved.
I replied with "Are you able to send me the digital Financials?
Matt's response: Haven't had time yet, we are busy busy.
This is one of the reasons why I try to avoid doing the financials at the dealership, because I don't want to sit there for hours waiting for them. I gave them all day to send me the financials and if they are that busy maybe my business wasn't important to them. I texted Brian at 5:00PM stating I would not make it to the dealership.
Eventually, after some brief text back and forth, at 6:45PM, Matt sent me the documents to review. He stated, "I needed to sign it before midnight." I thought it was just the different loan options, but it was the full loan and purchase agreement.
After reviewing, I noticed there were a lot of info that was not correct on the purchase agreement. First item: My trade-in amount was wrong and not what was agreed upon by the sales manager. I told Matt about the amount, and he changed it, but I had to resign everything again. Matt sent the corrected documents over for me to re-sign. Second item: Because I received the 0.09% financing, I did not qualify for the OEM rebate, but qualified for the Dealer rebate of $2250. The documents only showed $2000, so texted Matt back and he stated that the new car manager just changed it, but he could either give me a check for the $250 or redo the paperwork again. Because $250 was not going to provide me with a lower payment, I opted to take the check and continued signing the documents. Third Item: going through the titling document, it stated that I was being charged $99.00 to title my car as a Hybrid Electric Vehicle. I sent another txt to Matt, and he stated, "It's a titling fee on all deals." so I responded with "So, everyone that buys a car at White Bear Mitsubishi is paying a titling fee that is not related to their vehicle? Matt's response, "It's just for titling, it's on every vehicle we sell!"
I didn't understand why I would be paying for a Hybrid Electric Vehicle titling fee if my vehicle is neither a hybrid or electric, but decided I did not want to lose the sale for $99.00 so I replied, "I do understand it's for titling... why is everyone paying that fee when it's not related to their vehicle? I'll sign it but I'm not too excited about it!" Matt responded, back with a snarky "Feel free to bring it up to the GSM when you come in."
I'm not sure if this can be investigated, but I'm pretty sure White Bear Mitsubishi is scamming people by making them pay for a titling fee that is not related to the vehicle they are purchasing. I might reach out to a couple lawyers to check this out.
My wife went into the dealership to pick up her new car but was told that the $250 would be provided once the loan was funded. I was ok with it so my wife drove the car home. I picked up the license plate on Saturday but they did not have the $250 ready so the receptionist worked her magic and was able to get me a check with-in 5 minutes.
I'm happy with the car and the sales rep but not very happy with Matt's attitude and professionalism. I bought 2 cars at this dealership previously and have not had any issues until now, so I was giving the dealership the benefit to keep my business again. If it was any other dealership, I would have broken off the deal and taken my business elsewhere... I'm not sure if I would go back and purchase another car from White Bear Mitsubishi, if I'm going to be paying for fees that is not required for my car. read more