Trying to save GM!

[absintheisfun]

but they keep shooting themselves in the foot!

Saturn has long been known as a very friendly and easy-going place to buy a car....not so much anymore in my book

My wife has been eye-balling a new car for about a year but when she saw a Sky everything changed and it HAD TO BE THAT CAR!!

We found a a 2009 Redline in silver that she liked, but wanted to see one in techno gray. The dealership was pretty friendly at first, but MAN did they lowball me on the trade. KBB says value is 5400, they offered 3K. When I asked why so low they said it was because I got a 1K discount on the car and that the trade needed new tires and some door dings...so you put this all together and we are only a little short, but with the economy yada yada...
--the 1K discount? that was some promotion they are running for anyone that is a member of a credit union...so regardless of the trade I got the discount!

Took it to carmax and got offered 4500 cash. ???? decided to go that route then...

"Hi this is xxx from Saturn and we found a techno gray redline with the options you wanted in Houston. If you want it, we can get it for you but it will be a 1K non-refundable deposit and I'll have to send a salesperson down to drive it back to Dallas."

1K? huh? Drive it back?? can it not be transported? We kinda want to see the two colors side by side before we decide on which one to buy!

to keep the rant short, (too late) they threw all kinds of shady crap in right at the end and then put a lot of pressure on us to buy right away!

My wife went to a Honda dealership (where she originally bought the car she drives now--the trade) They offered her:

4900 for the trade
Take the car off your hands now and loan you a 2009 Accord V6 coupe until you take delivery
Transport for the car (2008 Saturn Sky redline with 6,000 miles in California) for free on a car transport.
Save you 14K on the price of a new one.
If the car gets here and it isn't what you want, we will give you back your car.


sheesh. I was excited that my wife was getting a GM, but man o man all it took was this shiesty deal, and it has completely soured her on GM. Granted she is getting a Sky, and all's well that end's well, but MAN they have got to start taking care of their customers on the front lines!

[Damn True]

You do realize that the overwhelming majority of dealerships are independently owned don't you?

[shortrack]

you should call the owner/ manager of the Saturn dealership and tell them the story.

[bigvegan]

GM does need to improve their customer service and dealership experience, but in their defense, the Sky is a pretty in demand car, so I can understand them not being interested in transporting a car from another dealership just so a customer can compare two colors side by side.

When I helped a friend who wanted to buy a Saturn Sky shortly after it came out, I posted an item on the fastlane blog about how difficult it was to find the right one in the right color, I got an e-mail from somebody at GM corporate who then helped her locate a car and get it to her local dealership.

GM's not the only one that needs to improve their dealership experience though. $82 oil changes at the local Toyota dealer? Thanks, I'll be going to the local independent mechanic.

The best way to deal with this stuff is to handle as much of the shopping/sale as possible via e-mail. The online departments usually understand that if you're capable of using e-mail, you're capable of using KBB.com as well, and so they can skip the games.

[Mr.VENGEANCE]

Fvck it let em die...

[WS6]

Fvck it let em die...

agreed. A friend walked in to Maxie Price over the weekend to buy an 09 vette. Maxie is a huge vette dealership. They are like 3 in the nation. Anyway, he said he'll put 5k down and wants at least a $900 per month payment. His credit score is 660 or maybe 640, ie not the greatest but not bad. They rejected him and wouldn't sell him a vette. The people said you need at least a 720 before they will deal, lol. If that's the fico score, that's nearly perfect. Guess they aren't interested in trying too hard to survive. They aren't selling many cars either. Maxie's lot it 75% empty.

[gearheads78]

You experience has nothing to do with GM. It was with the dealership. There are plenty of good ones and plenty of bad ones. As for transporting the car that has to be hired out. Best case senerio apox 400.00 to do it. Only way to do it free is the salesman spends a whole day driving to Houston and back. Its worth his time for a for sure deal but just to see if you like the color I can't blame them.

[JEFFTATE]

ANY car dealership can be bad.
It just depends on the individual ( person )you are dealing with.

You may have gotten a high pressure salesman at the Honda or Toyota Dealership too.
Or you may have gotten a helpful salesman at GM dealer.
They're not all the same..

You have to judge each transaction on an individual basis...
You can't pre-judge anyone..

[Mathius]

Not to mention that GM is selling or closing Saturn anyways, what's your point?

Mathius

[justanova]

GM's not the only one that needs to improve their dealership experience though. $82 oil changes at the local Toyota dealer? Thanks, I'll be going to the local independent mechanic.

if thats synthetic thats cheap

[JV69z/28]

ANY car dealership can be bad.
It just depends on the individual ( person )you are dealing with.

You may have gotten a high pressure salesman at the Honda or Toyota too.
Or you may have gotten a helpful salesman at GM dealer.
They're not all the same..

You have to judge each transaction on an individual basis...
You can't pre-judge anyone..

Without a doubt. Well stated.

[funbnme]

Regarding the Vette story....with today's default rates, it's not the dealer that won't sell you the car. They just can't get anyone to fund a loan on a high priced car when credit scores are well under 720.

When I worked for a bank, their minimum credit score standard was around 660. Statistically speaking, a person with a score of 640 was something like 25% more likely to default. My number may be off a bit, but it was a large difference in default rates for just 20 points lower on the credit score.

[bigvegan]

if thats synthetic thats cheap

Nope, not synthetic.

The Triple A rated mechanic a mile away does the same job for 39.95.

I'll pay a premium for dealership service, but twice as much is a little silly.

[absintheisfun]

I know that I can't blame GM for the actions of the dealership, but nothing I say will change my wife's perception of her first GM experience. First impressions are the most important ones, and the common consumer doesn't make the realization that GM and it's dealerships are two different animals.

For the most part, the common consumer doesn't make the disconnect between franchise owners and corporations. To them, they are all the same. A bad experience with the "name"--be it a dealership, diner, store or anything leads to a sour feeling associated with the name.

The good thing is that the Saturn is coming from a Saturn dealership in California, so someone assocated with GM is making at least a few bucks. Every bit helps right? lol

[gearheads78]

.

For the most part, the common consumer doesn't make the disconnect between franchise owners and corporations. To them, they are all the same. A bad experience with the "name"--be it a dealership, diner, store or anything leads to a sour feeling associated with the name.

So if the sacker kid at Albertsons puts the milk on top of the bread you should get mad at Mrs. Baird??

[bigvegan]

So if the sacker kid at Albertsons puts the milk on top of the bread you should get mad at Mrs. Baird??

No, but if Albertson's only sold food from one food company, and the customer service at Albertson's was so notoriously poor that buyers were staying away and the food company was now facing bankruptcy, that food company might want to have a word with Albertson's.

[68Formula]

No, but if Albertson's only sold food from one food company, and the customer service at Albertson's was so notoriously poor that buyers were staying away and the food company was now facing bankruptcy, that food company might want to have a word with Albertson's.

Does the food company sell through thousands of individually owned and operated grocery stores throughout North America? Can they easily distinguish if it's related strictly to service as a whole, number of sales people/average sales, if a particular sales person is the problem, or is it due to location, as to if the numbers are off from where they should be?

[PT Sportwagon]

To me all salesmen are vultures. Just waiting for the dead body. I had just about the same experience at 2 different VW dealerships back in the early 90s.

We went to the the dealer to look at a passat wagon. dealer one " Oh, we don't have one but we can sell you this golf"
" We are just looking not buying"
The sales idiot proceeds to block entry to our mini van, putting his foot inside the side door and bloking my wife from putting our son in his car seat. all the while he is blah blahing about this golf.

Dealer #2
" Do you have any passat wagons"
" We have one, it is out back"
He leads us around back of this privacy fence. We look at the car and go to leave.
saleman " do you want it"
Us" No we are just looking"
Sales Idiot " Then why did you come here"

I hate dealing with salesman, even when purchasing all our other vehicles. I think I have had maybe one enjoyable dealer purchase. Our 08 Harley Nightster.

Tim

[Mathius]

I know that I can't blame GM for the actions of the dealership, but nothing I say will change my wife's perception of her first GM experience. First impressions are the most important ones, and the common consumer doesn't make the realization that GM and it's dealerships are two different animals.

Then the consumer isn't very bright. I know I for one am sick and tired of hearing "Mike Demotto Nissan" commercials and "Mike Bass Ford" and "Liberty Ford".

Every dealership around here has their own stupid jingle. How can you NOT know they're independently owned? What do you think those names on the sign mean when it says "Joe Firmont Chevrolet" on the side of the building?

Mathius

[LateNight72]

if thats synthetic thats cheap

I just did a 8 quart Amsoil change in my daily driver for $90...

So no, $84 is really that cheap.