| Dealer Name | City | State |
Dealer Rating | Salesperson | Salesperson Rating |
| Airport Marina Honda | Los Angeles | CA | Good | Alvin Benjamin | Excellent |
| Comments: Used FightingChance.com |
| Autowest Acura | Santa Clara | CA | Very Good | | |
| Comments: Great website! Really helped me understand car buying deeply! Thanks! |
| AutoWest Honda | Roseville | CA | Excellent | Josh S. | Excellent |
| Comments: |
| AutoWest Honda Fremont | Fremont | CA | Excellent | Ali Hashemi | Excellent |
| Comments: used FightingChance.com |
| Browning Mazda | Cerritos | CA | Fair | DJ | Excellent |
| Comments: I also got 0% APR for 60 months. I believe this site is incredible. I will advise the following though: I don't believe that your price proposal should be dictated on strictly trying to guess the dealer's cost. I subtracted hold back from invoice, my loyalty rebate and I then subtracted an additional 500 just because. I didn't include any dealer profit. I know there has to be other dealer incentives that are not known. Yet the dealer took it (4 hours later). Guessing the dealer's cost is not possible and it could vary substantially by dealership. |
| Browning Mazda | Cerritos | CA | Excellent | Nader | Excellent |
| Comments: Loved the spreadsheets to compare financing! |
| Buena Park Honda | Anaheim | CA | Very Good | Perry Greene | Very Good |
| Comments: |
| Cabral Chrysler Jeep Dodge | Manteca | CA | Poor | Cliff Rogers | Poor |
| Comments: Salesman lied repeatedly just to get the sale. He said that Chrysler had discontinued making the PT cruiser so "this was it" and that the $4500.00 incentive from Chrysler was over that night just to get the sale. He also said that most dealers were out of PT Cruisers and he only had 2 left. He convinced my husband and we eventually bought the car although I wanted to shop around. I think this is very wrong to mislead customers like this. |
| Capitol Honda | San Jose | CA | Excellent | Doug Miller | Excellent |
| Comments: Used FightingChance.com. |
| Capitol Mazda | San Jose | CA | Very Good | Kathi Greene | Excellent |
| Comments: I liked the information there is a lot of it and often repeats and a little disorganised but if you have time to read it all it is very helpful. |
| Cardinale Way VW | Corona | CA | Very Good | Yvonne / Chris | Very Good |
| Comments: Great advice on this site. Glad I visited and read some of the articles before I bought. I will say that I did deal with fairly straight forward and decent people at the dealer. Probably could have shaved off another $300 in retrospect. Oh well...2 weeks of car buying wore me down...I just wanted to be done. Overall this is a great site and a great resource. |
| CarMax | Ontario | CA | Poor | | |
| Comments: I didn't purchase a car here because the salesman was lazy. and he kept expressing the no haggle price. so... nothing to talk about there. just walk up, see sticker, nope, to much, walk away. I told him I was in the 14k-16k ish range, he showed me all cars 20k and up and told me there was nothing else listed in that range unless I wanted to get into high miles. I said that isn't what your website showed. also, he wanted me to wander around the dealership alone, and keep walking back every time I had a question. I asked for a golf cart ride instead, he said that is for disabled customers only. also, when I first came in, I wanted to test drive 4 cars. when I left, I didn't even bother. |
| Cerritos Acura | Cerritos | CA | Very Good | Tony Pakeer | Very Good |
| Comments: Used the Email/Fax attack from FightingChance.com and the spreadsheet provided on this website. Never stepped in a dealers ship to negotiate. Walked in dealership with the agreed price over email and I was out of there in 2 hours. I offered a fair price and they did make money. Very Painless! |
| Cerritos Nissan | Cerritos | CA | Poor | Subira Khalfani | Poor |
| Comments: We recently had a child and needed to get a larger vehicle to accommodate. We were pre-approved for $29,000.00 through our credit union at a rate of 6.49 percent for a new vehicle purchase. Nissan offered 4.99% up to 72-mths. for the vehicle we liked. The paperwork was switched a couple of times and the last paperwork was adjusted to 7.54% which was not shown / explained. What was explained was that they could add 1-year to get us around the payment we desired. Our trade-in left us upside down $3,290.64. The paperwork was switched and the finance manager (Jovi Dizon) had my wife sign something different than I saw just moments earlier; which were changes in the interest rate and overall cost was not changed as agreed. The vehicle is being financed through Nissan of Cerritos because we thought we were getting a better interest rate than our own bank; which was switched at the last moment. Also, we were leaving the property after the 4-hours because the overall cost was $10,000.00 over the agreed upon deal. Now, Nissan has not forwarded the proper information to the lender to assure we qualify, after several days and the lender is not able to complete the sale of the vehicle. This is a rip-off!!!!!!!! |
| City Toyota | Daly City | CA | Very Good | Cindy Lee | Excellent |
| Comments: Very easy! I've never bought a car before. I used Cars.com and CarsDirect to contact a bunch of dealers and let them name and rename their lowest price. It took about 5 days. This is an excellent website! |
| DCH Honda | Lemon Grove | CA | Not So Hot | | |
| Comments: Dear Jeff, All the chapters helped me through my negotiations. Just imagine what a sales team would to a young, Asian, female with a recent bankruptcy in that cubicle. A Roadloans voucher with a 20% interest was my leverage in getting an 11% from the dealer. I brought my laptop and used the spreadsheet and a loan calculator as well. They asked where I got the spreadsheet and shook their head when I mentioned your website. I will read your site religiously and bought the FightingChance.com for my Mercedes next year. Much blessings to you, Jeff! |
| DCH Honda | Temecula | CA | Excellent | | |
| Comments: |
| DCH Lexus of Oxnard | Oxnard | CA | Excellent | Walt Oliver | Excellent |
| Comments: $3,694 BELOW INVOICE!!! There is a $5,000 Factory to Dealer incentive on the RX350 until Mar 31 2009, so even if the Dealer sells below invoice, they still make money! Mine included Navigation with Backup Camera, Bluetooth over the car speakers, Power Rear Door (sweet!), heated leather seats with 2 Memory Settings, Rain-sensing Wipers, Moon Roof, Roof Rack, and upgraded 18" wheels. What a deal! |
| DCH Toyota of Simi Valley | Simi Valley | CA | Fair | | |
| Comments: Price includes a $500 rebate. Found this deal by looking in a local newspaper ad. There was no negotiating involved, just showed them the ad, and they sold it for that price. |
| DCH Toyota & Scion of Torrance | Torrance | CA | Good | Scott Klee | Excellent |
| Comments: |
| Dublin Honda | Dublin | CA | Not So Hot | | |
| Comments: |
| Dublin Honda | Dublin | CA | Very Good | Tito Perez | Very Good |
| Comments: I requested quotes- some dealers didn't send back prices. It was their loss! Purchased a car less than 24 hours from first email sent! |
| Dublin Toyota | Dublin | CA | Not So Hot | Ken Tam | Fair |
| Comments: Used Edmunds.com for pricing. got 0% apr for 36 mos. plus OK price. NO dealing with aggressive salespeople, choosing between rebates or low APR loans. But F&I guy is trying to stick extended warranty scams? Thanks to your site save my time and money. |
| Dublin Toyota | Dublin | CA | Not So Hot | | |
| Comments: Got bid from CarsDirect for car with navigation and leather, but no sunroof or other options, then called dealer to see if they could beat that price. Dealer I bought from matched the CarsDirect price for a car that also had sunroof, heated front seats, and floor mats, so about $1500 in extra options. They also gave me 5.5 financing from Toyota. I prefer to get everything lined up over the phone before I go to the dealer. We had previously bought another car from this fleet manager so I think he wanted to keep our business. We did have some problems with the finance guy (raised APR slightly, but lowered when we caught it), tried to sneak in extended warranty at higher price than quoted (we declined). We got an incredible deal, below invoice on an in demand car, but I think they were disgruntled not to get more out of us. |
| Elk Grove Toyota | Elk Grove | CA | Very Good | Jeff Poteet | Excellent |
| Comments: |
| Fletcher Jones Mercedes Benz | Newport Beach | CA | Not So Hot | | |
| Comments: Caveat: Vehicle had 2000 miles on it because the dealer had driven it. Still feel like I got a good deal on a vehicle that had been used for 2 months but appeared to be in brand new condition. |
| Ford of Dublin | Dublin | CA | Poor | | |
| Comments: |
| Fresno Acura | Fresno | CA | Excellent | Mike/Jerry | Excellent |
| Comments: Once again, CarBuyingTips.com has helped me land a GREAT deal on a new car! Of course, the dealer played the usual tricks with fudged credit scores, "can I make some money on this deal?", etc., but in the end I got the price I wanted ($150 over) and a VERY good deal on my trade. I was in and out of there in 3 hours. Thanks, you guys ROCK! FYI...I purchased at Fresno Acura - and they were really pretty good about the negotiation - not too many low blow sales tactics. I had to start driving away to seal the deal on my trade in - but other than that, they played ball! |
| Frontier Toyota | Valencia | CA | Poor | | |
| Comments: They have a no haggle price on invoice, we negotiated trade in and options which we feel we did ok on. When we dropped off for the options to be installed the dealer said all of the take off items (stereo, rims, lights, grill, headrest etc) belonged to the dealer and would not be given back to us. After many heated phone calls, and a threat to cancel all the options to the sales manager and GM they finally called Scion and were told that yes all of the items belongs to the customers as the items were on the car when purchased. So Scion owners beware those take off items are yours not the dealer to turn around and resell them making a profit off of your parts. |
| Future Nissan of Roseville | Roseville | CA | Excellent | Wil Bellegarrigue | Excellent |
| Comments: If you wanna learn how to get a good deal go to this site. It is a easy read and will give you all your ammunition to go win your battles with the sales man and lienance manager. I really appreciate your site and all that it did for me. I love my new truck specially with what price I got it at. |
| Galpin Honda | Mission Hills | CA | Poor | sales manager | Poor |
| Comments: This site is great! The information I got from this site prepared me on buying a car from a dealer that would accused you of anything to go with their terms. |
| Galpin Mazda | Van Nuys | CA | Very Good | Phillip | Excellent |
| Comments: The salesman came up with a lot of the arguments you mentioned on your site and I had answers for all of them. They didn't want to share the factory to dealer incentive at first and offered $1200 less on my trade-in than I was expecting. They also tried to tell me that I had to fill out a credit application even though I brought my own financing with a great APR (4.24%). With the information on your site, I knew I didn't have to fill one out and refused. Your site saved me a lot of time and money. Thanks!!!! |
| Glendale Infiniti | Glendale | CA | Poor | Josh | Poor |
| Comments: I wish I found this site sooner. Its great! I will recommend it to other people. I thought I knew about the scams and tactics that car dealerships did but I learned a lot from this site. Why does the auto industry and regulators look away from outlawing these fraudulent tactics? |
| Goudy Honda | Alhambra | CA | Fair | Randy | Fair |
| Comments: |
| Goudy Honda | Los Angeles | CA | Poor | Mike | Poor |
| Comments: After confirming deal they pulled a bait and switch. Price went up by 1500 once we got to the dealership. If I could put these con artists out of business I would. Theives... |
| Hanlees | Davis | CA | Very Good | | |
| Comments: |
| Hardin Honda | Anaheim | CA | Fair | | |
| Comments: Used Edmunds.com to get internet quotes - saved me thousands! I also got the Costco membership price for the Extended Warranty and Alarm totaling $1,400. |
| Honda of Dublin | Dublin | CA | Excellent | | |
| Comments: I did most of the negotiating online before entering the store. Took a online/email quote from the dealership before going there, that way when we went there we just test drove a couple cars in the make/model/color that we liked and picked the one that we loved. After that it was just down to getting the same price they quoted (which they did) and get financing done. They didn't even bother negotiating the monthly installment. Just gave us the exact nos. (I had kept a loan amount and monthly installment calculator with me on my iphone .. just in case). But dealer was very good and didn't do any of the dealer gimmicks or scams. Fairly honest folks. |
| HONDA OF THOUSAND OAKS | THOUSAND OAKS | CA | Fair | OZZY | Good |
| Comments: |
| Huntington Beach Dodge | Huntington Beach | CA | Poor | | |
| Comments: I can't find a good Dodge/Chrysler dealership, so I am now a Mitsubishi guy. Chrysler cars are crap, take it from their own employees - offered me 50% less for my Dakota than Mitsubishi! I guess they have one popular car, the Challenger, so good luck getting one for less than MSRP. You'll look cool driving one until everyone realizes you took it in the rear from a Dodge salesman. |
| Kearney Mesa | San Diego | CA | Fair | Ali | Fair |
| Comments: Salesperson said we could either get the $1000 rebate or the 0 APR for 60 months but not both. I'm curious if that is accurate. I've seen commercials on television that say something similar so I figured it was accurate. I went with the 0 APR because in the end, even considering the $1000 rebate the car works out to being over $2000 cheaper with the 0 APR. |
| Keyes Hyundai | Van Nuys | CA | Excellent | Tom Eplin | Excellent |
| Comments: Read and followed all your chapters on buying a new car. Used Drive Your Dream to locate potential dealers to target in on. Used Fighting Chance to gather my final information. Negotiated a great price on a car that is hard to find right now due to its model year. I couldn't have done it without your sites help!! |
| Keyes Lexus | Van Nuys | CA | Very Good | Sam Santoyo | Very Good |
| Comments: I love all the content, but you could use a graphic designer to make the info more digestible. Lots of key nuggets. |
| Keyes Lexus | Van Nuys | CA | Good | Edmund O. | Very Good |
| Comments: Your site was invaluable in helping me understand car terminology and negotiations. Not only did I score a much lower deal, but also was able to negotiate 15K (from the 10K lease), no fees outside registration & destination, and zero down. |
| Kolbe Honda | Reseda | CA | Excellent | | Excellent |
| Comments: w/ FightingChance.com |
| Kolbe Honda | Reseda | CA | Good | Frank | Very Good |
| Comments: |
| LA Auto Gallery Porsche Dealership | Woodland Hills | CA | Poor | Jaime Nello | Poor |
| Comments: About a year ago a friend referred me to the LA Auto Gallery Porsche dealership in Woodland Hills, CA, to buy a new car. When I went there, they didn’t have the car I wanted but said they could order one. While I waited for a new car to be delivered they wanted me to lease another car from them, which they said they would buy back when a suitable new car came in. Since I had a car to drive, I told them I wasn’t interested. After checking with the Sales Manager, the "Fleet Manager/Sales Consultant" called me back saying they could buy the leased car back at a set price that would cover all the lease payments etc, since it would only be for three months. My friend had recently done a similar buy-back type of deal with this dealership so I trusted them to keep their promise. Three months later they refused to buy the leased vehicle back for the prearranged amount and have offered $30,000 less than the original agreement. They have subsequently fired the "Fleet Manager/Sales Consultant" I was dealing with, saying he wasn’t authorized to make the deal. If you DARE do business with this dealership, be sure to get EVERYTHING in writing SIGNED and AUTHORIZED by the owner, Harrison Gray, before agreeing to ANYTHING or they could renege on your deal by firing your sales consultant. |
| Larry Hopkins Honda | Sunnyvale | CA | Good | | |
| Comments: |
| Lexus of Stevens Creek | San Jose | CA | Excellent | Bill Bellamay | Excellent |
| Comments: The experience with the salesperson and in the business office was generally good with a relaxed atmosphere as my husband and I were ready. The sticking point in the office was the extended warranty wherein we paid $1,500 for a 3 year extended warranty. The Cilajet finish was included in the selling price. Prior to visiting the dealer, we've already pre-negotiated the options and price over the phone on 4 separate calls for a total time of about 30 minutes. |
| Livermore Subaru | Livermore | CA | Excellent | Ahmad Rahimzadah | Excellent |
| Comments: Sent out several requests for quotes through Edmunds.com. Got back 10 responses from dealers. All but two were under invoice price. With most, needed at least 2 rounds of emails for clarification of what I wanted. Livermore Subaru had the car in stock (the others would have to do a factory order) except the car had one option I didn't want. After I insisted on a quotation for the car I wanted, they quoted it, and then offered me the car they had in stock for the same price, so I accepted. |
| Longo Lexus | El Monte | CA | Excellent | David | Excellent |
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| Manly GMC | Santa Rosa | CA | Good | Barry Silk | Good |
| Comments: This site made it possible for me to fully leverage a weak market segment and optimize my savings. The salesman acted exactly as explained and I was able to counter every move. Eventually splitting the manufacturer to dealer incentive 50/50. That is all the money they made on this deal. They were able to move a stagnant inventory and I was able to capitalize using your techniques. I will be referring everyone I know to this site. Thanks a bundle. |
| Manly Honda | Santa Rosa | CA | Excellent | John Peck | Excellent |
| Comments: I did all haggling via e-mails with the internet sales managers. I offered other dealers a chance to match this price, but no one did. Many couldn't believe this Dealer (Manly Honda) would go that low and said that they were just luring us to the dealership. |
| Mazzei Hyundai | Pittsburg | CA | Excellent | | Excellent |
| Comments: Price quoted on the phone 'out the door' was a little bit MORE than when the final paperwork was done. So less than expected! |
| Miller Honda | Van Nuys | CA | Not So Hot | Yusuf Faed | Fair |
| Comments: Thank you so much for your buying guide and tips. I had done all my research so I felt in complete control at the dealer and was not intimidated like in previous car purchasing experiences. |
| Moreno Valley Pontiac GMC Buick | Moreno valley | CA | Poor | Inez Aispuro | Poor |
| Comments: Total rip-off!!! I saw this SUV online way below what they in the window in dealership. They said it had 20,000 in it. When we were signing it said it had 32,000 close to 33,000. SUV has dual DVD install in rear seats. They turn on, and said that they could not get them to work because we needed the control and head phones. Sales man promise to get a hold of the previous owner who was their general |
| Moss Bros. Honda | Moreno Valley | CA | Good | | |
| Comments: THANK YOU! I couldn't have saved this much on my car without all your car buying tips! |
| Mossy Toyota | San Diego | CA | Poor | | |
| Comments: |
| Mossy Toyota | San Diego | CA | Very Good | Mark Sanders | Excellent |
| Comments: I already had the quote in an email before I went to the dealership. They didn't haggle at all and the salesperson was decent. The finance department tried to push add-ons like extended warranty, paint protection, fabric protection, alarm and some security feature for a whopping $6000. I declined all of them and obviously the finance manager was not quite happy but he did behave decently. You always need to watch out for things that need to be fixed before you sign the papers at the finance department. There was a minor item which the salesperson said would be taken care of but once I signed the purchase contract, they declined to fix that immediately saying that they had already lost $1400 on the deal that they weren't going to fix that. Not a big deal for me but I was surprised that the sales lady would be so brutally honest. I told her in the face that I expected that such a thing might happen. My advice read Edmunds.com and http//www.carbuyingtips.com/, and get dealers to compete against each other and get a final OTD faxed or emailed to you before stepping into dealership. You will get ripped off if you don't get the quote beforehand. |
| Mossy Toyota | San Diego | CA | Very Good | | |
| Comments: Negotiated price includes $500 rebate. I tried suggested online loans but the lowest I got was 7.69 APR. Dealer was able to get me 4.99 APR with only $5000 down. I negotiated out of paying ADR, Gasoline, Dealer holdback, and Whsl. Financial Reserve ($1147). They always get you with the alarm though - paid $405, down from first offered price of $1295!! |
| Mullahey Ford | Arroyo Grande | CA | Poor | Harold Coelho | Poor |
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| Norm Reeves Honda | Cerritos | CA | Not So Hot | Ramni Maymoun | Not So Hot |
| Comments: I am from South Asia. We walked into this dealership after food purchasing. We test drove a car with Ramzi. He was courteous and tried his best to sell us this car. But the car was beat up, dirty and had beige leather. I wanted black cloth interior. We walked away. This guy persisted over email. I did not give him my phone number. After two weeks, he was able to locate my color combination at his sister dealership. To bring the car to his dealership, I'd have to complete all the paperwork first. This was a scary proposition. We did it anyway since we just moved here from the east coast and don't know anyone. I had a written offer for $75 less. He DID NOT lower his price. He tried to sell us installed accessories. We refused so he removed them from the car. He promised to drive my old car back to my home. At the last minute he said his manager won't allow him. If he had told me this sooner, I would have arranged for someone to come pick up the car with me. Although we purchased the car, we left with a bitter taste in our mouth. We will not buy from this dealership again. Seems like a lot of the salespeople just hang out on the parking lot and foreigners like us get 'dropped' even before we talk to anyone. |
| Newport Lexus | Newport Beach | CA | Good | Phillip Huynh | Excellent |
| Comments: |
| Norm Reeves Honda | Huntington Beach | CA | Excellent | Fleet/Internet Sales Director | Excellent |
| Comments: Excellent site! |
| Norm Reeves Honda Super Store | Cerritos | CA | Excellent | Eduardo Mora | Excellent |
| Comments: Thanks! |
| Norm Reeves Honda Super Store | Cerritos | CA | Poor | Adil khan | Poor |
| Comments: The negotiated price was $19,770 on the 2009 Honda CR-V LX model (there were incentives factored in). When it came time to complete the sale (and while my husband stepped away to care for our child), a mysterious $5,700 somehow made it into the purchase agreement (in addition to and after trade in, down payment, taxes and fees). Apparently they felt that a woman would never notice. In addition to trying to cheat my husband and I by that amount, they also illegally ran my husbands credit without his knowledge or signature. We left the dealership because of their sales practices and will never buy from their company again. They have now been reported to the FTC, the attorney general's office of California and the BBB. |
| North Bakersfield Toyota | Bakersfield | CA | Very Good | Greg Spears (internet sales manager) | Excellent |
| Comments: Got quotes from 5 dealers and even checked out Costco's Auto Program. I was sure we were going to go with Costco until I put in a last minute price quote for the hell of it. Surprisingly, the dealer beat Costco's price by $250 and was still willing to drop the price another $110. |
| O'Donnell Chevrolet | San Gabriel | CA | Poor | Erick | Poor |
| Comments: I should read these reviews before I got there. I was told they worked with people filing 1099 and with bad credit. As soon as I walked in I was greeted by salesman who names starts with E, who is a great salesman and H, who, I will call the finance set-up guy, really tried hard to work with me. The problem and the bottom line was the finance manager. It is funny, because E asked how I found out about the dealership, so they have to know what people are writing about them. I know what he has to work with. I gave them what I wanted to pay and they assured me it would work. I ended up being there longer than I wanted to be there and the finance manager kept on asking for more and more paperwork to prove income. When I explained that I had other businesses that were cash transactions, he said that anyone could write whatever. This guy personally insulted me and yet I put up with it and in end, walked out with no car, although the PT would have been great. I don't know if its the economy that is making these dealerships more paranoid and deliberate, but its unfortunate. I hope that many people will steer away from this place. Salesman E needs to really work at a dealership that has a better reputation. Just trying not to get angry and post this on facebook or myspace. Good luck in your car search and God Bless everyone, even the money guy, N. |
| Poway Hyundai | Poway | CA | Very Good | Mike | Very Good |
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| Power Honda, Valencia | Valencia | CA | Good | Heather Bull | Good |
| Comments: It would be nice to show the city/state that the car was purchases in. As well as the OTD price. |
| Power Toyota Cerritos | Cerritos | CA | Very Good | Albert New | Very Good |
| Comments: Option not include $750 customer rebate |
| Puente Hills Subaru | Puente Hills | CA | Not So Hot | | |
| Comments: Liked Subaru.com, truevalue.com, Edmunds.com, Cars.com, carsdirect.com. |
| Puente Hills Toyota | Puente Hills | CA | Fair | Ryan Ozaki - Fleet Mgr | Good |
| Comments: Love your site, have used it twice in the past 6 years and saved thousands. Thanks! |
| Putnam Volvo | Burlingame | CA | Very Good | Ashley Custudio | Excellent |
| Comments: As a woman, I was intimidated by the thought of having to negotiate. I read your site top to bottom as well as using FightingChance.com. I followed your advice as well as Mr. Bragg's. Some dealers wouldn't budge by a cent. I made this deal in a little over 24 hours with 2 dealers bidding back & forth at the end. I have my ideal car for $12K under sticker!! I knew about all incentives, rebates before they "forgot" to mention them. Nothing else to say, but YOU ROCK! You can call me Athena! |
| Roseville Mazda/Subaru | Roseville | CA | Excellent | Brad (Fleet Manager) | Excellent |
| Comments: This has never been an easier time to buy a car. The two dealers I worked with started the negotiations at just $500 over invoice & quickly dropped below it when I made references to each other's offers. |
| SANTA MARIA FORD | SANTA MARIA | CA | Poor | MARIO | Poor |
| Comments: This dealership committed fraud. Had work to be completed in writing at time of cash deal. Brought in car 1 week later and left it for the day. My car sat untouched all day and they said the work was done!!! |
| Schaier's Nissan | Long Beach | CA | Poor | Cal | Poor |
| Comments: My experience started well, but ended terribly. Take it from me, what you don't no can come back to bite you in the behind. After visiting my credit union's website, my wife and I contacted the Credit Union Dealer Liaison (CUDL), who also happen to be the fleet manager. We stopped by the dealer to look at the Nissan models available. We weren't planning to make a deal. Upon meeting Cal the CUDL we told him what we wanted (Nissan Murano or Nissan Rogue.) Cal showed us both models, but he also mentioned that they had cars from a sister lot (Chrysler/JEEP dealership) and they had a Jeep Compass, which is in the same class as a Rogue. After test driving it, my wife and I fell in love with the options on the vehicle. He offered to make us a deal on the Compass that would beat the price of a stock model Rogue. We asked for an offer sheet to take back to the credit union. He reasoned that he thought they could beat the APR offered by our credit union. (He then brought in a co-worker named Chris, who he said was with finance. And then the haggling started. Next came the let me talk with my manager routine. Then the emotional plea. Then the deal we couldn't refuse. The rest is history. Please stress to your readers to complete all the steps prior to stepping foot on the lot. Thanks |
| Scott Robinson Honda | Torrance | CA | Not So Hot | | |
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| Scott Robinson Honda | Torrence | CA | Excellent | Jim Capella | Excellent |
| Comments: Used Edmunds.com and competitive bids from CarsDirect and five other dealers through DriveYourDream. |
| Sierra Subaru | Monrovia | CA | Fair | David G. | Fair |
| Comments: The best advice was to not be afraid to walk away at any point. |
| South Coast Mitsubishi | Costa Mesa | CA | Excellent | | |
| Comments: YOU ARE THE MAN! Just a couple tiny suggestions - California taxes us on the car price with no regard for trade-in, so it would be nice if the spread sheet accounted for that. Also, it would be nice to have a place to enter license and registration fees after the sales tax cell. |
| Spirit Honda | El Monte | CA | Not So Hot | Ryan Matzen | Good |
| Comments: I liked Jeff's suggestion to bring a financial calculator to compare your payment amounts with the dealers'. This helped me to catch the additional warranty coverage that the finance guy tried to sneak into the monthly payment calculations. Thanks Jeff for allowing me to walk into the dealership with confidence! |
| Spirit Honda | El Monte | CA | Poor | | |
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| Spreen Honda | Loma Linda | CA | Poor | | |
| Comments: I did not purchase the vehicle there. The finance manager told me that I HAD TO PURCHASE the extended service contract because of my less than perfect credit (score 620) in order to get the deal. When I tried to walk out of finance before signing, the salesman begged me to talk to the owner Jeff Spreen. I was expecting to get satisfaction, instead I was mortified. Jeff said to "Get the Hell out of his Showroom and stop wasting his staffs time." Run, do not walk out of this place, it is a mess. I'm surprised that the DMV has not shut them down. |
| Spreen Honda | Loma Linda | CA | Very Good | Vu | Very Good |
| Comments: Used www.amexnetwork.zag.com |
| Spreen Honda | Loma Linda | CA | Excellent | Matthew Humphrey | Excellent |
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| Spreen Honda | Loma Linda | CA | Excellent | Matthew Humphrey | Excellent |
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| Stevens Creek Honda | San Jose | CA | Not So Hot | Phoebe Tan | Not So Hot |
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| Temecula Mazda | Temecula | CA | Excellent | Andrew | Excellent |
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| Thorson Motor Center | Pasadena | CA | Very Good | Rich | Excellent |
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| Thousand Oaks Honda | Thousand Oaks | CA | Fair | | |
| Comments: Nice dashboard and attractive exterior. Disappointed on miniature manual door locks, manual mirror adjustment and quite a lot of irregular arrangement of open compartments inside. I wish I could go back to Toyota Corolla. |
| Toyota of San Diego | San Diego | CA | Poor | | |
| Comments: I'm not sure how much overall we ended up spending because after two months after purchasing this vehicle, the dealership called us and informed us that we had to bring the car back because they couldn't finance my husband. My husband returned the car today and gave us our salvaged car back along with ALLOT less than money that we had originally put down! Out of $2700 that we put down, they gave us $1100 back! I will NEVER EVER purchase from a Toyota again! They completely robbed us of what little money we had! We are a family of soon to be 5 and need a reliable safe car for our family. I can't explain how upsetting all of this has been for us. So, DO NOT go to Toyota unless you already have your OWN financing. Because I would HATE for this to happen to another family. |
| Toyota Carlsbad | Carlsbad | CA | Excellent | Duff | Excellent |
| Comments: Price quoted does not include $1000 factory rebate. They beat invoice price at very first internet quote. Very upfront and friendly. No slick LieNance managers. Gave us discounts and rebates on almost everything they could. |
| Tracy Mazda | Tracy | CA | Very Good | Bill Webb | Very Good |
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| Victorville Hyundai | Victorville | CA | Excellent | Jack Jernigan | Excellent |
| Comments: Used Fighting Chance, contacted 8 sales managers via Emails, got only 2 responds. Options included: Touring Package with RSE(3rd road seat, DVD with 8" LCD), carpeted floor mats(7passenger), wheel locks. I got Manufacture to costumer rebate $3500 plus Military discount $1000. Suggestion: Do a very very thorough inspection of the vehicle; because it was new, I assumed that the radio would work, well, it didn't. It turned out that the fuse was loose. |
| Vista Ford Lincoln Mercury | Woodland Hills | CA | Fair | John | Fair |
| Comments: The good: got a decent deal on a trim I thought was out of my price range in my favorite color. Also, no pressure when told I had my own financing. The okay: ability to deal hurt by fact that other Milan Premiers' base price was higher (+$355 MSRP/$319 invoice) as per stickers at other dealers and Edmonds. Also was thrown by salesman dropping the price by $500 (if I inked the deal that day, natch) and adding an unpublished $1000 rebate onto published $1500 rebate after just 15 minutes in the office. The bad: he tried to cry poverty by showing an "invoice" of $25,475 and $790 holdback. Pretty sure it was bogus and he just wanted me to think that I was getting it at invoice (not counting the holdback). But I knew through research what my options were at other dealers and what the real invoice was and so was more or less okay with the profit he got. But still, lame. Bottom line: Thanks a lot! |
| Volvo of Los Angeles | Los Angeles | CA | Excellent | Alex | Excellent |
| Comments: This site was great and helped me get an amazing price. When I first looked at the Volvo C30 T5 I thought it was out of my price range, however with the help of this site I negotiated it into my price range. It also helped buying in December as the dealer told me they had to sell 30 cars by the end of the year or they would lose their dealership. |
| Weir Canyon Honda | Anaheim | CA | Very Good | Andy | Very Good |
| Comments: Did Ok |
| Wondries | Alhambra | CA | Good | Alex | Good |
| Comments: Your site was an immense help! The spreadsheet was a valuable tool in prepping me for the price and terminology. I basically walked in to the dealer, told them straight away I was not going to pay any holdback, floorplan or advertising fees, also informed them I didn't want to talk trade-in or financing - I wanted to talk cash price. From that moment on it became a battle of wills, arrived at 8p and had the deal done by 9:30. Glad I followed your advice about coming in relaxed - I decided to come in on an evening, on my day off from work, just had dinner, brought a book and all my notes. Arriving about an hour and a half before closing time definitely kept things moving along fairly well. I asked to only work with one person, and when I made my final offer, calmly demanded an answer in 5 minutes. I started at a rock bottom price, set myself a ceiling for what I was prepared to spend based on your info and consumer reports, and stood my ground. Believe from looking over message boards, and calling other dealers to break the price, that I did very well on a popular car (2010 Prius IV with solar roof, black ext, grey leather interior) in LA. Thanks for your great advice and tools!! |
| Dealer Name | City | State | Dealer Rating | Salesperson | Salesperson Rating |
| Autoway Honda - 17275 U.S. highway north | Clearwater | FL | Poor | Shane Rochester | Poor |
| Comments: this site is great, and I'm glad other potential buyers from Clearwater Florida may have a chance to see how shady this dealership is and how the people in charge at Autoway of Clearwater Florida on u. s. 19 north address 17275, encourage there sales people to be dishonest using any tactic possible to cheat the consumers. |
| Autoway Honda | Clearwater | FL | Very Good | Alan | Very Good |
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| Autoway Nissan of Brandon | Brandon | FL | Excellent | | |
| Comments: I also got the Cash for Clunkers $4500 trade-in (not included in figures above). After my CFC allowance, my total out the door, TTT and all fees included was $17,703. Didn't use FightingChance.com, just your site. EXCELLENT INFO!!! THANKS and keep up the good work! For the first time ever, I felt like I was in control and I know I got a good deal when the other dealers told me they couldn't touch the lowest price quote that I showed them. This is the way to buy a car!!! Thanks again!!!! |
| AutoWay Nissan of Brandon | Brandon | FL | Good | Mike Wojtiuk | Very Good |
| Comments: It was a great help, thank you |
| Bill Ray Nissan | Longwood | FL | Very Good | Merrill Shupnick | Excellent |
| Comments: This site is wonderful. This was the first car me and my wife bought together. Everything the dealership had to throw at us we were ready. They knew we meant business. We got the #1 choice for a vehicle, but most importantly we can go to bed at night knowing we got the price we deserved. |
| Coggin Chevrolet | Jacksonville | FL | Excellent | Tony Tang | Excellent |
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| Coggin Honda of Fort Pierce | Fort Pierce | FL | Excellent | Ted Ginnochio | Excellent |
| Comments: After many years of car buying, I really valued the information I found on carbuyingtips.com. The chart was particularly useful when my original deal with CarsDirect fell through. I will do a separate entry for my experience with CarsDirect. Thank you Jeff for all the fantastic information you provided. I am very happy with my new car and happy that I did not fall victim to any dealer scams. |
| Coggin Honda Jacksonville | Jacksonville | FL | Excellent | Matt Arnitz | Excellent |
| Comments: Great site. Made my first car buying experience easy and saved me $1000. |
| Coggin Honda of Orlando | Orlando | FL | Excellent | Alvin Santana | Excellent |
| Comments: This was the best experience I've ever had with buying a car. The information on this site was very useful. It was, at one dealership, word for word correct. It was almost laughable as to what happened. I ended up going to DriveYourDream.com and got a deal that was UNBEATABLE by local dealers. It was worth it to drive the 100 miles to the dealer. The internet salesman was a charm and we spent 1 hour and 5 minutes at the dealer with the test drive and signing papers. Walked in, drove the car, signed papers and left. No need to haggle with the great deal I got. Thank you very much for your site. I am recommending it to everyone I know. It truly was a pleasure to buy a car this time. |
| Coggin Honda of Orlando | Orlando | FL | Not So Hot | Henry Brown (and J.T.) | Not So Hot |
| Comments: On phone got quoted 18.5k OTD by Henry, was given to J.T. when I arrived next day and quoted 19k. After a bit Henry came back and gave me my 18.5k. Then they added 200 for 1300 worth of accessories. Was confused by sales tax savings with trade in because 18.7k still showed at end with all the figures in place, so they dropped it to 18.2k for final cost. Gave them 1 hour of my time, had phone to play with while they tried to play their games so didn't feel stressed by it. Only see rugs and pin stripe, where is the 1300 in accessories? LOL. Paperwork and everything else took an additional two hours but I made it out in time for lunch then work and showing off my new car! Thank you for all your help, your site helped me stick to my guns. I was confused on what my monthly payments would be (evil compound interest). Maybe a dumbed down explanation could help me for next time, could ya add a section? :) |
| Coggin Nissan | Jacksonville | FL | Fair | Taylor | Not So Hot |
| Comments: car had 1500 rebate gave up 500 rebate for 2.9% with 1000 rebate total out the door with taxes and gov fees 16,786. This is 2nd time I've used your site for savings Thanks |
| Countryside Ford | Clearwater | FL | Excellent | Sue | Excellent |
| Comments: Everything was very accurate and easy. I got a great deal and did not have to fight for it! |
| Crown Hyundai | ST PETERSBURG | FL | Not So Hot | Gary Scott | Good |
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| Ferman Mazda | Brandon | FL | Fair | Star Cookus | Fair |
| Comments: I really appreciate all the hard work that you put into the site!! As you can see, you helped me save a lot of money. The sales manager, was like "Where did you get your information." I just said that I just did my homework. It took about 3 hours of my time to get the price I wanted but well worth it. You are the best!! By the way, I did a 24 month lease with 12K miles/year with $3,500 down and $250/month. There first offer was $4,750 down and $401.00 per month for a 12K mile/yr lease. One negative comment. I tried to contact the folks at the Capital One finance company but never received a response. Anyway, Thanks again. I am now getting ready to help my daughter with her car purchase and am taking the same route. Thanks Again! |
| Gettel Nissan | Sarasota | FL | Very Good | Peter O'Keefe | Excellent |
| Comments: Factory MSRP $28,600 + $1495 dealer options added. Drivers Package, Seat Package. Negotiated price was $20,600 - $3500 rebate = $17,100 ($19100 out the door with 7% tax, $599 dealer fee, $100 Tags). Also received $600 in gas cards. Great experience! |
| Headquarter Toyota | Miami | FL | Poor | | |
| Comments: I negotiated like a champ using the tips and information found on your website. I financed through the Credit Union available through my place of employment and took home a beautiful, brand new Corolla LE for $17,000! The car included key-less entry system and power windows and locks. I feel good about the purchase and as a first-time car buyer, I think I did pretty well. Thank you and best of luck in the future. |
| Kuhn Honda | Tampa | FL | Excellent | William Lang | Excellent |
| Comments: Used FightingChance package. |
| Longwood Kia | Longwood | FL | Very Good | | |
| Comments: Jeff thanks for the help. Going in prepared makes a big difference. |
| Lucas Honda of Jacksonville | Jacksonville | FL | Excellent | Jim McDonald | Excellent |
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| Maroone Honda | Miami | FL | Excellent | Mara Redstone | Excellent |
| Comments: Cash to Dealer rebates used, went through my broker also |
| Maroone Honda | Miami | FL | Good | Gilbert Wasserman | Excellent |
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| Palm Automotive Group | Punta Gorda | FL | Excellent | Kevin Gorman | Excellent |
| Comments: Purchased the car on 12-28-09. I think the dealership treated me fairly, and the salesman was very good. I saw the car and paid for the car in one trip to the dealership. |
| Phil Smith Kia | Lighthouse Point | FL | Poor | Norvell | Poor |
| Comments: I live in NY, but I need a car while I am in Florida. I called Phil Smith Kia, and we agreed on a very good price for a 2009 Kia Spectra. The salesman, Norvell, faxed me an agreement and I sent a deposit of $100. I called a few times to check on the car, but Norvell said he was locating the car for me, even though he sent me a VIN number. I flew down to Florida, to see what was going on. When we came face to face this !@#$%(curses) said he had no cars. I hope he rots in Hell!!!! I think, as a result of the clunker deals, he must have sold my car for bigger profits. I only had a few days in Florida, so it was impossible to take legal action. I am still disgusted with the attitude of this Crook and I wish him and his dealership,ill fortune. May they reap what the sow!!!!! |
| Palm Harbor Honda | Palm Harbor | FL | Excellent | Dimetrious | Excellent |
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| Reeves Audi | Tampa | FL | Excellent | | |
| Comments: The best, plus the service department is even better. |
| Stadium Toyota | Tampa | FL | Very Good | Tom Thomas | Excellent |
| Comments: Fantastic website! Very useful information as long as you read EVERY chapter. Take the time to do the research and you will be rewarded! Try the e-mail/phone method first and clearly explain why you are presenting the offer. The only time I stepped foot in the dealership was to pick up the car AFTER the deal was already made. |
South Motors Honda | Miami | FL | Not So Hot | Jude | Not So Hot | | Comments: Very awesome site. Thanks! my price includes $2,000 factory to dealer rebate. |
| Tampa Honda Land | Tampa | FL | Good | Majid Raffoul | Excellent |
| Comments: I am thankful to my Internet Sales Manager (Majid) for giving me the treatment that I wanted -> just upfront and straightforward but professional. Thanks, too to zag.com for an incredible 'no haggle' price. Super thanks to carbuyingtips.com for educating me a whole lot, which empowered me to deal with the sales people I met. |
| Toyota of Hollywood | Hollywood | FL | Excellent | Lance - Salesman Yoni - Sales Manager | Excellent |
| Comments: What a DEAL! Final price includes this month's $1000 rebate but still $1400 under invoice, $1000 under what Edmunds.com says the TMV is AND our full financed price including tax tag & title UNDER TMV!! Your site gave me all the tools and insights necessary to convey to the Toyota Salesman that we meant business and once they knew I wanted to negotiate over a Scion they literally laid down for us and said "I'll give you the biggest possible discount I can on a Toyota, no holdback, any incentives, anything - I just can't negotiate Scion!" Turns out dealer needed to meet a quota to get $300 bonus for each vehicle sold so they took a $987 total LOSS on my Matrix to reach it! THANK YOU CARBUYINGTIPS.COM!!!! |
| Vera Cadillac | Pembroke Pines | FL | Very Good | | |
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| Vera Pontiac, GMC Buick | Kendall | FL | Poor | | |
| Comments: It was a bad experience; I thought that I go a good deal but he wanted me to signed the Contract before talking to the Finance person; of course I did not signed. then when talking to the finance person, I discovered a 3000 (plus dealerships fees and taxes) dollars of finance charges and since I agreed for a 7000 dollars down payment, I did not like for my down payment to be worthless. I said no to the deal (without signing anything) and the manager started yelling at me, plus the manager had me kicked out of the dealership (yes kicked out). He told me that after "all he did for me about the great deal" that deal that I refused to sign (in which I might go into detail later on, the manager felt insulted. The deal for his 2008 (last year Pontiac G8 was) 29500 minus 5000 rebate minus 7000 down payment minus 2000 (under priced Pontiac 2003 SUV as trade off)=16000 and some change (for finance). add 790 of dealership fees plus 1600 on taxes (2390) plus a 3000 finance charge then I would have to finance that car for 20390 for 72 months on a 5.6 interest rate. I said no because I lost count on the payments. |
| Village Toyota | Homosassa | FL | Excellent | | |
| Comments: FightingChance gave good advice and had the invoice pricing for the Southeast Toyota "Port Installed Options" which are not freely available on the internet. Also got an Up2Drive finance check in advance of visiting dealer. Up2Drive was 7.49% APR. This strengthened my negotiating position and is recommended. Dealer got me 5.99% APR financing from Bank of America Auto Group. |
| Wesley Chapel Nissan | Wesley Chapel | FL | Good | Jon White | Good |
| Comments: Thanks to you and CarsDirect - I found a beauty. 2010 Versa S hatchback w/auto and full power package with less than 2000 miles on it. I'm not sure where the dealer got this car; I think they must have purchased them from a leasing center that went belly up since they had more than one with similar low mileage. I had to drive 150 miles to see the car, but it was worth it. Used all of the information I found on your site and I really feel like I cut a decent deal. The car values out much more than what I paid on places like Edmunds, etc. I can't say enough about your site. I tell everyone I can about it. Thanks and best regards, Rob Pelick |
| Dealer Name | City | State |
Dealer Rating | Salesperson | Salesperson Rating |
| Butler Toyota | Macon | GA | Poor | Toney Allen | Poor |
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| Butler VW | Macon | GA | Fair | | |
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| Chatham Parkway Lexus | Savannah | GA | Very Good | Brook Smith | Excellent |
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| Cobb Country Toyota | Kennesaw | GA | Excellent | Tony Cloud | Excellent |
| Comments: Good info, be clear that some of the links to info/price sites require an email or phone response - I first thought they all gave figures right away like KBB or Edmunds.com. Otherwise - EXCELLENT SITE AND GREAT INFO. I made a good, fair deal for a car using your advice and methods. |
| Ed Voyles Honda | Marietta | GA | Good | Richard Wade | Excellent |
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| Gwinnett Place Honda | Dultuth | GA | Not So Hot | Hamilton | Fair |
| Comments: Do not buy a used car from this place. Despite what they say, do not believe that a thorough check has been done on the vehicle prior to being put on display for sale. Get a 2nd, outside, opinion. Not doing so will cost you in the long-run when issues not seen by the human eye erupt within a reasonable 30-days of purchase. Luckily, I was able to detect the terribly frayed seatbelt (a major safety issue), but I didn't readily detect the door handle, which was wasn't securely attached!. Within 30 days, that door handle literally fell off. The $4500 extended "super" warranty that I purchased did not cover the repair because the door handle, while integral to safely entering, exiting, and protecting the vehicle and my family, was considered a "trim" item, which is not covered. Nothing against the sales person. He was extremely nice and empathetic (hence the 5-rating for "friendliness," but ultimately, his hands were tied by managers who continue to give the phrase "used car salesman" a bad name. As a matter of fact, the manager even hinted that I could have loosened damaged the handle. In the 20 years that I have been buying cars, I've never seen a handle come off a car. Give me a break! Wait. The handle did that already!!! I just paid the money. I did, however, get a laughable 50 dollar discount after having to sit through dumb "metaphors" about "brother's houses." Thanks, JR for that. News Flash!!!! Hendrick Chevrolet, the neighboring dealer that actually did the repairs at the recommendation of your service rep, is more like a "second cousin."In short, go elsewhere. While I see that this dealer has pretty good overall reviews from other sites, ask yourself..." Do I really want to take the chance that I may fall in the unlucky category number of customers that have had less than stellar service?!!! Especially when making a $30,000 purchase?!!! My money is hard-earned and I'd rather not gamble with it. If this review makes one person thinks twice and go elsewhere, then the time I spent to warn the public is well worth it. I feel so strongly about this, that I will find other ways to post my opinion outside of this site. Caveat Emptor. I hope they spend the money I wasted well. |
| Gwinnett Place Honda | Duluth | GA | Excellent | Robert Dittrich | Excellent |
| Comments: Great site. Thanks for all of your help. Can't say enough good things about your advice. |
| Gwinnett Place Honda | Gwinnett | GA | Fair | | |
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| Hayes Chrysler | Lawrenceville | GA | Excellent | J. Chavez | Excellent |
| Comments: The site made me a well informed customer. Rebate: $3000 I had financing in place (Credit 750+) but the dealer was unable to beat the APR. In fact when I told him that his APR was too high he said if I have better financing I should use that, his hands were tied due to the economy (GMAC financing). |
| Honda Carland | Roswell | GA | Very Good | Tim Holley | Excellent |
| Comments: Liked the site, although occasional inclusion of repetitive points and stories made the reading somewhat unnecessarily long. I followed your suggestions, although I kept communicating with dealers exclusively by email until I narrowed my choices down to the last few. FYI - I had one salesman tell me that my color choice (Diamond White Pearl) was the ONLY one NOT being discounted (even being sold ABOVE MSRP). Another salesman told me he had a car all ready for me, with the "Appearance Package" - mud guards and pin striping (which bumped the price by $400+). The car I finally chose had these items on it, but I was not charged extra for them. THANK YOU. Finally, I had financing in advance, but the dealer could NOT beat the APR. Your options to respond below do not offer this choice. |
| Honda Carland | Roswell | GA | Good | Robert | Good |
| Comments: Great site. I will be recommending it to all my friends. The dealer gave his first offer then I put all the info into the spreadsheet and then he couldn't come back with anything else. |
| Hughes Honda | | GA | Excellent | Kevin Bryant | Excellent |
| Comments: Thank you! Your information provided all the tools necessary. My Honda dealership was very professional! |
| Jim Ellis Of Atlanta | Atlanta | GA | Good | Hal Robinson | Excellent |
| Comments: It was great. I spent several days on your website. I couldn't use FightingChance.com |
| Jim Ellis Mazda | Marietta | GA | Very Good | Theo Garuba | Excellent |
| Comments: Excellent site to see what deals others are getting. Gives you confidence that you can get a good deal on a new car. I wish there was a better way to break down models and options. I would like to compare apples and apples. |
| Kia Country of Savannah | Savannah | GA | Excellent | James West | Excellent |
| Comments: Thank you so much for your information. The only difficulties I had were that different sites had different MSRP / Inv. prices. I just took the average of them and followed the rest of the instructions in your website. On what would have been a vehicle I could have paid over $24,000 for including taxes etc., My out the door price was just under $19,000. A few hours research saved me around $5,000!!! This was also the easiest car deal I ever completed. I had everything set up (financing etc. before I went in) and e-mailed the salesman my offer. He said good to go, I walked in, did a test drive and signed the papers...Less than a total of two hours of my time. I did have to laugh, though, when I saw another person in there who was there before me, and still there when I drove away in my new vehicle, he was having every trick in the book played on him and thanks to your site, I was able to spot them. I actually had the salesman say that he wished everyone were as informed and prepared as me. Thank you again for such a wonderful site. I have already told others about it and will continue to do so. |
| Nalley Honda/GMC | Brunswick | GA | Very Good | Jamie Rowe | Excellent |
| Comments: Top-Notch dealership and very professionally run! |
| Sandy Springs Toyota | Sandy Springs | GA | Very Good | Sean Allardice | Excellent |
| Comments: They did sneak in a document fee which wasn't mentioned in the online ad or at anytime prior to the closing paperwork, which they said was non-negotiable and standard at Toyota dealers. Since I had such a good deal at that point, had gotten pretty close to KBB trade-in value considering that the car was due for close to $1000 in maintenance in the next 6 months, I wasn't in the mood to argue the document fee. I was still satisfied with the deal. It was still less than another dealer had offered me on an internet deal for a 2010 Corolla CE without keyless entry, cruise control, and power windows and doors. |
| Sons Honda | McDonough | GA | Very Good | Andre Smith | Excellent |
| Comments: Your site gave me the knowledge and confidence to demand the best price. It felt good to be in control! Thank you. |
| Southtowne Hyundai | Newnan | GA | Excellent | | |
| Comments: I used a lot of the information on this site to help me get the best deal. |
| Team Honda | Lithia Springs | GA | Excellent | Dennis "internet salesman" | Excellent |
| Comments: Used Edmonds for 8 dealerships and asked for the out the door price, OTD, the only fair way to compair. Viseted the dealer with the second to lowest quote so the internet sales person had something to beat. No lienance managers at Auto Nation. He freely admited the %2 hold back and sold for $120 over invoice! We bought with knowledge and confidence. Thank you! |
| Town Center Nissan | Kennesaw | GA | Very Good | Brett Levine | Excellent |
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| World Scion | Atlanta | GA | Poor | Muhamed | Poor |
| Comments: I know Scion is no haggle, but used Carmax's posted prices to get my local Scion dealer to discount the xB that had been on the lot for a few months. Love the site, have used it for years. I'm also curious about this OFAC/Homeland/Patriot credit check the dealers are pushing. |
| World Scion | Atlanta | GA | Poor | Muhamed | Poor |
| Comments: I know Scion is no haggle, but used Carmax's posted prices to get my local Scion dealer to discount the xB that had been on the lot for a few months. Love the site, have used it for years. I'm also curious about this OFAC/Homeland/Patriot credit check the dealers are pushing. |
| Dealer Name | City | State |
Dealer Rating | Salesperson | Salesperson Rating |
| Brian Bemis Honda | Sycamore | IL | Fair | Carol Hogue | Good |
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| Bob Watson Motor Sports | Midlothian | IL | Poor | Joe Reed | Poor |
| Comments: I do not encourage anyone to go to Watson motor sports. |
| Brad Barker Honda | Bloomington | IL | Excellent | William Manning | Excellent |
| Comments: FightingChance.com does not provide pricing info for the Honda Fit, because there is "just $507 to $675 profit built into the MSRP" (according to their website). Even KBB listed the New Car Blue Book Value (the price consumers are actually paying) at about $200 OVER MSRP. Using your spreadsheet, I was able to negotiate $530 off of MSRP, which calculated to just over 4% profit over the actual dealer's cost. |
| Bruckert's Chevrolet | Bunker Hill | IL | Good | Greg Bruckert | Excellent |
| Comments: I really liked this site. It helped me out a lot in finding the "snakes" that our out there. It gave my wife and I something to prepare ourselves for. We spent over a month looking for a vehicle, with finding nothing but snakes out there trying to rip us off. This site helped us extremely! We did however find a dealership that actually had a salesman (owner of the dealership) that was EXTREMELY nice and great to deal with. The car we got was WAY below anything out there for !that vehicle. All of the other vehicles were being sold for $20,000 PLUS! Thank you for this site, and helping us being prepared in dealing with all the snakes out there. If it wasn't for this site we probably would have ended up with a bad deal and never would have found this GREAT dealership and salesman! Thanks again. |
| Carr's Honda | Chicago | IL | Fair | | |
| Comments: Thanks so much for the site! I was able to negotiate from an informed perspective, |
| Carr's Honda | Chicago | IL | Very Good | manager | Excellent |
| Comments: Great site, good tips, took many pointers for amateur first time buyer. |
| Champion Motorsports, Inc. | Crestwood | IL | Poor | Anthony Maddamma | Poor |
| Comments: I can't believe the night before we are to go pick up the Jeep. He calls just when the office closes. My daughters first car she was so excited to go pick it up in the AM. Bank even cut the cashiers check in their name this AM. All ready to go and I get a call saying they SOLD THE JEEP. They even communicated with my bank since Mon. today is only Wed. eve. As a parent I just can't believe this is happening. |
| Dave Munganast Alton Dodge | Alton | IL | Fair | Aaron Young | Fair |
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| Don McCrue Chevrolet | St. Charles | IL | Poor | Santiago Sanchez | Fair |
| Comments:This dealer was relentless in insisting they could beat my CU interest rate, they could not. When I demanded the "barely" completed credit app (with SSN) back, they argued it was required for OFAC. The F&I guy could not tell me what the acronym OFAC meant. Good deal, but excessively drawn out. |
| Ed Napleton Honda | Chicago | IL | Good | Mohammed | Excellent |
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| Elgin Toyota | Elgin | IL | Excellent | Kevin Brown | Very Good |
| Comments: With help from your site, and other sources, I had my vehicle price before I ever even stepped onto a dealer lot. Also had pre-arranged financing and warranty, which the dealer ended beating. Went the last day of the month for a better deal. Only negotiating point done at the dealer was for my trade in, which the dealer beat by $1500 more than Carmax offered. |
| Fox Valley Volkswagen | West Chicago | IL | Excellent | Ted Wenecki and Todd Earnest | Excellent |
| Comments: Liked articles - new car buying tips, dealer scams, and read all chapters of advice. Found vwvortex.com and users recommended Costco membership (auto program, costs $100 for executive membership). Plug in the car you want and a local dealer will contact you and give you member only pricing - mine was an automatic $200 off invoice pricing, and invoice pricing for all options. My dealer actually offered almost $700 off invoice ($666 exactly) without haggling. Bought the car from them 2 days later, great buying experience. Your website was the first one I stumbled across and it helped prepare me immensely. The dealer knew I was prepared with my Costco membership and arriving with my "folder" full of pricing sheets and tips. Thank you, I will recommend your site to friends and family. |
| Honda City | Chicago | IL | Good | Marcos Rivera | Excellent |
| Comments: Overall I had great experience at the dealership. The only minor things is that I had to wait about 5-10 minutes before going to test-drive. Sales consultant Marcos did a really good job; he answered all my questions and he did not talk when I was driving. The negotiation process was easy; no bogus fees were on the first price they presented. I did not have a trade-in car. |
| Grossinger Chevrolet | Palatine | IL | Poor | Mike Mohom | Poor |
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| Honda of Illinois | Springfield | IL | Excellent | Phil Doom | Excellent |
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| Honda of Lisle | Lisle | IL | Very Good | | |
| Comments: Thanks!!!! I had every tool in my arsenal folder to counter every claim, concern, and possible misdirection. While the dealer was very honest and straight forward, I was able to back up my information and push on theirs with my documentation. It helped keep me calm throughout the process--which I thought would really be impossible. I easily saved hundreds just knowing how to shop around for warranty, loans, trade-in, prices, etc. I really believe once he saw the amount of information I collected--that I had everything at my fingertips, he cut to the chase. The spreadsheets rocked!!!! Even thought there was no funny business, it kept me confident and kept them honest. I really cannot thank you enough for all the great information found here. |
| Honda of Lisle | Lisle | IL | Good | | |
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| Infiniti of Hoffman Estates | Hoffman Estates | IL | Excellent | | |
| Comments: I have been researching on this site and others for about two weeks and finally felt confident enough to negotiate today. I made my knowledge about the car industry known early on in the test drive (test drive was a week ago), and the salesman seemed to know the type of consumer he was dealing with as he never pressured me nor did he ask any of the typical questions. All in all, I feel very fortunate for my deal, and I am thankful for this site for giving me the information to make it happen. |
| Jim M'Lady Nissan | Crystal Lake | IL | Poor | Pat Tate | Poor |
| Comments: Great site that really opened my eyes to the ins and outs of car buying the SMART WAY. James Bragg's "FightingChance" package also added a great deal of insight to the entire car shopping & buying experience. |
| Liberty Auto Plaza | Libertyville | IL | Not So Hot | | |
| Comments: Very helpful! |
| Lombard Toyota | Chicago | IL | Poor | | |
| Comments: On phone, Internet rep promised invoice price + 200 fees for car and said they had the color I wanted in their large storage lot in another town. Gave me a nice PDF brochure showing the breakdown of the pricing for base + options etc. At the dealership, salesperson said there's none of that color and would have to add 500$ to get car from another dealership. I told him I'd just go to another dealership and he went to his manager 3 times and finally went down to +250$. I was not happy that they promised me a price and wanted to add more to it, so he said the price the Internet rep gave me was some kind of mistake, and some other BS such as be a man, make a man's decision and pay 250$ for the color you want. I left. Waste of an afternoon. |
| McGrath Honda on Grand | Chicago | IL | Excellent | | |
| Comments: I used the email attack. Most dealers responded with quotes for 2009's. Still excellent prices for 2009's at about $800 more than my final price for the 08. One dealership responded with $24,300 (both quotes included 670 destination) and another dealership 23670 for an 08. Based on dealing with 7 dealerships it appeared that there were 3 new 08's left in the Chicagoland area. (I checked within 2 hours drive from my house, phone and email only) Made the deal over the phone for 23670, picked it up the next day, drove away after about 90 minutes of paper work and tour of the car/features. Purchased Honda care extended warranty 8yr/100000 miles for $820 from east cost Honda dealer over the internet and Honda winter mats for less than 50% of local dealer quote. Very happy with purchase and experience. I'm sure having an 08 on the sales floor surrounded by 09s helped. Giving all the credit to your site. Thank you. |
| Naperville Dodge | lisle | IL | Excellent | John | Excellent |
| Comments: My initial offer was $28,000. $500 less the lowest internet price I found. The sales manager rejected that offer and I countered with $28,383 just picking that figure out of my head. Salesman accepted without blinking. I purchased the Caravan SXT with the 28M option package with the 4.0L engine and with the GPS navigation system. |
| Napleton Dodge | Chicago | IL | Poor | | |
| Comments: This was a straight cash deal. No financing, trade etc... Except I did want $2000 in dealer installed aftermarket items. So all we had to deal with was the price of car. They tried some magic with the numbers - like adding my +$400 offered deposit to the negotiated price of car instead of subtracting it. They rejected my $30000 offer. Do you have a comment on this? |
| Newbold Toyota | O'Fallon | IL | Fair | Chris | Fair |
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| Pauly Toyota | Crystal Lake | IL | Very Good | Steve Robbins - Internet Sales Manager | Excellent |
| Comments: $1250 Rebate. Used FightingChance.com. We were ready to order the car that we wanted (fully decked out Sienna). Turns out there was one about 100 miles away from us that all the local dealers were giving their quotes based on. We got quotes ranging from $1500 above to invoice cost for the same car. Ultimately, the dealer that had the car sold it to us for $365 below invoice before rebate and gave us the best nearly no haggle deal and experience. One local dealer would never send a written quote - just verbal quotes that, in fact, were high. He hounded my wife to come in to the dealership to sit down and talk and would not take no for an answer. We finally had to tell him to stop calling us. This same dealer told us that all Toyota dealerships are the same and that we wouldn't find a better deal by shopping around. He told us that shopping for a price on a new car like this was a waste of our time. Boy was he wrong. The only 'surprise' was when the F&I person tried to add the extended warranty for 2.5x what I could get it for online. I ended up buying it at exactly the same (best) price that I had previously researched. Those negotiations took a total of 15 seconds as I confidently said NO to the higher price. Thank you for this site and the referral to FightingChance.com. |
| Phillips Chevrolet | Frankfort | IL | Good | Larry Hargrave | Good |
| Comments: CarBuyingTips.com, Your website reminds me of one I found 7 or 8 years ago that was called lookatautos.com. Anyway I was ready to close my deal. I found your website to help me identify any scams dealers like to pull at closing. Two pieces of advice stuck 1. do not sign the buy order until you understand and agree with each line item, and 2. do not purchase any dealer extended warranties or rust proofing packages. They came back with the second buy order with the line items and I immediately noticed the price was $1000 higher than we had agreed upon and the rebate also increased by $1000. I presented the e-mail quote with the agreed upon price, the salesman then returned with a third buy order with the correct price, extra $1000 rebate, and correct sales tax! I do not normally purchase extended warranties; however, I stood my ground and said no to a $1600 rust proofing package and a $2800 comprehensive extended warranty. I am disappointed with the dealership for trying to short me a $1000 rebate, however, the end result was a better deal than I had planned on, thanks to your advice. Sincerely, Matthew and Gina Blackburn |
| Ray Suzuki | Fox Lake | IL | Poor | | |
| Comments: They gave me a different car from what I negotiated. I was supposed to get an AWD XL-7, and switched vehicles and charged me over sticker price |
| Raymond Chevrolet | Antioch | IL | Poor | Tina Williams | Poor |
| Comments: This was a classic "spot delivery" scam. I signed paperwork for 0% financing, drove off, and a few days later was told I needed a cosigner. When I returned they said my payments would be $100 higher a month for the 60-month loan. I told them that I did not appreciate the intentional deception with this spot delivery scam. They (the salesperson, the finance mgr, and the general manager) all played dumb and said they didn't know what the spot delivery scam was. I then showed them your site, the lemon law site, and the IL Attorney General site. The salesperson and the finance mgr scattered. I was offered what they said was a "comparable" deal as the original and they admitted what happened was wrong. But even in the so-called comparable deal there was no gap insurance like I had in the original deal; they said "I no longer qualified for it because I was now so far below the invoice price," plus it was a few dollars higher per month than before even without the gap ins. What nonsense! Thank you for your site - it gave me the confidence to stand up to these criminals and return their HHR. I am taking my hard-earned money elsewhere. |
| River Oaks | Calumet City | IL | Not So Hot | | |
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| Dealer Name | City | State | Dealer Rating | Salesperson | Salesperson Rating |
| Able Subaru | Old Bridge | NJ | Poor | | |
| Comments: Used Lease Wizard Software - found it hard to fill in certain fields while at dealer site. Did not lease the car. Great website and learned a lot. There were a few things I was confused about and some things were still left unanswered until I ran through the experience myself. |
| Cherry Hill Tri-Plex | Cherry Hill | NJ | Poor | Nate,Tom (general manager) | Poor |
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| Cherry Hill Volkswagen | Cherry Hill | NJ | Good | Mike Rutter | Excellent |
| Comments: Thank you so much for this site! It made not only doing the research more fun, but between your site and Fighting Chance, it was actually FUN to buy this car! |
| Clinton Honda | Clinton | NJ | Excellent | Bill Butler | Excellent |
| Comments: I have used CarBuyingTips.com for two new car purchases in the past 6 years, and thanks to all of the information I learned, I don't even pay attention to the "noise" of commercials or advertisements for "big sales!". Instead I just focus on the key facts: Rebates, Manufacturer to Dealer Incentives, Holdback, Interest Rates. Then I just use the Excel worksheet, fill in my information, and validate my own thoughts on a fair price. In both cases, the dealers accepted offers with a 3% profit margin or less, and negotiations were very straight-forward without any games since I could show all of my research and facts. |
| COLONIAL HYUNDAI | TRENTON | NJ | Poor | JASON | Poor |
| Comments: DID NOT HONOR PRICE QUOTE FROM ANOTHER DEALER LIKE THEY SAID THEY WOULD |
| D & C Honda | Tenafly | NJ | Fair | Herbie | Fair |
| Comments: used Edmunds.com, Cars.com, WarrantyDirect.com, finance tried to stick me with their warranty at the end almost convinced me. knew about $1000 car company to dealer incentive. |
| DCH KAY HONDA | Eatontown | NJ | Excellent | Mike Fabiani/Steve Moore | Excellent |
| Comments: Tons of good info in one place. Site can be a bit much to navigate, a few drop down menu's might be nice. Also got 1.9% financing for 60 months (to be fair we have outstanding credit). No hassle buying experience, first time I saw salesperson was the day we bought the car. Price already negotiated from home. This is the new way to buy a car! |
| DCH Kay Honda | Eatontown | NJ | Fair | Jeremy Braun | Fair |
| Comments: Do the research save money, put dealers against each other, best time to buy Sept! Do not be in a hurry to buy, salesmen will see that and not negotiate with you. Overall very thorough site, and great information. Thanks! |
| Flemington Hyundai | Flemington | NJ | Poor | Redmond | Poor |
| Comments: I went in to buy a 2010 Genesis. The dealer only offered me less than half of the trade-in value that Kelly Blue Book and Edmunds.com said my car was worth. In addition, the appraiser broke my power mirror switch into 2 pieces. When I went back into the dealer to have this corrected, the appraiser first denied he broke it, then said there was a hairline crack in it already and then said I shouldn't be wasting everyone's time on such a small issue. I was then asked to leave the lot - Don't go to this dealer - they are crooks and dishonest. |
| Garden State Honda | Clifton | NJ | Excellent | Jaime | Excellent |
| Comments: Loved your website! Very informative about dealer "doc" and other BS fees. Great tips about emailing and receiving quotes from multiple dealers. I took the emails with the dealer offers and sent them all back to the dealers (even the ones with the best quotes) saying, "Thanks for your offer, but your bid puts you out of the running. Put yourself in my shoes, if I tell you my lowest bid, you'll undercut it by $50 and I'm stuck playing this game all day. If you make me a better offer, I will seriously consider it." Doing this extra step saved me even more money! I got my 09 civic SI for $19,270 including destination of $710 and summer tires (no navigation). I also used the cash for clunkers deal to get off another $3,500 Thanks so much!! |
| Honda of Freehold | Freehold | NJ | Excellent | Frank Rickards | Excellent |
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| Honda Paramus | paramus | NJ | Good | Nat | Good |
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| Honda Universe | Lakewood | NJ | Poor | Jerome et all | Poor |
| Comments: Great site for tips but also for a kind of pep talk to enter into negotiations with confidence. Got competitive quotes a week in advance, It was important for them to itemize all possible fees and taxes and summed up a final walk out the door price. I excluded any dealer that wouldn't submit this information via e-mail, 1 out of 10. I ranked to price and called them up the night before and told them of my top quote, many of which tried to discredit but still tried to jockey to get in the #2 position. 3 dealers reduced their quote in this process. The plan was to walk and got any monkey business. I got prices on line for go to # 2,3 etc if need be if I Honda accessories at wholesale prices and negotiated reduced rates on these. I was wary of install prices I didn't end up purchasing these. After catching the dealer in an attempt to switch an 08 for 09 I got angry and started to yell, my wife walked out and waited in the car, and as they looked into their "mistake" I wandered over to their service department and started to talk to waiting customers about what just happened. Eventually, I got them for almost $1,000 under Invoice. Negotiating trade in was trickier. My car needed repairs. But I called my accountant to find out the most I could write off for donation. |
| Lawrence Toyota | Lawrenceville, NJ | NJ | Excellent | Robert Moran | Excellent |
| Comments: Used "Fighting Chance", and read all the pages on this site in prep. |
| Lexus of Cherry Hill | Mt. Laurel | NJ | Good | Dave McNulty | Fair |
| Comments: Used the ZAG site as my top price but did get other quotes from dealers. One was for $650 less than the negotiated selling price delivered to my front door (the dealer was 100 miles away), but the dealer I bought from was my local dealer and they have a free tires for life program (yes it's in writing!) which made me buy from them. Plus buying where you service has some intangible benefits in my opinion. Overall the info on this site made this my only pleasant car buying experience ever and I will never negotiate from inside the dealer ever again! Using the ZAG site cut the salesman out of the picture in my case. I didn't waste his time when I was looking (20 min) but be conscience of this when making a purchase. You wouldn't want people wasting your time. |
| Loman Ford | Parsippany | NJ | Poor | 5 different | Poor |
| Comments: This car was used, the tires don't match. One is bald, I am so sick at this I don't even know what to do. I meant to help my niece and all I did was get ripped off. I have at least 3 signed contracts with these people, and this was the third car we were given. They took the trade in and sold it on us. These people should be shut down! |
| Maple shade Mazda | | NJ | Poor | | |
| Comments: tried to stick me with gap insurance, nitrogen air for the tires, wheel insurance at the end of the deal. but i declined :) |
| Maple Shade Mazda | Maple Shade | NJ | Excellent | George/Jaime | Excellent |
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| Muller Toyota | Clinton | NJ | Not So Hot | Dan Wolf | Not So Hot |
| Comments: Price included $1250 rebate from Toyota. You MUST know your information when dealing with these people! Used the Edmunds.com site to have dealer quote me the selling price of $15,475.00 on the internet. However, they didn't have the car (quelle suprise) when we arrived at our pre-arranged (and confirmed) appointment to test drive. However, they DID locate another one, which was delivered w/in 2 days. They tried to low-ball us on the trade-in (this is where 3 trips to the manager came in...), but we stuck to our guns--quoting KBB AND the offer we'd gotten from another dealer--and finally got a decent trade-in number. And these games occurred despite the fact that we've had our cars serviced at this dealership for 20 years! (I am convinced that there is a special place in eternity reserved just for car dealers, pimps, and drug pushers.) However, all's well that ends well... MANY THANKS, Jeff, for your words of wisdom and encouragement!!!!! |
| Open Road Mazda | East Brunswick | NJ | Very Good | Mohamad | Good |
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| Open Road Honda | Edison | NJ | Excellent | | |
| Comments: Great car, negotiated by email only. |
| Paramus Hyundai | Paramus | NJ | Poor | | |
| Comments: $2000 rebate. |
| Paul Miller Honda | West Caldwell | NJ | Good | Dan Eller - Highly Recommended | Excellent |
| Comments: Thank you, your site prepared me to buy a car at the right price and right dealer (or I would say right salesman). I ended up buying with my 2nd lowest quote which was about $200 more. However, I felt the salesman was more truthful and honest. If you're interested with my story about deciding between 2 dealerships, pls let me know and I will reply your email. I would not be able to walk away from pushing and sneaky salesman w/out reading your stuffs. Thanks Jeff. |
| Ray Catena Lexus | Oakhurst | NJ | Good | Mr Bob | Excellent |
| Comments: -This site really made me understand most of the trick the sales people are going to pull. -Went to my local dealer with the folder and after a test drive, told them, I have done my research and to give me a "reasonable" price they would sell the car for. - The sales people went in and came out with the general manager with the dealer invoice and asked me to give $500 above the invoice. - After which I asked them to send by mail the out the door price with all the fee..etc by mail. and then as started the negotiation. Wonderful website!!! But I ended up buying from another dealer "Ray Catena - Oakhurst" with just email and phone. And Mr Bob was good. Mr. Bob< Terrific > - I recommend |
| Salerno Duane |
Summit | NJ | Fair | | |
| Comments: I shopped more carefully after viewing your site, learned a lot, and used Edmunds.com for my quotes. A lot of dealers refused to quote me but I stuck to my guns. I finally got the price above with 1.9% financing. Maybe I could've done a little better but I think I got a good deal.
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| Toyota of Morristown | Morristown | NJ | Good | Thomas A. Bastardo | Good |
| Comments: I probably agreed for $500 more than what would have been my ideal price, but at 0% APR with $0 down and lifetime oil-changes it is still a great price!! Thanks to the tips!! |
| Turnersville Honda | Turnersville | NJ | Excellent | Fred Falcon | Excellent |
| Comments: Used FightingChance.com |
| Windsor Nissan | East Windsor | NJ | Excellent | | |
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| Dealer Name | City | State |
Dealer Rating | Salesperson | Salesperson Rating |
| Atlantic Kia | Saint James | NY | Poor | John Stevenson | Poor |
| Comments: I had a deal in place with another dealer 10 miles away that was slow in participating in the CARS program. When I presented their invoice, showing a price $2k below sticker on top of a $2k man. rebate ($4000 off sticker), they said they couldn't match it and were doing me a favor writing my deal because the CARS program was going to be shut down that night. Originally, they said they were giving me a good price, but tried to charge me sticker adding the rebate back in. I caught that! Then when I asked them to drop their $900 in fees, they said it was required by state law to charge them. When I walked out, another manager named John came over and stopped me. Suddenly the price was $2000 less, but still $1000 more than the other guys. I wound up not going with them because of their outlandish lies. I wound up purchasing from another dealership all together and wouldn't recommend them to anyone else. |
| Bay Ridge Nissan | Brooklyn | NY | Poor | Vincent | Poor |
| Comments: Total rip-off |
| Bronx Honda | Bronx | NY | Fair | | |
| Comments: I came to the site in 2007 when I purchased a new car and I felt empowered at the dealership as a result. I like the way the site is organized and the information is priceless. Keep up the good work. |
| Bronx Honda | Bronx | NY | Excellent | Nanci Edmondson | Excellent |
| Comments: Well-written and helpful. Appreciated the transparency around the extended warranties. Did my research and ended up with WarrantyDirect anyway (yes, I clicked through from your site so you get the credit . . .) |
| Della Honda | Plattsburgh | NY | Poor | | |
| Comments: Thanks for the leasing tips! We leased this car (a Smart Buy in New York) three years ago - it was just out of our price range, so we thought. We wanted it for our expanding family though, and knew a lease would be a good choice for us. We put 2000 down (AFTER negotiating the cap cost of course), which is slightly higher than recommended for a lease, but we could afford it. We felt informed, calm and collected. We remained unimpressed by the dealer's attempts to get a desired monthly payment figure out of us, and did not care to consider such things as color or options we didn't need. Our payments are $335/month, for a new EX-L! We LOVE this car - and it costs us just $68 more per month than our 2003 Civic LX, which was not nearly as nice and which we leased WITHOUT CarBuyingTips.com (and got taken for a ride!). Plus, when they realized we'd done our homework and we ended up in the sales manager's office armed with our online quotes, we got what we wanted PLUS an awesome money factor (we took a break and left the dealership, worked out the formula/costs and went back). Thanks, Jeff. |
| Dorschel | Rochester | NY | Excellent | David White | Excellent |
| Comments: The people at the dealership are great. No pressure at all, no games. The financing through VolkswagenBank is a bit of mess, because they have several programs, the bank only talks to the dealer and refuses to talk to the customer directly. Still, they got me approved for 0% at the end, even though I am on student visa here. |
| DriveAmerica | Watertown | NY | Poor | Jason Deline | Poor |
| Comments: Three visits before signing three contracts. Told me had to re-write loan in cobuyers name only with more cash up front or bring jeep back. I brought jeep back and purchased elsewhere. Advertised we finance you or cut you check for a grand. Did not get the grand either. I am so pist I could break a couple knee caps, might yet! Brief enough? |
| Fucillo Hyundai | Rochester | NY | Poor | | |
| Comments: Would not come down from sticker price. Salesman told me that Edmunds.com values don't mean anything. Despite repeatedly saying that I am not a monthly payment or trade in buyer, the salesman kept hiding the terrible deal and using the manufacturer's rebate in monthly payments. Needless to say, I walked. |
| Honda of Nanuet | Nanuet | NY | Very Good | Prang Sakirman | Excellent |
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| Huntington Honda | Huntington | NY | Good | Greg C. | Excellent |
| Comments: I love your site, I have used it a number of times. Thanks to you I never speak to commissioned sales people. I'm trying to figure out how I got this price. There are no incentives that I was aware of. Any ideas how they were able to give me such a good price? |
| Hyundai Plaza Auto Mall | Brooklyn | NY | Not So Hot | Kevin and Al | Excellent |
| Comments: To look up different websites to check out prices, Cars.com, cardirect were charging 2000 more than I got in CapitalOne no haggle. |
| Island Ford | Staten Island | NY | Poor | Nicholas Altieri | Poor |
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| John Holtz Honda | Rochester | NY | Excellent | | |
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| Keeler Honda | Latham | NY | Excellent | Ken Hughes | Excellent |
| Comments: The site on a whole is excellent. I went into the dealership feeling much more comfortable and confident. I went to dealers before reading the website and they were very pushy and annoying. After reading and preparing, there was no hassle or hard pressure tactics. I walked out of the first three dealerships after talking with the salesman for about an hour. One of these dealers I took all the way to a final price, then walked out with a copy of the unsigned bill of sale. This was a great negotiation tool when going to other dealers. Thank you very much, I do not think I would have received this deal without reading the entire website first. |
| KG Suzuki | Long Island City | NY | Poor | Josepth | Poor |
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| Kia of East Syracuse | Syracuse | NY | Excellent | Dan Knoblock | Excellent |
| Comments: I went to 2 dealers, and e mail contacted another. The first dealer went from $460 a month , to $440 to 3$75 to $360 to $340 and then to $299.00. But did not outline the terms of the deal. He said you won't get a better deal anywhere else, it's a final take it or leave it offer, so I left it gambling that another dealer would be able to beat it. It turns out that they offer was not bad BUT 2 another dealer DID beat it AND gave me a better rate. I offered 5% over his cost and he agreed it, he showed me the invoice, explained the hold back and factory to dealer incentive, was very good at answering all of my questions, so we struck a deal!! I cannot say enough about your website, without it I would have been just another sitting duck! The first dealer I went to got me so upset that I was ill to my stomach, the dealer that I ended up buying from was awesome, making my car buying experience a real pleasure and we did the whole deal over numerous e mail before I even set foot in the dealership! I saved thousands from what I would have paid if If I accepted the first dealers initial offers! Sorry for the long e mail, but I am excited! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU ONCE AGAIN!! |
| Koeppel Nissen | Jackson Heights | NY | Good | Jorge | Excellent |
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| Major World | Long Island City | NY | Poor | Mark | Poor |
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| Miracle Ford | Poughkeepsie | NY | Good | | |
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| Mohawk Honda | Schenectady | NY | Very Good | | |
| Comments: Your tips WORK! (And it's fun too.) I used e-mails to six local dealers. Two days for a "bidding war" over e-mail saved me $1,000 off their initial offers. Thanks so much for this website! |
| Nardy Honda | St James | NY | Very Good | | |
| Comments: Got 3.9 percent financing and they threw in a roof rack ($295) |
| Nemer Chrysler Dodge | 728 Quaker RdQueensbury | NY | Poor | | |
| Comments: Do not believe what the sales men say they told me a guaranteed price one day drive all the way back an hour away and then the deal changed because of some guy who hides behind a glass case and just yells out numbers. |
| Nissan of Manhattan | New York | NY | Excellent | Teigh Harrianton | Excellent |
| Comments: This was my first car buying experience and it was awesome. The "folder" really made a BIG difference and I got the price I wanted. The staff here at this place was totally professional and I enjoyed the entire experience. I would recommend anyone to this dealership and a special thanks to Teigh, the salesperson. |
| North Shore Honda | New Hyde Park | NY | Excellent | | |
| Comments: I have to say North Shore Honda was amazing. I got my free online quote from them and when we went to the showroom it was a pleasant experience. I also got more than I anticipated for my trade in. This site gave me the tools necessary to make the deal. Thank you for creating it. |
| Paragon Honda | Woodside | NY | Poor | Ariel Munoz | Not So Hot |
| Comments: F&I person gave me a BS excuse and I bought it without much of a fight because I forgot not to believe them and how smooth liars they can be. I thought the salesman was fine. I forgot not to relax and continue to put up my BS meter with the F&I person. |
| Planet Auto Mall aka KG Suzuki | Long Island City | NY | Poor | Antonio Byrd (Tony) | Poor |
| Comments: Forced me to buy junk insurances for a factory warranted car and verbally abused my friend and tried to provoke a physical fight with him. Never disclosed the full price of the vehicle, did not keep promises of fixing bumpers before delivery. Salesman said the deposit is 100% refundable no matter what and the F&I did not. All they did is pass the blame from one person to the other. Used street language and profanity in all conversation. Inept manager refused to come on phone 911 was called and police help was sought as life was threatened. Dealership should be shut and Consumer Affairs and Attorney General should push them to the bars. Truth in Lending was not disclosed prior to delivery date either which happens when you buy a home at least 24 hours prior to purchase. |
| Plaza Hyundai | Brooklyn | NY | Fair | | |
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| Premier Lincoln - Mercury | Brooklyn | NY | Good | Barry | Very Good |
| Comments: Sales was a bit high pressure but nothing I haven't seen before and certainly not the worst I've seen. They were very willing to work with you on pricing and continually lower the price when you bring up certain issues. Didn't hide anything in the contract, did not pressure into dealer financing since they were aware we already had a bank draft. Did however keep us in dealership for a while, but I think it wasn't too bad considering we ended up with a great deal and a car well BELOW invoice. Manager was very courteous and at some point even offered more savings! Didn't make a big deal out of us leaving the dealership to discuss the deal and never became visibly annoyed or nasty/aggressive. Great place to buy from. |
| PS Honda | Manhasset | NY | Poor | Armando | Poor |
| Comments: Worse nightmare this
dealer is a real scam, got for a car and they sell car warranty 3 times expensive that the market and lies about you credit open you eyes. |
| Star Toyota | Bayside | NY | Excellent | Ron | Excellent |
| Comments: used FightingChance.com |
| Staten Island Honda | Staten Island | NY | Fair | | |
| Comments: It's amazing how much I saved thanks to this site. The salesman tried to squeeze in a few bs fees, but guess what... I was prepared and didn't pay a single one of them, kudos carbuyingtips.com |
| Steven's Ford | Medford | NY | Excellent | Vinny | Excellent |
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| Webster Ford | Webster | NY | Not So Hot | Bob Stappenbeck | Not So Hot |
| Comments: Incredible as it might seem in this day and age, salesman quoted me via phone his selling price to factory-order a Mercury Mariner Premier AWD, I agreed to his price, drove to dealer within the hour, and during that time the selling price jumped $200 when the paperwork and pen were pushed across the table to me. I pointed this out, the salesman first looked surprised, then paused for several seconds, then calmly told me "his manager" needs another $200 on our deal. I refuse, the extra $200 is miraculously waived (after a salesman-sales manager "meeting" of course) but then the also-quoted $100 credit card deposit jumps to $500. Like the way they do business? |
| West Herr Nissan | Orchard Park | NY | Very Good | Aaron Sawyer | Excellent |
| Comments: I used Invoice Dealers and Edmunds.com. The dealer that was contacted thru Invoice Dealers. Porecco Motors of Erie, PA., WOULD NOT give me a price after THREE requests. Kept trying to get me to come in with my trade before talking price. Edmunds.com request was sent to West Herr Nissan. The very first email I got from them stated the price of the truck, the taxes, and the option of $2500 cash back or 0.9% financing. I researched the price I was quoted, found it to be fair, and finalized that portion of the deal. Then we talked trade. The day I took my trade to be valued, the transmission died, so I didn't get what I hoped. It was a 14 year old truck, and wasn't worth fixing before the trade. The best part of the experience was not having to haggle. Edmunds.com service was great. Invoice Dealers was not. |
| Dealer Name | City | State | Dealer Rating | Salesperson | Salesperson Rating |
| #1 Cochran Nissan | Pittsburgh | PA | Excellent | Hufni Douglas | Very Good |
| Comments: I heavily used your site. Read through it and made notes for my "folder". I believe my answers below are based on the fact that I used the "Fax Attack" and was treated much differently (more respectful) than by the two dealerships I walked in to prior to using the Fax Attack. Even with a hard-to-find car I was able to get a great deal on the exact car I wanted. |
| All Star Nissan | Devon | PA | Excellent | Michael Liss | Excellent |
| Comments: I am thankful to this website |
| Ardmore Nissan | Ardmore | PA | Excellent | Kevin Lambert | Excellent |
| Comments: Used FightingChance info package |
| Bergey's Dodge | Franconia | PA | Poor | Brad (sales manager) | Poor |
| Comments: Went looking for new fully loaded truck, didn't have what I wanted so they said they would order it and "lock in" the incentives being offered. When I got there the manager said there was no way he could do this, conveniently the original salesman was not able to be there. He tried then telling me he was losing $1200 on EVERY sale made because of Dodge "setting our prices". This dealership uses just about every single lie and tactic in the book. STAY FAR FAR AWAY. |
| Bianchi Honda | Erie | PA | Excellent | Dennis Melquist | Excellent |
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| Budd Baer | Washington | PA | Excellent | Steven Whitlatch | Excellent |
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| Faulkner of West Chester | West Chester | PA | Poor | Don Fiehl | Poor |
| Comments: Absolute joke of a dealership. Looked at a car on a Friday night and was told to place a deposit check to hold it. Came back the next sat morning and found a "sold" sign on the vehicle (?????). Salesman tried to push a newer model on me that I had absolutely no interest in. Told me my trade-in would have to go to auction, I asked if he could locate a similar vehicle for me in the area but he refused to. Went and spoke to the sales manager, explained my dissatisfaction, he said they would call me by the end of the weekend and "they would make me happy". Sat and Sun pass by, no phone call. Bought a car at a different dealership the next day, that simple. I left a message on the previous dealerships phone, telling them I already bought a vehicle, but thanks for looking. Salesman called later in the week to make me a deal, and I told him I already bought another car so he didn't have to bother. He immediately got pissed at me and said that I was rude to "go behind his back" like that, and if I wanted to do business with "real men in the future, I should learn to do it right". Needless to say, I exchanged some words with him... No wonder GM is in the situation they're in. |
| James Toyota | Flemington | PA | Very Good | Anne Tom | Excellent |
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| John Sisson Motors | Washington | PA | Excellent | Travis Levers | Excellent |
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| Lehigh Valley Honda | Allentown | PA | Very Good | Richard Harrad | Excellent |
| Comments: Great experience. I have been buying cars for many years and this is the best experience that I have to date. |
| Montgomeryville Acura | Montgomeryville | PA | Good | | |
| Comments: Great info a real eye opener. My internet quote was only $50.00 over my target so I bought the car. Found Edmunds.com to have the best info on market support the other sites said there was support but didn't tell me how much only that it was figured in their pricing. Inventories are up and sales are down no haggling on price but I did feel that the dealer was trying to switch my financing to get back end profit. had my own pre-approval. Thanks! |
| Motor World | Wilkes Barre | PA | Excellent | | Excellent |
| Comments: Thank you for all the information on the site. I really did my homework and got a great deal, saving $4,220. |
| Murphy Lincoln Ford | Chester | PA | Poor | Kim Dewees | Poor |
| Comments: I initially completed a online credit application which came back needing more information. Within 15min. sales person, Kim Dewees was calling. I told her I had to known issues, one that was resolved during refinancing of my home but wasn't removed from report. She stated, Murphy Ford works with "11 banks", let me see what I can do. We discussed my interests in models and where I wanted to be with regards to payments. After 5-6 calls and 18 emails she congratulated me with "You have been approved and I got you were you want to be with your payment". (slightly higher), but I was satisfied. I told her where I was registering the car (different state), my end of lease payoff and the lease holder (ex-husband) will come in and sign off. She emails me at work and says, "when can you come in and pick up your car, I'm sooo excited we could make this work for you. Just come in, it will be a fast process, Reggie has paperwork completed, all you have to do is sign". OH, Kim left early I arrange for ex to go (not easy), I leave work early (vacation time) and from the minute I walked in, it was chaos. Paperwork not completed, not aware of registration location, not aware of payoff, NOT APPROVED!! AMAZING. Needless to say, I was humiliated and livid!! |
| North Hills Toyota | Pittsburgh | PA | No So Hot | Bob | Excellent |
| Comments: I love the recommendations for the "short on time" time line. Having my credit score and knowing to ask for the "bottom line price plus all dealers fees" proved to be a huge benefit. I was very straight forward with the salesperson and he responded well to my "apparent" wealth of knowledge. |
| Ray Price Mazda | Stroudsburg | PA | Fair | Jonathan | Very Good |
| Comments: Negotiations done mostly via the net. The game is changing. Start via the net! |
| Savage Kia | Reading | PA | Fair | Joe | Fair |
| Comments: Thank YOU!! This site helped me so much. I originally knew nothing about negotiating and in fact did not even know this was possible. With the help from this website I was able to negotiate a price for the car and my trade that was satisfying for the dealer and myself. This site was a huge help. Thank you. |
| Smail Honda Village | Greensburg | PA | Excellent | Dustin Bingham | Very Good |
| Comments: I did buy a FightingChance.com package but it was a waste of $39.95 and added unnecessarily to my cost. DON'T GIVE THEM ANY CREDIT FOR MY PURCHASE. Maybe for an american car it would work. Maybe you should only recommend it for certain car companies. This is my 5th Honda and the company is VERY tight with discounting. Also the Fighting Chance report had WAY too much fluff in it. Do I really need to know the YOY sales figures for various make and models of cars? NO Your site is great and it's all I needed (and most people need) to get a great price. Thank you. PS - My internet salesperson did misquote me and forgot to include the destination charge in my first quote. When I caught it at the dealership I gave him hell and I think it was an honest mistake b/c I thought he was going to cry. He said he just started the job 6 months ago and this was the first time he did that. BS? maybe? Anyway they threw in 5 free oil changes and took another $100 of the price of the Pilot. The $100 basically cancelled out the $100 advertising fee. W/O that fee I paid invoice so I hope I put the numbers in correctly in the fields above. |
| Springfield Ford | Springfield | PA | Excellent | Lester Spellman | Excellent |
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| Team Toyota | Langhorne | PA | Excellent | Joe | Excellent |
| Comments: Wow! I learned so much in just a short time from reading the chapters on buying a new car. I was able to name a fair price and they accepted. Thanks! |
| Tri County Toyota | Limerick | PA | Very Good | Stacey | Excellent |
| Comments: negotiated with 3 dealers selected via Cars.com only one dealer's internet sales rep was really willing to negotiate. I took this price and negotiated with my local dealer (who was very cool), because the internet sales rep would not confirm a bottom line price, he just kept emailing me asking me to come into the dealership. Calling the car dealer and contacting the sales manager directly is probably the better way to go. Bought at end of June before the July $500 cash back incentive. D'oh! |
| Tony Domiano | Eynon | PA | Poor | | |
| Comments: The company first told us the truck would be ready in a few hours and it wasn't..... We didn't get the truck till a week later. Had it for two days and it went back for more problems they said we taken care of and weren't. To sum it up we had the truck 9 days out of 30 days. Then we told them again there was a problem and we were told to claim it on our insurance because we hit something. We paid for the repair and have paper work in with the attorney general.. |
| Washington Honda | Washington | PA | Very Good | Joe | Very Good |
| Comments: Site gave some very useful advice. Glad the service was provided. Used it to get online quotes. |
| Wilkie Lexus | Haverford | PA | Good | Robert Avin | Good |
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| Dealer Name | City | State |
Dealer Rating | Salesperson | Salesperson Rating |
| Amanda Johnson Volkswagen | Austin | TX | Good | Gordon Spencer | Very Good |
| Comments: It should be noted that our car was a hail sale special. While the deal was great, the finance manager almost blew the entire deal, and definitely soured our experience. Not only was he shocked that our credit was good (my husband and I are fairly young, but we've been working hard to build up our credit for years--few accounts, zero late payments for either of us. Ever.), he attempted to get us to tell him just how we got our credit that high at our age. Had it not been for the fantastic deal we were getting, I would have taken my business elsewhere. Quite frankly, that information was absolutely none of his business, and I had little patience for having my privacy invaded in such a way. He had our credit reports, and all information was accurate. He had all he needed to know. It was as if he resented not being able to charge us a higher interest rate. This person is the reason I have reservations about sending a family member to the dealership. Gordon and Tom did a great job of explaining everything thoroughly, and have been very prompt in answering any questions we might have had. The prices, terms, and interest rate quoted to us online was the same one quoted to us when we got to the dealership. We love our Jetta. |
| Bankston Honda | Lewisville | TX | Very Good | James Johnston | Excellent |
| Comments: Thank you for your comprehensive website! It really helped me buy my first car by myself. |
| Bankston Nissan | Irving | TX | Excellent | Gary Brown | Excellent |
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| Boardwalk Porsche | Plano | TX | Excellent | Chris | Excellent |
| Comments: What a great site! I wish I would've had the information/tools on this site long ago. I didn't think it would help buying a Porsche, but it certainly did. |
| Champion Acura | League City | TX | Very Good | Jeremy Pratt | Excellent |
| Comments: Excellent experience, would gladly do business there again. |
| Champion Toyota | Houston | TX | Poor | Brad Biondo | Poor |
| Comments: Three days after we paid down payment, signed contract and drove the car home, the sales called and told us the new guy put the wrong VIN# on our contract. We went in as his request and resigned it with the "right VIN". Three weeks later we receive the first bill and found out they put $1250 extra on the second contract without mentioning. I talked to the sale manager and he told me, you signed it and that's what you got. |
| Clear Lake Honda | Houston | TX | Very Good | | |
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| David McDavid Acura | Plano | TX | Excellent | | |
| Comments: Received promotional financing of 2.9%. Used Buying Offer spreadsheet to help determine best price to offer. |
| David McDavid Honda | Houston | TX | Not So Hot | | |
| Comments: Thank you so much. You have saved me so much money and I was able to sniff out the scams. I will definitely tell all my potential car buying friends about this website. |
| David McDavid Honda | Irving | TX | Very Good | Antony | Excellent |
| Comments: Site is great. Read up on every thing. I learn that you don't bargain down from MSRP. Try to figure out invoice price. Its not always easy. But, its worth the effort. Don't bargain based on payments. Do not buy accessories. I got all the add-ons as part of the price. Many dealers charge 500-1000$ for them. Ask to get a car without it. you wont, but then don't pay for them. |
| David Mc David Nissan | Houston | TX | Fair | Don Brooks | Excellent |
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| Demontrond Volkswagen. | Houston | TX | Very Good | Bill. | Excellent |
| Comments: We simply requested an online quote from a VW dealership and recived a very good price. |
| Don Davis Nissan | Arlington | TX | Fair | James Goodman | Good |
| Comments: Think I got a good deal, didn't have to go back and forth too much. Sales guy started right off the bat with invoice and got him to go below that for final deal. |
| Don McGill Toyota | Houston | TX | Poor | CD | Not So Hot |
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| Frank Kent Honda | Fort Worth | TX | Excellent | David Supercinski | Excellent |
| Comments: Excellent advises! I sent my DO offer to multiple dealers, used all the negotiating skills, and got my backup financing. In the end, I got $537 below invoice and got the 1.9% APR incentive without all the useless fees. |
| Fred Haas Toyota Country | Tomball | TX | Good | Greg olson | Very Good |
| Comments: This site really gave me a great knowledge! Glad I found the website! PS I think the folder scared them cause they did the bait and switch salesman! |
| Freeman Mazda | Irving | TX | Very Good | Clinton Roberts | Excellent |
| Comments: All of the info about internet pricing, and how internet managers make money on volume not margin is huge! That allowed me to get the best price in my area. This website definitely prepared me for my first car purchase. |
| Georgetown Subaru | Georgetown | TX | Excellent | Clint Black | Excellent |
| Comments: Had a wonderful car buying experience, using the internet manager Clint Black, at Georgetown Subaru, Texas. No hassles, no rip-offs, no pressure. Great price, great service. |
| Goodson Acura | Irving | TX | Good | | |
| Comments: Used FightingChance.com plus Auto Buying Program @ Costco |
| Honda Cars of Katy | Katy | TX | Excellent | Kevin McGraw | Excellent |
| Comments: The offer Calculation sheet was very useful. Requested emails quotes from 4 dealers in the Houston area. Used info from FightingChance.com to understand incentives, emailing dealership regarding request for quotes. The dealership was pretty straight forward and did not try to rip me off. They only thing I did not like was that they wouldn't provide me a quote via email. They wanted me to come in person. |
| Honda Lake Jackson | Lake Jackson | TX | Fair | Josh Kestler | Excellent |
| Comments: Very helpful advice. As you stated, I was confident that they would come to my deal and, in the end, they did. |
| Huggins Mitsubishi | North Richland Hills | TX | Fair | Tim | Very Good |
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| Jack of Diamonds Honda | Tyler | TX | Very Good | Robert McLemore | Excellent |
| Comments: e-bay suggestion only somewhat helpful Edmunds.com and CarsDirect most useful bringing in quality quotes from area dealers |
| Mercedes Benz Long Beach | Long Beach | TX | Excellent | | |
| Comments: arctic white, almond/black MB tex interior, multimedia and premium (po1) package |
| Mercedes Benz of North Houston | Houston | TX | Excellent | Bill Winder | Excellent |
| Comments: It was a great experience. |
| Moritz Cadillac | Arlington | TX | Excellent | Bob Paul | Excellent |
| Comments: Dealer was very motivated to sell the car as they're not moving as well as the new SRX. They tossed in all applicable GM-to-customer rebates and also some GM incentives for the car being on the lot "too long." An absolute steal that was cheaper than the lower model we were looking at! This was the third time we've used your tips, and each time we've saved thousands! |
| Port Lavaca Dodge Chrysler | Port Lavaca | TX | Poor | Horace Evans | Poor |
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| Prestige Ford in Garland TX | Garland | TX | Poor | Jose Jr Saucedo/ Jose Velasquez | Poor |
| Comments: THESES PEOPLE DON'T KNOW HOW TO GIVE GOOD CUSTOMER SERVICE THEY SHOULD BUT FIRED. THEY HAVE NO HEART TRYING TO SCAM PEOPLE LIKE THAT. ON OF THE HEAD MANAGERS YELLED AT ME CAUSE I WANTED TO TAKE BACK THE VEHICLE AFTER SIGNING PAPERS... |
| Ram Country Toyota | Del Rio | TX | Excellent | Cory Urban | Excellent |
| Comments: We added a bunch of options, remote start, dual DVD headrest system, custom window tint (not the dealer tint) etc... |
| Red McCombs Ford | San Antonio | TX | Fair | Haquim | Fair |
| Comments: Hassle to haggle, but we went to two dealerships where the first one had a fully loaded hybrid and I told him I wasn't interested in the packages but would look at his offer. It was a fair price, I took the slip from him went to a second dealership that had the car with the packages I wanted showed that seller the first dealer's slip and negotiated him to drop his price more. |
| Reid Auto Sales LLC | Irvine | TX | Poor | | |
| Comments: This Used car Dealer tried to sale us a car for $ $1,000 more then they were advertising it for, when we looked at the contract we noticed. Asked them to remove it they refused. |
| Ron Carter Hyundai | Friendswood | TX | Good | | |
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| Round Rock Honda | Austin | TX | Poor | | |
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| Round Rock Nissan | Round Rock | TX | Very Good | Louise McArthur | Very Good |
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| Russel & Smith Ford | Houston | TX | Very Good | Tom Melanson | Excellent |
| Comments: What a fabulous site! Thank you so very much for taking the time to do this - first time buyers like us learned a whole lot & saved a lot too! We would have been totally exploited but for your site. We saved $1,143! We almost got scammed at another dealer but were able to spot all the tricks they tried on us (and there were a lot!) & finally walked out when they changed the terms on us & wouldn't do the negotiated deal with our pre-approved loan. Also thank you for the prompt reply to our SOS about whether the buyers order we signed was binding - it turns out we had not gotten to signing the purchase agreement & hadn't put money down or taken delivery of the car, so we were safe. We called the scamming dealer and checked with him & also mentioned that we had spoken to DMV-Dealer Enforcement. Boy, was he scared - he apologized for the 'mis-communication' and said they'd honor the deal with our finance if we'd like or we're free to go elsewhere. We walked. Bought at another dealer who was up-front. Thank you again! |
| Rusty Wallis Honda | Dallas | TX | Poor | Brad Maverick | Poor |
| Comments: I purchased a 2000 Toyota Celica for my daughter "AS IS". It showed 61,000 miles on it. I Had continual problems with the car-it was a nightmare to deal with. I took the vehicle for the(3rd time) to a Toyota dealer and they pulled the motor's VIN which came back to a Corolla and was in bad shape. I had to buy a new motor. Let the buyer beware-- do not buy AS IS. I feel as if the dealership ripped me off because they knew I was a single parent with a teenager that wanted that particular car and they had to know the car was in bad condition. My question is, if the motor was different than the original Toyota motor with 61,000 miles on it, isn't the odometer statement incorrect that the dealership gave me. They also gave me a clean CARFAX report stating no problems with the car and a BUYBACK GUARANTEE. Where is that guarantee??? The dealership will do nothing to help me, even after I've spent $4800 within 6 months of buying the car. |
| SEWELL INFINITI | Houston | TX | Very Good | Christi Snuggs | Good |
| Comments: I LOVE THE WEBSITE. I don't like to pay for information (FightingChance.com, etc.) Found all the invoice info I needed on Edmunds.com for free. THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP!!!! |
| South Point Nissan | Austin | TX | Excellent | Caesar Lopez | Excellent |
| Comments: South Point Nissan in Austin Texas has been amazing the two times I have purchased a car with them. I stumbled upon this car while researching new cars at their dealership. I have test driven three different cars on four occasions and was not planning to buy this time either, and they have not once attempted to pressure me in to buying something that day. They have been honest and up front, explained all fees appropriately and amazingly patient as I asked and asked questions. Including taxes, document fees, extended warranty, etc...I was very happy with the price compared with what I found elsewhere for the same car. |
| South Point Nissan | Austin | TX | Fair | Dominic Kletter | Excellent |
| Comments: Site was super informative. Being that this was my first ever new car purchase on my own I was super anal about researching all the details. This site was excellent in preparing me and basically giving me a guide on what I needed to do and not do. The spreadsheet on buyers offer was extremely useful in determining 'dealer cost' and negotiating a fair deal. |
| Star Toyota | League City | TX | Excellent | David Pham | Excellent |
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| Sterling McCall Nissan | STAFFORD | TX | Not So Hot | ALPHONSE | Not So Hot |
| Comments: Sold a car that had been damaged and did not disclose in the car-fax. Would not refund my deposit. |
| Sterling McCall Honda | Kingwood | TX | Very Good | Larry Davis | Very Good |
| Comments: This site helped me to know what to say and what not to say as well. Thanks Jeff! |
| Sterling McCall Lexus | Houston | TX | Very Good | George Ross | Excellent |
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| Subaru Plano | Plano | TX | Poor | Jack | Not So Hot |
| Comments: 0% for 48 months with 5yr 60,000 mile bumper2bumper warranty |
| Toyota of Grapevine | Grapevine | TX | Excellent | Sam Scarlett | Excellent |
| Comments: Great site. This really prevented me from making a mistake and buying from a dealership that was trying BS me too much. I am currently a deployed soldier, so I had to do most of my dealing online, which was a draw back, but I used some of your sites to put out feelers until I got what I wanted. I chose the 2011 instead of the 2010, even though the lowest offer I received for the 2010 was about $500 less. I bought the truck from Toyota of Grapevine ultimately. I don't know if they were more up front with me because I had done my research and had a positive, confident approach or if they are just a straight-forward dealership, but I will definitely recommend them and this website to others. I really appreciate the help. |
| Toyota of Irving | Irving | TX | Poor | Mohammed Bhatti | Poor |
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| Toyota of Richardson | Richardson | TX | Fair | | |
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| Tranum Country | Cameron | TX | Good | Joe Lee Humplik | Excellent |
| Comments: Can't remember Invoice & MSRP, but everything checked out according to your site. Joe Lee got his 3-4%, I got my truck, and I still love it. He tried to make his coin on the 95 S-10 trade-in (offered $1k), but I went to CarMax, and he matched their $2500 offer. |
| Vandergriff Acura | Irving | TX | Poor | Tom Phan and Eric Cambell | Poor |
| Comments: This dealership is running a scam! They posted a retail price a used cars i was interested in, and then turn around stating " a third party hired to post the sticker made a mistake." I tried with two different sales for verification; they both did the same thing. Eric even told us we would be buying cheaper than the "retail price at 17,800" posted then submitted a selling price of 19,900??? RIP OFF!!! |
| Volvo of Dallas | Frisco | TX | Fair | | |
| Comments: Appreciate your insights -- You were a big help. |
| Dealer Name | City | State |
Dealer Rating | Salesperson | Salesperson Rating |
| Alexandria Toyota | Alexendria | VA | Very Good | John McMillan | Excellent |
| Comments: 2.9% APR loan, over 36 months. I had internet quotes from many different dealers, all offering to match the others quotes. One dealer near me would not give me a quote over the internet, which I thought was very funny. Thanks for the great web site. |
| Brown's Buick | Midlothian | VA | Poor | Albert Stanley | Poor |
| Comments: What an awful experience - not a hint of post-purchase service. I was promised that 2 of the tires would be replaced because they had no tread left on them, as well as 4 scratched rims. After 2 trips down there, they had replaced only one tire and rotated one of the poor tires to the passenger side in the hope that I wouldn't notice. After fighting about the rims for a week on the phone I just dropped it. Then I realized that the manual booklet was not in the car. I was promised it would be mailed to me before a 3 month out-of-state business trip. 3 days before I left, still nothing! When I called in the salesman simply had to say: "Well, the envelopes are upstairs and I would have to walk upstairs to get it." Are you kidding me?! I had to drive ANOTHER 45 minutes each way to fetch it. What a joke. When I complained to the manager about the service, he simply shrugged it off - not so much as an apology. Not to mention the fact that, to this day, I don't have some of the trimmings that were promised with the vehicle and come standard with a Beetle. Disgusting - NEVER buy there! |
| Brown's Fairfax Mazda | Fairfax | VA | Very Good | Brian McGunnigle | Very Good |
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| Brown's Fairfax Nissan | Fairfax | VA | Not So Hot | Min Ho Kong | Fair |
| Comments: The vehicle was fully loaded and included the navigation package. I liked the price, since it was clearly the lowest price in the area, but the "unprepared buyer" beware when dealing with this dealership. They tried just about every scam that's mentioned on this website at one time or the other. The website has great information and should be a must read for anyone purchasing a car in today's market. |
| Brown's Nissan | Fairfax | VA | Fair | Sean | Fair |
| Comments: I'm absolutely amazed at how accurate your site was regarding common dealer scams. Fortunately, we were able to shop around for a full month armed with this websites valuable tips. All 9 dealers we went to tried the same classic scams. We went with the most honest we encountered. Thanks man, you really helped us out. |
| Fair Oaks Chrysler Jeep | Chantilly | VA | Poor | Leone | Poor |
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| Fairfax Hyundai | Fairfax | VA | Very Good | Kristen Glenn (Internet Sales Manager) | Excellent |
| Comments: The negotiated price includes $1,500 cash rebate. I used Zag.com through American Express to get my deal which was better than the no-haggle internet price and well below invoice. |
| Fitzgerald Toyota & Haley Toyota | MD & VA | VA | Good | Charles 'Chuck' Thomas & Phil, Sales Mgr@ FitzMall | Very Good |
| Comments: Went to 2 dealers: Fitzgerald Toyota in MD gave me a good price after a short haggle with their Sales Manager (face to face). I knew almost certainly what the negotiating room was and told them I wanted some of that money. I had my local dealer on the line during the initial viewing of the car and called him after the 'Haggle'. Went to see the local dealer with my 'contract' from FitzMall. They met the price, and I called FitzMall, who said "Go for it". Wouldn't have gotten the AT Package if I'd gone directly to my local dealer (SE Toyota won't order it but MidAtl will). The deal was $100 over dealer's price. Left some on the table, but Happy w/ the deal |
| Hendrick Honda | Woodbridge | VA | Fair | Guillermo | Good |
| Comments: Purchase was through internet pricing, no problem. However, at the dealer sales manager was reluctant to negotiate any further, although we were able to drop the price $250 and meet my desired price on my trade-in. It's still the same combative us and them at the dealer. I won my prce with a long wait through all the subsequent paperwork and prep of the already purchased van. |
| Lustine Toyota | Woodbridge | VA | Poor | James/Chris (manager) | Poor |
| Comments: Thanks for the help. I would not have made it without your helpful guide. |
| McGeorge Toyota | Richmond | VA | Very Good | | Excellent |
| Comments: Great site - good info. Use the FightingChance.com website and info. Used their strategy and got a great deal >1000 under invoice! |
| Mechancisville Toyota | Mechanicsville | VA | Good | Chester Wisniewski | Good |
| Comments: Love the site. Third time I've used it to buy a car. Messed up though and plugged in my consumer rebate in the factory to dealer incentive cell, which skewed the numbers so I paid $300 more than I should have. Oh well, I'll pay better attention next time. One dealer tried to claim that holdback and wholesale financial reserves were their costs. Showed me their invoice to "prove it". |
| Mechanicsville Toyota | Mechanicsville | VA | Excellent | | |
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| Pearson Toyota | Newport News | VA | Excellent | Brenda Robertson | Excellent |
| Comments: If you are within 150 miles of Newport News, VA, please go to Pearson Toyota to buy your Yaris!!! Brenda Robertson will give you a great deal and treat you with respect! Tell her Cassandra from the OBX recommended her! Thank you! |
| Peninsula Honda | Hampton | VA | Very Good | Shaq | Excellent |
| Comments: Look for a dealership that has a demo. It can be a really good deal. We entered the dealership looking for a specific color scheme that we knew was not in the area (within 3 states). The only Odyssey Touring they had was a demo. The vehicle had 3,400 miles on it. We read the site before stepping foot into the dealership. We set a base price of 50 cents per mile, as a good estimate for amount deducted from invoice. They agreed to a very close price (it took some haggling and time), but when we were in our decision making time, we decided that the color didn't really fit us and we were going to continue looking. We received a phone call shortly after leaving the dealership saying they will lower it an additional $500. We went through the vehicle with a fine tooth comb and wrote down every discrepancy we noticed. We insisted that they all be corrected to within our standards before signing any paperwork. They correct all minor imperfections and cleaned the carpet and leather interior as well. Overall we are satisfied with our purchase. |
| Pohanka Hyundai | Fredericksburg | VA | Fair | Joey Mastin | Excellent |
| Comments: Used DriveYourDream / usaa / zag Almost hassle free (just the finance weany who was displeased that we were reading all contracts and paperwork- he also quoted 3.90% when it ended up being 3.98%), and arrived at the dealership already knowing what the out the door price was. Thanks for the advice. We were so much better prepared compared to the last time that we bought a car. I have no doubt that you are personally responsible for saving us a significant amount of money. |
| Pohanka of Fredericksburg | Fredericksburg | VA | Excellent | Kingsley Kwakye | Excellent |
| Comments: Dealer quote was $300-500 less than 3 quotes. Price was so good I bought 2 Civics - this LX Coupe and LX Sedan. |
| Pomoco Nissan | Hampton | VA | Excellent | Conrad Jackson | Excellent |
| Comments: LOVED Conrad! Second time in 2 years buying a brand new car from! Love POMOCO |
| Pomoco Nissan of Hampton | Hampton | VA | Very Good | Conrad Jackson | Excellent |
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| Ron Rosner Toyota of Fredericksburg | Fredericksburg | VA | Very Good | Chris MacKnight | Excellent |
| Comments: $1000 Rebate. Loved the sight, gave us all the info we needed to not get ripped off. Went to a dealership who gave us a really low price but wouldn't honor deal when we were ready to buy. Went to a different dealer and was shocked at how little time was spend haggling. Got a lower price than first dealership and service was top notch! |
| Springfield Volkswagen | Springfield | VA | Not So Hot | Chris Palmer | Not So Hot |
| Comments: Time spent there was too long. After I got home, dealer had sent and email earlier that day with price $3000.00 lower than what they sold it to me for. They will not honor that quote. I think its pretty shabby. |
| Stohlman Subaru Herndon | Herndon | VA | Fair | Chris | Fair |
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| Dealer Name | City | State |
Dealer Rating | Salesperson | Salesperson Rating |
| Appleway Toyota | Spokane | WA | Fair | | |
| Comments: Did good on bargaining on the car but kind of lost out on the extended warranty negotiation. |
| Bob Bridge Toyota | Renton | WA | Poor | Sean | Poor |
| Comments: We all know that dealership repairs are slightly more expensive but if you go, it is to get the most premium service. But not Sean at Bob Bridge Toyota. Bob Bridge Toyota does not employ service people who think out of the box, or that will go the extra mile. Don't go there, go to someone you can trust and rely on. Sean at Bob Bridge Toyota would not allow a thorough inspection of why my 2 year old Toyota Camry was using up all its oil well in advance of the regular oil change time frame. He had absolutely no customer service skills and not at all accommodating. From check-in to check-out he did not provide any options, did not seem empathetic to my situation, did not offer any other remedies they could take to investigate why my oil keeps running low. He's a man that reads you the guideline of what it says in the Toyota repair manual and has the that's your tough luck attitude. AND my vehicle is still under warranty. So I definitely will be going else where. I feel sad for them. |
| Carter Jeep (Chrysler/Dodge) | Burnaby, British Columbia | WA | Excellent | Brian Mitchell | Excellent |
| Comments: I had to go with Car Cost because I live in Canada, instead of Fighting Chance. Between Car Buying Tips and Car Cost, I saved an additional $1900.00!!! THANK YOU!!!!! |
| Doug's Lynnwood Mazda | Edmonds | WA | Excellent | Ross | Excellent |
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| Dwayne Lanes | Everett | WA | Poor | | |
| Comments: Do not trust these guys, they lie about features, lie about history, lie about repairs they make, all around scoundrels. |
| Infiniti of Kirkland | Kirkland | WA | Fair | | |
| Comments: A fantastic site! Brings together a lot of information; helped me to organize my thoughts, collect all my numbers, and develop a "battle strategy" before going to the dealership for the final struggle. Of course, I still feel that I got screwed, and I consumed a lot of Tylenol and Tums along the way. |
| Harris Ford | Lynwood | WA | Very Good | Alex | Very Good |
| Comments: Thanks for the resource it was awesome!- I used your new car pricing spreadsheet (to calculate offers)- Edmunds.com for pricing vehicle with options- Cars.com for 5 year depreciation/condensed reviews- Dealer tried all of the standard tricks including telling me one of the rebates was a 'mail in' to try and stick another $500 on the price.- Knowing how to spot the tricks early helped me feel in control the entire time- I negotiated the new vehicle price first and the trade 2nd.- I got $1,400 over NADA for my trade-in. Your site is on my list of referrals to my peers, friends and employees. Thanks Again! |
| Honda of Kirkland | Kirkland | WA | Poor | Peter Takasawa | Not So Hot |
| Comments: I just want to warn people out there that even the better dealers are pulling some fraudulent activity. They lied to me at Honda of Kirkland in Washington state and tried repeatedly to get me to sign a finance agreement with them by telling me that it was part of the Patriot Act and that before even talking numbers they needed it signed. I refused repeatedly and essentially was about to walk out when they removed the forms. This was after way too long. Their finance manager Leslie even signed a form which I still have which repeated their lie. Do NOT SIGN ANYTHING!!!! We were financed through out bank. Our bank even said there is no reason for them to check our credit AT ALL!! I'm still a little pissed about this fraud. I didn't sign anything and I got my price. The ADP charge showed up and I essentially told them flat out, I will only pay the destination charge and the doc fees. Its such an awful experience but without this site I would not have been prepared and probably would have signed that finance agreement believing their lies; especially since they really tried to pressure me. Our salesman was kind and that's the ONLY reason I stayed. Peter Takasawa was great. Too bad he works in such a scammy industry. |
| Jay Lee's Honda | Sumner | WA | Excellent | Mike and Todd | Excellent |
| Comments: Great site, with a little time devoted to studying the site I was able to neg. a great deal, THANKS! |
| Klein Honda | Everett | WA | Excellent | Jerry | Excellent |
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| LITHIA HYUNDAI OF RENTON | Renton | WA | Poor | Maurice | Poor |
| Comments: Looked at Elantras and Sonatas. The sales guy was nice, the manager was a creep. I don't even remember his name. He told us that getting a hybrid "wasn't really worth it"; what a jerk, the planet is worth it. Tried to offer me $700 on a trade in worth $2,500. Hid my trade in paperwork so I couldn't leave. Pulled all the usual bull with "what monthly payments do you want?". I walked out. I would never buy a car from this place. Really, really sleazy sales manager. |
| Lynnwood Honda | Lynnwood | WA | Very Good | Corey Perez | Excellent |
| Comments: Fantastic info and FightingChance.com was also great. We ended up using the USAA price quote and the free spreadsheet as a starting point. Came into dealer with fixed price, no trade in and our own financing. Told them USAA had sent us to one of their competitors and we knew we could get X price there. We were not happy with how that dealership acted though so if this dealership wanted to not be sleazy and match the price we would buy from them. They beat the other dealers price by $100 and didn't pull any tricks. Helped a lot that we knew what tricks to look for thanks to this site. |
| Lynnwood Honda | Edmonds | WA | Very Good | Rick Fonceca | Excellent |
| Comments: Jeff, I can't thank you enough for all of the information you've provided here. I had never purchased a car from a dealership before. Due in part to your helpful tips and suggestions, my wife and I were able to purchase our first-ever new car. You have saved us thousands of dollars! |
| Magic Honda | Seattle | WA | Excellent | Lionel Focus | Excellent |
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| Renton Honda | Renton | WA | Poor | | |
| Comments: We bought a used so called "certified Honda". This dealer uses a high pressure closer, and would use any tactic to run up the price or keep you in the store till you signed a contract with some terms you might no be prepared to honor! After sale, we found defects including a lot of damage and repair on one side of the car, the car was represented as a never repainted car taken back on lease, and we were told they knew the person who leased. Looks like an auction car to me, of course they said they don't know what happened, didn't notice it, and of course couldn't reach the person who leased it to find out what happened and why the work was so poorly done. |
| Renton Honda | Renton | WA | Poor | | |
| Comments: I believe I got a great deal! I got my car for below invoice price and that is including $600 worth of accessories. |
| Renton Subaru | Renton | WA | Good | Sales Manager | Very Good |
| Comments: I also received $1500 rebate plus 24 month 0% financing on top of the ($1,015) off of dealer invoice. |
| Seaview Chevrolet | Lynnwood | WA | Fair | Dan Knoblock | Fair |
| Comments: GM is in trouble. I found a car that the dealer couldn't sell. I negotiated my trade and did well. I got $3000 rebate from the dealer. I refused to pay 'prep fees'. I refused to negotiate based on payments and always discussed the bottom line. I managed not to get shafted by ultra-high rate dealer financing (i used a credit union instead). Your site is awesome and I recommended it to all my friends. At the end the finance guy told me they sold the car at a loss of several thousand just to get it off the lot. Its a Vibe, which is the exact same thing as a Toyota Matrix. I used your site 4 years ago when we purchased our last new car. So far your tips have saved us close to $10,000! |
| Sno-Country Ford | Monroe | WA | Very Good | Mike Dickinson | Excellent |
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| Wendle Nissan | Spokane | WA | Excellent | Sean | Excellent |
| Comments: Includes $2000 manufacturer rebate |
| Whitney's | Montesano | WA | Poor | Brownie | Poor |
| Comments: This was a used truck. The problem was the trade ins. They kept telling me one of my trade in was only worth $5000 and showed me a picture of a truck on craigslist selling for $5000. They now have my truck listed for sale on their lot for $10,000. They also told my friend he would get $100 for bringing me in. He got $50. They tried to rip me off by not paying the total agreed price on a trade-in. I called the Attorney General and got a check from them in one day. They told me they don't issue checks until they get the title to the trade in. And they just happened to get it the day the Attorney General contacted them. How weird was that?? I checked with the bank issuing the title and asked when it was mailed. It was mailed two week ago. So the title was in the postal vortex for two weeks as the dealership would have me believe. Again, how weird. Also the financing would not go through. I told them we had a deal and they could have the truck back. They said they would find financing at the contracted rate. Once again, very strange. And the story is not over. I got a call today stating they want to charge me $20 more for registration because I have disabled plates. They already charged me $131.50 in the contract. |
