The joyless experience buying our 2010 Chevrolet Equinox

Working at CR’s Auto Test Center, part of our job is to buy the new cars we test. We do this anonymously so the dealers don’t know the car is going to be tested for Consumer Reports. We don’t want any preferential treatment; we simply purchase the cars like John Q. Public. (See videos on how we test cars.)
 
I was assigned the new 2010 Chevrolet Equinox V6. I called a dealership and requested the SUV we wanted. The salesman said the store had one. So I made an appointment for the next day to go see and buy the car. When I arrived, I found the salesman and I asked him to steer me to where the new Equinox was parked. I was surprised to find that it was all dirty, complete with smashed bugs all over the front of it. He said, of course, they would clean it up before they sell it. The car had dealer plates on it, which I found out meant that they were using it for a demo (it had over 300 miles on it). I opened the door to check out the interior and it reeked of cigar smoke (it even had two cigars in the cup holder). Naturally, I said that I didn’t want this car. Again, I was amazed that the dealer would have such a messy car as a demo.
 
Plus, the car was painted black, which we generally don’t want since it doesn’t photograph well.
 
The salesman said he could get another one with the options we wanted. After some time he found a blue one at another dealership. Better yet, he said I could have it tomorrow. So after I saw a copy of the invoice, I gave him a $1,000 deposit on my credit card. I told him I would fax over the insurance and registration so we could transfer the plates to the new Equinox. The next day I got the paperwork together and had a company check made out for the purchase. I called him back to told him that I was about to fax the paperwork over and would like to set up a pick up time.
 
Then he sheepishly told me that there was a problem: the other dealer decided to sell that car! I asked how he could sell it to me if it was already sold. He claimed ignorance and apologized and said he could get another one.
 
I was ready to walk, but he had my $1,000 and I had a company check made out to that dealership already. So we started over. Hopefully, the third time would be a charm. After a couple of hours he called back and said he found a white one with the same equipment. He, again, promised that I could get it the next day. He promised to call me when he physically had it. The next day, he called and said it was at the dealership. So I faxed the company paperwork over – now he knows this is for Consumers Reports – but he didn’t say anything about it.
 
My salesman asked me to come in at 3 p.m. to wrap up the delivery process. Miracle of miracles, the car was there. I was eager to finish the sale and get going, so I passed on the salesman’s offer to go over the car with me. But I found myself waiting over a half hour as my salesman talked on the phone and was just hanging out talking to another salesman. I asked what was going on, and he said that the finance guy was very busy.
 
My frustration began to boil since the dealer set the 3 p.m. appointment. I waited an additional half hour and a manager comes over and apologizes for the delay and gives me his card and says that I can have a free oil change when I come back. Finally, I get to the finance guy, fill out the paperwork and buy the car. I’ve been at the dealer way too long and I just want to leave.
 
Just when I thought I was free and clear, the salesman comes over and asks me to wait “just a minute” so he can go and fill the car up with gas. Of course, he had been doing nothing for over an hour and then he suddenly decided to fill the car. I couldn’t believe this was happening.
 
It was now late Friday afternoon and the peak of rush hour. And I wound up waiting yet another 20 minutes. He finally came back and again offered to go over the car with me. Again I declined. The salesman thanked me for the purchase and hoped that I would come back if I wanted to buy another car.  Ha.
 
And some people wonder why most consumers don’t like the experience of buying a new car…
 
—Rick Small

Comments

[Ben]

I had a similar experience a few weeks ago with a local dealer. I pre-negotiated the price of the car and when I came to pick it up, it took over two hours to meet with the finance guy.

My previous experience only took 45 minutes when I followed the same process. I know which dealership I'm going to next time.

[Steve Bier]

Such a shame. When I purchased my Aveo in 2007, the process was as painless as possible. We had arrived kind of late at the dealership (about 20 minutes or so before closing - admittedly our fault, as my wife and I were stuck at work that evening...), but ended up purchasing the car on the spot. As the dealership was closing for the night, they promised to run our finance paperwork the following morning. Sure enough, by 9:30 that morning, everything was finished and ready to go. We signed the papers, transferred our plates, and called it a day. Best dealership experience ever.

[Don]

Wait a minute!

CR puts out points in dealing with car salesmen and you are shocked that this kind of thing goes on.

Hate to burst your bubble, but this is routine for car dealers / salesmen. That is why everyone hates having to buy a new car.

I wish that ALL new cars were sold on the internet & then I would merely have to go to the dealer to pick it up. The dealer could still sell cars to people who prefer this type of treatment.

By the way, does CR pretty much pay MSRP for the vehicles it buys? Doesn't sound to me that you did much haggling.

[Cale]

And you did this while you where "on the clock"?

I've yet to get paid for car shopping.

[Justin]

I work for a car dealership and would like to take this opportunity to point out why you should develop a relationship with your salesperson. The next time you need to buy a car he will be there and remember to treat you right. It does not hurt to do your research with consumer reports before. Just remember that the dealer needs to make a profit so that you can have a central place you can go to try new models. Please be understanding. Everyone can be busy. However this sounds like a bad/lazy salesperson. He should (at the very least) have had your gas filled rather than chatting with coworkers while you wait.

[Frank]

This does not surprise me at all. I have recently accompanied my son and my niece on car buying trips.

The indifference of the new car sales people surprised me. As a penalty for buying a new car, you must endure the warnings and attacks of the finance person. Why wouldn't we buy an extended warranty?? Did I know I could spread out payments for 66 months? We had to spend a half hour with this person before they let us buy the car??

One dealer wanted to raise the price at the last minute by making me buy the carpets already inside the car. We refused and the salesman said, "Aw, that's too bad". That was it. No Sale.

The used car sales people were just not that interested in selling a car. They were much more interested in getting financing for overpriced used cars. We had sales people just walk away from us when we informed them we had our own financing ready to go. One guy just turned around and walked back into the showroom, took off his suit coat, and put his feet up on the desk.

The above makes little sense to me because I read how tight financing is and they are not selling cars because the banks will not lend out money? REALLY???

[Ross]

Justin,

Why should I need to have a relationship with a salesperson to be treated right? A person expects to be treated right any time the enter a place of business. Much less a place that they're about to spend half a years wages...

[Patrick]

So Justin the person who works at a dealership is telling a Consumer Reports reporter to research Consumer Reports before he buys a car? And that the buyer should get to know the salesman instead of the salesman getting to know the buyer?

And we wonder why people hate dealing with the dealer.

[Joe Bob]

The tone of Justin's comment gets to one of the things that has always mystified me about car sales: Why do these people cop the attitude they are doing me a favor by doing business with me?

I neither need nor want a 'relationship' with a salesperson. Nor do I care for the implication that I should kiss their a#$ in order to be 'treated right.'

What I want is an efficient and honest transaction. Why is that so insanely difficult?

[Chris in South Korea]

Remind me again: why do people buy NEW cars? From a *dealership*? Surely we've seen that good used cars (as in well-taken-care-of cars that are no more than a few years old) are more than adequate for those of us who don't need every little feature and don't want to take a big hit when it comes to depreciation. I thank CR for giving me the rundown on new cars - I really do. Their advice will come in handy a few years down the road.

[bob]

This is why American carmakers are nearly out of business. Not only are USA-made cars still years behind imports in nearly every technological and long-term dependability study, but you can't even "just buy one" when you have the money.

[Tom Mutchler]

Don, CR does indeed haggle on the price. But we're often buying one of the first (fill in the blank) that hits the lot, which reduces the ability to deal.

And Rick's experience wasn't typical. We often do exactly what you suggest; find a car online, make the deal on the phone, go pick it up, done in half an hour total.

It's unusual to have the car sold out from underneath us, or to find them smoking cigars in the car we're supposed to be buying, or to have to wait half an hour for the salesman or finance staff to make delivery.

[Eric French]

"The next time you need to buy a car he will be there and remember to treat you right."

Absolutely laughable. The turnover rate for auto salesmen is astronomically high. You're more likely to find the same gardener trimming the dealership lawn when you go back in five years.

[techphets]

Cale, Did you consider he might be salary? People work harder and later on other days of the week in order to avoid working late on Friday afternoons.

Frank, After reading your story I think I would pretend I was financing the vehicle through the dealership right up to the moment that a price is agreed upon. I wonder if they would change the price then?

Regarding Rick's experience, I'm amazed that the sales, finance, and management responded in these ways after the Consumer Reports paperwork had been faxed over. I can only believe that they overlooked it.

The offer of a "free oil change" has to be the most ridiculous part of the entire story. My vacuum dealer took better care of me after a far less bothersome fiasco.

[Munn]

I'm 71 & I've purchased 37 cars (mine, wife's, company cars) in my lifetime. With one exception (a Porsche from a great guy, I was probably laid away, but it was a good experience and a fun car...) it's never been even a reasonable experience. I think dealerships screen salesmen applicants for personality problems, procrastination, rudeness, and then train them to go through the usual (I've got to talk to my manager & have a smoke to get you anxious OR I've looked at your trade & I don't give back the keys until you push me) baloney.

The worst are the finance/insurance/extended warranty/closing guys. Even after you politely tell them you don't want anything but the car as it is now, they're pushing rust proofing,interest rates, warranties, etc. The best was a guy that started trying to sell me a warranty (I forget the number of years) at $2,950 and in about 4 stages got down to $700 and, after I said, "No," asked me what I'd pay. After I said $10 he got quite ticked (no sense of humor) even though I told him at the start that I never buy extended warranties or finance cars.

The former "big three" dealers, especially lower end, are the worst in general, followed by foreign dealerships. In general, I think the best are Honda, Toyota & the upper priced cars; Mercedes, BMW, etc. It would be interesting if CR did a survey of readers/viewers experiences with various dealership by brand. Just maybe that's part of the reason that they're the "former big three."

[Doug]

The finance person makes more money for the dealership than everyone else there, often more than everyone else combined, thus the hard-sell for extended warranties and pre-pay service programs.

I've gone into dealerships with a checkbook and paying cash for a new car and still had the finance guy trying to work me to the point where I got up several times to leave. Even if you are going in with your own financing already arranged they will try to work you hard to use "their" bank.

I had a salesperson tell me that nowadays the consumer is so well-informed on the pricing when they walk in the door that there is little they can do about working someone over on price, all they can do is try to work you for the rust-proofing, finance rate, etc.

If the finance guy can get half a point additional on your loan (or more like 2 points) is a significant amount of money over 60 months.

[Brian]

Yep, seems like a typical car buying process from my experience. This is why I bought two of my last cars off eBay. I decide how much to pay and then go pick it up. When I went shopping for my wife's last car, the GMC dealer sales staff literally barracaded us in the dealership to keep us from leaving when we refused to buy a Yukon for what they were selling it for. They wouldn't go one dime off retail price and we told them that just wasn't acceptable. We ended up driving straight to the Honda dealer to buy an Odyssey. Not that they were much better, but we knew we'd end up with a better car for the money.

I then went back to buy a Fit from the same salesman at the Honda dealership. Not buying a big profit-maker, I, too, got the "I'm doing you a favor by selling this to you attitude." A month later the CD player stopped working and the salesman walked right by me while I was sitting in the service waiting area and did not take one bit of interest as to why I was there. Gee, I guess $60k worth of sales off me in 3 months was not enough. I went home and took all dealer markings off both my cars.

[Kathy]

I am surprised CR bought 2(!) AWD models of the 2010 Chevrolet Equinox, then cautioned readers the cars don't get the 32 highway mpg that Chevrolet advertises.

No kidding! Why wouldn't you have bought the 2-wheel drive, 4-cylinder version that most people will be buying? That's the model GM is promoting as a 32 mpg vehicle on the highway (22 mpg in town) and I'm very interested to find out if it actually gets that mileage.

[Rich Clark]

You should name names. Seriously, it may not seem fair, but it is. Tell us what dealership it was. Tell us the name of the errant salesman. It's not libel if it's true. Maybe every other dealership is just as bad, but so what? Maybe if publications like CR start naming names, other dealerships will be more careful about how they treat customers.

That's what I'd call "consumer advocacy."

[Jeff B]

I also had an unpleasant experience of a different type when picking up my 2009 Chevy Malibu at a Chevy dealer in northern NJ. There were virtually no other customers within sight, but the salesman was apparently too busy to show me any of the car's features. As soon as I signed the paperwork, he basically shooed me out the door. When I asked about the car's features, he referred me to the owner's manual in the glove box. Wow. Impressive, huh? Did this guy think that his approach woudl make me want to return? Surprise. I never have. I also have a late model Mazda3 and Honda CRV. When I picked up those cars I was treated much better. The Mazda guy went over every inch of the car, and it was glowing (red) it was so clean. GM's problem do not end at the factory.

[Rik]

We bought a 2007 Vue Greenline at the Saturn Dealership in Fort Collins Colorado. My wife and I had a horrible, horrible experience AND we were repeat customers! That was not the first time we had purchased a car there!! When we went back for the second vehicle (the 07 vue) we asked for the same salesman. They pulled every high pressure tactic in the book and then started to call us at home once we left.

I'm done with GM. That was a first... AND LAST GM vehicle I will ever buy.

[Rik]

Oh, and I forgot to mention how many times the thing has been in the shop!! The mileage was NEVER what they claimed, and when we bought new tires (I read in the owners manual what type of tires to get) we were scolded by our Dealership because we didn't buy their "special" tires! They also said that's another reason the gas mileage was so bad... because I followed the owners manual and bought "non-Saturn Vue Greenline" non-special tires!!

You should see the lip service that dealership gives to their "customer service philosophy & commitment" ...what a joke... no wonder they needed a buyout.

[Dennis]

I just bought a new Toyota Highlander Hybrid off an internet dealer site.. I bought it from a dealer that I thought was too far to drive to. The internet salesman changed my mind by being upfront with the cost of the car. He e-mailed me a list of all the options and prices on the car. He got the sale. I got the finance guy to quit presssuring me to buy a service contract and rust proofing by repeating "I don't buy anything without thinking it over. How long do I have to get back to you. Only good today huh. Sorry I don't buy anything without thinking it over. Not one other dealer would provide the information I asked for. My favorite dealer where I get most of my dealer work performed didn't even call me back. I figured they didn't need or want me sale.

[Billy]

Call and schedule a test drive. After the drive let the salesman know you have other test drives scheduled so you can't stay around that day. Repeat the same thing at the other dealers. Give yourself sometime to think over your options and then take your C.R. bottom line report with you to the dealer. Be prepared to get up and leave if you don't like the way your treated.

[Brucebr]

Some years ago, I shopped for a Honda Accord. Walked in, told the salesman what I wanted.

So I asked, "What will you sell this car for?"
"Wait, I'll ask the sales manager."
Salesman would return and say, "What will you offer for it?"
"No, I just want your price." (Didn't they know the price?)

Back and forth. Back and forth. I waited over six hours for an answer to this question. When I finally spoke to the sainted sales manager, he said, "You really drive a hard bargain."

Another two hours of finance, options and other foolishness. Eight hours to buy a car, nothing special since it was already loaded.

They talked me into headlight shields. One week after taking delivery, when I found out that the car comes with unbreakable covers, I hit the roof. I drove back and demanded that they take back the car. They did!

I went to another dealer, bought the car for the same price in an hour. Boom! Done!

Two years ago, I bought my first one ton truck. Took calls and visits to three Ford dealers to find a salesman who wanted to sell me this (expensive) truck and knew more about it than I did (I knew only what I had read.) Pathetic.