South Trail Chrysler

Dishonest

September 03, 2020

Purchased a new Wrangler and was trading a Wrangler in. Salesmen we dealt with were pleasant, and I don’t think they are the root of the dishonesty and are likely told what to say, but there were several lies used during this purchase that become very clear in hindsight. We referred to the trade-in values that all dealers have on their websites. This was part of what was contemplated when making the offer. It was quite shocking when the trade in value was claimed to be almost $5000 less than what all sites were indicating. We questioned the legitimacy of the information and got a story about how those values are not correct and this is what their analysis was based on vehicles for sale and what they have sold for. I watched the vehicle get driven across the lot by the salesman for appraisal and very shortly after returned back with no appraiser ever even coming out to look at the vehicle. That was followed by a sad story about how they were making $200 on this whole deal which is a complete lie. The vehicle wasn’t a penny below the FCA employee pricing discount, let alone the $1600+ in fees that are then paid on top of it. Then the very low trade-in offer. They said they could maybe put the vehicle on the lot for $32,000 and hope they break even after inevitable used car negotiations. It went on the lot for $37,888, making the stated KBB trade-in value of $31,500 not look so out of line compared to the $27,000 received for the trade-in. So either we’re getting low-balled or they are trying to seriously overcharge a used vehicle buyer. In hindsight we should have walked away, but they won’t give you their trade-in value until after you put down the $5000 deposit and make an offer and start going back and forth. You still have some faith in honesty until you see the amount it goes on the lot for which was over $5000 more than they said it would and over $10,000 more than the trade-in. Then we get to the paperwork signing and the discussion over extended warranties, windshield plans, etc. We were told the windshields on the new Wranglers are now $400-$500 dollars so it was a bargain to buy the windshield protection for $1199 which has, a per the brochure on the desk, UNLIMITED replacements (it was in caps). Repeatedly told you can get as many as you get cracks in the window, don’t wait to fix it. We even asked for comparison sake how much the old Wrangler windshields are to compare apples to apples and not a dealer inflated pricing. The answer was $150-$200, which is correct and what we had previously paid ($182). For curiosity sake a couple days after because it did seem odd it would go up that much, we got a quote on a new windshield which was $220 installed. So a little more, not $250-$300 more. This would have made a big difference in the decision to purchase the windshield plan. Then when reading the contract in detail, it says the replacement plan has a maximum value of $2000, which would mean it is NOT UNLIMITED. I guess time will tell which part they honour, but at this point the guess is the contract limit. When we drove away the warning lights for the Collision Avoidance and Adaptive Cruise Control were on. These were actually on during the test drive as well, but assumed maybe the final setup wasn’t done at that point. Forgot to double check until we drove away. Turns out it was a corrupt software issue that required a complete reload. After the $995 PDI you pay for, it is a little frustrating that they don’t verify everything works properly for delivery, especially when it’s as obvious as flashing orange lights on the dash. We then had to bring it in for service to get it fixed, which required them to keep it overnight. So a bunch of added cost and complication to be down a vehicle for something that should have been resolved before delivery. So this was our first and last purchase at this dealership. It’s one thing to make a deal that works, but it’s another to be so dishonest in every way to do it. They got their payday this time, but no return business or referrals from us.

Written By: Tannis