Car Shopping Horror Stories/Funnies

Dan

Dan

Well-known member
Accumulator's dialog with me in the car auction thread reminded me of a funny story trying to buy a Porsche Cayman. I'd love to hear other stories of car dealers and their BS.



Here is one of many I have. I was thinking about picking up a Porsche Cayman. A Jag dealer close by had an example that looked OK, not great from the pictures, but since it was close I figured I'd go take it for a spin. The Carfax indicated prior accident damage and three owners but no specifics. I'm always suspect of a car that is fairly new and has had several owners, especially when it's very low mileage. But I really wanted to see if I liked the car in general more than if I like that particular one.



After test driving it, I took a look around the car while the salesman went inside. I quickly broke out my Highline II and measured the paint. If I recall correctly, the only panels that did not have paintwork were the RF fender and right door. The salesman came back and started to push for a sale.



I mentioned how the car just had too much paintwork for me to be comfortable with making an offer. He then says "oh, you saw the carfax, it was only in minor parking lot accident"



I then pulled out the Highline and said, um no, this says the only panels not painted are the fender and door. The look on his face was priceless....
 
I was 15, looking for my first car. Came across a 1989 Mercedes 190E. Supposedly being sold because the owner needed garage space. I went to look at it and it seemed like a good car, so we gave the seller a $100 check as a deposit. That night we looked at more cars and came across a LOT of cars he was selling, and since he said he needed garage space in all of them, we didn't trust him or the car and changed our mind and cancelled the check, then called him and left a message explaining ourselves. He called me that night and started yelling and cussing at me because he tried to cash the check and it obviously didn't work. Then I hung up and he called me back threatening me with small claims court. I haven't seen more of his ads since a few months after that happened :)
 
The guys that pretend to be a private seller but actually run a business are the absolute worst.
 
Story #1:



My wife was looking for a nice car as a runabout as the Neon was getting long in the tooth. We went to a Nissan dealership (er, stealership) in the West Valley to take a gander at a few vehicles. The first car I test drove was a 2007 Maxima. As I was driving, my wife noticed that I had a look of disapproval on my face. I told her that I don't like the CVT in this vehicle as it was not giving me the performance I wanted. The next car we test drove was a Sentra. She and I both liked it and thought about buying it. As they were crunching the numbers, I noticed a huge red flag.....the interest rate (think department store credit card and you'll get the idea). After the salesman said, "Can we get you in this car right now?" I fired back, "Not with that interest rate, you can't." and I walked out. When my wife saw what I saw, she ripped the salesman and manager a new one.
 
Story #2:



We went to a Chevrolet dealer in Mesa to test drive a Trailblazer SS. You might think, Sentra (fuel efficient) to TBSS (Fuel inefficient)? The first story was a runabout for her. This was a vehicle for yours truly who (sometimes) cares more about cajones. I test drove a TBSS AWD weeks ago and kind of liked it. I researched it a little further and learned that it would be better to go RWD. This day, they had a RWD TBSS on the lot. My wife and I test drove it. I drove first and let the fur fly. We switched at the next exit. My wife is a conservative driver.....until you get some power under her right foot. She got in the TBSS and had the salesman and I both on the floor laughing. Why? Each time she drove this truck, people in other cars would pick at her and she'd leave them choking on exhaust fumes. Each time we stopped, she got :eek: from the other drivers.



Needless to say, we did not walk out with the TBSS (initial costs too high) but we did have fun driving it.



I do have a few more that I will share later.
 
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