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Non-Saab Car Buying Rant Posted by EGD [Email]  (#663) [Profile/Gallery]
(more from EGD) on Tue, 23 Jul 2024 16:59:54
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I’m in the Los Angeles area and I’m trying to buy a car for my son who’s going to college in Indiana. Not looking at Saabs since the nearest service is around 180 miles away from his school so I’m focusing on generic cars like Chevy Malibus and Ford Fusions. Trying to keep it under $10K.
Was in Oakland last weekend for some A’s games, and to purchase a low-mileage, no-accident, one-owner Fusion at an Audi dealer I saw on cars dot com. The transaction price was agreed to online before arrival and the dealer waived all the usual, low-value dealer add-ons. Great car. Really nice. Just one problem: the test drive showed that the AC was inop. When I pointed that out the salesman said it just needs some ‘freon’ and that their Audi shop can ‘top it up.’ I said that the car needs R134A, not freon, and that it needed a compressor at minimum because pushing the AC button on and off didn’t engage the clutch and maybe much more at which point the sales manager stepped in and said they’d fix the vehicle at no charge. You know, likely using the cheapest compressor and other parts they can find at AutoZone. No sale.
Many dealers also brag about the new tires on their vehicles but they’re almost always low-rent Westlake, Ironman, or other Chinese brands so buyers need to factor in the cost of a decent set of tires into the price. Unless high speed runs in high heat with cheap tires is OK with you.
Or, my favorite, the obscene low-value add-ons one major brand dealer required on their website if you buy a car there: $995 pre-installed theft code, $995 rear collision preventive device (except for bigger brake lights, I have no idea!), $1995 appearance protection, $1995 GPS anti-theft device and tracking, and — the old standby — $795 3M door paint protection. A cool $6775 in added baloney! (I hope no one actually buys any of that junk!)
Independent car lots? Many have BBB ratings of F. I found a dealer with a few nice cars but dug a bit deeper and found almost all his cars have salvage titles.
In any event, the entire purchase process is discouraging. I refuse to step foot on any dealer’s lot without having the basic parameters of a deal established beforehand online. Can’t give the dealer the power of being on a lot without numbers already established.
Still searching…
RANT OVER.
->Posting last edited on Tue, 23 Jul 2024 17:18:42.
, Tue, 23 Jul 2024 16:59:54 <-- Viewing This Message, Thu, 25 Jul 2024 17:29:27
, Wed, 24 Jul 2024 12:49:52, Wed, 24 Jul 2024 06:24:43
1, Wed, 24 Jul 2024 08:47:38, Wed, 24 Jul 2024 09:03:22, Wed, 24 Jul 2024 13:04:40, Thu, 25 Jul 2024 09:52:13, Thu, 25 Jul 2024 16:10:50
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