Dealer Hall of Shame. Feel free to put in your bad dealer story to help future JL/JT/JLU buyers.

[631_Islander]

Given some stories I have seen on this forum and some of my own experiences, I thought about creating a Hall of Shame for dealers so that future Jeep buyers can be beware. Below is my experience with a local dealer. Feel free to add yours as well:

Dealer Name: Empire CJDR in West Islip, NY

Date of interaction: July 20th, 2019

Description of experience: Went in with my 62 year old father to custom order a 2020 JLUR for myself. The dealer had a lot of Turbo 4s on the lot but we were interested in a Pentastar at the time. After some back and forth, we agree on a custom build. Dealer kept on trying really hard to sell something off his lot, which is expected behavior. He wasn't really the most professional of the bunch as he was walking around in an untucked shirt and talked as if he was a gang member or something. After doing the build, we started to negotiate pricing. He offered me close to $65k after taxes and fees for a fully loaded JLUR (without ACC). Was a little bit of a sticker shock for us because at the time, my configuration costed $57k before taxes. Add a NY State Sales Tax of 8.65% and the $300 for paperwork, it should have been $62k (we never gave him this amount and expected him to give to us after doing the configuration). When asked to explain the extra $3k he never gave a straight answer. He told me it was a stocking fee and my father pushed back saying this is a custom order that we will pick up the day he calls us. He went to the back and then came back tell us he can do a very good price of $62k after taxes/fees. Claims a Rubicon is a steal at that price (umm...sure, guy. whatever you say). We proposed to him $54k before taxes and fees. We had made that clear to him. Guy looks at us and says in a gang banger tone "how you gonna ask me for $8k off in a custom order, man". I set him straight and said "As I said before, this is cost before taxes and fees. Hope we are clear this time". The guy was quite as a mouse as he probably realized he is no longer selling meth. He goes to the back and then comes back again saying "ok. We can do $54k before taxes and fees but you must buy the loan from FCA at 5.5% APR for six years". In subsequent discussions, he seemed more interested in selling me a loan rather than the Jeep itself for some reason. I finally pushed back to him and said "I can't justify a 5.5% when the Teachers Federal Credit Union (TFCU) in Deer Park is giving me the same loan at 3.49%". The guy pushes back and says "No Jeep Dealership will negotiate pricing with you unless you get the loan from FCA also". It was at that time it had become obvious to us that this gentleman has no idea what he is talking about and should stick to selling Meth. My dad got up, shook his hand and thanked him for his time. The guy still gave us his card and told us to come back after going to a few dealerships as he know we will be back. We did not come back but he did call us two days later. Needless to say, I did not pick up as I had bought my JLUR from another (much more reasonable) dealer.

Buy Jeep from this dealer? No. Unprofessional Dealer Behavior.

Alternate recommended dealers in the area: Westbury Jeep in Westbury, NY or Smith Haven CDJR in Smithtown, NY or Security CDJR in Amityville, NY. In my case, I bought mine from Westbury at $52k before taxes and fees. One of my College friends leased his 2017 JKU Smoky Mountain from the Amityville folks and they were pleasant to deal with as I went in with him. The Smithtown dealership is preferred dealership on the FCA website.

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[Jeepney18]

Here's my Yelp review for the Fremont dealershit.

TLDR: Don't waste your time here! They make the customer an offer and cannot honor it. This dealership is unethical and dishonest.

I usually just go to the dealership where I want to get my car, but this time I tried to do my homework.

I contacted about 20 Bay Area dealerships for a Jeep Wrangler. I joined the JLWrangler forum and learned what I could about getting a deal. I learned to go for 10% under MSRP or 5% under invoice.

I contacted Jessica Caitlin by email at Fremont CDJR and I couldn't get the OTD price from her, but she said it's worth my time if I come in. She told me that they have a Jeep with the options I wanted, but it also included Alpine Speakers, convenience group, and safety group for MSRP $40k. I told her that I'm still searching and not in a rush. She replies via email to let them know if there's a number they can beat.

I kept contacting all these dealers and per the forum, I noticed people were getting deals from Dillons in Idaho. I got a build from them and got some numbers. They offered $34,777 for my build. I showed that to Fremont CDJR and was told if they can match that, can I come in tonight and make a deal. I told them I'm still shopping around. A few days later, I said I would like to see the Jeep and I test drove it. After the test drive, she took my information. She also asked if I have found the exact car I'm looking for and I said yes. She wrote that down on paper and said we would love to earn your business. She took it to her manager and came back with $32k out the door. I was shocked and I didn't even negotiate. I asked how long is that offer good for because I had some things to take care of like get a car loan and an appraisal for my trade in. She went back to the manager and there was no hard deadline.

Over the weekend, I got an appraisal from CarMax to trade in my vehicle and I also got approved for a car loan. By Wednesday, I had some time to contact Jessica at the dealership and she forwarded the email to the one of the General Sales Managers working that shift, Bomdad Pourabdollah. I never met the manager that offered it at $32k, but Bomdad told me that it's not available at that price anymore and they can no longer do that deal. I tried to have them honor that deal over the next few days but nothing happened. I sent emails to [email protected], General Manager Ed Chui - [email protected], and CEO Shaun Del Grand - [email protected]. Ed replied and could only offer 36k out the door including my trade.

One of the other dealerships reached out to me regarding my deal with Fremont and I explained what happened. This was his reply: "Unfortunately, there are a lot of dealers out there who give the impression of being able to purchase a vehicle for a price that cannot be reached."

This is the worst experience I've ever received from a dealership and after looking at other people's reviews over the past few months with their one star ratings, it looks like they've continued to offer lousy service.

 

[greg707]

This happened to me years and years ago so I'll leave the dealer name out of it since chances are its all new employees by this point... It was a Jeep dealer in Ohio tho.


I was in the market for a cheap used sporty looking car since I was younger and noticed this dealer had a used Mitsubishi Eclipse. My bad experience didn't start until after I had the car in my possession and once I was back home with the car I did make an appointment at a local shop I trusted to make sure everything was okay with it.

I knew something was up because the lady at the front desk looked horrified when she told me one of the front brake calipers was missing bolts and was barely hanging on to the car and could've locked up the entire wheel and caused me to crash.

I called the dealer super pissed and they had someone come pick up the car and gave me a loaner and told me to come back Monday. Monday rolls around and the dealer tells me they are just going to unwind the deal and I said alright whatever let me get my stuff from the car in that case... Well ends up the guy who took my car back to the dealership stole the GPS i had in the glove box. I tried to tell the dealer hey I'm missing a GPS that was in the glove box and they told me to sign that they don't owe me anything and piss off their property or they'll call the police.

Crazy... Unfortunately this left a lasting impression on me since I was pretty much a kid and dealerships make me extremely anxious lol...

 

[JEEPIDON]

In 1973 I bought a brand new Dodge Dart 340 Sport, 4 speed and quite well optioned, in Troy, NY. In NY, no new car can leave the dealership without an annual inspection and sticker. (now in Missouri and no inspection necessary for the first 5 years).

I got 2 blocks from the dealership and was pulled over by a city cop because I had no taillamps. I told him I had just picked it up and it was obviously just inspected by the dealership so how could that be? He told me to turn around and he would follow me back to the dealership and if my story checked out he would not ticket me and no fine.

So back we go and I drive right into the service area with cop behind me. Service manager poops himself as he sees the cop and runs right over. I told him what the situation was and he simply said "impossible", which really got the cop's attention. After fiddling with the fuse box we opened the trunk and low an behold there were no tail light or backup light bulbs in the sockets, they were just hanging there in the harness. (car had 4 taillights and 2 backup lights). Needless to say everyone shit themselves.

They started apologizing and tried to make light of it until the cop interrupted and asked how it passed a NY state inspection with no bulbs! The General Manager is now present and teetering around and says, "we must have missed it".

Long story short, I paid no fine, was offered free oil changes for 2 years for my inconvenience, got my bulbs put in and car inspected in front of me and the cop, but the following Wednesday the NY state department of Motor Vehicles was there and shut them down for a week and fined them $25,000!! It made all of the local papers and subsequently they were gone in about a year. (Oops, there went my oil changes). Seems like I wasn't the only one not getting a physical inspection, they weren't doing any new cars (mechanics all stuck together on this one) they were just putting the stickers on!

In the 70's it was very important to reinspect the vehicle from the factory as the build quality in those days wouldn't even rate "pathetic" and all American made vehicles suffered the same stench. That's how the Japanese vehicles got firmly entrenched.

My friend previously had picked up a 1970 Road Runner with 3 different tires! Only one tire actually was the correct one (the 4th tire)! And....the door lock key did not work in the steering wheel ignition. They actually had two sets of the Pentastar keys and the round trunk key. Each set had 3 keys!! By the way, this was a different dealer and back then you paid the "dealer prep" fee which was nothing more than install the wheel covers, wash it and drive it around front. Now nothing failed the NY state inspection but with 3 different tires, 3 keys per set and by the way there was no spare...

Today these stories are amusing and bewildering.

It's a shame to see that dealers haven't improved their strategies much in 50 years.

 

[OutlawBeard]

In 1973 I bought a brand new Dodge Dart 340 Sport, 4 speed and quite well optioned, in Troy, NY. In NY, no new car can leave the dealership without an annual inspection and sticker. (now in Missouri and no inspection necessary for the first 5 years).

I got 2 blocks from the dealership and was pulled over by a city cop because I had no taillamps. I told him I had just picked it up and it was obviously just inspected by the dealership so how could that be? He told me to turn around and he would follow me back to the dealership and if my story checked out he would not ticket me and no fine.

So back we go and I drive right into the service area with cop behind me. Service manager poops himself as he sees the cop and runs right over. I told him what the situation was and he simply said "impossible", which really got the cop's attention. After fiddling with the fuse box we opened the trunk and low an behold there were no tail light or backup light bulbs in the sockets, they were just hanging there in the harness. (car had 4 taillights and 2 backup lights). Needless to say everyone shit themselves.

They started apologizing and tried to make light of it until the cop interrupted and asked how it passed a NY state inspection with no bulbs! The General Manager is now present and teetering around and says, "we must have missed it".

Long story short, I paid no fine, was offered free oil changes for 2 years for my inconvenience, got my bulbs put in and car inspected in front of me and the cop, but the following Wednesday the NY state department of Motor Vehicles was there and shut them down for a week and fined them $25,000!! It made all of the local papers and subsequently they were gone in about a year. (Oops, there went my oil changes). Seems like I wasn't the only one not getting a physical inspection, they weren't doing any new cars (mechanics all stuck together on this one) they were just putting the stickers on!

In the 70's it was very important to reinspect the vehicle from the factory as the build quality in those days wouldn't even rate "pathetic" and all American made vehicles suffered the same stench. That's how the Japanese vehicles got firmly entrenched.

My friend previously had picked up a 1970 Road Runner with 3 different tires! Only one tire actually was the correct one (the 4th tire)! And....the door lock key did not work in the steering wheel ignition. They actually had two sets of the Pentastar keys and the round trunk key. Each set had 3 keys!! By the way, this was a different dealer and back then you paid the "dealer prep" fee which was nothing more than install the wheel covers, wash it and drive it around front. Now nothing failed the NY state inspection but with 3 different tires, 3 keys per set and by the way there was no spare...

Today these stories are amusing and bewildering.

It's a shame to see that dealers haven't improved their strategies much in 50 years.

Now in Missouri its more than 10 years old or with more than 150,000 miles. lucky us lol

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