BUYER BEWARE! Do not buy from this dealership. The "as is" prices that are advertised online are not even close to what you end up paying!!! Of course there are additional taxes and registration fees added onto the price when you purchase a car. But these guys will try to bait and switch you with "mandatory" optional last minute add ons. The advertised price of the car I was interested in was just lowered to $54,699. They called me to tell me about the price reduction. I told them that wanted to proceed and agreed to pay the full price. They gave me a breakdown of the numbers including taxes and registration and a doc prep fee. The total came to around $60,000. I put a deposit down on the car based off of this price.
I made an appointment, brought my $10,000 deposit and sat with the finance manager Eduardo. He told me that he had good news and they were able to certify the car which I thought was a bonus for me. As I never asked for this, nor was it ever mentioned prior to this moment. However, he failed to mention that he was charging me almost $4000 for it on top of the already agreed upon price (Genesis charges $1500 to certify this vehicle by the way). He quickly had me initial (and initialed for me) the pages on his iPad but did not explain much to me at all. He pulled out a sheet that had optional add ons. The minimum add on was already included in my monthly payment so I decided I didn't want to add any additional coverage. Again not knowing that my monthly payment already accounted for the $4000 extra that he was charging me to certify the vehicle. I believe there were some other optional junk fees in there too.
When I got a glimpse of the loan amount ,which was over $55,000, I asked him why the additional fees were over $10,000 and he disagreed with me and said they were not $10,000. I explained to him that the price of the car is $55,000 and that I'm putting $10,000 down. After taxes and other required fees I should be financing $50,000 not $55,000. He said that they were selling the car "as is" and then had to certify it to get rid of inventory so the had to add that fee.
When exactly did they decide to certify it and change the price? Why was this option never mentioned to me???? Why was the CPO certification not included in the estimate he provided me when I put the deposit down? Why was the price of the car advertised at $54,699 when it was really $59,699? This fee was later added into the price without my knowledge even though the agreement was for me purchase the car at $54,699 as is. There was a clear lack of transparency here.
When I realized on my own that I was paying extra for this, I told him that I did not want the certification. I didn’t ask for it and he advertised the car at a lower price without it. We also came to an agreement on the price of the car “as is” and I put a deposit down based off of those terms. He then told me that it was a mandatory fee and that the car could not be uncertified.
Even though it was never discussed or disclosed prior. But not knowing better, I believed that maybe this was a standard practice.
Upon further investigation I found out that a CPO certification is absolutely not mandatory and is an option dealer ad-on.
It is illegal for a dealer to add a CPO fee after a vehicle was originally advertised and negotiated at an "as is" price. This practice is known as "bait and switch" and is illegal under both federal and state consumer protection laws. Advertising a vehicle at one price to attract customers and then switching to a higher price with a "mandatory" add on is a deceptive and illegal tactic. Dealerships must provide clear and upfront pricing. The advertised price should include all mandatory fees and dealer costs including any CPO fees excluding only required government charges like taxes and registration. CPO status is not a hidden add on. The cost of the certification is part of the dealers business expense and should be included in the advertised price from the start. They cannot advertise one way (as is) and then demand more money because it has been certified. The FTC has been actively cracking down on dealerships like this one that use junk fees and "bait and switch" tactics. They took action against a Connecticut dealership for deceptively charging these fees, including for certification. I will be filing a complaint against this dealership with the FTC as well.
When I called him out on all of this he got angry and refused to answer my questions and started talking over me. He twisted the truth many times and tried to make this somehow my fault for initialing the forms on his iPad. The conversation wasn't going anywhere so I told him that I would buy the car at the advertised pice as agreed upon and pay the additional certification fee at cost ($1500, not $4000). He checked with his management team and said that they are refusing my business and cancelling the contract. Unbelievable!!!!
Also, my credit union quoted me a lower rate. He assured me that he could match it or beat it. He did come close to matching it but that was only after he made the payments biweekly, which I didn't know until I got there either. I agreed to it even though I really wanted one monthly payment.
When I went to inspect the vehicle, there was a new scratch on the back bumper that appeared to be covered up by a white gum-like substance. This patch job caught my eye immediately. I asked them to repair it correctly, as it was not there the last time I looked at the car. Initially they refused and then they agreed to repaint the bumper. I am mentioning this so that you make sure to thoroughly inspect the vehicle before you drive it off the lot.
Net Promoter® NPS®, NPS Prism® et les émoticônes associées au NPS sont des marques déposées de Bain & Company, Inc., Satmetrix Systems, Inc. et Fred Reichheld. Net Promoter Score™ et Net Promoter System™ sont des marques de service de Bain & Company, Inc. et Fred Reichheld.
Attention
Nous utilisons des témoins pour personnaliser le contenu, activer certaines fonctionnalités et suivre les analyses du site à des fins de marketing. Vous consentez à nos témoins si vous continuez d'utiliser ce site Web.
I made an appointment, brought my $10,000 deposit and sat with the finance manager Eduardo. He told me that he had good news and they were able to certify the car which I thought was a bonus for me. As I never asked for this, nor was it ever mentioned prior to this moment. However, he failed to mention that he was charging me almost $4000 for it on top of the already agreed upon price (Genesis charges $1500 to certify this vehicle by the way). He quickly had me initial (and initialed for me) the pages on his iPad but did not explain much to me at all. He pulled out a sheet that had optional add ons. The minimum add on was already included in my monthly payment so I decided I didn't want to add any additional coverage. Again not knowing that my monthly payment already accounted for the $4000 extra that he was charging me to certify the vehicle. I believe there were some other optional junk fees in there too.
When I got a glimpse of the loan amount ,which was over $55,000, I asked him why the additional fees were over $10,000 and he disagreed with me and said they were not $10,000. I explained to him that the price of the car is $55,000 and that I'm putting $10,000 down. After taxes and other required fees I should be financing $50,000 not $55,000. He said that they were selling the car "as is" and then had to certify it to get rid of inventory so the had to add that fee.
When exactly did they decide to certify it and change the price? Why was this option never mentioned to me???? Why was the CPO certification not included in the estimate he provided me when I put the deposit down? Why was the price of the car advertised at $54,699 when it was really $59,699? This fee was later added into the price without my knowledge even though the agreement was for me purchase the car at $54,699 as is. There was a clear lack of transparency here.
When I realized on my own that I was paying extra for this, I told him that I did not want the certification. I didn’t ask for it and he advertised the car at a lower price without it. We also came to an agreement on the price of the car “as is” and I put a deposit down based off of those terms. He then told me that it was a mandatory fee and that the car could not be uncertified.
Even though it was never discussed or disclosed prior. But not knowing better, I believed that maybe this was a standard practice.
Upon further investigation I found out that a CPO certification is absolutely not mandatory and is an option dealer ad-on.
It is illegal for a dealer to add a CPO fee after a vehicle was originally advertised and negotiated at an "as is" price. This practice is known as "bait and switch" and is illegal under both federal and state consumer protection laws. Advertising a vehicle at one price to attract customers and then switching to a higher price with a "mandatory" add on is a deceptive and illegal tactic. Dealerships must provide clear and upfront pricing. The advertised price should include all mandatory fees and dealer costs including any CPO fees excluding only required government charges like taxes and registration. CPO status is not a hidden add on. The cost of the certification is part of the dealers business expense and should be included in the advertised price from the start. They cannot advertise one way (as is) and then demand more money because it has been certified. The FTC has been actively cracking down on dealerships like this one that use junk fees and "bait and switch" tactics. They took action against a Connecticut dealership for deceptively charging these fees, including for certification. I will be filing a complaint against this dealership with the FTC as well.
When I called him out on all of this he got angry and refused to answer my questions and started talking over me. He twisted the truth many times and tried to make this somehow my fault for initialing the forms on his iPad. The conversation wasn't going anywhere so I told him that I would buy the car at the advertised pice as agreed upon and pay the additional certification fee at cost ($1500, not $4000). He checked with his management team and said that they are refusing my business and cancelling the contract. Unbelievable!!!!
Also, my credit union quoted me a lower rate. He assured me that he could match it or beat it. He did come close to matching it but that was only after he made the payments biweekly, which I didn't know until I got there either. I agreed to it even though I really wanted one monthly payment.
When I went to inspect the vehicle, there was a new scratch on the back bumper that appeared to be covered up by a white gum-like substance. This patch job caught my eye immediately. I asked them to repair it correctly, as it was not there the last time I looked at the car. Initially they refused and then they agreed to repaint the bumper. I am mentioning this so that you make sure to thoroughly inspect the vehicle before you drive it off the lot.
Be careful with these guys!!!!!