Update: I am in contact with Mr. Howard Tenenbaum, VP & COO, Howard called me himself this afternoon and we spoke at length. Obviously, he as an owner is concerned when someone walks in and walks out and does not buyhe has made me an offer that I cannot refuse, I will sign the order on Saturday.
UPDATE 2: see the happy ending
For a a long time I have felt that the problem with the auto industry is not the products. It is the experience of having to deal with “sales people,” yes, those people who play the game of trying to sell you a car or truck. Another aspect that I find surprising is how they turn me from a “buyer” into a “shopper.” It is no wonder these dealers and the manufacturers are having a tough time, and it is right in front of them, turn these nit-wits into greeters like Walmart. Perhaps Walmart is not a good example, as they are very successful. What does buying a car have to do with DesperateExes.com? Very simple, dozens and dozens of my clients and readers have had to buy their own cars after getting rid of the former loves of their lives. And we are often asked what do I think about this car choice or that one. My readers and clients will benefit from keeping away from Keyes Woodland Hills Buick, GMC, Cadillac. They are often stressed enough and don’t need to get “smacked” trying to rebuild their lives, and having a car is critical to the rebuilding and feeling good about one’s self.
Now as many of you know I have a small collection of interesting cars, both domestic and English, all different price ranges. I buy what I want and all I expect is a reasonable deal. Most of the time I do it on line and it has always worked for me. But not so much lately, some dealers do not respond, or in the case of my most recent experience you are just dealing with a “fisher.” What I mean is this person on the internet that you are making contact with is going to hook you into coming in, and then just send you to a “sales person” on the floor when you arrive. In the past the individual online that I was speaking to or e-mailing was the person I dealt with in the purchase, thus, doing it online for the most part was not bad.
Keyes Woodland Hills Buick – GMC – Cadillac has figured a way to mess all of this up. I spoke to a nice young lady that I had contacted doing an online search for GMC Yukons. When we arrived we were shoved off to a salesman, who once he heard my mouth thought better and suggested we be given to the “Fleet guy” (see were we are going her folks?). Well “Charlie” was alright, and while sitting in an office the size of a large closet and with all his L.A.P.D. photos of himself in uniform it was obvious that he was a one time officer. 20 years when I asked was his response, never looking up from his keyboard. We wanted a 3/4 ton Yukon and it had to be loaded, that is how I like to buy my cars, all the bells and ringers. All those little things make fat extra profit for the dealer when you compare the aftermarket cost, but I like the factory finish. Even If I never use them, they are there for me to look at and if I want to, to enjoy. There was none on the lot as this dealership had just been taken over by Keyes and it had a pretty skinny inventory. Well “Charlie” punched all the keys and came up with a vehicle I was ready to place an order on…BUT! Ahhh the BUT!
Then “Charlie” did it, I asked, how much over invoice,” he tells me “$1,000.” I tell him that I had $200 in mind. Then “Charlie” tells me, “well it is supposed to be $1,500 over.” I laugh and tell him well that is not going to happen either. Then “Charlie” tells me how tough it is to get the truck that I want, due to GM not building anything and on and on, blah blah…Now, here comes the best part folks, if I had given the $1000 over the invoice price, GM had no problem. The car was going to be easy to get! The PROBLEM is my friend “Charlie” and Keyes Woodland Hills, NOT GM! You see here is the rub, not only do they make money at different levels of being a dealer such as the hold back, but there are other incentives for a dealer to move the “units.” Now my friend “Charlie” is not going to budge, he tells me, “I will check with my manager”…that was several days ago and I have not been contacted. I almost forgot, “Charlie” was nice enough to give me a print out of the invoice and the MSRP, that being the suggested retail of the truck or “unit” as they are known. When I look at the invoice there is a $1,150.30 charge for ADVERT/ADJUSTMENTS, what the hell is this? Sounds to me to be more profit being hidden in the deal. Now wait a minute, am I being told that they have spent $1,150.30 on advertising my new truck that I was attempting to place an order on??? How could they spend that much to advertise my truck, no wonder GM went broke! My point here is this folks, KEYES WOODLAND HILLS Buick, GMC, Cadillac is not, in my opinion dealing fairly and were trying to take advantage of my son and me. More likely than not I was going to be a cash buyer, just write the check or maybe, if they had some good financing I may go for 24 months, who knows? We never got that far…boy if that was not arrogance. It was either going to be “Charlies” way or no way. There are too many dealers still sucking wind, and GM is still not out of the woods yet, and guess what, I would guess that the owner, CEO, COO or whoever really runs these places would be happy with my encounter at Keyes Woodland Hills, Buick, GMC, Cadillac.
I mentioned to “Charlie” that we had thought of purchasing a 2010 Cadillac Escalade ESV, Platinum Edition and was promptly told by “Charlie,” “good luck, you won’t find any of them around” using that all-knowing salesman chatter and tone of voice. Well, not wanting to miss a beat I told him not to worry about them being rare and hard to find, Symes Cadillac in Pasadena has two, one of which I test drove and loved! But we are looking for a true 4 wheel drive heavy duty SUV. At this point I was hoping that “Charlie” was a better cop than he was a salesman, as he was losing us fast, real fast. This was a great learning experience for my son however. Having purchased over 45 new cars and trucks through my life it was nice for son to get a taste of the games that some dealerships will try to employ to remove your hard-earned money from your wallet. Note: Symes Cadillac was a great place to deal with and the people were friendly and at all times reasonable with us, UNLIKE Keyes Woodland Hills.
Just before GM went spinning out of control, I visited Casa De Cadillac here in the Valley and was greeted by a “salesman” who was telling me how “rare” these new cadillac XLRs were and “they were getting thousands over sticker.” I was having one of my Cadillacs worked on as the car was in need of new tires and I thought I would look at the new models. You see my friends, you go in and want to make a deal and buy a shiny new car and these greedy pigs want to make love to you with a broom stick! I say get rid of the sales people, let me deal with the factory and visit a location where I can look at or drive the vehicle I am interested in. This way people like us do not have to be insulted by people who are trying to hustle us and to some degree rip us off! And turn these “sales people” into greeters who will show you to a comfortable seating area and get you something nice to drink while you decide what the color of your new vehicle will be.